Let's see if I can get in this
saddle here, all right? Okay. Yep, thank you, buddy. My subject tonight is Camping
with Christ. Camping with Christ, Numbers
chapter two. Camping with Christ. When Balaam looked down on the
children of Israel as their camp stretched out in the wilderness,
He was greatly moved by what he saw. That false prophet beheld
the beauty of the camp and found it captivating, magnificent. In his eyes, he recognized these
are not just ordinary nomads. Balaam said concerning the camp
of Israel, how goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles,
O Israel. As the valleys are they spread
forth, as gardens by the riverside, as the trees of lion aloes which
the Lord hath planted, and as the cedar trees beside the waters. Now let's read about that camp
that Balaam beheld. Numbers chapter two, verse one. The Lord spake unto Moses and
unto Aaron, saying, Every man of the children of Israel shall
pitch by his own standard with the ensign of their father's
house. Far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they
pitch. And on the east side toward the
rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of
Judah pitch throughout their armies. These shall first be
set forth, verse 10. On the south side shall be the
standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies. This
is the second rank, verse 17. Then the tabernacle of the congregation
shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of
the camp. As they encamp, so shall they set forward every
man in his place by their standards. On the west side shall be the
standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies. They
shall go forward in the third rank. Verse 25, the standard
of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies
and these shall go hindmost with their standards. Verse 33, but
the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel
as the Lord commanded Moses and the children of Israel did according to the house, I'm sorry, the
children of Israel did according to the commandments, according to all that the Lord
commanded Moses. So they pitched by their standards and so they
set forward everyone after their families according to the house
of their fathers. God, the Holy Spirit, be pleased
to be our teacher and enlighten our minds and our hearts as we
look at this camp of Israel tonight. I want us to look at just five
things Very briefly, I'll push this thing out of my way, Lindsey,
if you don't mind. I can't see what I'm doing. We'll try it another day. All
right, let's look at these five things concerning the children
of Israel. First, I want us to take notice
of the camp itself and the standard of the camp. Every man in Israel
was required by God to pitch his tent under his own standard
with the ensign of his father's house. Now, there's a lot of
speculation that had been made by the various commentators about
these ensigns, the standard that the children of Israel pitched
under, various things suggested, but the scriptures never described
them for us. The scriptures never tell us what distinguished one
banner or one ensign or one standard from another. And there's a reason
for that. These banners, these ensigns,
point to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, who reveals himself
in Exodus chapter 17 as Jehovah Nisi, the Lord, our banner. Hold your hands here and turn
over to Isaiah, Isaiah 49. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
banner under which we gather, the banner we lift before men.
The banner by which God calls sinners to himself. Isaiah 49,
22. Thus saith the Lord God, behold,
I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and set up my standard
to the people. They shall bring thy sons in
their arms and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west and his
glory from the rising of the sun I'm sorry, I'm reading Isaiah
59 now, verse 19. So shall they fear his name from
the west and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy
shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift
up the standard against them. Now look at chapter 11, Isaiah
11. In that day, that is in this
gospel day, in this day of the Lord, verse 10. shall be a root
of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign, a banner of the people. To it, that is to this ensign,
to this banner, this root of Jesse, the Lord Jesus Christ,
shall the Gentiles seek. God's elect scattered to the
four corners of the earth are made to seek after this banner,
to come to this banner, and his rest shall be glorious. If you
have a marginal translation, His rest shall be His glory. The rest of our Savior, that
is the rest He has entered into, having accomplished our eternal
redemption, is His glory. And it shall come to pass that
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 Petrus, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the
islands of the sea. The Lord by this banner sets
his hand a second time to gather his elect from the four corners
of the earth. In verse 12, he shall set up an ensign for the
nations. and shall assemble the outcast
of Israel." These Gentiles gathered from the nations, they're the
outcast of Israel, the Israel of God, God's covenant people,
the seed of Abraham. And gather together the dispersed
of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Back here in chapter
2 of Numbers. The Lord Jesus is our banner. He's the standard of our Father's
house. This is the banner we are commissioned
of God to uphold before the nations of the world. The Church of God,
I've been trying to tell you this for 40 years, the Church
of God, every local assembly, this assembly, you folks in Lexington,
every local assembly has one mission in this world, just one,
just one. Our business is preaching, the
preaching of the gospel. Every local church is a sounding
board for the gospel. Our business, our responsibility
is to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified to the ends of the earth to the
utmost of our ability. That means that Don Fortner and
Grace Baptist Church in Denver, Kentucky are responsible under
God and responsible in this generation. to use every means and every
opportunity at our disposal for the preaching of the gospel.
And Todd Nybert and Lexington Todd Road Church is responsible
for the same. We are not responsible for the
opportunities and privileges that you have. And you, not for
the privileges and opportunities we have, but we are responsible
as God's church to lift high this banner to the nations of
the world. This is the banner that draws
the family together, the banner of our rallying point, the banner
that unites God's elect. We come together around this
banner, under this banner, Jesus Christ crucified. And over us,
the banner of Christ Jesus is the banner of love. The banner
is a pledge of safety. The true, we have our foes, foes
that hate us and assail us. Those words are not too strong.
Night and day they plot, they rage, they draw the bow, they
shoot the arrow, they slander, they malign, they abuse, they
lay a snare, but all must fall. all shall fall. The fight may
sometimes be fierce, it may sometimes seem absolutely useless, it may
be long, but in the camp of Christ, defeat is not a possibility. Failure is not a possibility. Beneath our banner, Christ Jesus,
we find sweet repose. Our Savior says, Come unto me,
all you that labor and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
He says, take my yoke upon you, and learn in me, and you shall
find rest unto your souls. Here, believing souls lay down
and rest. I don't think I ever really grasped
David's statement in Psalm 4, verse 8, until preparing this
message. I will both lay me down in peace
and sleep. for thou, Lord, only, makest
me to dwell in safety. We rest in Christ. Our lives are at rest in Christ. We live in peace as we live in
Christ. I, the Lord, declares, do keep
it, my vineyard, my people. I will water it every moment,
lest any hurt it. I will keep it. night and day.
What a statement. I'll keep it. I'll water it every
moment. I'll keep it night and day. Beneath
this banner, Christ Jesus, I repeat victory is sure. Thanks be unto
God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. Who always
causes us to triumph in Christ. and make them manifest the savor
of his knowledge in every place. Many years ago, I read an incident
that happened in a man's life. He was a janitor, and he would
go to the schoolhouse and open it up for men to play basketball
on Friday and Saturday nights, and he'd just sit in the corner
and read while they played basketball, and he was sitting reading the
scriptures, and one of the fellows came over to him Game was over
and asked him, said, what are you reading? He said, I'm reading
the book of Revelation. He said, do you understand it?
He said, I think so. What does it mean? Jesus wins. That's exactly what it means.
Our Redeemer always prevails. He always prevails and he shall
prevail. Happy to camp. over which Christ
is the banner. Christ crucified is salvation's
captain. His cross is our glory. His heaven,
our rest. Children of God, glory in this
banner and be steadfast. Not too many weeks ago, Brother
Todd stood here and preached for us from Galatians 6, 14. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. To glory in the
cross is to rest in it. To glory in the cross is to trust
it. To glory in the cross is to trust
Christ our substitute. This cross by whom the world
is crucified unto me. The world to me is a dead thing. And I unto the world, I to the
world am a dead thing. Second, the next thing that catches
my mind is the position of these tents in Israel's encampment. All the tents of Israel share
a great privilege. They were all pitched around
the tabernacle, we're told in verse two. They all have a common
focus. As the planets circle the sun,
these tents circle the sanctuary. God is the center of everything. Christ and his salvation stands
continually before their eyes. They form a wide circle around
the sanctuary, the Levites right in the midst of them. And every
man in Israel, as he opens his tent's door, opens his tent's
door and he sees something. He sees God's tabernacle. He
sees Christ and salvation accomplished. He sees an altar of sacrifice. Christ sacrificed for us. He
sees a laver of cleansing, which represented the cleansing work
of God, the Holy Spirit, in sanctification, making us new creatures in Christ.
He sees a veil, a veil hanging between the holy place and the
most holy place, separating man from God, but that veil also
setting forth a way. There is a way into the Holy. There is a way into the, there's
a way to God. There's a way for sinners to
get to God through that veil. And the only way is by the blood
of that Passover sacrifice offered by God's priests upon the mercy
seat and accepted of God. That's Christ, our propitiation. That's what faced every door
in the camp of Israel. Every tenth door opened up to
the center of God's salvation. God in Christ is the center of
everything. The heart, the life, the strength,
the joy of his people. Did you hear me? God in Christ
is everything. The heart, the life, the strength,
the shield, the joy of his people. In their midst he dwells. Their glory is our delight and
our glory. When they go forth, their eyes
are fixed on him. When they return, it is to nestle
around him in his presence. Be wise. Oh, would God, I could
get the ears of everybody in this world. Be wise and pitch
your tent toward God's sanctuary. Pitch your tent toward God's
tabernacle. Pitch your tent where you can
worship God, not towards Sodom. The Israelites of old pitched
their tents far off from the tabernacle. Blessed be God, things
are different today. In this gospel age, we are brought
nigh by the blood of Christ. In Revelation chapters 4 and
5, you see a picture of this tabernacle. You see the very
same thing the children of Israel saw in the wilderness here. It's
the same thing that Isaiah saw in Isaiah chapter 6. But now
you see the throne of God. A door is opened in heaven and
behold a throne. That throne is what's represented
in the mercy seat. The Lamb of God sits on the throne.
Around the throne is a rainbow through which comes all things
from the throne. A covenant. A covenant of free
grace. And there are gathered around
that throne 24 elders. All the Israel of God, twice
the number of the tribes here, telling us that the Israel of
God reaches beyond just the physical seat of Israel. We are not ordered
to pitch our tents afar off, but near, right up next to the
Most High Himself, to be seated with Christ on His throne. And
they are clothed in white linen garments, the very righteousness
of Christ. so that the saints of God around
about him, bringing presents to him that, to him that ought
to be feared. Oh, God give us grace, making
us one with his son, by his own dear son, he keeps us close to
him. Making us one with his son, by
his son, he keeps us close to him. We sometimes sing, nearer
my God to thee, there is a sense in which we wish experimentally
to be near our savior. But for folks who talk about
their nearness to God, I'm always suspicious. I suspect they don't know what
they're talking about. Either that, I don't know anything about
what they've experienced. Because I don't commonly experience
any extraordinary nearness to Him. Once in a while. Blessed times. But my nearness
to God doesn't depend on my experience. My nearness to God doesn't depend
on my feeling. My nearness to God depends only
on His Son. And one with His Son, I am as
dear as His Son. One with His Son, as dear as
His Son. Accepted as His Son. Oh, blessed, blessed are those
people who are God's people in this position. With Christ, one
with Christ. Now third, look at the tense. These chosen, redeemed people,
as long as they walked through the wilderness, dwelt in tents,
not palaces, tents, not stately houses, tents, not consecrated
buildings, tents, not even condominiums, tents, not splendid estates to
leave to the families, tents. They dwelt in tents, intentionally
in tents. The contrast with all the people
around them is unavoidably obvious. They live in tents. Tents that
stand today, and tomorrow you loosen the cords and pull up
the fins, fold them up, and they're moved out. They are pilgrims
dwelling in pilgrim's tents. Short-lived homes. Short-lived
homes for short-lived sojourners. That's our present state of mortality. What is our body? Nothing but
clay. These frames all have one origin,
dust. The vilest reptile, the dirtiest
possum, the wildest dog, and the proudest prince come from
and return to the same mire. Is it not then folly to pamper
and admire this flesh. At best, these bodies of flesh
are tense, just tense, soon to be removed and quickly removed. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians. It'll do you good to read it
with me one more time. Verse 17. Our light affliction. What a
statement. Paul has just described the life
of a man who was constantly in trouble, constantly burdened,
constantly afflicted, constantly opposed. Opposed from without
and opposed from within. And he says our light affliction,
our featherweight affliction. Our featherweight affliction.
I like to sleep on soft pillows. And feather pillows are all right,
but once in a while, the feathers will come out. And the feathers
just aggravate you to death. Just aggravate you to death.
For nothing. It's life. You have as long as
this rubber up against my cheek, it's aggravating. Just aggravate
you. That's how Paul describes his
affliction. our light affliction, our featherweight affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. While we look not at things which
are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God. A
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we
groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house,
which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed,
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened. And Paul explains himself, not
for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. He said, we don't groan here
because we're tired of living. We don't groan here because we're
tired of life. We don't groan here because of the affliction.
We groan for our house, which is in heaven. Now he that hath
wrought us for the self same thing, not he who hath wrought
for us the self same thing, he who hath wrought us for the self
same thing, he has wrought us for this purpose, who hath also
given us the earnest of the spirit. Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that whilst we're at home in the body, we're absent
from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by
sight. We are confident, I say, and willing, rather, to be absent
from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor,
that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now, that text
of scripture causes a lot of problems for some folks who believe
the gospel of God's free grace and they try to read it different
ways. The text reads exactly as God
intended it should read. We must appear before the judgment
seat of Christ. All of us. We must everyone receive
from the Lord. the things done in our body according
to that he hath done. In other words, when we stand
before God in judgment, we will receive exactly what we deserve
according to our works. Brother Don, you can't say that.
Oh, yes I can. You see, Christ Jesus has performed
all our works for us. when the Son of God walked on
this earth, fulfilling the law and the will of God, living in
perfect faith. Oh, blessed, comforted hope. I walked in him. with Him, living
in perfect obedience to God, with perfect faith as a man,
the full age of man, in perfect righteousness. Righteousness
in which I am glad to stand before God in judgment. Now that's either so or it's
a lie. You can take your pick. Can't be any other way. But what
about your sin? when the Son of God died at Calvary,
He died in my stead. That doesn't mean He died instead
of me. That means He died for me, and
I died in Him, suffering all the hell of God's wrath until
God could punish Don Fortner no more, until my sins were gone. That's called substitution. And
we receive That we've done, whether good or bad. You have two choices. You can leave here tonight in
Christ Jesus, believing the Son of God, prepared to meet God
in his Son, or you can stand in yourself, in your goodness,
in your merit, in your worth, in your righteousness, and meet
God in judgment and go to hell. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, We persuade men. How soon these tents must crumble. No care, no thought, no art,
no skill can lengthen out our days. The countless families
of foregone ages, where are they now? Dust they were to dust they
have returned. The many families of this day,
where do they hasten? Thus they are, to dust they must
return. These tents must fall. These tents must fall. But when? Oh, perhaps another
day, maybe another year, maybe another 10. Perhaps in a few
hours, perhaps the next step, perhaps the next birth. Whichever
is true, at my appointed time, this tent shall be folded up. My soul, from Israel's tents,
learn how fleeting life's little day is. When I go hence, is an abiding
mansion mine? There is a kingdom prepared for
God's people from before the foundation of the world. Is it
prepared for me? Are those mansions Christ has
gone to prepare in glory for you? Yes, they are. Yes, they are. How can you say
that? I believe on the Son of God. I trust the Lamb of God. Flesh is what we are. No more
just flesh. Fallen, sinful, dying flesh. But that fact itself commends
us to the grace of God in Christ. Our Lord Jesus scorned not to
assume flesh. He took on himself our flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He did that so that he might
live as a man, so that he might suffer as a man. so that he might
bear our sin in his own body as a man. On the cursed tree
be made sin for us as a man. These things none but man can
do, but this man must be God. And the Lord Jesus came here
as a man to fulfill all things for us for the saving of his
people, that he might die in our stead and redeem us to himself. He was made a man. But soon this degradation of
humanity will be past. Our Lord's humiliation ended
with his resurrection. He ascended up on high, took
his seat in glory, and soon these bodies shall be raised in glory. If I understand 2 Corinthians
5 correctly, immediately upon death, As soon as the believer
ceases to breathe air in this world, he has a building, a house
not made with God, not made with hands, eternally in the heavens.
But that house shall be joined to his body in resurrection glory. And the resurrection, oh my. We haven't begun to contemplate
in Delphi what that's like. It baffles understanding. This
mortal, this mortal, look here, this mortal shall put on immortality. This corruptible shall be raised
in incorruption. This natural carnal body, if
I walk into that wall right there, I'm going to stop because it's
going to stop me. I've got a carnal body. If you hit me on the jaw,
I'm going to hurt because you hit me. This carnal body shall
be raised a spiritual body. A spirit? Who ever heard of a
spiritual body? The Lord Jesus, one night as
his disciples were having bread, just walked into the room. He didn't come through the door.
He just appeared in the room. in his resurrected body. He appeared
in the room. They watched him ascend to heaven
in his resurrected body. Oh, glorious prospect. We will sow these bodies in the
earth and sow them in hope of the resurrection because of our
surety who died upon the cursed tree for us. Happy the inhabitant
of this crumbling frame. I am Christ. Right now the vilest
of dust, but soon I will shine more brightly than 10,000 suns
in the glory of the Son of Righteousness, the Son of God my Savior. Now
consider for just a minute or two the order of the camp. What
perfect regularity. I read recently this camp of
Israel was approximately 12 square miles. circling the tabernacle. That's a pretty good-sized camp,
with lanes and streets. It was just a camp. And they'd
get moved from place to place. And in those same lanes and streets,
they'd pitch their tents again, move to another place, same lanes
and streets, pitch their tents again. And God would rain manna
from heaven to feed the camp. They were arranged by certain
rules, rules drawn by the hand of God. Each section put exactly
where God said put it. Judah going forth first. Judah
because our Lord sprang as a lion of the tribe of Judah. Our God
delights in order and everything God rules is ruled with order. Did you hear me? Our God delights
in order and everything God rules is ruled with order. Well, the
Rex and some of the men were back there talking in the study
a little bit ago. We tend to look at things and
think everything's chaos. You go home in the evening and
turn the news on. What in the world's happening? We live in
such a chaotic world. Oh, no. No. Perfect order. Perfect order. God rules everywhere. God rules everywhere. He rules
the streets of New York and the streets of Danforth. He rules
in Africa, rules in America. He rules everywhere, everywhere.
In providence, everything comes to pass with precise, predestined,
divine order. Oh, what a picture we have of
Christ, the angel of the covenant in Revelation 10, standing with
one foot on the earth and one foot on the sea and a book in
his hand. And it stands one foot on the earth and one on the sea,
ruling the nations of the world. And it turns the page. And the
next day, it turns another page. And the next day, it turns another
page. Rules the world according to
the book of God's eternal purpose before the world began. In the
believer's life, everything's arranged and ruled by divine
order. And when God is pleased Give
a sinner life and faith in Christ. Isn't it amazing how his life
takes order? I lived in chaos and I caused chaos. I lived in
unrest and I caused unrest until Christ stepped in. And suddenly,
order. Order. Oh, splendorous order. God rules his chosen and his
chosen walk in peace. Peace that guards our hearts
in order. In the church of God, God rules. In the church of God, there's
order. I'm sure Brother Nyberg could stand here and say the
same thing. I have often had people come here, visitors, folks
come here and stay, and after a while say, I've never seen
a church like this. Never seen things like this.
Order. Peace. Never saw that anywhere. Where
God rules, there's order. With the unbeliever, things are
different. The unbeliever's life is like
a beehive that's been stirred. All the notes are jarring. All
the movements jostle. The jumbled chaos of desire,
attempt, design. Motives conflict with motives. Thoughts conflict with thoughts.
Plans conflict with plans. Why? Because God is not in all
his thoughts. In Israel's camp, each tribe
had his place. Each person had his place. set
by divine design to fulfill a divine purpose. And each one kept his
place. He was distinctly prepared by
God for the place where God put him to live and serve. Distinctly
prepared by God for the place where God put him to live and
serve. And he kept his place. He kept
his place. You who are God's are fitted
in God's kingdom where God would have you. Keep your place and
serve him there. Back in 1987 or 88, somewhere
there, I went down to Australia and was preaching with a fellow
from South Africa who wasn't worth listening to. But he said
something that I had forgotten. I remembered it when he said
it. I went back and researched it and it was true. But he said
when they built the temple in Israel, in Jerusalem, they didn't
use any tools in building the temple. There wasn't the sound
of a hammer in there. They cut the stones for the temple
away from the place. Cut them too big. All of them
were cut too big. And they would bring the stone
and set it between two other stones. And they just jostled
it and jostled it. and rub it, and rub it, until
rubbing the three stones together, it dropped in place. Oh, that's how God built his
temple. He puts each one in his place, prepared by God's providence
to serve in that place. And he does that work he was
created to do. And when his work is done, he's
gone. Each enters on the stage of life
as God's pleased to call it. Each runs his preordained course.
Each disappears when his task is done. Now children of God,
bow humbly before God's ordering throne and discontent will flee. Murmuring
will cease. Christ will be honored. God's
order for me, God's place for me, God's will for me, God's
time for me is best, the best it could possibly be. And God's
will for you, God's order for you, God's time for you, God's
work for you is best, the very best it could possibly be. One
more thing. The Levites were not numbered
with children of Israel. Look at verse 33. But the Levites
were not numbered among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded
Moses. Why is that? We're told in Joshua,
the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. The priests,
the Levitical family, represented Christ our High Priest, though
our Savior came from the tribe of Judah. Though they were part
of Israel, they were always held in distinction from their brethren.
Nothing special about them. They were Levites, that's all.
Being Levites, representatives of the priestly family. And though
our Savior came from the line of the tribe of Judah, he was
a priest. A priest. And he was revered
and set apart from his brethren. because he's the priest, because
he is the perfect priest. The Levites also were men who
served the tabernacle, representing God's servants in all ages. God's servants, gospel preachers,
are men who serve the house of God. The Levites never went to
war except when they chose to go. when they saw it was needful
for them to go. The Levites served the tabernacle. And those who preach the gospel,
like the Levites, are to live by the gospel. Like the Levites
of old, gospel preachers are not to engage in mundane affairs. Oh, hear that, every preacher. This world is beneath us. The
affairs of this world are beneath us. I hear about preachers running
for political office. I just automatically ball my
fist up cringe. What a stoop, what foolishness,
what stupidity, what dishonor to God. William Carey was missionary
in India, missionary Burma, and pioneer missionary. He was one
of the first. His son Felix, I think was seven
years old when Terry went to the mission field, and Felix
resented it. Until God was pleased to save
him. He was 21 years old, he went out, started serving the
Lord as a missionary himself. And his wife died. He married again. Seven years
later, his wife and his children died. Felix was having a tough
time. When he was about 28, 29 years
old, the King of Burma made Felix an ambassador for the King of
Burma. And Felix accepted it. When his
father, William Carey, heard that his son had been made ambassador
for the King of Burma, William Carey said, poor Felix has shriveled
from a missionary to an ambassador. and his father was right. Turn
to Hebrews chapter 11. I'll close with this. Hebrews
11, verse 13. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.
and were persuaded, convinced of them, and embraced them, and
confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For
they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country,
and truly if they had been mindful of that country from which they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
But now they desire a better country, that is in heaven, Wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared
for them a city. That's what it is to camp with
Christ. Camping with Christ. Oh, blessed,
happy camping. I've never had much opportunity
to do it. I started pastoring when I was
21 years old, but I've always enjoyed camping. Not family camping,
when Shelby and I get a chance to get away, She doesn't want
to cook over and over with fire, and I don't want her to. But
camping with friends, we go camping, we go fishing, we go camping,
we go hunting, and usually plan to be gone for several days.
But I always was anxious to get home, and usually did a day or
two early. Here, we're just camping, camping
and anxious for home. anxious for hope at God's appointed
time. Amen. All right, let's listen.