If you will, turn with me to
the book of Numbers. The book of Numbers. Chapter 1. I'm not going to read all the
genealogies and so forth, but the key verses that I'll use
in my message. And if you want to, you can put
a marker here in the book of Numbers. And the Lord spake unto Moses
in the wilderness of Sinai, in the wilderness of the congregation,
on the first day of the second month in the second year after
they were come out of the land of Egypt. This entire book was
written concerning Israel over a span of 38 years. He's beginning his is beginning
these writings on the second year. They were out there 40
years in the wilderness. And this began on the second
year. So everything in this book happened to Israel in the wilderness
in that 38 years. He said, take ye the sum of all
the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families,
by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names
every male, by their poles. From twenty years old and upward,
all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, thou and Aaron
shall number them by their armies. And with you there shall be a
man of every tribe, every one head of the house of his fathers. Now look down at verse 16. These were the renowned of the
congregation, all that he mentions here in verses 5 through 15. These are the renowned of the
congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads
of thousands in Israel. And Moses and Aaron took these
men, which are expressed by their names, and they assembled all
the congregation together on the first day of the second month,
and they declared their pedigrees after their families by the house
of their fathers according to the number of the names from
twenty years old and upward by their poles. And then look down to verse Now he especially tells him,
all these tribes, you're going to single out a man, and this
man's going to be head of that tribe. 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, over the vessels thereof, over
all things that belong to it. They shall bear the tabernacle
and all the vessels thereof. and shall minister unto it, and
shall encamp round about the tabernacle. And then in chapter
2 and verse 17, then the tabernacle of the congregation
shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of
the camp as they encamp, so shall they set forward every man in
his place by their standards. What's that? That's a flag. That's a flag. Every one of them had a flag.
That flag denoted that tribe. Saw that flag, you knew this
is this one. This is the tribe of Benjamin.
This is so on. All right. We'll turn back there
in just a minute and look at these things. I invite you to turn again with
me to the book of Numbers. Moses wrote five of the books
of the Bible. He wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, which we're looking at this morning, and Deuteronomy. Numbers is the fourth book of
the Bible. The fourth of the books of Moses,
sometimes called the Pentateuch. In Genesis, we look at, we went
through verse by verse all the way through Genesis years ago.
And in Genesis, we see the beginning of creation as a picture of the
new creation, which he will create in Christ. And the purpose for
which all things that are made has. All things were made by
him, Paul said, and for him. And by him all things consist. And here we find the beginning
of prophecy. The prophecy of Christ. The woman
seed, Genesis 3.15. The woman seed. This is the beginning
of prophecy. Talking about the coming redeemer.
He's going to be the seed of woman. We find also in Genesis
the creation of man and his fall which sets forth Adam as the
federal head of all mankind and as such a figure of him which
was to come. Romans 5.14. We see Christ pictured in the
light, called for out of darkness, let there be light and there
was light. In Genesis we discover the truth
about beast's lamb, their picture of Christ. He's the lamb. Behold
the lamb. That's what John the Baptist
said. This is that lamb that was in
the garden. This is that lamb that Abel offered. This is that lamb. All down through
the scripture you find the lamb. John said here's the lamb. Here's
the lamb. People being called out of an
ungodly world in Abraham receiving the covenant of promise. We see
the promise seed in Isaac typifying all who are born of the Spirit
of God. We see in Babel the confusion
God sends upon the world of works religion and the one language
spoken by His people, Christ and Him crucified. God has spoken
to us in these last days If you look at that carefully in Hebrews
chapter 1, this is in italics. It doesn't say by his son, it
says in son. That is in the language of his
son. That's gospel language. We see
in Genesis the way the Lord bestows righteousness upon chosen sinners. They believe God and it's counted
to them for righteousness. We see God establishing election
in Jacob. Romans 9 and 11, the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. Where did we learn
that? Back yonder in Jacob. Back yonder
in Jacob. We see in Genesis the enslavement
of men in the house of bondage represented in Israel going into
Egypt. They went in willy. They went
in hungry and were fed. They went in receiving gifts
from the king. Open arms. Come on in. Come on in. But found themselves soon serving
an evil king and unable to deliver themselves from his evil reign. That's the way. Sin is always
like this. Come on. Come on in. Come on
in. Oh, my brother, come on. But the scripture describes that
kind of affection as a street walker waiting on the corner
to catch some young man in his ignorance. And then we come to the book
of Exodus. In Exodus we see the deliverance of God's people from
sin by the power of God alone through the blood of the Lamb.
They didn't raise a spirit. They didn't organize and form
an army. They didn't get a bunch of banners
and march up and down the streets of Egypt. God sent a message
to the king. Let my people go. And after much judgment, they
did. They did. We see God's preservation of
his people in the book of Exodus in his daily provision given
to them all through the wilderness. We see the destruction of the
prince of this world in the drowning of the Egyptian army in the sea.
We see in this book Christ the tabernacle, the way of worship
What's this tabernacle all about? The tabernacle's a picture of
Christ. Read Hebrews chapter 9. This
man, this was a figure for the time then present, but this man,
he is the tabernacle. And if I look at that tabernacle
that way, I see the way of worship. There's no worship apart from
the tabernacle. That's where he said, I'm going
to meet with you here. Nowhere else, right? In the tabernacle. This is the way of fellowship.
Fellowship, fellers in the same ship. This is the way of instruction.
He met with Moses in the tabernacle and gave him instruction. This
is the place of forgiveness. This is where the mercy seat,
the veil, the horns of the altar, and this is where the knowledge
of God is in the tabernacle. God said, I'm going to reveal
myself to you. Where are you going to do it?
In this tabernacle. We see Christ in their journeys
through the wilderness. Christ the smitten rock. Christ
the lamb slain. Christ the high priest. The bread
of heaven. He said, Moses didn't give your
fathers that bread. I'm the bread. And then we come to the book
of Leviticus. And here we see God's elect instructed
in the worship of God in types and figures, sacrifices, ordinances
of God. And all through here we see those
things. I've preached for many of them
in this place. And then fourthly, we come to the book of Numbers.
To me, I looked at the name. I understand Genesis. That's
the beginning. It's a book of beginnings. Genesis. I understand Exodus. Exodus is
the children of God being delivered out of Egypt. I understand that.
Leviticus has to do with the law. I understand that. But then
along comes Numbers. What are you going to do with
Numbers? Huh? It seems out of place, don't
it? And I looked and I looked and
I looked at that. And finally I found a man who
knew a little something about it. And I thought, I'm preaching
from that. I'm going to preach from that. Why would God the Spirit title
these writings numbers? And I'll tell you why. Because
He's revealing in the world to the world and before the world,
the people of God. The people of God. There is among
the multitudes, the multitudes of the condemned, the multitudes
of fallen men, the multitude of cursed humanity, there is
among them a number. A number. Well, how do we know
who they are? God's going to number them. I
can't, Moses can't, but God can. God can. And he did so three
times. He did it once at Sinai. Once
at Sinai. Numbers is the fulfillment of
the word of promise to Abraham that his seed would be as the
sands of the sea and as the stars of the sky. Where are they at? I'll show you. I'm going to number
them. I'm going to number them. Here's Abel. That's number one. Paul brought that out. I never
even thought about it before. One man in glory. Rejoicing. Looking down, rejoicing. It's the fulfillment of the word
of promise to Abraham. In the wilderness of sin, God
numbers his people. He declares their names by the
house of their fathers. God has chosen a people to salvation. He set them apart from the world. He said, I didn't choose you
because you were the most in the world. I chose you because
you were the least. I have a purpose in your election. And the purpose of God in election
is to glorify his name through the salvation of those people
by way of his son. Chosen of people to salvation,
He set them apart from the world, does not leave them to themselves,
but makes full provision for them in His Son. Bless them,
He said, with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. Chose us in Him that we might
be holy. without blame and before Him
in love. Now listen, having predestinated
us. What's that mean? It means what
it says. He predestinated us unto the
adoption of children. That's what you're going to be.
You might not start off that way. It might not look like that
to the world when you're born. It might not look like that to
the world while you're growing up. But you've been predestinated
and you're going to be adopted. And you're going to love Him
that adopted you. He predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will.
The second place he talks about predestination, that's Ephesians
1, but the second place he talks about it is over in Romans 8.
He said He's predestinated us to be conformed to the image
of His Son. Everybody has an image of what
salvation is, what the Christian is, how the Christian walks,
how he talks, how he wears his hair, how he wears his clothes.
Everybody has an image in their head about God's people. But God's people have been predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. What do you hope? His son. What do you rejoice in? His son. That he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. How we conform to the image of
his son. Ephesians 4.12. Christ descended up into glory
and he left some apostles and prophets. some evangelists and
some pastor teachers. Why? For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ till we all come into the unity of the faith. What
faith? That faith that sees Christ and
rests in Him. Till we all come into unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man. unto the measure, the stature,
the fullness of Christ. We see ourselves complete in
Him. Complete in Him. And we're satisfied.
Huh? We're satisfied. In the children of Israel, which
are a type of His church, God numbered His people. And as His
elect, they are delivered from the reign of sin. taught how
to worship and walk with God, they are revealed to the world
as the elect of God. That the world may know that
I have loved them as I loved my son. And all the tribes were counted
and numbered except Levi. Now the Levitical priesthood
is typical of the church of God. It's a holy priesthood. It's
a spiritual house. They've been set apart to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. It's
a picture of his church. And it's a picture of the church
as numberless. Why does he say that? Here in
Numbers, he gives you an exact number. I forget what it is,
but you can read it there in chapter 1. 3,500 or something like that. It's
a long number. He gives you an exact number.
And there's always an exact number. He does the same thing over in
Revelations. He talks about 144,000, 12,000
out of each tribe and so on. He gives you an exact number.
But that exact number stands for an unnumbered, a numberless
amount of people. And he pictures that in the church. It is, when he talks about his
church, and why does he say it's numberless? Because with God,
there's an exact number. But man can't, he can't identify.
If God gave you the number, you couldn't relate to it. If so
great, no man can number. He didn't say God couldn't number,
he said no man can number. But there is an exact number. The Levites were not numbered,
representing a people called and continuing to be called to
the ministry and service of Christ. And where would any man begin
to number God's elect except as God himself numbers them?
Didn't you struggle with that at one time? I still do from
time to time. How do I know I'm God's elect? He'll number you. He'll number you. And as God numbers His elect,
He's declaring to the world who they are and the fact that they're
being His people and chosen of Him. And there are several words
that He uses as He speaks of those that He's chosen. First
of all, He uses the words sum and number. Numbers are something we can
relate to. If he says there's 600,000 and so on, we can relate
to that. But when he talks about the sum,
he's talking about a number that he's not going to give you. If he did, you couldn't perceive
it. It's greater than anything this mind could comprehend. And that's the sum. The word
sum is the total of all the number of his elect. And when the gathering
of God's elect is finished and the last sin are called, there'll
be exactly as many as the Lord chose in Christ before the world
began. There'll be no more, no less
than God has purposed to save. Is that right? And this is extremely offensive
to the world and especially to anti-Christ religion in the world.
It's extremely offensive. that God has chosen to save some
in Christ for the glory of His name and pass by others, leaving
them to themselves. Yet it's pictured with undeniable
accuracy in Israel, which is the figure. Is it not? Didn't he pass by the Canaanites?
Sure he did. Mesopotamians, he called Abraham. and law. It's pictured with undeniable
accuracy in Israel and their journeys in this world. And if
you ask anybody today, what's so significant about Israel,
the first words out of their mouth, that's the elect of God. And they hate election with passage. Christ came into this world as
a representative man, a man put into union with all His elect,
and He appeared in this world for them, lived for them, was
resurrected for them, and reigns in glory, arranging all things
for their good and His glory, and there He intercedes for them.
The salvation of sinners is not a universal salvation. It's for
those numbered of God, and for the sum of all His elect. I've heard preachers talk about
empty seats in glory. You know, they have an altar
call, and they've got to play on your emotions. And then they
start talking and whining, and who knows what they're talking
about. They'll use anything, but whatever it is, it gets you
down the aisle. And they start talking about
Christ did this, and God purposed that, but there's going to be
empty seats in glory. Oh, no there ain't. No there
ain't. There ain't gonna be any empty
seats. What ignorance. The temple of
God, let me just tell you this. The temple of God, that's a picture
of Christ and His body. The temple. You are the temple,
he said. Tear this temple down, I'll build
it back in three days. The temple of God is a picture
of Christ and His church, and it was made of stone. Go back
and read the account. It was made of stone, quarried,
and brought to the building site all ready to fit. In 1 Kings 6 verse 7 it says,
And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone,
made ready before it was brought thither. It was already ready. When did you get ready? In Christ,
before the foundation of the world. In Christ, when He died
on the cross. He's not chiseling anything out
of me. I'm already fit. That's what He's telling you.
We're complete in Him. And when this stone was quarried,
it was made to fit. so that there was neither hammer
nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was
being built. Boy, you can hear a lot of noise,
I'm building mine. There wasn't no noise when they
built the temple. They just brought it in. It was
right in the place. Right in the place. Each stone
was custom cut to fit in a particular place before it was brought forth
And it also means this, there wasn't any extra stones and there
wasn't any holes because the stone wasn't there. Every stone
that was quarried and purposed for the temple was brought and
put in the temple. There's nothing left over and
no shortage. That's his church. That's his
church. And notice that the building
was a quiet work, no sound of men's works in it. None. Another word used to describe
His elect is the word army. Numbers 1-3. All that are able
to go forth to war in Israel. That's His people. Without a
doubt, God's church is described in the scripture as a militant
body. God's people are ready and able
to fight over the way of salvation. They don't just shrug their shoulders
and say, I don't know, I don't know. Huh? Do you do that? And somebody answers, no, no. They say, no, that's not the
way. Is that right? Isn't that what
I believe? Somebody comes to you and say, well, you're saved
by grace, but then you're sanctified by works. You're going to say,
well, I don't know. Huh? No, you're going to say,
no, that ain't right. That ain't right. That ain't
the way. No, sir, we don't allow that in here. No, you cannot preach that here. To say this is the way and there
is no other, that's going to war, ain't it? They didn't hate Christ for His
good works, they hated Him because of what He said, and He insisted
on what He said. To pat a false prophet on the
back and wish in God's speed, according to the scripture, is
to be partaker of his evil deeds. There are no fence straddlers
in the kingdom of God. Paul said, I was set forth for
the defense of the gospel. And God's people are warriors,
yet they know that the battle is the Lord's. Did you ever notice
in the scripture, the Lord, especially in this one place, He brings
out this big army and he tells them, he said, now you're going
to go over there and fight these people. He didn't have a lot
of men, I mean, compared to what he was going up against, but
okay. Well, the Lord said, but there's
a problem. You got too many men. We're going to cut these in half.
Cut them in half? Yeah, cut them in half. They cut them in half. He said,
you still got too many. What? Cut them in half again. He just keeps whittling them
down to that handful. Now, he said, you're ready. Go
down there and fight. God's people understand the battle is the
Lord's. I can't win a single battle, not inward or outward.
I can't win a single battle. I don't have the strength for
it. But the Lord's battle, He's already won the battle, isn't
He? I love this verse. You go tell Israel their warfare
is accomplished. It's already accomplished. Old
Caleb said, let's go. He was going into Canaan. Let's
go. Let's go. He said, this is like a thing
already done. It's like a battle already fought.
The battle's the Lord's. They said, who's going to stand
up against them? God's people are warriors if
they know that the battle is the Lord's. They're able to go
forth to war and their enemies are all greater than they are.
Satan, false religion, fallen nature. What are you going to
do about your nature? Nothing. Nothing. That's what you can do. But their
weapons are not carnal. We don't go out here with signs
and protests and all this kind of business. Our weapons are
spiritual. They're not carnal, but they're
mighty through God to the pulling down strongholds. Paul said we fight the good fight
of faith. Our warfare is accomplished.
And then the next word I run into in verse 4, a man of every
tribe, every one head of the house of his fathers. A man chosen
of God and given the rule over his fellow, these fellow saints. And to me the word tribe is a
depiction of local churches. There were 12 tribes, just one
Israel, just one people. But they were divided into tribes.
They're just one church. Isn't that what you see? They're
just one church. But this church is divided and
revealed in this world in many churches. It's a depiction of local churches.
The seven churches of Asia represented the whole church of God. And
when God revealed his church, numbering them to the world,
he purposed a single man to reside over the affairs of each tribe.
And this head of the house of his fathers is to me the pastors
of his churches. They weren't dictators, but simply
chosen of God as ambassadors representing their church family. They were not fathers. I hate
that term when it comes to religion. Father this and father that.
He said, let no man call you father. They weren't fathers,
but they were chosen of God to represent their fathers. Isn't
that what it says? The fourth word
he uses here is the word pedigree. Moses and Aaron on a certain
day brought them before the assembly and declared their pedigrees
evidence of their relationship. God's people have a pedigree
and so do their pastors. And these men were set apart
by God and set apart by Moses and Aaron and accepted and obeyed
by their congregations. Why? Because God declared their
pedigrees. He proves to you that this is
a fellow saint and of the household of God. He'll prove it to you.
He'll prove it to you. If he don't, what good could
he do you? If he's not a true member of your family, what good
is he going to do? How can he represent you before
God? But he is. He is. And Moses, he told Moses,
now you declare their pedigrees. You show them who they are. And
then the fifth word we find in Numbers 2 verse 17 is the word
tabernacle. The tabernacle in the Old Testament
is a picture of Christ and his church, and it's for all practical
purposes a declaration of the gospel. You remember when we
studied it in the book of Exodus, I showed you that everything
about that tabernacle was a declaration of the gospel, the way of salvation. And it has seven names by which
it is called throughout the scripture. I looked up every reference concerning
the tabernacle. And there are seven distinct
names that he gives to that tabernacle. The first is the tabernacle of
the congregation. You can see it right there in
our text. The tabernacle of the congregation. What is the congregation? I looked it up in the dictionary.
The word congregation means a people assembled for religious worship. Huh? That's his congregation. What's this tabernacle all about? It's for his assembled saints. That's what it's all about. Who's
going to understand it? Who's going to perceive it? Who's
going to benefit by it? The assembled saints. It's the
tabernacle of the congregation. God's tabernacle in the midst
of his assembled saints. Secondly, it's called the tabernacle
of testimony. The tabernacle was, according
to Hebrews 9.9, a figure for the time then present, and which
was offered both gifts and sacrifices, typical of Christ, and in particular,
the gospel of Christ. That's the tabernacle. How are
we going to know anything about God? The tabernacle. The tabernacle. Thirdly, it's called the tabernacle
of the Lord. It's His. His tabernacle, it
ain't your, well my church, no. No, it's his church and it's
his tabernacle. The tabernacle of the Lord. It's
his design, his purpose, his glory, his giving. And then fourthly,
and along the same lines, he calls it his tabernacle. He owns it, don't he? He preserves it. He sanctified
it, and He fulfilled it. He's the tabernacle. It's His.
His. And then, fifthly, it's called
the tabernacle of witness. In 1 John 5, verse 8, we're told
that there are three that bear witness in earth. The Spirit,
the water, and the blood. And these three are one. And
all three were in the tabernacle. And all three were fulfilled
in Christ. And then sixthly, he calls the
tabernacle, the tabernacle of God. This thing concerns God. It's not just a church house.
It's not a community, I forget what they call them, a community
ministry, nursery, nursery. It's not a community chapel.
It's the church of the living God. Upon this rock shall he
build his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. And God's house is his people.
He said, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and
rejoicing of the whole firm unto the end? And the tabernacle,
Christ, is in the midst of his house. It's the tabernacle of
the house of God. And then the seventh name, the
last name, he tells us that his tabernacle and all that it concerns
are one. One. The high priest that enters
in, the common priest that enters in, the sacrifices offered, everything
in there is one. One. And we're one in Christ. Isn't that what he tells us?
To me, that's the comfort of the gospel. We're all one in
Christ. We're all one. And then the sixth word we find
concerning the Church of God reveals to the world and in the
world is pedigree. This was in reference to the
tribes and those chosen to minister over their affairs and God's
pastors are proven to be who they say they are. They have
a pedigree. And what good would a minister
of affairs be if there was no relationship? God's pastors and
congregations are all one, one family. Is that right? We're one family. Brethren, don't single out your
earthly families and say, this is my family and these are just
friends. No, this is your family if you're
a child of God. These are your children, but
this is your family right here. I like how some people send messages
to the church family. I like that. And we're all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. We're all one in Christ
Jesus. And if we be Christ, then are
we Abraham's seed, and theirs according to the promise. And then the last term I see
in Numbers chapter 2, verse 17, the word standard, or ensign,
or flag, if you will. He said, they're all going to
come, they're going to set forth the tabernacle, and each tribe
is going to have its flag, its standard. And he could look down,
Moses could look down, and he could see all these flags gathered
all around the tabernacle. What is our ensign? The church
I was raised in had an American flag on one side and a so-called
Christian flag on the other side, which is not just a bunch of
hooey. What is our ensign? What is our flag? What's he talking
about? What is it that we pledge allegiance
to? In Isaiah, he said he will lift
up an ensign to the nations from far. Of what is this engine? What is this flag? His name shall
be called Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. The Lord our
banner. It's the Lord. That's the flag
we rally around. We rally around Him. We go into battle holding Him
up. He raised up. in all that we
do. There's a song that actually
the history of it says it come out of the Bahamas and nobody
really knows who wrote it. But it was a catchy song and
some people got a hold of it and one guy wrote the music and
a woman wrote some words down and they sing it a lot. And it's
called, When the Saints Go Marching In. When the Saints Go Marching
In. And I was thinking about that
as I prepared this message. In the lyrics it says, When the
Saints Go Marching In. Lord, I want to be in that number. Numbers. You see what he's saying?
Lord, I want to be in that number. When the Saints Go Marching In.
Sun begins to shine. There'd be no S-U-N in glory,
but the sun, S-O-N, he'd be the light. He'd be the light. That's
the only light you really need. He said, when the sun begins
to shine, when the trumpet begins to sound, Lord, I want to be
in that number when the saints go marching in. And where do
the saints march? Where Christ leads them. That's
where Christ lives. Father, be pleased this morning
to take these things, reveal them to our hearts, show us in
your word, put these things together for us so we can clearly see
them, cling to them, rest in them, rejoice in them. We ask
you for Christ's sake. Turn to hip number 96.