Once more, it's such a delight
to be here. Glad to see you. It's good to see your faces. We're going to be in the book
of Numbers again, chapter 7, but I'd like to take you to a
verse over in the book of Revelation first. Would you turn with me
to the book of Revelation? Chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19. And I'd like to read verse 10. Revelation chapter 19 and verse
10. Now, this verse of Scripture
has to do with the passage we're going to be looking at in the
book of Numbers. Or the book of Genesis. Exodus, Leviticus,
Deuteronomy. or from 1st and 2nd Samuel down
to the book of Malachi. All the Old Testament was written
on purpose. It was not an afterthought, it
was an aforethought. God had all this in his mind
before the foundation of the world and he gave it to holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God
gave them directly what they were to write down. He did not
leave it up to them to decide what to write down. It was his
words given, and they wrote it down. Now we have a translation
of that, and I'm thankful for translations. Because as Brother
Mike brought out in the Sunday school lesson this morning, I
don't know any Greek, and I can't figure out Hebrew. So we have
a translation of that, and I'm thankful. Here in the book of
Revelation, though, in chapter 19, We have the reason for all
of the Old Testament scriptures, all of the prophecies, and that
means all the word of God in the Old Testament. Chapter 19,
verse 10, the scripture shares this, and I fell at his feet
to worship him. Now, this is John who is writing
the book of Revelation by inspiration. At the moment, he was caught
up. He saw someone that was in their
spiritual body and he said, this must be him. Well, and he said
unto me, see thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant and of
thy brethren. So that just gives us a little
glimpse of what it is to be in the presence of the king and
a regenerate state. And of thy brethren that have
the testimony of Jesus, we've been proclaiming, we proclaim
this. All our regenerate life, as God
called us into the ministry, we declared this message. We
didn't have time for anything else. There's not enough time
to study all about the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have time for
the other things. And it goes on to say, and have
the testimony of Jesus, worship God, for the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy. So all the Old Testament is a
declaration of Jesus Christ. His death, his burial, his resurrection,
his ministry, we find that he is declared to be king throughout
the entire Old Testament. He's also, we found, that he
is lowly. There in the book of Zechariah,
chapter 9 and verse 9, we found he's lowly, riding upon an ass. going into town and everybody
bowed down to worship him and it was fulfilled in Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John, this passage of scripture. So as we go back
over here to the book of Numbers, we're reading about the prophecy
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what he is doing with
his people. Recently, I had a book returned
to me that I gave to somebody in Florida. Nancy brought it
back with her. It's The Sovereignty of God by Arthur W. Pink. I said,
I'm going to read that book again. I've started reading that book
again. In there, in 1918, Arthur W. Pink, when he wrote the first
edition, what just happened in 1918? The conclusion of World
War I, the world was in chaos. He said at that time, most of
the theologians were preaching that God is in conflict with
the devil and it looks like the devil is winning. You know what? The devil isn't even in contention.
He's a created being. He is on the leash of Almighty
God. He is not even in contention. God worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Now he may use that created being,
but that created being is not in the league. with Almighty
God, with our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. One religious denominations
say that they were brothers. That is a lie from the pit. Jesus Christ was not a brother
with Satan. Satan is a created being. God
Almighty in Christ Jesus is eternal. Eternal. All right, using that,
let's go back over here to the book of Numbers chapter 7. And
we want to see this in its the part being played out in this
passage of scripture that we'd like to look at. Now, the book
of Numbers chapter 7 is the longest chapter. It's 89 verses long. There is much of this is a repetition
of the offerings that were made to dedicate the altar after the
tabernacle had been raised up. It had been built. All the work
had been done and it had been built. Now, we're going to read
12 different times. I think we'll probably just cover
one of them. You can read the rest. They're all the same. But
there is the dedication, sacrifices to dedicate the altar. And we
will look at the first one next week. But in Numbers chapter
7, beginning with verse 4, it says, And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, We always have the Lord's word instructing us. It is the Lord's word that instructs
us. That's one of the real blessings
of reading the word. It may be the shortest psalm,
but in that, the Lord can instruct us in his ways and in his purpose. It says that the Lord spake unto
Moses and we had an emissary that shared with us. Now it says,
take them. Now we just read last week that
the folks, the 12 tribes brought an offering. They brought something
to the Levites. They brought some wagons and
they bought some oxen. Now, no one, there's no record
that we have that they were told to do what they did. They did
it because God moved in them both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. That's how he gets his business
taken care of. He moves in his people to both
will and to do of his good pleasure, and he moved in these 12 men
to do what God wanted done. He didn't have to instruct him.
All right, and then it tells us here, Moses said, take them
that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation
and thou shall give them unto the Levites to every man according
to his service. And Moses took the wagons and
the oxen and gave them unto the Levites. Now notice verse seven
and eight with me. Two wagons and four oxen he gave
to the sons of Gershon. according to their service. Verse
8 And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Mareri,
according to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of
Aaron the priest. Verse 9 But unto the sons of
Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary
belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders. So we have the Lord dispensing
through Moses his everlasting purpose and a wonderful description
of how God does his business, how he continues to do his business
upon this earth. As we notice here, Moses took
the wagons and he declared how they would be appropriated. There
would be two wagons and four oxen to one of the families of
Levi. And there would be four wagons
and eight oxen to another family of the Levites. If we go back,
all of these people that are mentioned are sons of Levi. And
then we find, but to the sons of Kohath, their service, they
didn't get any. Now this is very interesting.
To me it just continues to show God in his sovereignty and God
how he does his business. That he is the mastermind of
all things. That nothing happens without
God. He permits all things. You know
what? He permitted me to hear the gospel. It wasn't that I was looking
for it. He permitted me to hear the gospel. And God granted mercy
to me after hearing the gospel and gave me belief, repentance,
and faith. Now let's move on here. In chapter
four, we looked at the jobs that these various families of the
Levites would do. Chapter four tells us what Kohath
would do. His responsibility was to go in and cover up all
the mercy seat, the Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbreads,
cover it all up, and they were given things to carry them on
their shoulders. And that was their responsibility.
They didn't get any oxen and they didn't get any courts. And
we find that the rest of the sons, they had different business
to tend to. Some of them had to take care
of all the coverings and some took care of the boards and all
that stuff. It took more to take care of the business that they
had. Now, here in this passage of
scripture, we run into a word called service. This word service
has a meaning that means labor or service or work or ministering. Three times in there, when it
talks about what the tribes would be doing or those people that
were Levites were to be doing, the word service is used. Now,
it comes to us from a word, a Hebrew word, which means to till or
to be a husbandman. Now, you may have never plowed
before, but you probably have seen it happen. the labor that
used to go in to plowing. I remember reading just recently
about a description of a piece of property. The description
of that piece of property was the amount a team of oxen could
plow in one day. That was the property description.
Well, today you get one of these big John Deere tractors and you
got a lot more property, don't you? Well, that's the way it
was. It was labor intensive. That's
what this word means. To be a husband or to be a person
that had a farm was labor. And that word has been brought
into our language here as service of these three families of the
Levites. Now turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Exodus. Back to the book of Exodus chapter
39. In Exodus chapter 39 and verse 32, We have this verse of scripture
that shares with us this word again. Exodus chapter 39 and
verse 32. The scripture shares this. Thus
was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation
finished and the children of Israel did according to all that
the Lord commanded Moses So did they. So in that verse of scripture
that word all the work is the same word we find over there
in the book of Numbers that said service. These three families
of the Levites had service to perform. God had directed the
service that they would do. Now one other place I want to
look at this word is found in the book of Isaiah chapter 32.
This word is used a great deal throughout the Old Testament
but Just wanted to pick out a couple of verses Isaiah chapter 32 and
verse 17 Isaiah chapter 32 and verse 17 and it says here and
the work of the righteous shall be peace and Now that is the
same word. The work of the righteous shall
be peace. The ministering of the righteous
shall be peace. The service of the righteous
shall be peace. Now that's not something that
we can cultivate. That's something that's given
to us. But it's still the service that we have is not only to be
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, but it's to be
at peace with one another. God gives us that peace. that he ordained in the covenant
of grace that would be a gift to us. Finishing up that verse
of scripture in Isaiah 32 and verse 17, the scripture says
there, the work of the righteous shall be peace and the effect
of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. Isn't
that interesting? They work and the effect of righteousness,
quietness, and assurance forever. What does God tell us in that
verse of scripture? He says, when I regenerate you,
this is what I give you. Now you can't create this on
yourself, but I give this to you and it is quietness and assurance
on your position as you stand before God. When we are called
before the council, our dependence is not on self, but upon the
Lord. He's already paid the very last
farthing on behalf of us, and as Brother Mike brought out in
the Bible class, double for all our sin. There's nothing that
is going to be found later that is uncovered. The blood of Jesus
Christ covers all our sin, and the blessing of it is to be at
peace with God, and then it tells us, and the effect of righteousness,
quietness, and assurance forever. How is it that God's people can
be quiet in turbulent times? Because God has given us the
knowledge that He is God and beside Him there is none else,
that He's doing according to His purpose. Now it may not look
it to us, but in the overall, the end, when we stand before
Him and we're seated at His feet, we'll say He has done all things
well. All right. What the Levites did was work,
it was labor, and it was ministering. The assignments given to each
group was not by their vote. The assignments given to them
was not by volunteering. The assignments given to them
was not by, I got the short straw. The assignments that were given
to them was by almighty God. Now we want to look at this service
because there's a big discussion today and it's always been. The discussion between Cain and
Abel was over the same thing as the discussion today is over. Where do works come into play? Where is my works recognized? What about works? What about
works? Well, we find over here that
these people were called on to do service and God gave them
the means to do it, gave them the job to do, and gave them
everything that was needed to accomplish it. Now, I don't find
any place throughout the Old Testament that any of those fake
folks complained about what they were given to do. I don't find
it. I don't find that anybody said,
I wish I'd have got that job. So we're going to look at this
just a minute. This is exactly what happened
in Numbers chapter 7 verses 7 through 9. The Lord supplied the means
to accomplish it. Two wagons, four oxen, four wagons,
eight oxen, and a bunch of shoulders. He supplied it. Now turn with
me, if you would, as we carry this thought through the scriptures
to the book of John chapter three in verse 27. John chapter three
in verse 27. John chapter 3, John, as he is
writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and we have it before
us here. John chapter 3 verse 27, we have
this message that John shares with us that carries us clear
back to the book of Numbers. It also carries us back to the
book of Genesis, the discussion that Cain and Abel had. As they
came together with their offerings, with their sacrifice, what is
this? Here in the book of John chapter
3 and verse 27, John answered and said, a man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven. Now, he's discussing the issue
of spiritual things. A man can receive nothing except
it be given to him from heaven. Now, there's always been a discussion
about our will, and we find John here takes that, sums it up,
and says, you cannot receive anything except it is given to
you from heaven. Now, a bunch of people walked
off and says, well, I have to take exception to that. And some
people said, I don't think that guy has his head on straight.
And there were a few that said, he is speaking for God. He has the message of grace. He is sharing with us a valuable
truth that we can receive nothing except it is given to us from
heaven. Any spiritual blessings, we can't
create them on our own. They could not create the wagons
or the oxen, but they used them. All right, turn with me, if you
would, to the book of Romans, chapter 12. The Romans chapter
12, we find that here the Lord shares with us through the Apostle
Paul, as he wrote to those saints at Rome. He is proving through
the scriptures the righteousness of Christ, and that righteousness
is the only thing that we can have, and that is imputed righteousness.
We have no works of our own that will accomplish anything. It
is given to us by God. It's from above. It's from heaven.
In the book of Romans chapter 12 and verse 6, the scriptures
share this, having then gifts differing. Can we go right back
there to the book of Numbers chapter 7 and read there? They
had gifts differing. This group had this amount, this
group had this amount, and this group didn't have anything. They
had shoulders. They had four wagons and eight
oxen, two wagons and four oxen. They had gifts differing. What? According to the grace that is
given us. Now, grace has a great significance
when it comes to studying the Bible. Grace is all of God. It has been mutated, in our generation
at least, and probably the last 15 generations, grace has been
mutated to works of grace. Isn't that a contradiction of
terms? Works of grace is a contradiction of terms. It has nothing to do
with the original meaning of the word. The word grace means
totally unmerited favor we did not deserve at all. I remember
going to the deacon of the church after I'd been saved, and I said,
you know, I don't know all that's happened, but I know this. I
know more about grace now than I ever knew. God could forgive
a sinner. God could take the place of a
sinner. Christ could die for a sinner, and that sinner was
me. I was a sinner before God and he died for me. That was
unmerited favor. I couldn't understand how he
could do that. Well here it says in Romans chapter
12 and verse 6 going on it says, whether gifts according to the
grace that is given us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according
to the proportion of faith. God gives to each according to
his grace. All right, Ephesians. We heard
this read this passage. I just want to read one verse
out of Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 7 as we think about this
passage of scripture over in the book of Numbers chapter 7
as God severally divided according to his purpose to those three
families of the Levites. In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse
7 again God is in charge He is the beginner of all things. He's
at the head of all things. He's in charge of all things.
It's no wonder we find continuously throughout the scripture salvation
is of the Lord and then he goes on to tell us how often that
passage of scripture is brought out in principle through the
scriptures. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He
is the one that has ordained all things. It is by Him. He
has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. He has
given us His righteousness, imputed righteousness, promise before
the foundation of the world. He has forgiven us because of
what took place in the covenant of grace. On and on it goes.
God's in charge of all things. When we hear, The Lord Jesus,
speaking unto Nicodemus in John chapter 3, Jesus asked him, you
being a teacher of the Jews and you don't know these things?
What is he talking about? He's talking about the books
of Exodus through Malachi and everywhere we go we find that
God was in charge. What did he tell Joshua about
the fall of Jericho? Is it because you're gonna march
around it seven times that it's gonna fall? No, I've given you
the battle. I've given you the city. And
every battle that was fought, I've given you the fight. I've
taken care of it. That's what he meant. He meant,
and we're hard for us, even as students of religion, as Nicodemus
was, cannot comprehend that God is in charge of salvation from
beginning to end. He is in charge of salvation.
He's in charge of this world. He's in charge of heaven. He's
in charge of hell. The keys of hell and death belong
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we all stand before
him at that great day, those on the right hand are thankful
for what he has done for them, that he permits them to enter
into his presence. And those on the left hand side,
he is able to do with them as he has pleased. Depart from me. Alright, here in the book of
Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 7, the scripture says, but unto
every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ. The grace he gives is according
to God's good pleasure, good purpose. You know, I've heard
some preachers that just put me to shame. Visit with one once
in a while and to hear him talk the time He has spent in the
Bible the knowledge that he has and the preaching is just outstanding
I just feel ashamed almost in his presence But you know what I'm not jealous
God has given him according to God's good pleasure All right,
Matthew back up to Matthew if you would In Matthew chapter
20, we find there's a discussion going on about, well, there was
these folks that got hired at the very beginning of the day.
And there was not quite enough, so the master went down and he
got hired some more. And you know what he promised
everybody? The same thing, a penny a day's wages. He hired some
at noon, he hired some in the afternoon, some in the late afternoon.
Guess what? They all got the same. And the
guys that started the work to begin with and got their penny,
they just knew they'd get a bonus because they worked all day long. Turn with me to the book of Matthew,
if you would, chapter 20. And verse 15, Matthew chapter
20, and verse 15, and it says, this master says, is it not lawful
for me to do what I will with my own? Is thine eye evil because I am
good? Is it not right, is it not lawful
for me to do my will with my own. Now that's just what God
says. It is lawful for me to do with
my own as I see fit. Why do some believers get sick?
It is lawful for me to do with my own as I see fit. Why are
some believers in just absolute poverty and some are in riches? Who is in charge of that? And who, you know, that thief
on the cross, he just did not have a lot of time to do a lot
of stuff. Guess what? He wasn't even baptized. He didn't have time to do much. He died quite quickly. In fact,
they helped him die so they could get him off the cross before
the Passover. And yet his words that God gave to him, that he
responded to the one that was between him and that other thief,
remember me when thou enterest into thy kingdom. And the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ to that man was, today thou shall be
with me in paradise. Who was in charge? the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords on the middle cross. He never gave up
his authority. What did he have to say about
his arrest? You could do nothing with me except it were given
of God. I laid down my life and myself that I might take it up
again. No man takes my life from me.
People have been forgiven for doing that. God did that. The Lord submitted himself to
that. Why? That he might present his
church spotless. That he might present them without
sin or without spot. Turn with me again to the book
of Romans chapter 9 if you would. Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter
9 and verse 18. We think about those Levites,
those families of the Levites and their responsibilities that
had been given to them and them carrying out those responsibilities.
As we look at that, they were teaching us about the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They're going
to take a tabernacle and fold it up, cover it up, and carry
it to the next place. Living, death, What did they
do when they got to the next place? They raised it back up.
The tabernacle was raised up again. Every time they did that,
they were declaring the death, the burial, and the resurrection
of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And that was the promise that
he fulfilled. In Romans chapter nine and verse 18, the scriptures
share this, for I reckon that the suffering of this, chapter
nine, excuse me, verse 18, Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will
have mercy, on whom he will... Did you read that next word? He hardened us. I will have mercy. Now where is that quoted from?
The book of Exodus. God told Moses that. I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And he also said, for this reason
have I raised the up-barrel, that I might show my power in
thee. The works of a believer and the
works of an unbeliever are completely two different things. Absolutely,
diametrically opposed. The works of a believer and the
works of an unbeliever. The works demonstrated by those
three families of Levites were totally different than the works
of an unbeliever. Now, there may have been a bunch
of unbelievers there, but in type and picture, they're showing
to us what a believer will do. Here's what I have done, here's
the means to do it, and here's the impetus I've given you to
do it. God works in his people to do what he wants them to do. Here in the book of, we read
that the works of a believer are the results of the new birth. Do you know that the works of
a believer are spiritual life proofs? They never reach back
and say, I did this so I could get it. They always say, I don't
know how I got this. You know what believers say? I don't know how I could even
be saved doing what I've done. And you know what the unbeliever
says? Well, I must be saved because look what I'm doing. Two totally
different spheres. The works of a believer are the
results of the new birth, spiritual proof Let us say they are spiritually
prompted and spiritually gifted for the glory of God and often
even unknown by the doer. You know, those on the right-hand
side, when Jesus told them, we read there in the book of Matthew
chapter 25, those on the right-hand side, he said, you did all this,
you did all this, and you did all this, and you did all this,
and you did all this. You know what their response was? When
did we do that? When did we do that? When did
we do that? And those on the left-hand side,
when didn't we do that? We did it all the time. We cast
out demons in thy name. We perform miracles in thy name.
What are you talking about? We didn't do anything for you.
Notice the diametrically opposed between believers and unbelievers. The elect and non-elect, those
without Christ and those with Christ, totally diametrically
opposed. Because this side over here says,
I don't know where that came from. God gave it to me. I couldn't
resurrect it. I couldn't bring it to pass.
I couldn't use it until he gave it to me. The gifts of God are
indispensable to the believer. And the gifts of God aren't even
recognized by unbelievers. I did it on my own. You know,
salvation is very definitely not of our works. One passage
of scripture comes to my mind immediately there in the book
of Ephesians chapter two, where it says not of works. You know,
the Apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to head off a lot
of stuff before it even got said or spoken. It's like the outriders
holding in a One of those runaway bunch of cattle. Keeping control. The Holy Spirit used the Apostle
Paul to bring up subjects that hadn't even been brought up yet.
To herd them back and say, not by works, lest any man should
boast. Not of works. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
a gift of God. Salvation's a gift. Faith is
a gift. Repentance is a gift. Not of works that any man should
boast, for we are his workmanship. You know, there was a group of
people came together one time and asked Jesus, now, we know
that you're a prophet sent from God, and we want to know What
works can we do? What works can we do to do the
works of God? Turn with me if you would to
the book of John chapter 6. John chapter 6. In John chapter
6 verse 28 and 29. The whole people, you know, and
it still goes on. What can I do? I have people
come to me and say, did you read that over there in the book of
Acts when that Philippian jailer came out? And he said, sirs,
what must I do to be saved? That's the same thing these guys
are asking. Paul never fell into that trap. You know who's a savior
is Christ Jesus, the Lord. It's not what we do here in the
book of John chapter six and verse twenty eight. It tells
us Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work
the works of God? Now, you see that little S on
the end? Now look at the answer in the
next verse. Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work. What might we do to do the works
of God? And Jesus said, this is the work
of God. Now what is His work? That ye
believe on Him whom He has sent. That's the work of God. That
ye may believe on Him. And how did we get that? It's
the work of God. It's God's work in us that we
believe. Faith cometh by hearing and by
the hearing hearing the word of God, but he's the author and
finisher of our faith. He's the one that got the train
started over there in the book of Numbers, chapter 7. He's the
one that moved on those 12 men to bring these gifts. And these
gifts are dispensed among the three families of the Levites.
This family gets this, this family gets this, and this family gets
to use their shoulders. Why? Because God's sovereign.
He does as he pleases. And here we find the work of
God. That's God's work. Now it's not
works. We don't do works to appropriate
this. It's God's work in us that saves
us. So these three families, the
Levites, were purposed of God to use the means provided to
do the work of moving the tabernacle. They too demonstrated the gospel. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Salvation is of the Lord. He
made us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Let's go
to the work. It's of God. Now works on our
own will not appropriate anything. We hear those on the left hand
side and millions and millions lined out there saying, when
did we not do that? You must be mistaken. And those
on the right hand said, when did we do that? And he said,
as much as you did it unto one of the least of these, you did
it unto me. They didn't even know. Next week
we pray to share the offerings of this tribe of Judah, which
is an example of all the tribes. The first day of dedicating the
altar. Who is our altar? You know, we
don't have an altar here. Our altar is Christ. We don't
have an invitation, because our invitation is Christ. He is everything. And I had a man the other day,
he says, what do you do when someone comes and says, I think
I'm lost. I says, go get alone with the
Lord, because I can't help you from here. It's in his business
now. I can't take it. If you want me to read scripture,
I can, but I can't get you past this point. It's in the hands
of the Lord. Brother Mike.