I meant to say this to you earlier.
The Saddlers, the last several weeks, have gotten up, tried
to get ready to be here. They've been sick. One or the
other of them for quite some time, they called again this
morning, started the services and just couldn't be here. So
you remember them in prayer as well. These friends who are sick,
going through difficulty, as you're aware of it, I urge you,
call them, visit them, let them know you care, that you're concerned
for them. And Nicole called Shelby this
week and told her she's been out several weeks, the family
has, because she has mononucleosis and she doesn't want to give
it to me or anyone else, but there's a lot of folks sick.
All right, Numbers, the seventh chapter. Numbers, chapter seven. God remembers everything. God remembers everything. If ever you are made to realize
that every moment of your life is lived in the sight and company,
in the hearing and presence of the all holy, eternal, omniscient,
omnipotent God. You'll discover that life is
serious business because God remembers everything. That's
my subject. God remembers everything. This seventh chapter of the book
of Numbers is the longest chapter in the book of Numbers. It covers
89 verses. Let's read a good portion of
it together, starting in verse one. And it came to pass on the
day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle and had anointed
it and sanctified it and all the instruments thereof, both
the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them
and sanctified them, that the princes of Israel heads of the
house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes and
were over them that were numbered, offered. And they brought their
offering before the Lord, six covered wagons and 12 oxen, a
wagon for two of the princes and for each one an ox. And they
brought them before the tabernacle. And the Lord spake unto Moses
saying, take it of them, that they may be to do the service
of the tabernacle of the congregation. And thou shalt give them unto
the Levites to every man according to his service. And Moses took
the wagons and the oxen and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons
and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershom according to
their service. And four wagons and eight oxen
he gave unto the sons of Mirari according to their service, under
the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. But unto
the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary
belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.
And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that
it was anointed, Even the princes offered their offerings before
the altar. And the Lord said unto Moses,
they shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the
dedicating of the altar. And he that offered his offering,
the first day was Nisha, the son of Aminadab, of the tribe
of Judah. And his offering was one silver
charger. The weight thereof was 130 shekels. One silver bowl of 70 shekels. After the shekel of the sanctuary,
both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil for meat
offering. One spoon of 10 shekels, 10 shekels
of gold, full of incense. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year for
a burnt offering, one kid of the goats for a sin offering,
and for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams,
five he goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the
offering of Nation, the son of Aminadab. And if you can't continue
reading, until you get down to verse 84, each of the 12 tribes
with their prince brought their offerings. But each offering
was exactly the same. They're listed individually.
Each one was exactly the same. The carnal mind might read those
next 66 verses and think, what an awkward redundancy. Indeed,
if this chapter had been written by any man, written merely to
record the facts pertaining to these offerings for the dedication
of the temple, it would probably have been written much shorter.
I'm sure it would have been. If I had been writing this record,
I want to give you the details of the offerings and sacrifices,
I would name the 12 princes of the 12 tribes of Israel and say
each one gave this. That'd be the end of it. But
God's thoughts are not our thoughts. And God's ways are not our ways.
And there's no such thing as redundancy in this book. In the
following verses, 18 through 83, God, the Holy Ghost, inspired
Moses to give us a detailed account of each man, his name, the tribe
he represented, and the offering he brought to the sanctuary.
Each man's name stands in his own brilliant distinction, shining
out by God. Each offering is minutely described,
exactly the same, but each one minutely described in exactly
the same way by God, according to the shekel of the sanctuary,
each was valued. You see, God delights to record
every little service, every loving gift. He never forgets the smallest
thing. God remembers everything. Not
only does he not forget it himself, he takes great work and pleasure
in making certain that untold millions are made aware of the
record. Those 12 princes of Israel, I
am certain, never dreamed that you and I would be reading their
names today. They never dreamed that there would be untold millions,
generation after generation, who would read their deeds on
this day. But God counts it important.
So in the chapter before us, each prince in Israel has his
own appointed time, a day specifically for him. The first day, the second
day, the third day, right down through the twelfth day. Each
one is given his own appointed time to present his offering
and his allotted space to be entered on the eternal page of
inspiration. In this, the most complete record
of gifts inspired by God Almighty kept in the book of God. After
showing us the high regard God has for each gift and the Prince
that brought it, And the tribe that's represented, Moses continues
his inspired record, verse 84. This is the dedication of the
altar. In the day when it was anointed by the princes of Israel,
12 charges of silver, 12 silver bowls, 12 spoons of gold. Each charger of silver weighing
130 shekels, each bowl seven dead. All the silver vessels
weighed 2,400 shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary. The
golden spoons were 12, full of incense, weighing 10 shekels
apiece after the shekel of the sanctuary. All the gold of the
spoons was 120 shekels. All the oxen for the burnt offering
were 12 bullocks. The rams, 12, the lambs of the
first year, 12, with their meat offering, and the kids, the goats,
for the sin offering, 12. And all the oxen for the sanctuary,
for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were 20 and four bullocks. The rams, 60, the he goats, 60,
the lambs of the first year, 60. This was the dedication of
the altar that it was anointed. And when Moses was gone into
the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard
the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat. And that was upon the ark of
the testimony from between the two cherubims, and he spake unto
him. God remembers everything, and
he keeps records. He keeps records. John wrote,
I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and the books
were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works. Now hear me as I speak to you
what God says here. Each of us has a book that God
is keeping on us. Things in these books are the
things by which we shall be judged in that great day, whether they
be good or whether they be bad. These books are the record books
God keeps in the court of heaven. Yes, I know they're spoken of
metaphorically, but they're spoken of plainly so that you and I
will understand. God will judge the world. according to the record he has
of each man's works, of each woman's works, whether it's righteous
or unrighteous, good or evil, sinful or holy, God keeps records. He remembers everything and he
will judge you according to the books. That fact ought to make
you sit up and pay attention. The 12 princes of Israel, brought
their offerings to the Levites in six covered wagons pulled
by 12 oxen. The number 12 in the scriptures
is highly significant. 12 are the tribes of Israel,
12 were the sons of Jacob, 12 apostles, 12 gates to the new
Jerusalem, 12 angels at the gates represented the whole church
of God, the whole of God's elect. Everything involved in the worship
of God was carried from place to place by these servants of
God, these sons of Levi. They were carried in wagons,
wagons that covered them. All the tabernacle materials
carried from place to place in these wagons. That ought to teach
us some things. There are no holy places in this
world. There are no holy places in this
world. I would like to have, at one
point in time, gone to visit Israel, but not because it's
a holy land. It's no more holy than Greece.
I would have rather stopped by Greece and visited there. I'd
like to go to Rome and visit there. Not because it's holy,
because it's historical. But that's the only reason. There
are no holy places on this earth. This building is not a holy building. This pulpit is not a holy desk. These are set aside for holy
purposes, for the worship of God. But these things are all
just material. They're just earthly things.
The only holy place there is, is the place where God is. Now if God's pleased to meet
with us here today, this is holy ground. If God's pleased to speak
to you, this is holy ground, like the ground at the burning
bush where Moses was. But no physical holy places. Everything on this earth, even
the ordinances of divine worship, are movable and temporary. Only
God our Savior is immovable and eternal, unchangeable. He is
that one, the same yesterday, today, and forever. The worship
of God, all true worship is spiritual worship. It is worshiping God
in spirit and in truth. Worshiping God with your heart,
worshiping God by faith. These offerings, were substantial,
costly offerings. Offerings of gold and silver. Can you imagine 12 silver chargers,
12 silver bowls, 12 gold spoons,
full of incense, full of various sacrifices to make meat offerings
for God. These things were costly, costly
offerings. You see, the silver in the book
of God speaks of atonement. The atonement money, when the
children of Israel were numbered, was silver, measured out exactly
according to God's requirement. Silver speaks of atonement and
truth, atonement and justice. We are saved because we are redeemed
with the silver of Christ's blood according to God's strict justice,
and truth. By mercy and by truth, iniquity
is purged. Gold speaks of our Redeemer in
His eternal Godhead. Gold speaks of His infinite eternal
worth. Gold speaks of Christ, our Redeemer,
and the redemption He wrought for us, and the worth of it.
It is of infinite value to make infinite satisfaction to infinite
justice, and that alone can do so. These gifts were given to
three men, Levites, men who spent their lives doing service of
the tabernacle. These three men, Mirari, Gershon,
and Coeth. The gifts were divided to them
according to their work that was assigned to them. Mirari's
job was to manage the pillars, the sockets, the pins, the cords
that held those curtains that surrounded the courtyard of the
tabernacle. He and his sons were assigned the task of keeping
accurate records of every item. They had to account for each
one when the tabernacle was set up. They had to account for each
one when it was taken down and put back up again. They bore
these things from place to place in a wagon. Gershom's job was
to bear and maintain all the curtains, the various skin coverings,
and the things that held them in place in the tabernacle as
it was moved from place to place through the wilderness. The offerings
of these 12 princes were divided between Mirari and Gershom, two
wagons and four oxen for Gershom, four wagons and eight oxen for
Mirari. The amount given was proportionate
to the labor involved. Both these men were involved
in the outward, external service of the tabernacle. But none of
the offerings were given to Coeth and his sons. He and his sons
were bearers of the furniture of the tabernacle. These Coethites
distinctly represent our savior. They bore the furnishings of
the ark on their bare shoulders alone. They were the men who
put the golden staves and rings in and bore the brazen altar,
that brazen altar representing Christ, our altar, the place
of sacrifice. He represented Mount Calvary,
that place where the Lord Jesus offered himself once a sacrifice
to God to make atonement for our sins. They bore the laver
as well, that laver of brass. That's where the priests washed
themselves. where they bathed themselves, where they sanctified
themselves before they went about their business in the tabernacle.
Christ is our fountain open for cleansing, the fountain in which
we must bathe ourselves. Yes, the fountain in which we
are bathed by God's spirit, by the washing of the water, by
the word, but the fountain in which we must bathe ourselves
by faith as we come to God, believing on his son. The sons of Korah,
these men, or Kohath rather, these men also carried the lampstand. Christ,
the light of the world. Christ, the light of the God.
Christ, that light in whom we see the glory of God. They carried
the table of shewbread too. Christ, the bread of life. The
bread of heaven. The bread upon which we feed
day by day. The sons of Coeth carried also
on their shoulders the altar of incense. Sweet-smelling savor. Christ,
our intercessor. Christ, whose sacrifice is a
sweet-smelling savor to God. A sweet-smelling savor to God. God can never get enough
of the smell. A sweet-smelling savor. That's
what Christ is to us. A sweet-smelling savor He makes
us to be to God. Christ is our mercy seat. They
carried the Ark of the Covenant where the mercy seat is. He is
our atonement. He's our propitiation. Here in
the mercy seat, in the Ark of the Covenant they carried, that's
the revelation of the glory of God in the sacrifice of Christ
and his work for us. The typology is plain and clear.
The sons of Coath and their work typified our Lord Jesus. They
did their work alone. without the aid of man, without
the aid of anyone in Israel. And the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Redeemer, our great Savior, did His work alone. He by Himself obtained eternal
redemption by the sacrifice of Himself alone. Hold your hands
here and turn to Isaiah 65. Hear what it says. Isaiah 65. Our Lord Jesus by himself purged
our sins. He neither needed nor received
anything from men in order to accomplish the task. He did not
need, he did not receive anything from men in order to save anyone. Isaiah 63, verse one. Who is
this that cometh up, that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments
from Bezra? This is that glorious, that is
glorious in apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thy garments like him that trotted the wine vat.
I trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none
with me. For I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them
in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments. And I will stain all my raiment
for the day of the vengeance is in my heart and the year of
my redeemed is come. And I looked and there was none
to help. And I wondered there was none
to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation unto me and
my fury it appealed me. Verses 12 through 23 back here
in number seven, give us a precise accounting by God A divine record
of every item offered by these 12 princes. Every prince is named
by name. Everything offered is listed
down to the last grain in the spoon. Down to the last farthing,
everything offered is listed. If you read the entire chapter,
you'll see that each prince gave exactly the same gifts. All these
gifts and sacrifices representing our Savior because we all are
redeemed and accepted of God by the same sacrifice. And we
have the same record given us by that sacrifice. How thorough
the accounting is. So it is with every prince in
his offering. God kept record of everything. God kept record of all that the
princes gave him. The sacrifices they made, their
offerings, he remembered all. And he did so with precise exactness. This speaks of you and me and
of our works. We had before us a picture and
a wonderful encouragement of our lives as God's people in
this world. I've been studying this seventh
chapter now, preparing this message for many, many, many weeks. You and I have great difficulty
speaking about our works, even speaking about that which we
know of God and his work for us. And rightly so. We're much more comfortable talking
about somebody else's good works. Much more comfortable talking
about what someone else has done. Because any proclamation of personal
virtue is always suspect. The believer is hard-pressed,
very hard-pressed, to see that anything he does is good. The
religious person may pretend that, but Mark, if we're gods,
we're hard-pressed to point to anything and say that's good.
That's good. That's good. There's sin in all that we do,
no matter how noble the intention, no matter how taxing the labor,
no matter how great the sacrifice. I know that in me, in my flesh,
is no good thing. Sin defiles everything I do. Whether I'm reading the Bible,
trying to pray, preaching, Time to speak to someone about his
soul. Sin is mixed with everything
I do. It defiles everything. Everything.
Everything. No exception. We know that the
Lord, our Savior, tells us plainly that when we've done all that
we do, we've only done our duty as unprofitable servants. So
what's there to brag about? We know that our righteousnesses
our filthy rags. If we're pressed to honestly
recall anything that we've done for God, for his glory, we cringe. We cower. Because we know that everything
we do, we haven't measured done for
ourselves. Is that true, Gary? That's just fact, isn't it? That's
just fact. We dare not claim anything we've
done is worthwhile. We know also that we're to maintain
good works. We read in the book that God
has ordained that we walk in good works. We know that our
giving is rarely sacrificial. It flows not from sacrifice,
but from abundance. We know that more often than
not, our prayers are well-formed pretty phrases by which we try
to impress God or impress those who hear them. My God, forgive me. That's just
fact. That's just fact. We know that
our love for God, our love for the brethren, our love for one
another, at best, at its highest, is frail and weak and selfish. That's just fact. That's just
fact. Well, what are we then to do? Look away yonder to somebody
else. There, sitting on the throne
of God at the right hand of the majesty on high is a man, a perfect
man, a righteous man. A holy man who never did anything
but good for the glory of God. And I'm one with that man. His
name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He, our God and Savior, is the
measurer of all things. And he measures everything by
his own rod, by his own yardstick. And he measures everything by
his own work and his own worth. Christ is our acceptance. We are truly one with him if
we're his. God accepts us and accepts our
works in him as works of perfect obedience. And he keeps record. He remembers everything. Look
at these 12 princes. Sinners, all of them were. But
God raised you and me from the dunghill of sin and corruption
and set us among princes. No, well, the princes did not
give an account, but God gives the account. God remembered their
offerings, and he did it on an individual basis. Each prince
had his day. Each prince brought his gift,
his charger, his bowl, his spoon, his incense, his ram, his lamb,
his sacrifice. This speaks of an appointed time
when your good works are done. Now you'll endeavor to maintain
them at all times by all means, but your works ordained of God
and will be accomplished when it's time. When will that be? God knows. You and I must be
about the business of worship and prayer, of serving God and
serving his people. God does the counting. But this
is the good news. He will remember precisely, exactly,
And He will account for every one of those good works. And
when He's finished with us, when He's finished with us, He
will say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I couldn't imagine that, let
alone say it, if I didn't read it in this book. David Peterson,
I expect full well very soon to hear God my Savior say to
me, well done, thou good and faithful servant. How can that
be? Because I have died under the
penalty of God's justice for my sin in the person of my savior
who put away my sin. And his obedience to God is my
obedience to God. And now God accepts me as he
accepts his son. Men are impressed with much. Big things especially. Men are
impressed with things they can see. Things that impress other
men. Things that benefit them. Our
savior one day sat at the temple and he watched folks come in
and they dropped their offering in at the offering box. Men come by and stuff in wads
of money. Stuff in lots of money. And there
was one poor widow who didn't have anything. And she walked
into the temple to worship God and she dropped in two mites. And the Savior said to his disciples,
come here, I want to show you something. You see that woman
there? That poor woman didn't have enough money to buy soap
to wash her clothes. You see that woman? She's given
more than anybody. They cast into their abundance.
She has given everything. She's given her life. And she
went home to empty cupboards with bare floors and slept that
night in the arms of her Redeemer. We read in Mark 14 about a harlot. She brought an alabaster box appointment.
Spite me, very precious. It was worth 300 pence. Skip whatever your largest salary
was in the year you worked for IBM, whatever it was. That's
what an alabaster box is worth. I suspect that's about all anyone
saves in a lifetime. a year's wages. She brought everything she had
and broke it just to anoint the Savior for His burial. Just something
she prepared to do, she'd be keeping it for Him. Something
she was determined to do just for His glory, just as an expression
of faith, only for Him. It wasn't for anybody else's
benefit. And Judas said, that's a terrible waste. That's a terrible,
look what she did. Look what she did. And the other
disciples started to murmur. Isn't it amazing how quickly
we follow a bad example? They followed Judas' example. And
the master says, you fellas shut up and listen to me. This woman
did something I've never said about anybody else. She has brought a good work on
me. She has brought a good work on me. How is that? She did what
she could. She did what she could. She did what she could. Turn
over Romans 6 to 8. I want you to see some examples.
Romans 16. Remember, Paul's writing by inspiration. He writes to the church at Rome
and he commends Phoebe, our dear sister, which is the servant
of the church, which is in syncria, that you receive her in the Lord,
verse two, as become a saint. and that you assist her in whatsoever
business she hath need of you. How come, Paul? For she hath
been a succorer of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla
and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus. Priscilla names the woman
first, that's unusual. And Aquila, greet them, they
were my helpers. They have for my life laid down
their own necks. unto whom I not only give thanks,
but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet
the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epantinius,
who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. Greet Mary, Mary
who bestowed much labor on us. He could have said labor, but
he said much labor. Salute Andronicus and Julia, my kinsmen, my fellow
prisoners, who are of note among the apostles. who also were in
Christ before me. Greet Amphilus, my beloved in
the Lord. Salute Urbane, our helper in
Christ. And Stachys, my beloved. Salute
Apelles, approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus'
household. Salute Herodion, my kinsman. Greet, greet them, greet them. These dear friends, greet them. Then that be of the household
of Narcissus, of which are in the Lord. Salute Trifina and
Trifosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which
labored much in the Lord. Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord
and his mother and mine. Salute Asycritus, Philgon, Hermas,
Petrobus, Hermas, and the brethren which are with them. Salute Philogius
and Julia. Nereus and his sister, and Olympus,
and all the saints which are with them, salute one another,
kiss them. The churches of Christ salute
you. Did you hear what I'm telling you? These princes of Israel,
they brought their gifts, each one the same gift, and God accepted
them, and accepted their gifts. And one more time, to Ecclesiastes
chapter nine. We are accepted in the beloved. That doesn't mean that we're
gonna get by. That means we're accepted. Highly
approved of by God in Christ Jesus. Ecclesiastes nine, verse
seven. Go thy way. Eat thy bread with
joy, drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth
thy works. God now accepteth thy works. When you get up in the morning
and you go, You make that drive to the factory and you go punch
your clock and you're half awake and half asleep and dead dog
tired. When you get home, smile and click your heels together.
God accepts your works. You mean, when I'm at the factory,
God accepts that? God accepts your works. When
you come home and you gotta get things done for the evening,
God accepts that. God accepts that. Let thy garments,
verse eight, be always white. Let thy head, like no ointment,
walk in the righteousness of Christ, in the anointing of his
Spirit. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the
days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under
the sun, all the days of thy vanity, for that is thy portion
in this life, and in thy labor, which thou takest under the sun.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it the best you can. Do it with all your might, for
there is no work, no device, no knowledge, no wisdom in the
grave, whither thou goest. And then in that great day, when
the books of heaven are opened, God will open the books. The books of heaven's record. The books of heaven's record. And he's going to look at everything
written in the book and judge you according to that which is
written in the book. And he'll search the books and
search the books and search the books. All the crimes, all the
sin, all the iniquity, all the transgressions, all the evil,
all the ungodliness, all the unbelief. He'll search and search
and search. I see here, I see doubt here. I don't see Thomas' name there.
I see denying the Lord here. I don't see Peter's name there.
I see incest here. Lot's name's not listed there.
I see legality here. Paul's name's not there. It's
not there. I see forsaking here. I don't
see one of the disciples listed there. I don't see it. And he
opens another book. It's called the Book of Life
of the Lamb. Oh, there it is. That's Thomas. That's Peter. That's Paul. That's
Lot. Right there at Don Fort. And
there's no iniquity. and no sin, just perfection,
just righteousness, just holiness, just obedience, just a gift for
God of silver and gold, accepted by sacrifice, God our Savior. In the last two verses of the
chapter, you'll notice that God spoke these things to Moses from
the mercy seat. That's because God only speaks
to sinners from the mercy seat. God only meets sinners in the
mercy seat. God only comes to sinners in
the mercy seat. And God will not be spoken to
by you. You cannot come to God except
by the mercy seat, Christ Jesus the Lord. Come to God by the
mercy seat, and God accepts you. He remembers everything. He remembers
everything. He remembers, Mark, every thought,
every deed, every intention, every word you ever did in perfect
righteousness. Because the obedience of his
son is your obedience. And his blood makes our efforts
here acceptable. He receives our praise at Thanksgiving. Come to God by his son and find
everlasting acceptance with God in this, your day. God remembers everything except
that which is not. I tell you what, he'll never
remember. I can't forget it, but God can't remember it. He
will never remember my sin. He will never remember my sin. How come? Because he put away
my sin by the sacrifice of himself. How do you know? Because I believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. I come to him. Oh, God give you grace now, come
to Christ. Come to Christ and live forever
with God, accepted with God. Amen. Let's sing Jesus I Come. I think it's number two.