Well, good morning, and it certainly
is good to be in services this morning. Appreciate each one
that's here. Remember one another in prayer.
Remember our families in prayer, our children, our grandchildren.
Pray for those who are not able to be with us today, and we look
forward to their presence again. Well, we're going to be in the
book of Numbers once again, the book of Numbers. And I would
encourage you, if you would, to turn to chapter 2. And I'd
like to read the last two verses of chapter 2. Then we're going
to go back to chapter 1 and read a few verses and look at the
subject of the Levites in this first two chapters in particular.
Now I want to note that chapters 3 and 4 are exclusive with regard
to the Levites and the tribe of Levi, but there's a few verses
here in chapters 1 and 2 interspersed among the directions that a sovereign
God, an orderly God, gave Moses with regard to their setup of
the camp and orderliness in that way. In chapter 2, verses 33 and 34. Let's read those together. Chapter 2 verses 33 and 34. But the Levites were not numbered
among the children of Israel as the Lord commanded Moses.
And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord
commanded Moses. So they pitched by their standards
and set. So they set forward everyone
after their families according to the house of their fathers.
Now if you'll turn back with me to the book of Numbers chapter
1. In verse 47, we'd like to begin
reading this section, and we mentioned a few things in one
of the messages beforehand, but we'd like to look at some important
instructions that were given to Israel and to the Levites
here in this passage of scripture, and we look at a way that the
tribe of Levi is a protection against the wrath of God. Protection
against the wrath of God. But the Levites, verse 47, after
the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them. For
the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying, Only thou shalt not number
the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children
of Israel. But thou shalt appoint the Levites
over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all the vessels thereof,
and over all the things that belong to it. They shall bear
the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof, and they shall minister
unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle." Now, we
know that the tribes, the other twelve tribes, were set up in
an orderly fashion on the north, south, east, and west of the
tabernacle, but the tribe of Levi was also put in an orderly
fashion around the tabernacle, and we're going to find out that
they're there for the protection of the wrath of God. they're
going to be there for service yes they're going to be there
to take down the tabernacle when it's time to move yes they're
going to be there to set it up when it's time to raise it up
again that's correct they're going to go through all the services
that God commanded them all the sacrifices but notice with me
here in these scriptures that Levi was going to be a uh... play a very important part for
the rest of the tribes of israel and when the tabernacle verse
fifty one when the tabernacle set us forward the levi's shall
take it down and when the tabernacle is to be pitched the levi's shall
set it up and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death
now some people might say that that's a stranger that's one
of the hittites or the haivites and that god had put a particular
note in here with them approaching that's not what this means the
stranger that is mentioned here is a stranger that's not a part
of the tribe of levi those who do not camp closest to it but
any of the other 12 tribes that are camped outside the area of
the tabernacle beyond the tribe of levi and their encampment
These are the strangers. So if there's anybody that has
some curiosity, there's anybody that has an idea that they can
go and do what the Levites are doing, God has put right here
in the word of God, right there for the Levites, right there
for Moses, right there for the rest of the tribes of Israel.
He has put in here that the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put
to death. And then we find here, moving on in verse 52, the children
of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp and
every man by his own standard throughout their host. But the
Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony,
that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children
of Israel. Now notice that phrase that's
used there, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of
the children of Israel. So we notice here, as we noticed
in verse 51, that the Levites are there for a very particular
reason when it comes to the wrath of God. That they are there to
protect the rest of the children of Israel from the wrath of God.
They're there to stop the stranger. They're there to stop anybody
from coming and looking at the tabernacle, or participating,
or peeking in, or saying, I wonder what's inside of there, and walking
in. It reminds me, again, of seeing those children in films
that peek under the circus tent, you know, they don't want to
pay the fare, so they peek in. The Lord is protecting all of
the tribes of Israel against that very thing by setting up
the Levites where they are. It goes on to tell us then in
verse 54, the conclusion of this chapter, and the children of
Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so
did they. When the tabernacle was set up,
God sent out a protective care. on the behalf of the rest of
Israel, and he uses the tribe of Levi to do this. They are,
anyone that might think about it, are excluded, and a crime
of serious consequences was committed if they did come near to the
tabernacle. Now, we find that God has many
instructions in the scriptures that have no variation, no room
for variation. There is just nothing that will
substitute for the plain word of God. And if you'll just take
a moment here, to look with me we find that just as god put
the levi's for the protection of the other tribes so we find
that his word has been commanded to protect people to protect
his people and in the book of second samuel there's quite an
incident here in the book of second samuel and in the book
of second samuel we find an individual who thought he was doing the
service of God and God struck him dead as a result of his Doing
this work and in 2nd Samuel chapter 6 verses 1 through 7 and we'll
find out that it was the Levites that were to protect people from
this very incident and Because we're going to look in just a
moment over in the book of first chronicles and it was there that
David understood David was brought to the attention of that it was
the Levites who were to carry that to the mercy seat but here
in the book of 2nd Samuel chapter 6 verses 1 through 7 it says
again David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel
30,000 and David arose and went with all the people that were
with him from Bailey and of Judah to bring up from thence the ark
of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of the
hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark
of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab
that was in Gibeah. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons
of Abinadab, drove the new cart. So they set this ark on a cart,
with and it was a new card it wasn't a farm cart it wasn't
dirty uh... it had been used for uh... other
uh... things it was uh... new cart
very commendable that to use a new cart then we have someone
out in front and we have this man behind protecting the ark
they set the ark upon this new cart and then it says in verse
four and they brought it out of the house of ademadad which
was in gibeah Accompanying the ark of God and Ohio Went before
the ark he's out in the lead and David and all the house of
Israel played before the Lord and all manner of instruments
made of firwood even on harps and psalteries and on timbrels
and on cornets and on cymbals and And when they came to Naakon's
threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the Ark of God, and
took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. They stumbled and shook
the cart, and here's a man, thinking he's doing the right thing, reaching
out to steady the Ark. And it says in verse seven and
the anger of the lord was kindled against usa and god smote him
there for his error for his rashness and there he died by the ark
of god and david was just uh completely upset it says he was
displeased because the lord had a breach upon usa and he called
the name of the place Perez usa to this day now there's another
passage of scripture over in the book of first chronicles
if you turn there with me to the book of first chronicles
chapter 13 we find here in first chronicles chapter 13 one other
verse now it's in much the same incident that is here the transporting
of the ark and in first chronicles chapter 13 and verse 10 it says
and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he
smote him, because he put his hand to the ark, and there he
died before the Lord. uh... these times about this
one man thinking he was doing the right thing but he was doing
exactly the wrong thing and you know we might say well they should
have known better they should have done better well let's just
turn over here to chapter fifteen of the book of numbers excuse
me of first chronicles first chronicles chapter fifteen and
we have some more about this incident and a lesson that david
learned with regard the movement of this arc Now it's brought
out over there in the book of Numbers that the Levites were
there for the protection from the wrath of God. Anybody that
came up and thought he might come up to the ark or look into
the tabernacle or any of that, they were there to protect him.
Now if he went through the lines, he was to be killed. He was to
be taken out and killed. Now, the wrath of God is nothing
to mess with. The wrath of God is brought out
so many places in the Word of God, and yet we find that the
Levites were there for the protection against the wrath of God. Well,
this is going to lead us into a wonderful statement, wonderful
thought, wonderful message about what the Lord plays, where He
plays an important part in protecting us from the wrath of God. So
let's look here over in First Chronicles, Chapter 15. Then
David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. Now what do they do in this incident? They're going to protect people
like Uzzah from touching it. They're going to protect people
that want to reach out and help God. they're going to protect
from these people that didn't know any better. They're the
ones that stopped the wrath of God. The Levites were stationed
in such a position around the tabernacle and around the ark
and all the instruments of the tabernacle. They were there to
protect every other tribe from the wrath of God. It tells us
here, for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God
and to minister unto him forever. So we're going to find out how
this is such a leading point with regard to the Lord Jesus
Christ. that it is he that has been the appointed one to protect
the church. He's been set up to protect the
people of God and no one else will take his place. You remember
over there in the book of Leviticus there were two sons of Aaron
by the name of Nadab and Abihu. Let's just turn back there to
the book of Leviticus chapter 10 for just a moment. Even these
Levites the sons of Aaron in the book of uh... Leviticus the
book of Leviticus there in the book of Leviticus chapter ten
Leviticus chapter ten we have this message given to us by the
Lord through the writer through Moses uh... the servant of God
the prophet of God that uh... was set up by God to give us
these wonderful books and remember what the Lord said about Moses
if you knew Moses, you'd know me for Moses wrote of me. Here in the book of Leviticus
chapter 10 verses 1, 2, and 3, it says, And Nadab and Abihu,
the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire
thereon, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before
the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out
fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the
Lord. And Moses said unto Aaron, This
is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them
that come nigh to me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. What
a statement that uh... is made here with regard to god
and god's purpose in god's way and god's grace and how important
it is to follow the very way of god and when god shares with
us his way and his uh... manner of saving people there
is no alternative there's no other way but his way there's
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved So these, even though dressed in the priestly dress
and having the priestly name and going through all of the
induction that was made on their behalf and the clothes that were
prepared for them, their heart was wrong with God and God judged
them and God killed them on the spot. And in fact, it shares
with us that Aaron was not even to mourn over the death of these
sons. In the book of Genesis chapter 3 we find that God has
his purpose and he has his plan and he will carry it out according
to his determinate will and folks do not come near the tabernacle
And if they don't stay away, God will slay them on the spot. And here in the book of Genesis,
we find this taking place in Genesis chapter 3. Now, we know
that Adam sinned against God, the fall as we know it, that
he brought depravity. uh... totally privately upon
all of his descendants and that doesn't mean that they're not
going to be righteous self-righteous and it doesn't mean they won't
do good things self-good things but it does mean that it affected
every fiber of their being every atom of their being and there's
none that doeth good and no not one and god looked down to see
if there was any that did and none did so here in the book
of genesis chapter three we notice that the lord put up a symbol
to Adam and to Eve. He put up a statement to Adam
and to Eve. He put up a statement to all
men that there is no approaching Eternal life any other way but
God's way he put up. Well, let's just read here in
the book of Genesis chapter 3 and there in verse 24 after he Put
men man out of the Garden of Eden. It says in verse 23 therefore
God the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till
the ground from whence he came and And in verse 24, So he drove
out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden
cherubims, and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep
the way of the tree of life. You cannot go to the tree of
life except to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our tree of life.
So anything that they, any thought that they had in their mind that
they could approach this tree of life on their own and get
eternal life was shunned by almighty God. It was protected just like
we find that the Levites were placed there to protect the rest
of the tribes from wrath We find that the Tree of Life, the Lord
Jesus Christ, has been placed in His place as our all-sufficient
Savior. What the Levites pictured, Christ
was the fulfillment. The Levites pictured protection. The Levites pictured the line
that was drawn. We read in the scriptures that
God dealt with another incident and it was a cousin of Moses,
a cousin of Aaron that raised up and thought he had the same
rights that they did and we find there in the book of Numbers
chapter 16 that God took care of Korah and his family and uh... then if you'll turn with me to
numbers chapter sixteen and verse forty one we read there that
there was the whole group of israel came up and they had this
to say about korah and his family in chapter numbers chapter sixteen
and there in verse uh... forty one number sixteen and
verse forty one god's word shares this with us it says And on the
morrow, after this whole incident took place, after God did his
judgment, after he opened up the earth and swallowed corn,
his family, and all the tents and everything in a manner that
had never happened before, it says, but on the morrow, all
the congregation of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
saying, ye have killed the people of the Lord. It came to pass
when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron,
and they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation, and behold,
a cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared, and Moses
and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation, and the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Get you up from among this congregation,
that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon
their faces, and Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put
fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly
unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them. For there
is wrath gone out from the Lord, and the plague is begun. And
Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the
congregation. And behold, the plague was begun among the people,
and he put on incense, and made atonement for the people, and
he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was
stayed." How pictorial this is! of someone standing in the way
to take the punishment to make atonement for people stand between
the living and the dead and he stood between the dead and the
living and the plague was stayed now that They that died in the
plague were 14,700 beside them that died about the matter of
Korah. The wrath of God was loosed,
and the only thing that would stop that was the purpose of
God. As Aaron demonstrates here, an
atonement must be made. Someone must stand between the
dead and the living. And this points us so much to
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord in fact shares with
us in the book of John. What a wonderful passage of scripture
this is in the book of John when the Lord shares with the church.
He shares with his disciples. He shares with us today. Just
the same validity that he shared with those people so long ago,
his disciples so long ago, is these words for his people today.
It is wonderful to find out that there is a line drawn in the
sand. It's wonderful today to find out that there is a protective
hand that has been placed. And this is the protective hand.
This is the one that stands between the dead and the living. This
is the one that protects us from going where we shouldn't go.
This is the one that protects us from doing things that we
shouldn't do when it comes to religiosity. We may have practiced
it all of our normal life. We just went along. but God intervened
in time and it says that he was sent this one was sent and this
one was sent to do the will of God and this one was sent to
protect his people from the wrath of God and in the book of John
chapter 14 and we read there in the verse 6 it says and Jesus
said unto him he said unto Thomas but just as he said it to thomas
he says it to me he says it to you he says it to all the children
of god he shares this very wonderful thing I am the way I am the protection
for the church I am the way there is no other way any other way
will be dealt with by the wrath of god all there are that goes
up are thieves and robbers and how they would Attempt to steal
the very glory of God and here he says I am the way and I'm
the truth I am the way the truth. There is no truth outside of
Christ religion has christ and christ plus christ this christ
that attitude but there is no other way but the truth and he
is the truth and the truth is the lord jesus christ and there's
no protection outside of that way he reveals the truth to us
by the holy spirit when the word is preached he reveals christ
to us the truth to us the way to us and then he goes on to
say and the life. There's no life outside of this
keeper of the wrath of God, the one that stands between the dead
and the living, the one that makes atonement for his people,
the one that goes out and takes care of the issue that was created
by Adam in the Garden of Eden. he protected adam and eve from
going to the tree of life he does the same thing today there
is no avenue outside of the way that leads to christ the way
that leads to the cross and in fact it tells us here in the
book of john chapter fourteen and verse six and no man cometh
unto the father but by me there's no other road there's no other
way there's no other life there is no other truth But the truth
that is in Christ Jesus, there's no mixture. There's no alloy.
It all is in Him. He is the one that is truly set
up to protect the church. from all the folly that the church
could create before he reveals himself to them. He is the one
that protects the church. It tells us here in Matthew chapter
3, Matthew chapter 3, as John speaks to a group of people that
come to him for baptism, there's a lot to be said about baptism
in the scriptures, but most of what people have to say about
baptism is unscriptural. The Apostle Paul says, I came
not to baptize, I came to preach Christ. Baptism is a statement
about what Christ has already done to us. Everyone that the
Lord has ever sent to me to be baptized has come requesting
it. I've never given an invitation
to anyone to be baptized. God has the ability of working
in the hearts of His people and sharing with them the need to
follow the Lord in baptism and to honor Him, honor His word,
and declare in this manner what Christ has done for them, what
God has done for them, what the Father, what the Holy Spirit
has done for them in their salvation. But notice here in the book of
Matthew chapter 3 and verse 7, Scripture share this and but
when he saw many of the Pharisees John was baptizing in Jordan
when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees Come to his baptism. He said unto them Oh generation
of vipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come
To many people, baptism is just a fire escape. It's just, well,
I've done that, now I'm okay. Well, baptism is declarative.
It doesn't get us anything. There is no spiritual blessing,
per se, in baptism. Spiritual blessings are in Christ
Jesus, and He extends those many blessings to us in the covenant
of grace. He extends them to His people
who are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation
of the world. He extends them to the church.
But he does not extend just a fire escape. He extends Christ. He's
the protector of the wrath of God. He's the one that's been
set up to protect the children of God from the wrath of God.
In John chapter 3 and verse 36, we have these words recorded.
John chapter 3 and verse 36. Turn there with me if you would
in your Bibles. John chapter 3 and verse 36, it's a blessing. I notice people, they have their
tablets, they read their Bible from their tablets, they read
their Bible from their phones, they read their Bible from a
book. How glorious is that, to be at a time when we can do that.
John chapter 3 and verse 36, the scripture says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The wrath of God abideth on him. There's no protection from the
wrath of God. There's no protection from trying
to peek into the tabernacle. or trying to peek into the mercy
seat. Sudden death. It will take place
immediately. That is the sudden death of God.
Now there are those who are dead and those who are living. And
the Lord Jesus Christ stands between them. He has marked out
a people from the foundation of the world that will go through
this life and always be in spiritual death. He's gone through the,
before the foundation of the world, he went through a group
of people. He says, they're in time. I will come to them in
the time of love, and I will address them with the gospel,
and the Holy Spirit shall breathe into their nostrils, their spiritual
nostrils, the breath of life, and they shall become a living
soul, and I'll resurrect them from the dead. I'll bring them
out of spiritual darkness. They will be quickened, and they
will realize that forever, for eternity, I have been the life
for them. For eternity, I've been the way
for them. and for eternity I've been the truth for them. And
though by nature we don't believe that, by the grace of God He
reveals that to us. In the book of Romans, chapter
five, verse nine, we find the apostle Paul speaking about God's
wrath and about the protection from God's wrath. Those Levites
were put in a particular place. We know that they were, it was
handy to be next to the tabernacle where all that work was going
on, but it was beneficial to the rest of the tribes of Israel
to have them there, to protect them from the wrath of God. It'd
protect people who got a little inquisitive. Lord, how gracious
you are to protect us, even in our ignorance, from the wrath
of God. We may have been in all sorts
of religious denominations and practicing all sorts of nonsense,
but Lord, thank you for protecting us from the wrath of God. For
it tells us here in Romans chapter 5 and there in verse 9, the scripture
says, much more than being now justified by his blood. When
were we justified? We've been eternally justified. God has marked us out in the
covenant of grace eternally. He's been dealing with us. He
wrote our names in the Lamb's Book of Life, and He's given
us eternal justification. He allows us to find that out
in time. It's His purpose to do that.
And we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Now, it's wonderful
to find out that God's people have never been under the wrath
of God. Now, their substitute was But
they have never been under the wrath of God. They're eternally
justified. They've been eternally saved.
No way could they ever die before they hear the gospel. And their
time after that's been marked out, an appointed time. Just
like everybody else, there's an appointed time. What we hear
today about all the disease in the world, how people have an
untimely death, nobody has ever had an untimely death. Now, we
may think that in our flesh, but in the spirit we realize
that God has a time appointed for everybody that has ever been
born to die. That's just God, and He has the
ability of doing that. He's great enough to fulfill
His promise. It's appointed and the man wants
to die. It doesn't matter whether we get some dreaded disease,
polio, or pneumonia. We'll not leave this world one
day before we're supposed to, and not live one day longer than
we're supposed to. It's appointed of God. So it
also shares with us here that we're not appointed. Romans chapter
five and verse nine, we just read that. We shall be saved
from the wrath through him. How? Being now justified by his
blood. What is he? He is the protector.
He's the line, marks off the wrath of God. He stands between
the dead and the living. He's the one that makes atonement
for the living. And he leaves the dead alone.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 9. Let's turn over there if you
would for just a moment. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and
verse 9. What a blessing this is as we
read in this passage of scripture and when we study the wrath of
God. And there's so much in the Bible about God's wrath being
exercised. He just practiced it because
His wrath is real. And it's a wrath that burns to
the bone, if you please. It's a wrath that takes care
of the problem. Just as someone came through the Levites and
got over to the tabernacle, God's wrath was poured out instantaneously.
His wrath was poured out and they were to be slain. Right
there, they were to be killed because they did something that
no man should do. We need a protector. We need
someone to stand before us. We need someone to protect us
from our own ignorance and our own foolishness and our own stupidity.
And the Lord Jesus Christ has taken that role upon himself
to protect us. Here in the book of 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5, if you would, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, And there in verse
9, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 9 says, For God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ. Where did the wrath of God against
the sins of his people fall in order that he might say they
are not appointed to wrath? Never have been. Never will be. They were not appointed to wrath.
Well, there's only one way that God could do this very thing,
and that is not appoint His people to wrath, is that He had purpose
to place His wrath for every one of His children upon His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one place is effectual or
will accomplish the putting away of sin, the wrath of God must
fall on our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. The wrath of God
must fall on Him. It's going to fall on people
or upon Him. Now for all those that the Lord
loved before the foundation of the world, the wrath of God fell
on the substitute. He stands in our place. He's the protection that we need. The picture is over there that
Levi, the tribe of Levi, would protect the children of Israel
from the wrath of God. He is the one that does that
and protects us. And on behalf of the children
of God, the Lord Jesus did that very thing. Now, there are many
verses in the New Testament that could fulfill a statement that
we just made, but let's turn back to the book of Isaiah, chapter
53. In such a short order, there is so much said about God's wrath
being poured out, and being poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Isaiah 53, and
I'm just going to read verse 10. It'd do well to read the
whole chapter, but we're going to just read verse 10 here. And
it shares with us, yet it pleased the Lord. Isaiah 53, verse 10,
yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now, we deal with bruises
all the time. If you fell down, you got a bruise.
If you bumped something, you got a bruise. It's been around
the eyes, it's on the face, it's on our hands, knees, our feet,
wherever we had a broken blood vessel, we have a bruise. And over time it heals and all
that black and blueness dissipates. Well, this word bruise found
here in the book of Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 10 is not that at
all. This word bruise means to crush,
to beat to pieces, to break to pieces. God's wrath was placed
on Christ. full payment would be made. He
is the only one that can protect us from the wrath of God. He's
the only one that will protect us from the wrath of God. And
it was in the covenant of grace that he promised to protect us
from the wrath of God. The church is protected from
the wrath of God. God's wrath was never intended
to be poured out upon the church, but it has always, as in the
covenant of grace, been intended to be poured out upon the Son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Going on with that same verse
in Isaiah 53 verse 10, he hath put him to grief when thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin. Now this is when the wrath
of God came. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. There's a promise that God would put his wrath upon
the Son, and as a result, the Son would see his seed. God would
see his children. The Lord Jesus Christ would see
his brethren. The wrath of God was going to
be placed upon him, and all of God's people stood in Christ
Jesus when that took place. No wrath touched us, but the
wrath of God touched him. In our area here, we've had a
number of fires. small ones. In other areas around
us we've had some very large fires, but we've had some relatively
small fires, several acres, four or five acre fires here around
the Dalles. And you know, dry grass, no rain,
very extreme conditions, and the slightest spark can set it
off. Well, it reminds me of an account of a wagon master and
a group of wagons coming across the plains on the Oregon Trail
many years ago, and they saw that there was a prairie fire,
and that prairie fire was headed in their direction. And the wagon
master was met with much concern. What are we going to do? What
are we going to do? And he said, bring me some matches. And they
said, what are you going to do? He said, I'm going to start a
fire. And they were aghast. But he threw a match down in
that very dry grass. It began to burn. And it burned
and burned and burned. And finally, after a place was
burned off, he says, okay, everybody get in that place in there where
it's black. He says, stand where the fire
has already burned. Now that was their protection.
The wrath is coming, but stand where the fire has already burned. Stand in Christ, in other words. He is our only protection against
the wrath of God, and he is purposed to do that on our behalf. It
is no wonder he said from the cross, my God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? And as is recorded in the book
of the Psalms, why art thou far from the words of my roaring?
God's wrath is not indiscriminate. It's like a tornado rising over
one house and leaving it untouched. Lot is an example. He must be
taken out before the destruction of Sodom. And he was taken out,
could not destroy Sodom until just Lot was taken out. Now we
realize his two daughters were taken out, and his wife was taken
out, but she turned around, turned to a pillar of salt. She identified
herself as a person that was not protected from the wrath
of God. Not protected in Christ. She
never left Sodom. Her heart was there in Sodom.
It was not in the hills where Lot was headed. We find in the
book of Matthew, chapter 25, at that great day when judgment
takes place, when the great shepherd divided his sheep from the goats.
As a shepherd would divide his sheep from the goats, he divides
the nations. And on the right hand, he said,
come blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. What is he saying in that verse
of scripture? He's saying, come. You have had the wrath of God
poured out on a substitute. It's not your righteousness,
it's righteousness imputed to you. He says to those on the
left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. And in verse 46 of that 25th
chapter, he says, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment,
but the righteous into life eternal. What's the protection? What's
the difference? What was set up to protect those
people from going down into the pit? The Lord Jesus Christ, the
way, the truth, and the life is their only protection. And
he stood in their way, stood in their place, and took upon
himself the wrath of God. And we, the church, will never
feel the wrath of God. How blessed is that? How blessed
it is to know that God's wrath has always been intended to be
poured out on the Son and never been intended to pour out on
the church. And yet those on the left hand
side depart from me. You curse it into everlasting
fire. I never knew you. But what a blessing it is that
God would provide this great salvation in this great Savior
to a sin ridden, sin hell bound people left alone and has blessed
them so mightily in the person Christ Jesus. Well, we're going
to stop there for this morning and Lord willing, next Sunday
we'll pick up there in the book of Numbers chapter 3 and 4 and
we'll look at the tribe of Levi as it's brought out here in this
glorious book of Numbers as God shares the gospel, the gospel
according to the book of Numbers.