Good morning. We're going to
be sometime in the book of Numbers, the gospel according to Numbers.
But on your way there, once again, would you stop by the book of
John chapter 5. John chapter 5, and I'd like
to begin reading with verse 42. John chapter 5 and verse 42,
we have some words that the Lord Jesus shared with a group of
religious folks, with regard to their trust in Moses. John 5, verse 42, and it lends
itself as we go back to one of the books of Moses that we will,
by God's grace, we will see some mighty pictures, types, and shadows
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the book of Numbers.
It is the gospel according to Numbers. The gospel is there.
We have the gospel preacher there, the Lord Jesus. We have his servant
Moses and of other folks there that will represent him well
too. But in the book of John chapter five, beginning with
verse 42, the word of God says, but I know you, this is the Lord
speaking, that ye have not the love of God in you. Speaking
to a group of religious folks. I am come in my Father's name,
and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive
honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from
God only? Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye
would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe
not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? The Lord shares
so much in those few words to us about the writings of the
Old Testament, the writings in particular of Moses, the book
of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These
books wrote of Christ. These books declared the Lord
Jesus Christ. So as we travel back to the book
of Numbers, stop by one more time in the book of Isaiah. The
book of Isaiah chapter nine. The book of Isaiah chapter nine,
and I'd like to read verse six. In this passage of scripture,
we have the child that is going to be born. We have a declaration
of the God-man. We have a declaration of the
Son of Man coming to this world. In this passage of scripture,
we have some names that are given to him and yet that is a misnomer. This is his name. There's not
plurality in that sense. There's hyphens between them
but there's not commas between them. This is his name. It tells
us here in the book of Isaiah chapter 6. For unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be on
his shoulder, and his name shall be called. Now notice this name. Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This is
his name. Now we're gonna go back over
here to the book of Numbers now, chapter one, and we're introduced,
not for the first time in the Bible, but for the first time
in this book, we're introduced to a name. In our translation,
it is Lord. It is capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. The third word in verse one,
Lord. word is translated here in our
translation from the Hebrew word Jehovah. I mentioned this recently
that today we're called on to say Yahweh. I'm still going to call it Jehovah.
That's what I grew up with. We have this name Jehovah here
and the Lord or Jehovah spake unto Moses. Now that's a wonderful
way that God, the Holy Spirit, inspired Moses to write that
it was Jehovah that was writing to Moses. Moses did not have
to create any of the words that we find in the original language
for the book that he wrote. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
or Deuteronomy. He did not have to sit down with
a thesaurus and have to come up with some words that meant
something because the Holy Spirit gave him the words in the original
language word by word. He gave him holy men of God,
spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God gave him these
words. Now it's quite apparent here
in the book of Numbers chapter one, verse one, the Lord spake
unto Moses. Now it is to me an interesting
thing for God to speak to a man and we'll deal with that in time,
but I'd like to spend some more time today on this name Jehovah. There are a number of times that
there are other words added to this name to give us great significance
about his person, great significance about his work and ministry. This one, Jehovah. This one,
Jehovah, as is recorded here. Now, keep your finger right here,
and we're going to go over to the book of the Psalms for just
a moment. Psalm 83 and verse 18. In Psalm 83 and verse 18,
we have this word Jehovah used And it gives us some wonderful
information about who he is, his very being in Psalm 83 and
verse 18. This is one of the times in the
scripture that the name Jehovah is spelled out. I didn't translate it, but I
wish they'd have done that everywhere. But in this one case, it says,
Psalm 83 verse 18 that men may know that thou whose name alone
is Jehovah art the most high over all the earth whose name
is Jehovah whose special name is Jehovah. This is the I am
Jehovah. This is the self-existing one
Jehovah. This mysterious name belongs
only to God. It is glorious. as we find in
the scripture as it tells us about his absolute divine perfection,
of his divinity, of his pure nature, of his eternality, of
his immensity. Sometimes I just need to spend
some time on how big is God. You just can't get to the end
of it. His invisibility, and his lordship as it's declared
in this name Jehovah this name is only applied to the true and
the living God as we find him in scripture we do not find this
name ever applied to any other person or to any other God Other
names that we find with reference to God in the Bible are also
applied to other human deities, to false gods, but this one is
his name alone. This name Jehovah is used a number
of times in combination with other words that share with us
his greatness to his people and his blessings to his people because
all of them in those names of Jehovah with another word or
two added to it, always share with us the blessings that God
has for the church and the blessings that God has for the church only. Each of these Jehovah titles
shares some wonderful things of God's provision for each and
every one that he has ever purposed to save out of all time. know
the other day I was laying in bed just thinking about how did
God call all the sins of all his people out of all time to
one place and lay on him the iniquity of us all? He called
all the sins of his first generation of creation all the sins of the
first ones he saved and then God knowing and purposing to
save a people after he went to the cross he called all their
sins before they were ever committed He called them and brought them
to one place at one time to the cross to his only begotten son,
the God-man, Emmanuel, the son of man, hung on that cross and
God was able to call all those sins at one place at one time
and lay on him the iniquity of us all. and God the Son was able
to dispatch them and put them away and pay for them completely
so that all his people would be free of that plight. Amazing. Beyond what I can even
think of how he could do that. Well, last week we looked at
four of these Jehovah titles, and the first one that we looked
at was Jehovah, My Banner. It's found in the book of Exodus
chapter 17. Would you back up there for just a moment to the
book of Exodus chapter 17? In Exodus chapter 17. We have
this Jehovah title that is brought out in scripture. As we look
at the book of Numbers, the one that brought the message was
Jehovah. He has already revealed himself
a number of times in this capacity, and he is going to do some more
after the writing of the book of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
and Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and share with us in a compact
form the glory that Jehovah is to the church. In the book of
Exodus chapter 17, we read there in verse, beginning with verse,
well, let me just get to that verse. In verse 15, after they had won
a great battle, it says, and Moses built an altar and called
the name of it Jehovah Nisai. Now, this means Jehovah my banner. This means that Jehovah is our
focal point. Jehovah is the one that we look
to. This is the standard. A number
of years ago, Nancy and the children and I got to go to a place there
on the eastern seaboard where the flag that Francis Scott Key
wrote about in our national anthem. You heard the music and you heard
the story and then they brought back the drapes and you got to
see that flag, a banner, a flag. Does that flag still fly? As he went through the night
and heard the bombs burst and all of the confusion through
the night, does that flag, does that banner still fly? And when
he looked out the next morning, that star-spangled banner still
flew. it had not been taken down. I
said that to say this, this banner of Jehovah, the banner Jehovah
Nisai, has not been, will not be, and never shall be taken
down from that position that it holds to the church as the
focal point, the church holds the Lord Jesus Christ in the
highest esteem. He is high and lifted up. He
is sitting on his throne. He is there making intercession
for his people. The captain of our salvation
is the only captain that took upon himself the battle and left
all of the soldiers behind. I've read about kings, particularly
kings of England, that actually went into battle against others
that were coming up against them. That doesn't happen anymore.
The leaders do not get into battle, they go into bunkers. But there
were a time when kings would do that. We find that the true
king, our banner, the Lord our banner, when he went into battle
against Arsene, he left all of his soldiers, men, women, boys,
and girls behind because he intended to win this battle alone, and
we would give him all adoration for such a victory, and we would
say, you have our attention. You are our banter. You are our
focal point. The next one that we're going
to look at is a familiar passage of scripture in Psalm 23 when
it says, the Lord is my shepherd. In this verse of scripture, we
find in verses like that, that Jehovah is my shepherd. He feeds
and he leads his sheep to pasture. He is their friend and he's their
companion. He is their defender. He is the
one who leads them to pasture and defends them from all comers.
This one, this speaks of the only shepherd of the church.
He is our good shepherd and we relish in the fact that the Bible
tells us in the New Testament, the Lord, he said, I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. We're thankful that he would
substitute himself, put himself in our position and take upon
him the punishment that was due us. The next one that we looked
at was Jehovah that heals in the book of Exodus chapter 15
verse 26. Exodus chapter 15 and verse 26,
the scripture share this with us and he said, if thou will
diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God and will
do that which is right in his sight and will give ear to his
commandments and keep all his statutes. Can you all do that?
Have you all written that down? I'm going to follow that today.
We fail, don't we? We're thankful for one that kept
it on the behalf of us. One whose blood cleanseth us
from all sin. One who imputes to us his righteousness
and allows us to walk in his glory because of his glory. Goes
on to tell us in that verse of scripture, in Exodus chapter
15 and verse 26, It says, and I will put none of these diseases
upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am
the Lord that healeth thee. Now that word, healeth thee,
carries with it the idea, the thought, that it speaks of complete
healing, that there is completely made whole. I don't know how many people
I've known, heard of, that have surgery on some very serious
illness. and it isn't very long and that
illness is found somewhere else. They take care of it and it's
found somewhere else. I'm so thankful that that's not
our salvation, that he takes care of us a little bit today
and then we find out we're still in the same boat and then he
takes care of a little bit that day. The Lord's healing takes care
of all the need at once and that was at the cross, It speaks of
complete salvation. He is the great physician that
completely makes whole. And he does this for his church.
And finally, last week we looked at Jehovah Shammah. Jehovah is
there. And that's found in the book
of Ezekiel chapter 48. And the thrust of that verse of scripture
is Jehovah is at Jerusalem. Now not Jerusalem which today
is, or now is, or that Jerusalem over there, but we go to the
book of Galatians chapter 4 and it's that Galatians, that Jerusalem
which is above, who is the mother of us all. It's a spiritual relationship. That's where he is. He will never,
in a capacity as a literal king, ever sit on a throne in the Jerusalem
that now is. It's far superior to that. He has a throne that is high
and lifted up. He has a throne that is in Jerusalem
above. He has salvation in Jerusalem
above. He has salvation in the church,
not in a membership of any kind, but a new birth that he gives
us that places us in that body. He is our salvation there in
himself. Well, we have a few more that
we'd like to look at that shares with us this capacity of Jehovah. Would you turn with me to the
book of Jeremiah Chapter 23. Jeremiah Chapter 23. There's
two times in the book of Jeremiah that this word is used, in this
form and we're just going to stop by Jeremiah chapter 23 and
verse 6 for it shares with us there that Jehovah is our righteousness. We I don't think any of us are
able to grasp all that that means that Jehovah is our righteousness
because in this state that we're in this state that we live in
this this body of flesh that we live in It doesn't have the
capacity to look at a person without sin because we walk in
it every day. There will be a day when we wake
up with him and we'll not have this sin body with us. We'll be able to understand truly
the Lord, our righteousness. He is all our righteousness. But here in the book of Jeremiah
chapter 28, And there in verse 6, this word is used, even the
prophet Jeremiah said, amen. And the Lord, Jehovah, do so.
And Jehovah, perform thy words, the Lord. I'm in the wrong chapter. Chapter 23, verse 6. There it
is. In his days, Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the name whereby
he shall be called, and that word Lord is Jehovah, Jehovah
our righteousness. The Lord who is our righteousness. Jesus is not said to be a righteous
person, but he is righteousness itself. God's people are called righteous
people, but he is righteousness itself. In the book of 1 Corinthians
1, verse 30, we read about four things, and this is not just
the only four things that the Lord is to his people, but notice
with me here in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30, that there are four
so valuable things that the Lord is to his people. 1 Corinthians
1, verse 30, But unto him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfills
these four rigorous demands placed upon us by the righteousness
of Christ. Can you meet these standards? And we know we can't. The standard is all wisdom. all righteousness, all sanctification,
and all redemption. Now this is what God said, who
of God is made unto us wisdom. Jesus Christ, who of God, is
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Christ's character is righteousness. In this day, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. This name means full redemption
for his people. The interest in salvation has
been made known to Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, male and female. All people, places of the world
have people in them that God is going to make known unto them
of the righteousness of Christ. there is only one righteousness
and that is the righteousness of Christ the Lord our righteousness
the Lord Jesus was and is the only one ever who completely
obeyed the word of God the law of God he is the righteousness
God he took the very being to be appointed to the cross and
made himself an offering for sin of Sin of his people their
unrighteousness You know what the Bible says about our righteousness.
It is filthy rags That's our righteousness Their unrighteousness
was imputed to him. All of their sin was imputed
to him. As a result of this grand transaction,
his perfect righteousness is imputed to his people, and all
them without means or without exception. are given this righteousness. The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all, and the children of God can clearly ring out in
great song, the Lord my righteousness. I have none of my own. He is
all righteous, and by his great grace, he has given that to my
account. I have none of my own. I'm glad
he covered it up, covers me up with his righteousness. covering
of righteousness, we have His righteousness imputed to us.
It's a robe like it's spoken of, a robe of righteousness given
to His people so that we could stand before God without fear. Another one of these statements
is made about Jehovah that spoke to the folks in Numbers, to the
man of Moses in the book of Numbers. It says, Jehovah is our sanctification,
or the Lord who sanctifies you. I grew up in a group where after
I made a profession of faith, it was up to me to become better
and better every day. And you know what that created? Was one more Pharisee. Because
we always will look down our nose at someone else who's not
quite to the standard that we are, that we've raised ourself.
Well in salvation we find out that the Lord is our sanctification. He's the one that sets us apart. His work by the Holy Spirit set
us apart in eternity. His work of ministry has set
us apart in time. We are made holy by God. We are
sanctified by God. There is no progressive sanctification. We're given all the sanctification
in Christ Jesus. In fact, in the book of Hebrews,
it says, without holiness, we'll not see God. Without this, we
will never see God. It's not ours, it's his. And
that's what Jehovah tells us as he brings out there that it
is the Lord who sanctifies you. Turn with me to the book of Exodus
chapter 31, if you would. Exodus chapter 31, there in Exodus
31 and verse 13, we have this name given. as Jehovah is declared unto Moses
there in the book of Numbers. He's brought out at many other
places here, and another word or two is added to share with
us one other fact, one other blessing about this person Jehovah,
the Lord God Almighty is his name. Exodus chapter 31, and
there in verse 13, Exodus 31 and verse 13, it says, Speak thou also unto the children
of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbath ye shall keep. For it
is a sign between me and you throughout your generations,
that ye may know that I am the Lord that do sanctify you. All the work that they went through
to sanctify themselves is a failure. All the work that he goes through
to sanctify us is absolute success because it is his sanctification
imputed to us, given to us. He was set aside in the covenant
of grace and guess what? So was all his people set aside. He promised that in time, All
those that were sanctified by the Spirit, set aside by the
Spirit in time, he would come with the gospel and have it preached
to them. And the Holy Spirit would come
along and apply that gospel and give them the new birth. And
then they would realize, all my sanctification is of the Lord.
I have none of my own. Paul said towards the end of
his life, oh wretched man that I am. Someone asked me not too
long ago, if we are not progressively being sanctified, how can you
measure success? I just had to go to the Bible.
You know how men in the Bible measure success? Isaiah said,
woe is me, for I am undone. Job said, I'm undone. Peter said, I'm undone. Paul
said, wretched man that I am. The closer we approach the thrice
holy God, The more we realize what a great Savior He is, to
save a sinner such as I am, a great sinner. So this setting apart,
this sanctification, Lord that sanctified me, the Lord that
set me apart, this is of He. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. This is His business. and he
takes care of it very well. You know, it's taken care of
so perfectly that in the book of Jude, that man of God wrote
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. That's the business
of God, to present his church spotless. And we said, how can
that be? It's his work and not ours. Spotless. I can't imagine, because
I am filled with that. But he said he's able to present
the church spotless. Where? Where? Before the throne
of glory with exceeding joy. He can go up and the Lord can
go up and be the only one that can ever say, Father, look what
I've done. I died for Him. I was buried for
them, I rose again that I might apply all my sanctification,
I might apply all my redemption, I might apply all my great gifts
and all my spiritual blessings upon them. Lord, Father, Jehovah
God, look what I've done and present them with great joy. In the book of Genesis, there's
an account that in chapter 22 about a man requested to do something
I'm thankful that I've never been requested to do. A man who
had a son that had been promised to him long before he was ever
born. Sarah is of old age and so is
Abraham and God's promise was fulfilled. They had a son and
they named him Isaac. And one day God said, Abraham,
I want you to take him upon Mount Moriah and offer him up as a
sacrifice. And you know what Abraham did?
He packed up things and headed for Mount Moriah. And after three
days, they got to the base of that mountain. And he said to
his helpers, you just stay right here. We'll be back. The book
of Hebrews says, believing that God would raise him. Took him
up there on the mountain, and on the way up, that boy said,
Dad, here's the fire, and here's the wood, but where's the lamb
for the sacrifice? And we heard read in the Bible
class this morning, Abraham said, God will provide himself a lamb
for a sacrifice. That means For us, he not only
provided it, but he provided himself. And he went up there on that
mountain and tied his son up and laid him on an altar and
was ready to plunge the sword of justice into his only son. And his hand was stayed. And before you know it, there
is a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. How did it remain
quiet for all that time? God had his hand over his muzzle
until the exact right time. And he went over there and he
grabbed that ram and released his son, put that ram on there.
And then he said, the Lord shall provide. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. Now, that really means Jehovah
will see to it. Jehovah will see. Jehovah will
see to it. You know, my grandmother used
that term a number of times when I'd ask her, I'll see to that.
Well, that meant she's gonna take care of it. Well, that's
what we find in this verse of scripture. Jehovah will take
care of it. He took care of it there for
Abraham. He released his son from the bondage of that wrapping.
He released his son from that sword of justice. He released
him. But the true son of Abraham would
come and would not be released. He would be taken and he would
be put on the cross and he would give his life a ransom for many,
his people. This very passage of scripture
found here in the book of Genesis chapter 22 when Abraham called
the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh as it is to this day in the mount
of the Lord shall be seen. When it comes to every need of
the church Jehovah will see to it. He declares that he has the
fire and he has the wood and he also has the lamb for the
offering. Oh, the poor wretched person
cries, Lord, I need salvation. And the Lord says, I'll see to
it. Oh, I need redemption. And the
Lord says, I'll see to it. Lord, I need wisdom. And the
Lord says, I'll see to it. I'll provide. Lord, I need righteousness. The Lord says, I'll see to it.
I'll take care of it. I need sanctification, Lord.
I'll see to it. I'll take care of it. This word
is used many times in the Old Testament when it says there,
the Lord saw that the light, that it was good. In other words,
he saw to it that the light was good. He wasn't in question about
whether the light was good or not. He saw to it that the light
was good. He saw to it that creation was
good. He saw to it when? He went down
and bit over some dust of the earth and created man of the
dust of the earth. And then he saw to it when he
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and that man
became a living soul. He saw to it. God will provide. God will provide the dirt. God
will provide the breath. God will provide the gospel.
God will provide sanctification, redemption, wisdom. God will
see to it. Isaiah uses this term in the
book of Isaiah chapter 53, when we shall see him. You know what? When we see him, he's already
seen to it that we get to see him. He's pulled off the blinders. When we get to hear him, he's
taken off the deafness. When we get to come to him, he's
taken off the shackles that bind us. He's seen to it. He's seen to it. all of our salvation. When Abraham was led to call
the place Jehovah-Jireh, he had been revealed that the truth
that the Lord would provide, or that the Lord would see to
it, he would take care of it, and he did. And in the fullness
of time, we read about his son, born of a woman, made under the
law, God saw to it at the appropriate time. Jehovah Shalom. The Lord is our peace. One more
blessed characteristic of God to his people, I am your peace. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We have no other peace, no other
place of peace. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you, let not your heart be troubled, neither be afraid. We read over there in the book
of Isaiah chapter 1, one part of the name of the Lord is Prince
of Peace. He is the Author of peace. He's the finisher of peace. He's
the one that has broken down the middle wall of partition.
He's the one that allows us to approach Him to God in a peaceful
manner. Oh, to have Him say in that day,
depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, for I never knew you.
That's not peace. The Lord never gave peace to
that group, but all to those on his right hand side, welcome
to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
What peace is in that? Oh my goodness, what peace is
in that? Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He will speak peace unto his
people. Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm 85. I just got to read this. Psalm
85 and verse 8. Psalm 85 and verse 8. Psalm 85 and verse 8, I will
hear what God the Lord, God Jehovah, will speak, for he will speak
peace unto his people and to his saints. But let them not
turn again to folly." That would have been so much better translated,
that they turn not again to folly. You know, he gives us peace so
that we will not turn again to folly. We follow after folly
all of our religious lives. But here, when he speaks peace,
we'll not return to that folly. We'll not follow after those
gods again. We'll not turn aside again. If
you can leave, leave. But God's people can't leave.
And finally, in the five minutes I have left, Jehovah Sabaoth. the Lord of hosts. We find this
so many times in the Bible, in the Old Testament, Jehovah of
hosts. This means the organized army. He's in charge of the hosts of
the organized army, the hosts of angels. It's used with regard
to the sun, moon, and stars. It's used in regard to the whole
creation. Who is this king of glory? The
Lord of Hosts is his name. As for our Redeemer, the Lord
of Hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Except the Lord
of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. These are the
words that was brought to Isaiah. Except if the Lord of Hosts had
not left a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom. And we should have been as Gomorrah.
What happened to them? Total destruction. Except for
one man, two daughters, and a wife that made it halfway. I heard
in a message not too long ago that his wife was saved. Not
what the Bible says. Why did she turn around and go
back? Want to go back? Because she never really left. One verse. that sums up the Lord
of hosts, and that's found in the book of Daniel chapter 4.
Would you turn with me as we close? Daniel chapter 4 and verse
35. The record is the words of Daniel,
yes, but the man who spoke these was a pagan king by the name
of Nebuchadnezzar. But after he came out of his
stupor of seven years, he had this to say about the God of
heaven, the Lord of hosts. Daniel chapter four and verse
35, he said, and all the inhabitants of the earth. Well, let's back
up to verse 34. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth, this is the Lord
of hosts, the Lord of armies, the Lord
of all. He doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Lord of hosts. And so we have
seen just briefly Jehovah our banner, Jehovah our shepherd,
Jehovah our healer, Jehovah is there or ever present. Jehovah
our righteousness. Jehovah our sanctification. Jehovah
our provider. Jehovah our peace. And Jehovah
our king. Every one of those great statements
are made to the church. And as we look at the book of
Numbers now, it was that Lord, that Jehovah, that spoken to
Moses in the wilderness. Nathan, if you'll come.