As I said, one of these verses
came to mind yesterday. We were attending a funeral.
Verse 15. Moses built an altar and called
the name of it Jehovah Nisi, the Lord is my banner. Brother Kelly and I went to Brother
Ernest Park's funeral. Daniel Park's father, Ernest,
91 years old. He was a U.S. Army World War
II veteran. There aren't many of those men
left now. We're losing them all. And I'm grateful to them. But
we went to his funeral laid to rest with full military honors,
which means a flag-draped coffin, a 21-gun salute, and they played
the taps on the trumpet. And if you have never witnessed
that, you need to do so. It's one of the most moving and
memorable ceremonies that we can witness. The only thing more
moving to me and more memorable is when the Lord blesses the
Gospel. But we watch the man bringing that casket to the grave
that's covered with that star-spangled banner. Heard those guns fire that salute
for their fallen soldier or comrade. Listening to that mournful trumpet
play that tune, it brought back vivid memories for me. I was
just a 14-year-old boy when they did that for my brother. I'll
never forget it. Those guns firing were indelibly
printed in my mind. That tomb taps in my mind and
that coffin with that flag over it. As always, I'll never forget
it. Unforgettable. Unforgettable
memory. All a fitting and worthy tribute
to someone who gives their life in the service of our country.
Very fitting. A very worthy tribute. for those
who give their lives for the freedom that we enjoy. And I can't help but think this,
that it was my generation, how ironic, my generation, the baby
boomers born in the 50s, raised in the 60s and 70s, a rebellious
time, that made that flag disarmed, that desecrated it, that cast
it underfoot. and made service to our country
to be a dishonorable thing. The very ones who laid their
lives down so that we could have the freedom to say that, to express
our rebellion, we rebel against them. Pitiful. A sad life, my generation. But this is a glorious picture. And what this made me think of
was a much greater sacrifice by one man who laid down his
life for his people, who shed his precious blood for the guilt,
for the sins of his people, who himself was taken captive to
ensure their freedom, to deliver the captives and set them free. I'm talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, the gospel. And so every time we meet, we
give tribute to Him. Every time we meet, it's a time
to honor and praise Him. Worthy. That's what all in glory
are doing at all times. Nothing else. They're not praising
Mama. They're not praising anyone else.
They're praising the Lord Jesus Christ. Singing this song unto
Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
Unto Him belongs all praise, honor, glory, strength, majesty,
power, everything. All tribute for worthy is the
Lamb that was slain. That gospel is our banner. The
story here is of a great battle. The story is of Amalek going
against Moses, well, against the children of Israel. But it's
a much deeper story than that. All right, let's look at it.
Verse 8. Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. Now, Amalek and Malachites were
the descendants of Esau. This is important. They were
the descendants of Esau. You remember who Esau was? Jacob. Have I loved? Esau. Have I hated? Not loveless. Hated. Now that was Jacob's twin brother. No different than Jacob. Jacob
no better than him. Who made them to differ? It was
the choice of God. The sovereign choice of God.
the sovereign electing mercy and grace of God that chose Jacob
and left Esau to himself. And Jacob God loved, but Esau
have I hated. Esau was the sworn enemy of Jacob
and became so. The Edomites, the Amalekites,
the Hittites, all these came from him. Hivites, they were
sworn enemies. of God's people. What a picture
the Amalekites are of the people of this world and of that old man in us that's
the twin brother of that new creature, sworn in. Well, Moses said to Joshua in
verse 9, Moses is the prophet, the preacher, the lawgiver He's
God's Word to the people. Moses said to Joshua, this is
the first mention of Joshua in all Scripture. First mention.
The very first mention of Joshua is of an obedient servant who's
told to do something by the lawgiver, and he does it. And it's a great
battle. And he fights it. That's the
first mention of Joshua. Joshua means God our Savior.
saved, Jehovah saves. It's the Hebrew name and the
New Testament name is Jesus, God our Savior, Jehovah saved. And God said through Moses to
Joshua, choose us out men, he knows who chooses who, and go
out and fight with Amalek tomorrow. Tomorrow I will stand on top
of the hill with the rod of God in my hand." Go, I'll stand on
the hill with this rod in my hand. Now we read, I'm glad we
read the first part of that because the Lord reminded us what Moses
did with that rod. Moses smoked the waters, or smoked
the waters of the Red Sea with the rod. parted and made a way
over for the people of God that they might escape. Moses took
that rod and struck that rock, the smitten rock, and out of
it came water, water of life for the people. Moses took that
rod and by that rod, the Egyptians, he judged the Egyptians, caused
all the plagues to fall upon the heads of the Egyptians while
it did not fall on the heads of God's people. What is this
rod? We'll see in a minute. But Moses
took that rod and held it up and said, I'll stand up on the
hill. I'll stand on the hill. Moses, Aaron, and Hur went on
top of the hill. So Joshua did. The obedient servant
did as Moses had said to him. And he fought with Amalek. And
Moses and Aaron and Hur went up. These three were up on top
of the hill bearing witness of what Joshua was doing. In verse
11, it came to pass when Moses held up his hand, the rod in
his hand, Israel prevailed. But when he let down his hand,
the enemies prevailed and Malachi prevailed. And the Lord said later afterward,
after it was over, the battle was fought, the victory won,
the warfare accomplished by Joshua. I've just told you the whole
story. But he said, write it in a book. Rehearse it. This
is the theme of the book. This is the theme of the whole
book. Write it down. And don't let them ever forget
this. This is what obtained their freedom. Write it down. Write it down in a book. And
Moses called that place and called what took place there and what
He held up Jehovah Nisi, the Lord, my banner. What is that
rod that Moses was holding? What does it represent for all
to see? The Word of God. First of all,
it's the Word of God. The Word of God is that rod which
declares the sovereignty of God. He had that rod Moses in Moses'
hand, and Moses went in before Pharaoh and all the world and
didn't ask him anything. He said, Thus saith the Lord.
Laid down the law, judgment, so forth. Sovereignty of God.
The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble. Thy God reigneth. The Word of God declares from
start to finish the sovereignty of our God. and the power of
God. His eternal power and Godhead
are clearly seen. In Psalm 19, there are two books
mentioned. Number one is the book of creation,
how that all flesh clearly sees His eternal power and Godhead,
His sovereignty, clearly seen without excuse. Then it mentions
the Word of God, the written Word of God, how that all are
without excuse. When they see it, they can see
nothing but the sovereignty of God. They can't see a weak helpless
God, a God who wants to be God and can't unless men let Him.
No, sir. Men have corrupted His Word.
The truth is turned way backwards, completely backwards. Man has
corrupted the Word of God. From start to finish, this declares
who God is, that God is God. And that's the people's strength.
That's the people's victory. Not in them, but in Him. Look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I
am God." There is nothing else. No place else to look. And as
long as that's held high, he's held high. He's lifted up for
all to see through Joshua. The people of God pervade. The
Word of God is His power. By His Word, Scripture says,
all things were created. Scripture says He upholds all
things by the Word of His power. This is the foundation of faith,
the Word of God. If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? You knock out any part of this
Word, you knock my foundation out for me, all my hope. My hope is built on this rock
of solid truth. And He upholds all things by
the Word of His power. He upholds His people with His
Word. The Word is quick, life-giving. We are born again, begotten by
the Word of God, the power of God unto salvation. The Word
is quick, it's powerful, it's sharper than any two-edged sword.
It kills His enemies. Out of His mouth goes a two-edged
sword, slays His enemies, slays our hearts. Reconciles us to
Himself. That Word lifted up, preached
and declared. A so-called preacher is not a
preacher if he doesn't preach the Word. He said to a young
preacher, he said, preach the Word, Timothy, in season and
out of season. If it doesn't become popular,
you preach it anyway. Don't take away any of the words
they don't like. Hold fast the form of sound words. The church is the pillar and
ground of the truth. The church serves one purpose, not a place
of entertainment, not a place for social gatherings, but a
place to preach the Word. That's all a preacher is. He's
like that pole. He's good for nothing unless he holds up the
truth. The Word which by the gospel
is preached unto you, Peter said. That Word, the incorruptible
Word, which by the gospel is preached unto you. The gospel.
Now, it's not just a man preaching the Bible. Many say that. Preach
the Word. Many say that. But it's preaching
Christ and Him crucified. Christ said, if I be lifted up,
I'll draw a man to myself. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, and I don't do that. burst damage when I
say, as Moses lifted up the rod on the hill that day. Even so
must the Son of Man be lifted up. Christ must be exalted, and
whosoever believeth might not believe. Look to Him. Christ
and Him crucified. Paul said, We preach not ourselves,
but Christ and Him crucified. Christ and Him crucified. God's
Word from cover to cover. He said, Write it down in a book.
as a memorial, a memory that everyone may rehearse it over
and over again. And the preacher is going to
preach this, Christ and Him crucified, that the people may look to Him
and be saved. The story of so great a salvation
accomplished by Christ on Calvary's tree, salvation accomplished
by one man. Did you read with me in verse
13, it says that Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the
edge of the sword. Through Moses told Joshua to
fight with Amalek. It says he chose some men. Now
Joshua was not alone, was he? Joshua chose thousands of men. But the Lord made it sound like
Joshua did it all, didn't he? Joshua got all the glory for
it. It sounded as if Joshua was out there by himself, one man,
single-handedly, fighting all the enemies of God's people,
and he beat them all by himself. That's what the word makes it
sound like. Why? Because it speaks of pride. Because
Joshua is such a picture of pride, who did indeed accomplished salvation by himself. Isn't that what Hebrews 1 says?
When he had by himself purged our sins. By one man's obedience,
many were made righteous. One man. We don't help him out. He helps us out. Out of the miry
clay, out of the dung heap set us among creatures. Joshua is
such a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. His very name
is the same. as our Lord. Jesus. Call His
name Jesus. For what? He and if you let Him,
and He if you cooperate, and He and if men will accept Him,
will save? No, sir. He shall save His people. He shall save. That's His name,
Savior. That's what he does. That's what
he came to do. That's what the Lord sent him to do. And that's
what he did. And hanging on that tree that
day on the cross, he said, it is finished. Accomplished. And Moses came. And Elijah came
before that to speak of the death that he should accomplish. The
death of sin. The death of death by the sacrifice
of himself. Yes, he obtained eternal redemption
for that. He had gotten the victory. Salvations
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason the Lord gives
Joshua all the credit there is because to Jesus Christ belongs
all the glory. Joshua, defeated. He was obedient. He did what the lawgiver Moses
told him to do. He was sent. And he fulfilled
that law for his people, and that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did. And you know, the word properly
preached, if anybody is going to preach this word, if they
don't preach Christ from it, if they fail to bring out Christ
in him crucified, they missed it. They missed it. Nobody will be saved except by
that message. Nobody will be saved except by
looking to Christ. You're not saved by a beautiful
song. You're not saved by an emotional feeling. You're not
saved by impressive this or impressive that. You're saved by the blood
of the crucified one. You're saved by the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation, and that gospel is of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And we hold forth the Word of
Truth and the Gospel like a banner. There is no Christian flag. There
used to be. There still is a flag that men
call a banner, and sometimes they put it up, or a Christian
flag, and they put it up on the pulpit for others to see. That
has no biblical basis whatsoever. That's just another religious
trinket that we don't need. But this banner that we hold
forth, this flag that we fly, This thing that we hold forth
for men to rally around, to look to for strength, for salvation,
for courage, is Christ, the Gospel of faith. He's our banner. That's what he said then, Jehovah,
the Lord is my banner, my flag. And always, at all times, we
hold it forth for all of God's people to hear We need to hear
this gospel that God reigns. We need to hear the gospel that
Christ put away sin, don't we? We hear that. We have the victory
over sin, over doubt, over fear, over guilt, don't we? We're healed. We're encouraged. We're strengthened. We can go
on, can't we? If we don't hear that, if we don't see God reign,
if we don't see Christ who put away our sin, our substitute.
If we don't see Him, we're defeated, aren't we? We're defeated by
guilt and sin and fear and doubts and the world, aren't we? And
we come in here in returning. I keep quoting that. I keep returning
to that. In returning and rest, Isaiah
30. You'll be saved in returning
and Looking to him, he said, look unto me and be saved all
ends of the earth. I'm God. He says, come unto me,
all you that labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. In
returning and hearing, this is our peace. This is all our peace. This is all our comfort. This
is all our salvation. And we look to him and hear of
him. and trust Him more and grow in
grace and the knowledge of Him under the sound of the preaching
of the gospel, it's our salvation and our strength. And we can
go on. It's a warfare. Look at verse 16. It says, The Lord has sworn that
the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Every generation fought with Amalek until finally, finally,
It was David, I think, that wiped them out completely. There are
no more Amalekites on the earth. None. And what a picture that
is of sin that Christ put away and someday will be out of the
presence of it. No more sin. But this old man
within us, this twin brother that we have, It's hateful. Who hates the birthright. Who
hates the Gospel like Esau. And is our enemy, the enemy of
the new man. He fights him constantly. How do we overcome? We don't. It's by looking to
Him. Who is He that's overcoming?
He that believed us. You see, the Gospel is the power
of God and salvation. It really is. Not just salvation
from sin eternally, but it's our daily salvation. Look to our God that reigns,
our Christ. Christ said, if I be lifted up...
Oh, there's so many verses I wanted to go through with you, but over
in Psalm 20 it says this. Listen to this. Just listen.
Psalm 20. David said, We will rejoice in thy salvation. And in the name of our God, we'll
set up our banner. The Lord will fulfill all his
petitions. That is, he's going to do exactly what he said he
would do to all those he said he'd do it for. Now, he said,
I know that the Lord saveth his anointing. And another passage
over in Psalm 60 says, Thou hast given a banner to them that fear
thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. that thy
beloved may be delivered. A banner, not a flag to fly on
the podium. It's a message to preach, a person
to declare. Christ can never crucify. But
who is sufficient for these times? We have this treasure, this glorious
gospel to preach. God pleased by the foolishness
of preachers. Men that people call fools. And they themselves think themselves
to be so. But God uses earthen vessels. But that's all they are. And
who is sufficient for these things? Even Moses, it said in verse
12, his hands were heavy. His hands were heavy. He grew
tired, didn't he? Have you ever held something up for a long
period of time? I don't care how strong you are.
You hold it up, hold it up, hold it up. You have no strength.
You will fall. Your hands will fall. And Moses'
hands were heavy. And he grew tired. And he wanted
to quit. I can't do this anymore. But he had two faithful friends. You know, you don't want to be
a Moses. You don't want to be a Moses. But you do want to be
an Aaron or a Hur. Aaron and Hur loved Moses. They
loved the truth. They loved the gospel. They loved
the people of God. They were supporters. Who's more important? Moses? Oh, he's bibling. Or Aaron and
Hur that supported him, that enabled him, his hands to be
healed. Aaron and Hur, it says, took
a stone. Here, brother, you're tired,
aren't you? They were probably sitting over there on that stone. Oh, it's all Christ, isn't it?
It's all a picture of Christ. He's all in all things. But they
got up and they saw that he was tired. They said, here brother,
sit on this stone. It's a good stone. It's a tried stone. It's
a proven stone. We were sitting on it. But you're
tired. Now sit on this stone. And while
you sit on that stone and take some rest, we'll hold your hands
up. Because we need to see Moses, the people need to see the rod
of God. Our children, we need to see
it. Our children need to see it.
Here, Moses, we'll hold you up. Thank God for their errands and
hers. Just as important. Just as vital. So it says, His
hands were steady. His hands were steady till the
going down of the sun. And God has not left Himself
witness in every generation, a true man. There are few and
far between. And I say this not just to you,
but anybody that hears it, if you have one, hold his hands
up. We need this gospel. Us and our
children. Or we'll be defeated. We'll go
down. We'll fall. We'll be overcome
by this world. The Lord, look at verse 13, Joshua
discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And
Revelation 19 said, Out of his mouth went a sharp sword, that
with it he should smite the nations and rule them with a rod of iron. He that treadeth the winepress
of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and on his vesture
and on his thighs a name, King of kings and Lord of lords."
That's what the Lord Jesus Christ did. Now, Malachites, as we said, represent sin, all
the devils and demons in this world, the God of this world.
and the sin that lies within us and that old man within us.
And God promised that I'm going to wipe him out, put him away
forever. He's not going to bother you
one of these days. He's not going to bother you anymore. I promise. I promise. That's good news,
isn't it? Oh boy. I told you about that funeral.
That coffin of that dead body was covered with a flag. And I thought as I was watching
that, let me die covered, covered by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The flag of the United States,
that star spangled banner, the red In it stands for blood, white
for purity, blue for unity. The stars are the stars for unity. But Christ is our purity. Christ is our covering, isn't
it? Christ is the one who unites
us to the Father. It brings his people together,
brings them to the Father. He's the flag we fly. Christ
is our banner. And I thought that as I watched
that casket covered with that flag, I thought, let me be covered. Let me be covered with Christ's
righteousness. Let me be covered under the blood.
And baptism, I thought of that. Baptism is a picture of that. Crucified, buried, covered by
his blood and risen. Brother Ernest Parks, Brother
Daniel's father, wasn't in that shell. He wasn't in that. Brother Parks was a preacher
of the gospel for years. That's not what saved him, mind
you. But that was the banner that
he held for. I told Brother Dan I was going
to send him this message. He'll be blessed by it. But his
father was not in that casket. He's risen. We didn't come to
see him. We came to honor him. But I thought that's what baptism
is. Let me be buried to this world, crucified to this world,
and the world to me. And then we watched, in closing,
we watched those two chosen soldiers. Two chosen soldiers. This particularly
touched me. They took that flag that was
on that casket and they raised it up. And they were holding
that flag with firm grips, white gloves, and absolute respect. In unison. They were in step.
They were in sync. In reverence. In respect for
that flag. And they walked to the side of
that casket. And they began to fold it up.
Holding it tight the whole time. Dare not drop this. This can't
be trodden underfoot. This is too wonderful. This is
too meaningful. Somebody died. for this. And they folded it up. Oh, my. And then they began to
fold it into that triangle. Have you seen that? They began
to fold it into that triangle and walk one to another until
they were joined together. And then one of them took that
flag And tell that there. And then
they both. This Book is precious. This Book, God's Word, is my
salvation. And I don't like what people
are doing to it. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ obtained
my salvation. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, is payment for my sin. And I don't like what people
are saying about it. Universal redemption is desecrating
the blood of Jesus Christ. Saying that Christ died for everybody
and didn't really save anybody is desecrating the banner that
we hold forth. Do you hear me? It's not a matter
of doctrine. Jesus Christ's death is at stake. God's Word is at
stake. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus Christ's blood and righteousness. Not a point of
doctrine here. It's a person who gets to go. He died to obtain the redemption
of his people. Just as I get less tolerant Some of you men in here served,
didn't you? Several men in here served. What
do you think when you see people burning the flag? And if you, Brother Henry, you
will be given one of these military funerals. John. John. These men. John. These men that served.
Ron. Dad. That flag covering their
body. This means something. And they
wrote that. And this is not the time I'm
trying to instill patriotism at all. But it made me think
of that tune, O Say. Does that star-spangled banner
still wave? You know, the battle was intense.
And they thought as long as the soldiers could see that flag
flying, it meant Everything's fine. We're not captured. It's
not over as long as that man's holding that flag up, that banner
up. Everything's fine. Church! Oh, say, does that star-spangled
banner still wave over the land of the free and the home of the
brave? Let me change that a little bit. Oh, say, does this star-spangled
banner, this blood-stained banner still wave, the gospel? Yes,
it does. Over the land of the free. and the home of the saved. Does the gospel still hold for
him? Yeah, and his people rally around
it. They reverence it. They hold it tight. They don't desecrate it. They
treat it with great reverence. And then that man, that soldier,
took that flag that was held to his bosom and walked over
to the bride, the beloved of the one that died, they gave
it to her as a memorial to the one she had. This gospel is given, this precious
gift, given to the bride It's dear to the Father. Christ obtained
it, and He gives it to us as an everlasting memorial to Christ
in Heaven. Isn't that wonderful, or what?
Jehovah Missing is Jesus Christ's name. Arise, ye saints, so that
you can. Let's sing that hymn. Number
16, I believe it is. Number 16. Let's sing the first
and last verses of Numbers 16. John, you come.