Randy will cut that hair for
you when you grow old. I've got an appointment. I'm
getting one anyway. But I need one, don't I? I will tell you. I promise. It's good to see you out this
morning. Remember those who requested prayer. We had an invitation
for Tyler for his graduation. I was thinking it would be a
nice thing for the church to give him a monetary gift. If that's alright with
y'all. What's the number you'd like to give? A couple hundred
bucks? OK. All right. We'll do that
for Tyler. Graduation was an interesting
graduation. All of them were this year. It's strange. I thought
that the end of this month, or the end of June, the last Sunday
of June, we'll start back with our gathering together to eat,
and we'll also have the Lord's table at last Sunday of June.
That's next coming up tomorrow. Are you and Deb going to be home? No, Deb won't be home till the
following Monday, but that'll be all right. Yes, she'll be
home on the 29th, yeah. And they're doing well out in
California. They moved today to a different
location. They can only stay in that isolated
facility for 70 days. So the last 30 days you got to
stay in a hotel. So they're moving eight miles
from where they are. I'm just hoping she's not moving toward
the riots, but away from out in L. A. At least they do have
a curfew, and I think they're abiding by it in L. A. Not in
other places, but in L. A. So, but do remember them in
your prayers. They're doing serious, doing
really well. Brother Wayne Land, his brother, Yatsy, died this
week. He had a stroke on Thursday,
I think it was, and passed away. So I remember Brother Wayne.
Wayne's the last brother there was in that family, the last
kid, I guess. And him and his brother were
like fricking fracking two peas in a pod. They did everything
together as boys and men, and very close. So I remember Wayne
in your prayers at this time. Seek the Lord's help for him.
Pardon? My friend Tina died. Did she? Okay. I remember they
put her in hospice, hadn't they? They brought her home. Oh, that's
right. She wanted to come home. So remember that family in your
prayers also. We'll begin our worship service with the leaflet
on unworthy. Unworthy. Okay. Have you got it? Yeah. That was
the intro. Oh, that was the intro? Yeah.
I missed it. I'm sorry. We're starting the
song. Okay. Unworthy am I of the grace
that He gave. Unworthy to hold to His hand. A mace that a king would reach
down to a slave This love I cannot understand Unworthy, unworthy
bigger in bondage and alone but he made me worthy and now by
his grace his mercy has made me his own My sorrow and sickness laid stripes
on his back. My sins cost his blood that was
shed. My faults and my failures have
woven a crown of thorns that he wore on his head. unworthy unworthy bigger in bondage and alone but
he made me worthy and now by his grace his mercy has made
me his own Unworthy am I of the glory to come Unworthy with angels
to sing I thrill just to know that He loved me so much, a pauper
I walk with the King. Unworthy, unworthy. in bondage and alone but he made
me worthy and now by his grace his mercy has made me his own
I believe we got that Is something about that name
the Offertory Hymn? Yes. Okay, I got it backwards
on the thing. So we'll sing Hymn number 212
next, right? Okay. After Scripture and Prayer,
we'll sing Hymn number 212. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Numbers,
chapter 1. Numbers chapter 1. I'm going to read two verses of scripture,
actually three from this chapter and one verse from the second
chapter. The title of my message is The Lord's Army. Numbers chapter
1 verse 2 and 3. It says, 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 in verse 18, it says, 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 pose. Then in
chapter two in verse seventeen it says, Then the tabernacle
of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the
Levites in the midst of the camp. As they camped, so shall they
set forward every man in his place by their standards. Let
us pray. We come in the blessed name and
perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord. We beseech you,
O Father, on behalf of those who have lost loved ones and
those who are sick, that you might be pleased to comfort and
strengthen them at these times. We pray for ourselves as a congregation
that we might stand for the glory of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that we might be steadfast and single-minded and of one
accord in these matters. Father, help us to love one another
and love you supremely. We pray for those who are unable
to attend for whatever reason, we ask Lord you be with them
and watch over them. Father, we pray this day that you might
be pleased to cause us in our hearts to worship you in spirit
and in truth as we consider these things that are before us. We
thank you for this word. We thank You for the beauty of
it, the wonder of it, the Old Testament. It clearly sets forth
Christ in type and shadow and picture, that wondrous mystery
of the Gospel shrouded and wrapped up in the glory of God. We thank
You for the New Testament, for the Gospel as our Lord entered
into this world and walked this earth and taught men what the
Bible meant. We thank You for the revelation
that occurred as the Spirit came at Pentecost. and the men whom
you had made apostles, wrote the words that you inspired then
that we can understand and appreciate all that was spoken in the Old
Testament and even in the Gospels. Help us, Lord, to appreciate
what we have and make use of it. We pray in the precious name
of Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn number 212, Nothing
but the Blood of Jesus. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon this I see, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. My cleansing, despite me, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Not a good that I have done,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is a flow that makes
me white as snow. Other fount I know, nothing but
the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is our hope, that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. I'm going to ask Stan and Fred
to receive the offering this morning, please. We'll be singing,
there's something about that name, also on your, as our offertory
hymn. Let us pray. Our Father, again
we approach in the name of Christ, that blessed name that is above
every name, the only name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved. We know it is in that name that
you have given us all things freely. And we know that what
we have, we have received. And we are thankful. Let us show
forth that thankfulness in returning these gifts unto Thee, with praise
in our hearts. and worship. We pray in Christ's
name. Amen. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, answer something. Master, Savior, Jesus, like the
fragrance after the rain. Jesus, Jesus, Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away But there's something
about that name We'll just do it one time The title of my message this
morning is The Lord's Army. In Genesis we see the beginning
of the prophecy of Jesus Christ and His people. We see the creation
as a picture of the new creation. The making of man and his subsequent
fall sets forth Adam as the federal head of fallen humanity. And
according to Romans 5, a figure of him who was to come. Christ
is the federal head of the newly created race, His blood-bought
people. We see Christ pictured in the
light called forth, in the beast slain. We see Him in promise
and written in Genesis 3.15 in the Proto-Evangelium, as the
seed of woman who shall bruise the serpent's head. We see the
people of God called out from among the world in Abraham in
chapter 12 of Genesis. and the covenant of grace pictured
in the covenant that God made with that man. We see the promised
seed Isaac who testifies or typifies rather all who are born of the
Spirit. We see the confusion of human
tongues at Babel so that God might bring His people to a singular
language in Jesus Christ and His Gospel. We see the manner
in which the Lord bestows righteousness to Abraham. He believed God concerning
the promised seed and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
We see divine election when God separated the darkness from light
in Genesis 1 and also in the birth of Jacob Esau is clearly
set forth as the doctrine of election in Romans chapter 9.
We see the children going into Egypt, the picture of the captivity
and the enslavement of sin. In Exodus we see the deliverance
of God's people from sin by the substitution, the blood of the
lamb on the doorpost and lentils. We see God's protection and guidance
of his people with the cloud by day and the fiery pillar by
night as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Each
of those picturing Christ as he is the light of the world
and also the cloud that blots out their transgression as a
dark cloud. We see the destruction of the
prince of the world and the drowning of the Egyptian army in the sea.
We see Christ the manna, Christ the rock, Christ the high priest,
Christ the tabernacle, Christ the sacrifice and Christ the
mercy seat. Saving, caring for, feeding and
sustaining His people. In Leviticus we see the people
of God worshipping God and the sacrifices and ordinances of
God. And now we come to the fourth
book of divine inspiration and it falls into the logical order
of things that God has established. Here we see God numbering His
people. God numbering His people, setting them at their posts,
and in the midst of them setting up a tabernacle where He dwells
among them in His Shekinah glory, in the Holy of Holies. This is
the church, this is the church gathered in the wilderness, and
all the tribes were to be numbered except the tribe of Levi he was
not numbered which was the tribe of the priesthood which also
represents the church for we are holy priesthood and our royal
nation according to first Peter the reason for this is that the
other twelve tribes picture the elect of God in the church as
the specific function that they serve in that capacity while
the tribe of Levi in this instance represents the church or the
spiritual priesthood as a number that no man can number. That's
the way it's worded. This is important. The major
portion of chapters 1 and 2 are taken up with the actual numbering
of the tribes. Numbering them and the establishment
of their positive relative or rather their position relative
to the tabernacle which is representative of the believers function in
the church. We find that throughout the New Testament in Romans Chapter
12, for instance, verses 4 and 5, it talks about the offices
or functions of those in the body. In 1 Corinthians 12, it
talks about them being members of the body, like the heart,
and the lungs, and the arms, and the eyes, and so forth. All
that's set forth in the New Testament, speaking of the unity of the
Church. And one important note to remember is the first tribe
mentioned in reference as to position is the tribe of Judah.
The tribe of Judah. That's the largest encampment.
had some 186,000 people in that camp from which sprang Christ
as King and the only priest from that tribe was Christ. He did not spring from the Levitical
line. He sprang from the tribe of Judah according to Hebrews.
Now their position was east of the tabernacle toward the rising
of the sun guarding the door or entrance of the tabernacle.
So they were the first to move They led the nation, they were
first to set up camp, and they established where the nation
settled. That all speaks of Jesus Christ. This wonderfully pictures
the truth. That entrance into the presence
of God for worship is through Judah. You didn't get in a tabernacle,
you had to go through Judah to get there. The entrance into
the worship of God is through Jesus Christ, the door of the
sheep, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,
the Great High Priest of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
what goes on here in Numbers 1 and 2 is a picture of the church. In this passage of Scripture
we find Paul writing to the church saying what happened to these
people were examples for us to understand that this is what
happens in the church. So this is the picture of the
church in the Old Testament, the church in the wilderness.
I want us to draw attention to four verses that I've just read
to you in these two chapters. And particularly four words and
one phrase that teach the doctrine of the church. When I speak of
the church, I'm referring to the whole body of Jesus Christ.
We know that the church is twofold in this world. In one sense,
it's pictured in two ways. We have a local church is what
we are. We're a local body of believers gathered together to
worship the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're a local church, a local
church. It's autonomous. Each church,
each local church is its own church or own body of believers,
but these make up a DIFFERENT group. These make up an AGGREGATE
church, what old B.H. Carroll used to call it, the
Church Aggregate, which is ALL the members of the Body of Christ
from the BEGINNING of time until the END of time, and that makes
up the BODY or the CHURCH in the When I speak of the Church,
I am referring to the WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST, those for whom He
GAVE HIMSELF, according to Ephesians 5, or the ELECT OF ALL AGES,
those predestinated to be CONFORMED to His IMAGE, according to Romans
Chapter 8, those who are CALLED, JUSTIFIED, and GLORIFIED, gathered
together into ONE FOLD, and have the FELLOWSHIP OF GOD and the
BRETHREN. This is the Church. This is the
Church, and that�s what�s happening here as they NUMBER the BODY. Concerning the church the first
two words are found in chapter 1 in verse 2. It says this back
in chapter 1 in verse 2, it says, Take ye the sum of the congregation
and the children of Israel after their families by the house of
their fathers with the number of their names. You have the
word sum and you have the word number. The use of these two
words together in reference to the same thing teaches that there
is an exact, precise, an inalterable number. Take the sum and the
number. The use of these two words together
in reference to the same thing teaches us that there was an
exact, precise number. An exact, precise number and
taking the sum suggests the process of adding up of those included
in that sum once counted was the number. That's what this
means. The final and exact tally. That's important. This of course
pictures the church in that it was made up of an exact number.
The body of Christ is an exact number. In Jeremiah chapter 50,
if you want to turn there just for a moment. Jeremiah chapter 50. This is
the way it's worded. In verse 20 it says, In those
days And in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, and there shall be none. Now when did that
happen? It happened on the cross. And the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found. Why? For I will pardon them whom
I reserve. Whom God reserves, those are
the ones that He's going to pardon. That's that exact tally. This
picture is the church made up of the exact number chosen of
God, and it is for that number. Listen very carefully, that Christ
bled and died and redeemed. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
When all is added up, there will be no more and no less than exactly
what God has ordained. When tallied up, there will be
exact number making up 12 tribes in Israel and true of the church
of the living God. Who are they? They are all for
whom Christ died. They make up this exact number
of all those whom He redeemed and all and they are the same
number that makes up what is called the church. Now there's
a popular notion that plays on the sympathies of folks. It's
usually the fodder to fake preachers and used profusely at funerals
and during invitations at the end of gut-wrenching spills of
sentimentality and they produce dead men walking. These often
blubber that if you don't decide for Jesus that there will be
someone missing in heaven. Heard it all my life as a boy.
That there will be an empty space there. Barney, you say this,
there are plenty of seats in heaven. And every one has a name
on it. Every seat has a name on it. With Israel, there's a sum. There's
a sum. that makes the exact number.
And when the roll is called up yonder, everyone on the roll
will be there. For that roll is not the books
out of which men are judged, but the other book called the
Lamb's Book of Life, whose names were written there before the
foundation of the world. And when their name is called,
they will simply answer, Present. They've already been judged in
Jesus Christ. The wrath of God has been poured
out on Him on behalf of them. They stand before God without
sin. They are among that army that ride behind Christ on white
horses. They are the children of the
Living God. There is a Son. They are all
present and accounted for. This is clearly set forth when
the Lord talked about building the temple in 1 Kings 6 and verse
7. When that temple was built, before
the design was laid out. And then they would go to the
quarry and they would cut one stone. And they would bring that
stone back and put it in its place. Then they would measure
for the next stone. They would go back to that quarry
and cut one stone and bring it back. It wasn't like when we
did rock work and block work. We didn't get a load of blocks
or a truckload of rocks. Every stone was cut. Every stone
was cut in a quarry away from the building when the temple
was built. Then it was brought in and put
in its place. And what that tells us is something
very important. When it was finished, there were
no stones left over, and there were no holes in the wall. Every
stone was cut. Listen to me, if you are a child
of God, you were cut in the quarry of God's election before the
foundation of the world. And when the time come for you
to be put in the temple, your place was already there, already
made, and you were simply put into that place. That's the building
of the temple. That's that spiritual edifice
which Christ is a headstone and the noise around it is grace,
grace into it. And another thing about that,
the cutting of those stones was done in the quarry so no sound
would be heard of tool or saw in the building of the temple.
When they brought that stone, it was in silence. There wasn't
no tools. Tools, it was already cut for
the exact space that it needed to be cut. And it was set in
that place. There were no tools to use. The
tools were sawed somewhere else, where? In eternity. But when
the temple was built, it was built in silence. I know people
like to think there's some kind of always a lightening bolt.
Our Lord said His people appears to do in the morning. How's that? I don't know if you've ever seen
it appear. I've seen it, but I ain't seen it appear. I walked
out and there it was. I've even sat up all night long
and felt the moisture, but didn't see it. This is how God's children
appear. They've already been cut from
eternity, and they're brought to the city, and there's an exact
number. There ain't no holes in God's temple, and there ain't
no pigs in the wall like we used to say when we lay brick. Primarily it means each stone
was cut to fit a particular spot. That's the glory of this church. This declares that the building
of the church was an act of God. And that He will get all the
glory. The church isn't always an exact number. We don't know
the number. We know that it's called a number that no man can
number. It's also called a very small flock. It's called a number that's greater
than the stars of the heavens and the sands of the sea. But
it's called God's little flock. We don't know. We don't know
who they are. So what do we do? How are these
fish caught? What net is cast to catch them?
Just one net. Not an invention of man. The
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is preached. And God says, My
sheep hear My voice. They follow me, and I give unto
them eternal life. The church has always been an
exact number, the sum of those chosen, cut in a quarry of providential
grace. Out of every tribe, kindred nation,
turning people upon the face of the earth, they put in their
exact place, making up the exact total which was ordained of God.
I had a friend recently who called me. She was having some difficulty
in the church. She was giving her a hard time about some things.
actually about wearing a master shirt that told her she was living
in fear. She asked me about it. She was tore up about it. I said,
look, I said, just go and hear the gospel. Pray for the folks. I said, be one of those people,
one of those members of the body that's unseen and unknown, but
very, very important. More important than the arms
and the legs. is the liver and the heart and the kidneys. Because
you can live without arms and legs. Some of you here today
are living without some of the members of your body, aren't
you? You okay? Your body's still functioning.
If you cut off those fingers, didn't it stop your heart? Did
it? Didn't kill you, did it? It ain't gonna do it. Cut off
your finger, didn't kill you, did it for you. Now, it's important. Those fingers are important.
You must wish you had them. You are still alive. Why? Because
those important parts of your body are unseen and they do all the hard business
of keeping you alive. These are ordained of God. You
are ordained of God. You are a member of the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The second word concerning the
church is found in chapter 1 and verse 3. It says, From twenty
years old and upward that are able to go forth to war in Israel,
thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies." Here they are
said to be all that are able to go forth to war. This is specifically
referred to those above 20 years of age who are equipped and able
to do battle. That's important because these
warriors are set forth and engaged in the defense of the gospel.
These are equipped with the weapon of warfare, singular, the sword
of the Lord, the Bible, the word of the Lord, which is quickening.
Sharper than a two-edged sword, able to pierce even to the dividing
of the joints and the marrow, and discerns the thoughts and
intents of the heart. This is what we're equipped with.
This is what we're equipped with. We don't have a political argument
in the church. A spiritual argument. Our argument
and what we contend for is the Gospel. We�ve also said if you
don�t put on the whole armor of God, the breastplate is lifeless. I�ve been shot with the Gospel
and so forth, and so forth. And all this armor�s on the front
of us. There�s nothing for the back. None of that armor�s for the
back. The shield is on the front. The breastplate's on the front.
Everything's on the front. Why? Because we're going forward.
We're marching forward in the army of God. We do that to stand
against the wiles of the devil. And we don't wrestle with flesh
and blood, but against principalities, and against powers, and against
rulers of darkness in high places, against spiritual wickedness.
They do battle with Satan, the church does, and his minions. For the Lord said, the gates
of hell shall not prevail against his church. Now, when you go
to battle, you don't take your gates with you. Your gates are
steadfast. We're going against the gates
of hell when we preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. These
also do battle within themselves. For the Scriptures declare that
though they walk in the flesh, they are not war after the flesh.
For the weapons of warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God, to pulling down the strongholds, casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Jesus Christ. This marvelous thing about this
army and the battle, the fight is this, the battle has already
been won. We are playing it out. But it has already been won.
It has already been fought. and won by our captain, the leader,
the leader is the Lord Jesus Christ who is according to scripture
a man of war. Tell your people, comfort your
people, tell them that our warfare is finished. The battle is already
won. He's our hero. You know what
a hero is? I know we're using that word
all the time. It's kind of like giving everybody a trophy for
participating in a sport. When I was growing up, you had
best player, best defensive player in football, best offensive player,
and you got a trophy. And you may have had one that
showed extreme sportsmanship. We got a sportsmanship trophy.
But everybody didn't get a trophy. Somewhere in the annals of the
human mind in the 70s and 60s and 70s, we began to do this
thing called values clarification, which said that you can't, a
person won't, you'll hurt a person's esteem if he don't get a trophy.
That's not true. You may make him work harder
to get one. I mean, you might make him, if he really wants
a trophy, if he really wants a trophy. But let me tell you
this about heroism. If everybody's a hero, nobody's
a hero. You know what a hero was? One
man. This is the true meaning of the
word hero. when battles were fought. In Greek literature, the hero
was the man who led the battle. He went out by himself against
the leader of the army by himself. These were the heroes. They fought
for everybody else. And the battle was discerned
on who these two won. If this won the battle, the army
won the battle. If this won the battle, that
army won. That's a hero. Jesus Christ is our hero. He's
the captain of our salvation. He alone went out for us to withstand
the very wrath of Almighty God, to bear in Himself our sins in
His body on the tree, and He won the battle. Now we're His
army, but if you read in Revelation when that army comes back, they
go out to meet Him. He's coming. And when the battle
is fought, it is Him that speaks. They do not draw their swords.
They do not put up their shield. He speaks with the word of His
mouth, the fire of His mouth, and the army is consumed. He
is the one that wins the battle. But where is His army? Everyone
above 20 years old that is ready to go to war. That is how they
are described. That is the Church of the Living
God. The third word is found in chapter 1 in verse 18 when
it says this, And they assembled all the congregation together
on the first day of the second month, and they declared their
pedigrees after the families by the house of their fathers,
according to the number of names from the twenty years old and
upward." You have another word here, pedigree. Pedigree. Now this is not usually a word
that we mongrels and curs, we dead dogs would attach to ourselves. Pedigree. But every person in this army
must be able to establish a pedigree. They must establish their rightful
place by declaring who their Father is. What manner of love is this? That we should be called the
sons of God. That's our Father. We talk about a pedigree. You
are talking about a pedigree. We have always been His children.
It says in Hebrews chapter 2 that because we were the children
Christ partook the same flesh to redeem us. We are His children. Children of God that heirs according
to promise in the will and testament of God. What is your pedigree?
Well, I am not much. I am just an old man. Knob-knocker
the other day. Talking about these balls on
these mountains. That's what I am. I'm just an
old mountain boy. You're an old mountain boy, mountain
girl. What's your pedigree? Ain't much. I ain't on the who's
who in America. I ain't in the top 100. I ain't
in the top 1 million probably. Who am I? I gladly say I'm nobody. Who am I? I'm a child of the
King. I'm a member of the royal family.
Now I realize that I lived all my life on a dunghill. God took
me from a dunghill and set me among princes. And clothed me
in princely attire. Dressed me in the robe of righteousness. The pristine robe of Jesus Christ. I'm a son of God, Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the very begotten of God is my elder brother. That's your pedigree. Who are
you? I ain't nobody. I'm a child of
the King. I'm a child of the King, taken
from a dunghill, set among princes. And the fourth word we find is
standard. It's found in chapter 2 and verse
17. It says, Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set
forth with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp as they
encamp. So shall they set forth every man in his place by their
standards. Each tribe had a standard under
which they gathered. Whether moving from one place
to another or going into battle, they gathered behind or around
or under their standard. The standard or ensign or flag
or banner was the focal point of the tribes. They were defined
by it, recognized by it, and gathered around it. And this
is the picture of the church and its singular focus and object. The standard of the church is
Jesus Christ and His Word. That's the banner of love under
which we travel. He is the message, He is the
means, He is the method, and He is the music. When Jim and
I come up with songs to sing, we make sure they say something
about Jesus Christ, about His glory, about His honor. We're
not about to sing, have a little talk with Jesus, or I'll Fly
Away, or some of the other songs don't talk about Jesus Christ
at all. These songs we sing don't talk about Christ. What can wash
away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What's my whole, my righteousness? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. The means we use to see God's
people brought to Him in Jesus Christ is singular. We don't
have an invitation. I've been preaching here 42 years
and I've not had our first invitation yet. I was talking with a grace
preacher here on the reservation years ago and he said, these
preachers are grace preachers. I said, if they were grace preachers,
the first thing they'd do is get rid of that church altar and
then stop having the invitation system and just see if they believe
God saved His people without their help. And he actually got rid of his
church offer for about three weeks and then people got mad
at him and told him he was going to quit coming so he put it back
in. The means is singular. How do
we see God's people brought to Christ? Through the preaching
of the gospel. That's it. Nothing more, nothing
less. We sing hymns of thanksgiving
and praise because that's what's in our heart as we worship the
Lord and we preach the gospel to worship Him and what He's
done for His people. That's the means. The method
is simple. We gather, we sing, we preach,
we pray, we go home, and we trust that the Word of God will do
what He said, what God said His Word would do, would not return
unto Him void, would accomplish whatever He purposed and wherever
He sent it. As I said, it's about Jesus Christ.
The message is singular, Jesus Christ. It's not programs and
activities of the youth. Many years ago, a lady called
me and asked me what kind of programs we had for the youth
here at the church. The conversation didn't last
very long because all I said to her was, well, I'm trying
my best to get these people that I preach to ready to meet God
because that's what's surely going to happen to them. That's
the program we have. And she said, thank you, bye. Because we don't have programs,
we've never had programs. Programs, and youth clubs, and
committees, and boards, and roles, or any number of things so propagated,
so called in Christianity, it's Christ that's our standard. It's
Christ is the flag in which we gather under. It's Christ is
the banner over us in love. And this is what is declared
throughout Scripture. We'll gather around that ensign
described in Isaiah chapter 10 verse 11 and verse 10 as the
ensign, the root of Jesse. And to him shall the gathering
of the people be. So here in the beginning of this
book of Numbers, four books into the great scriptures, there is the church, us, made
up of an exact number, one that no man can number, who's an army
of God, who's equipped for the battle, they all have a pedigree
of their Father's house, they're all gathered with eyes and ears
and mind and heart fixed on the standard that is in the center
of them, The ensign and the banner of the church, the Lord Jesus
Christ. The church is one foundation. Jesus Christ, her Lord. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.