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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. One for one, stand firm, everyone. Rest your cause upon this holy wood. Crows then the soldiers rally round the banner. Ready, steady, pass the word along. Onward, forward, shadow loud, hosanna. Crisis, captain of the mighty throng. Son number 419 on the second. Strong to meet the foe, marching on we go. While our cause we know, must we will. Chill then and then, light gleaming in the light. Battling for the ride, we can and fail. Thousands of soldiers rally, Alabama. Ready, steady, pass the word along. Onward, forward, shadow loud, hosanna. Crisis, captain of the mighty throng. 419 on the last. O thou God of all, hear us when we call. Help us one and all, by thy grace. Stand above big trees, what may we wear? The crown before thy face. Crows then, soldiers rally round the banner. Ready, steady, pass the word along. Shout loud, hosanna. Crisis, captain of the mighty throng. Amen. Great team. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church here on our Sunday evening service. We're glad to see everyone here this evening. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father and Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come to church this evening. Good evening, Lord. Thank you for the dear people that would come on a Sunday evening, Lord, to sing praises to you, Lord. We pray that you bless everyone here, bless the singing, bless the preaching, and bless the fellowship to come. And we love you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, it's now time for favorites where if you're selected, we will sing a stanza from the song that you pick. Brother George, go ahead. 244. Song number 244, Amazing Grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Let's sing it out on the first. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. Ms. Christine. Song number 5353. Beulah Land, song number 53. I've reached the land of joy divine, and all its riches freely mine. Song number 53, sing it out on the first. I've reached the land of joy divine, and all its riches freely mine. Air shines in me one blissful day, for all my night has passed away. Oh, Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land, as on the highest bounce I stand. I look away across the sea where mansions are prepared for me. And Beulah's shining glory shore, I have my own forevermore. Isabel. 146. 146. Song number 146, a shelter in the time of storm, song number 146. The Lord our rock, in him we hide, sing it out on the first. The Lord our rock, in him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm. Secure whatever will be tied, a shelter in the time of storm. Sing it out. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. Ms. Esther. 37? 27. Song number 27, the old rugged cross. Man, we're hitting all the classics this evening. Song number 27, sing it out on the first. On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross. He ambled mother softly again saying, Can I love that old cross, where the dearest stand last? Oh, what a loss, sinners are slain. So I cherish the old rugged cross, till my church runs out my side way down. I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown. Josiah, go ahead. 173. 173. He was holding that hand for the whole song. Song number 143. Song 173. Love lifted me. Song 173. Sing it out on the first. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more. The master of the sea, heard my despairing cry. From the waters lifted me, now safe am I. Love lifted me. Love lifted me, when nothing else could help. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. Love lifted me, when nothing else could help. Love lifted me. Miss Irene. Song number 44. Song number 44. Will work till Jesus comes. Song number 44. Oh land of rest for thee I sigh. Sing it out on the first. Oh land of rest for thee I sigh. When will the moment come? When I shall lay my armor by Israel. And peace hath come. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes. And will be gathered home. Sing one more song. Miss Laura Beth Guide. Song number 43. We are marching to Zion. Song number 43. Sing it out. This will be the last song on the first. Come heed that love the Lord. And let our joyous Lord. Join in a song with sweet accord. Join in a song with sweet accord. And thus surround the throne. We're marching to Zion. Beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion. The beautiful city of God. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements tonight. If you did not receive a bulletin on your way in, you can just raise your hand and one of our ushers will get one for you. And if you did not receive a bulletin on your way in, you can just raise your hand and one of our ushers will get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. The verse this week, Philippians 1. 6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And that's a good verse there. We like that if you open up your bullets and you'll see our service times, Sunday morning service, 1030 a.m. And we had a wonderful service this morning. We're glad you're back out tonight for the evening service and then, of course, the Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. If you look at our soul-winning times, our main soul-winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And we have additional soul-winning times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. I don't think I announced this this morning, but I would like you to notice that on Thursday, the soul-winning time has changed to 6 p.m. And that's just something for the summer months that we're gonna try. And when I say try, that's literally what I mean because I've, over the last few years, I've had people tell me, like, can we do this soul-winning time? And then I'll say, okay, we'll try it. And then they never show up. And then I don't get stuck with it. I just change it back. So we'll try this, and if no one shows up, we'll just change it back. But at 6 p.m., there's been some requests for that. So we'll see how it goes. And if it goes well, it was my idea. If it goes bad, it was Brother Shaw's idea. And so we'll just figure that out. We're a family-integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome to the service. We don't separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother-baby rooms, so please use those as needed. If you need to be baptized, please let us know. And you can let us know on your communication card. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, we've got our series. Of course, we'll be in the Book of Numbers tonight. Next Sunday is graduation service on Sunday, June 4th. So we encourage you to be a part of that. And we'll have pizza after the service. Striving Together New Members class is on Sunday, June 11th. So if you haven't been a part of that, we'd love for you to be a part of it. This is a class that we put on once every three months or four months or so, and it's for new members. So if you're brand new to our church, we'd love for you to be a part of this. It'll be right after the morning service. So just right after the morning service, if you head into the fellowship hall, it's really a time of fellowship, and it's a catered lunch that we'll have. So we need you to sign up if you've not yet signed up, because we want to know you're coming so we can make sure we have enough food for you. But it's a time for my wife and I to be able to fellowship with the newer people in our church. There is a class that we go through, but it's a good time, it's a fun time, and we'd love for you to be a part of it. If you're newer to our church, if you've not gone to the Striving Together New Members class, please make sure you sign up for that. And then, of course, Happy Father's Day there. We have a Father's Day service coming up on Sunday, June 18th. There's going to be some fun things going on that day, but what we want to announce right now is the T-shirts for all the men that will be given out and the boys, so make sure you're a part of that. And then the VBC Choir is going to start practicing on June 11th. They're going to start practicing for the Red Hot Preaching Conference, so please make sure that you are part of that. If you are part of the choir, make sure you make note of that. Practice begins Sunday, June 11th, 5 p.m. here in the auditorium. And if you would like to sign up for the choir or be part of the choir, then this is the time to join. So jump in right now on Sunday, June 11th, and you can be part of the choir. There's other things there for you to look at. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries. For the month of May, today is Brother George McQueen's birthday on May 28th. And then Daniel Cruz has a birthday on May 30th. Ms. Abby Santos also has a birthday on May 30th. Brother Joel and Ms. Courtney Usher have an anniversary on May 31st. And Ms. Christine Laquetta has a birthday on June 1st. Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to take our song books and go to page number 27. And we're supposed to sing page 27 for the third song tonight. We already sang the first verse, so we're going to skip the first verse, all right? And we'll sing the second verse on that old rugged cost so despised by the world. We sang the first, so let's go ahead and sing it out on the second, page number 27. O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, wonder is fraction for me. For the dear Lamb of God, left his glory above, he then the Calvary. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, till thy trumpets at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown. Page number 27, sing it out on the third. In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so behind, a wondrous beauty I see. For it was on that old cross, Jesus suffered and died, to pardon and sanctify me. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, till thy trumpets at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown. Good, sing it out on the last. To the old rugged cross, I will ever be true. It's shame and weak, most gladly there. Then he'll call me some day to my home far away, where his glory forever I'll share. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, till thy trumpets at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do come to you tonight asking that you bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. Lord, we pray that you'd meet with us as we open up your word and city of the Bible together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. piano plays softly piano plays softly piano plays softly piano plays softly piano plays softly Please open our eyes to Numbers 4. Numbers chapter number 4. If you need a Bible, you can put your hand up and Anishin will come by and bring your Bible. Numbers chapter number 4. If you need a Bible, keep your hand up Anishin will come by. Numbers 4. We'll read the entire chapter as our custom. Numbers 4 beginning in verse number 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers, from thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things. And when the camp seteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil, and cover the ark of testimony with it, and shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the stage thereof. And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes and the spoons and the bowls, and covers to cover withal, and the continual bread shall be thereon. And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with the covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuff dishes, and all the oiled vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it. And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar, and upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof. And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put them on a bar. And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon. And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censors, the flesh hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, and all the vessels of the altar. And they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins, and put to the staves of it. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it, but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof. And the Lord has spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites, and from among the Levites, but thus do unto them, that they may live and not die. When they approach unto the most holy things, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden, but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die. And the Lord has spake unto Moses, saying, Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families, from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old, shall thou number them, all that enter into perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve and for burdens. And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgerskins, that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar roundabout, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them, so shall they serve. And the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service, and he shall appoint unto them and charge all their burdens. This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon, in the tabernacle of the congregation, and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers, from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, shall thou number them. Everyone that entered into the service to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation. The boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and the pillars of the court roundabout, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. And by name you shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden. This is the service of the families of the sons of Moriah, according to all their service, in the Tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families and after the house of their fathers. From thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone that entered into the service for the work in the Tabernacle of the congregation. And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites. All that might do the service in the Tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon throughout their families and by the house of their fathers. From thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone that entered into the service for the work in the Tabernacle of the congregation. Even those that were numbered of them throughout their families by the house of their fathers were two thousand six hundred and thirty. These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon. All that might do the service in the Tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord. And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Moriah throughout their families by the house of their fathers. From thirty years old and upward even up to fifty years old, everyone that entered into the service for the work in the Tabernacle of the congregation. Even those that were numbered of them after their families were three thousand and two hundred. These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Moriah, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered after their families and after the house of their fathers. From thirty years old and upward even up to fifty years old, everyone that came to do the service of the ministry and the service of the burden in the Tabernacle of the congregation. Even those that were numbered of them were eight thousand and five hundred and four score. According to the commandment of the Lord, they were numbered by the hand of Moses. Everyone according to his service and according to his burden, thus were they numbered of him as the Lord commanded Moses. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word and for our church from this here. I say please give each and every one of us a tender heart to the message tonight. God, I say please be the pastor to strengthen them and from the rich spirit. We love you. And you say pray. Amen. Amen. All right. We're there in Numbers chapter number four. And on Sunday nights, we've been going through a study called Wilderness Wanderings, and we've been in a chapter by chapter study in the book of Numbers. And we've taken a few breaks. And of course, in the summer months, it gets busy and we'll probably take several breaks still through the book of Numbers. But tonight we find ourselves in Numbers chapter number four. And just by way of introduction, let me just kind of explain. There are two major things that are happening here in Numbers chapter four. The first one is that there is another census. And of course, this is why the book is called the book of Numbers. And it's another census of the tribe of Levi. And it's not really another census. It's just a different census of the same people. And I'll explain that here in a minute. The other thing that we see in this chapter is that it's actually a step by step instructions for the Levites in regards to how to take down the tabernacles. So two things that are happening in this chapter are an additional or different census of the tribe of Levi is happening. And then also they are being given step by step instructions for how to take down the tabernacle. And what we're going to do tonight is I'm going to just walk through this chapter and I'm going to explain it to you. Of course, it's a big chapter, it's 49 verses. I'll walk you through it and make sure you understand it or help you understand it. If you're interested in learning it, which I hope you are, then I'll help you with that. And then at the end, I'll give you a couple of applications that we can learn from this chapter. The first thing, like I said, is that there is another yet different census of the tribe of Levi. And this is throughout the chapter, but it's highlighted here in verses one, two, and three. Numbers chapter four and verse one, the Bible says, And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Take the sum. And of course that's the census. They are to take the sum or they are to number the people. They're supposed to figure out the total number, that's what the word sum means, another census. And really it's a sub-census. The big census already happened in another chapter, but now they're doing these sub-census within that census. And if you remember, the Kohathites are one of the three families that make up the tribe of Levi. So Moses is being instructed here to take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi after their families, by the house of their fathers. But I want you to notice in verse three, in verse three, we see the twist to this census. It says, So they were to number now the Levites from 30 years old and upward, even until 50 years old, all that enter into the host to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. Now, if you remember Numbers chapter number three, which I'm sure you don't, but if you remember chapter three, there was actually already a census of the tribes of Levi and of the family of Levi. So it's kind of interesting that in chapter three, we have a census of the tribes of Levi, the three families that make up the tribe of Levi. And then in chapter four, we have yet another census of the same three families. And I want to just explain this to you and help you understand it. There are three families that make up the tribe of Levi. If you remember, there are 12 tribes of Israel, but the tribe of Levi is made up of three families, the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merariites. So the sons of Merari, the sons of Gershon, and the sons of Kohath are the three families that make up the tribe of Levi. All three families were counted in chapter three. The same three families are going to be counted in chapter four. But the difference is this. In chapter three, if you remember chapter three, they counted the males from a month old and upward. Do you remember that? They counted the males from a month old and upward. And what they were doing is they were counting all of the men that were in these tribes. Because if you remember, God wanted to redeem the children of Israel. He wanted to take the firstborn. But instead of taking the actual firstborn of every family, of every tribe, he just decided to take the tribe of Levi as his payment for all the firstborns. Remember, they counted all of the males, all of the men from one month old and upward in order to be able to figure that number out. And we talked about that in that chapter. In chapter four, we're going to count the same tribe, but we're going to get a different number because of the fact that now we are counting men from 30 years old until 50 years old. So 30 to 50 years old in chapter three. And here's kind of what I want you to understand. And maybe you can write it down for your notes if you'd like. But chapter three, the census of the tribe of Levi, you could call it a census of availability. It was a census regarding how many men are actually available in this tribe that could potentially be priests and Levites that work through this tribe. We've spent the last several weeks on Sunday morning talking about fulfilling your potential. And that's what was happening in chapter three. In chapter three, we were looking at how many men could potentially serve, and we were looking at availability. In chapter four, we are not looking at availability, we are looking at ability. Or you could say viability. We're not talking about who could potentially serve. God now wants to know, okay, but who can serve right now? Who can serve today? So chapter three, we're counting all of the males from one month old and upward. Those are all of the men that could potentially be available for the tribe of Levi to serve in the tabernacle. But a month old cannot serve in the tabernacle. A six-month-old cannot serve in the tabernacle. A five-year-old cannot serve in the tabernacle. So then in chapter four, we go through the same families, but now we're counting men that are 30 to 50 years old. One census has to do with availability. The other census has to do with viability or ability. Those who are able to serve. That's what we see in this chapter. So just in case you read chapter three and then you read chapter four and you think to yourself, why are they just counting the same families over again? You need to understand that there's a difference in the people that are actually being counted in those census. That's the first thing we see in this chapter. We're going to see it throughout the chapter. I just want you to understand that. The second thing we see in this chapter is a step-by-step process. Instructions being given. These sequential orders that God is giving regarding the taking down of the tabernacle. Notice there it's highlighted in verses four and five. Numbers chapter four and verse four. The Bible says this. This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation about the most holy things. So he says, I want you to count them and then I want to explain to you what the service of the sons of Kohath. What he's saying is here's what they're actually going to do. Now notice verse five. And when the camp set it forward. So what we are being given is not only a sum of all of the families of the men in these three families, 30 years old to 50 years old, but we are also given instructions as to the service of the sons of Kohath, the service of the sons of Gershon, the service of the sons of Merari. What are they to do? Notice that there in verse five. When the camp set it forward. Because if you remember the book of Numbers is a book and where we are in the book of Numbers specifically is a book that is going to take us through the 40 years of the wandering in the wilderness. The first eight or ten chapters of the book of Numbers, it all deals with the preparation. They are getting ready to go. They are getting ready to pack up and to begin their journey. They're supposed to walk through the wilderness. It's not supposed to take very long. It's supposed to be just several weeks that they walk through the wilderness and then they're supposed to enter into Canaan land and victoriously take the land. We will find if you don't know already that about halfway through the book of Numbers they mess up. They get to where they're supposed to go and then they get scared. They say there's giants on the other side and they decide not to go. So then God says fine, then you can wander in the wilderness till you die. And they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and of course we're going to cover all of that. That's what the book of Numbers is about. So in the stage that we are in the book of Numbers right now, everything is still positive. Everything is still happy. Everything is still good and they're getting ready to move out on this journey. They're going to the Promised Land and God is giving them instructions as to how to do that. When the camp set it forward, what are you supposed to do? And that's really what this chapter covers is instructions for the tribe of Levi as to how to round them up and head them out, how to get things ready and ready to go. So if you're taking notes or if you want an outline for this chapter, I'll give you several steps in regards to what they're supposed to do. Step number one is the instructions for the sons of Aaron. Step one, what the sons of Aaron were to do. Now if you remember, there are three families that make up the tribe of Levi. The sons of Kohath, the sons of Gershon, the sons of Merari. But then within those three families is Aaron and his sons. Aaron and his sons are the priests. The sons of Aaron are the priests that serve in the tabernacle. Everyone else are the Levites. The priests are the spiritual leaders that actually stand before God in the tabernacle. The Levites are the support staff. They're the workers that help the priests in their work in the tabernacle. So though there are three families, there are four groups that are being given instructions here. And the first group is the sons of Aaron or what we would refer to as the priests. What are they supposed to do when it is time to head out? When it is time to pack it all up and get going? When it is time for the camp to set forward? Well notice there in verse five, the first thing they were supposed to do is they're supposed to prepare the ark to move. Look at verse five. And when the camp set it forward, because remember that's what they're getting ready to do, right? The camp is getting ready to get up and to move out. They're going to journey across the wilderness. When the camp set it forward, Aaron shall come and his sons, those are the priests, and they shall take down the covering veil. Now the covering veil being referred to here is probably a reference to the curtain that separates the holy place from the most holy place. If you remember, if you've ever seen a picture of the tabernacle, if you remember reading about the tabernacle in the book of Exodus, the tabernacle is a big rectangular tent divided into two rooms. The first room is called the holy place, the second room is called the most holy place or the holy of holies. The first room is where they would do the sacrifices, where you had the showbread, where you had the incense, where you had all those things. And then the second room was the room that held the Ark of the Covenant. They were supposed to go into that room once a year. Only one man, the high priest, was allowed to go in there once a year to do one thing, to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. These two rooms were separated by this special, nice, fake, super-duper curtain that separated the two rooms. This should sound a little familiar to you because if you remember when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and He said, It is finished, that was the end for the Old Testament covenant way of living. And this curtain that's being referred to here actually gets torn supernatural from one point to the other. And it pictures the fact that nothing now separates us and that we are high priests, excuse me, that we are priests. And through our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, we all have access to God and we no longer have to go through a priest to get access. This is the covering that's being referred to here. Aaron shall come and his sons, verse 5, and they shall take down the covering veil. So they take down this curtain that separates the holy place from the most holy place. What do they do with it? Notice what it says. And cover the ark of testimony with it. So I want you to notice, because I think sometimes people read these chapters and their eyes just kind of gloss over. And they're just kind of like, I don't know what's going on here. It's some really, you know, deep stuff. But it's really not that deep if you just read it and really look at what it's saying. It's just saying the priests walk into the tabernacle, they take the curtain down, and then they cover the ark with it. That's all it's saying. Look at verse 5 again. And when the camp set us forward, Aaron and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the testimony with it. So they take down the curtain and they cover the ark of the covenant with the curtain. Look at verse 6. And shall put thereon the covering of badger's skin. So they cover it with the veil. And then the Bible says that they are to cover it with badger's skin. Now why are they doing that? Probably because they didn't have bubble wrap. And if you remember, they're getting ready to move. And the badger's skin is probably just insulation and protection for this very special furniture called the ark of the covenant. So they cover it with the veil, then they cover, there's a covering of badger's skins. Look at verse 6. And shall spread over it a cloth holy of blue and shall put in the staves thereof. So just get the picture. The priests walk in, they walk into the holy of holies. First thing they do is take down the curtain. As soon as they take the curtain down, they cover the ark of the covenant. As soon as the ark of the covenant is down, they bring out their badger's skins which would be thick coverings like insulation or protection. And they cover the ark of the covenant with that. Then they have this special blue cloth, this cloth holy of blue. And they cover the ark completely with this blue cloth. And I'm sure they tie it down or wrap it around and they get it ready. And then the Bible says, last part of verse 6, that they put in the staves thereof. The staves would be the poles that they would use to carry the ark and they put it in. What are they doing? They're like movers. They're just coming in and they're getting it ready to move. They put the covering over it, they put the insulation over it, they put the blue covering over it, they put the staves in it, they're getting ready to go. So they prepare the ark to move. Then in verses 7 and 8, they prepare the table of shewbread to move. Look at verse 7. And upon the table of shewbread, because you remember in the holy place, there is a table with 12 loaves of bread. Twelve loaves of bread that were supposed to be put there every day as a representation of, number one, the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, and one for each of the tribes of Israel. So they are to take this table of shewbread, verse 7, and upon the table of shewbread, they shall spread a cloth of blue. Notice, they are doing everything with this cloth of blue. They spread the cloth of blue and put thereon the dishes and the spoons and the bowls and cover to cover withal and the continual bread shall be thereon. And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of badgerskins and shall put in the staves thereof. So notice, they go now to the table. They get all the materials for that table, all the different things that belong to that table. The dishes, the spoons, the bowls, they're just moving. They get it all together. They cover, the Bible says, and covers to cover withal. They spread upon them a cloth of scarlet. They cover the same with a covering of badgerskin. Again, insulation, protection as it moves. Then they put the staves because the table also had poles. They put the staves in so that it can be picked up and carried. Then what do they do? Then they prepare the candlestick. Because you remember in the holy place, there's not only the bread on the table of shewbread that pictures the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, but there's also a candlestick where they were supposed to have the 12 candles that represented the 12 tribes, and they were supposed to keep these candles lit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and that light would shine upon the bread. Of course, that's a picture of the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. So they go to the candlestick, verse 9, and they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the candlesticks of the light of his lamps and his tongs and his snuff dishes and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it, and all the vessels thereof, within a covering of badgerskins. A lot of badgers died to make this move happen, but they're just insulating it. And shall put it into a bar. And the bar there is just another word for poles or staffs, just the staves to carry it. Then they prepare the altar. Look at verse 11. And upon the golden altar, this is where they actually kill the sacrifices, they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of badgerskins, and shall put to the staves thereof. They cover it with the badgerskins, they put the poles in it, get it ready to move. Verse 12. And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue. Notice how everything gets wrapped up, then they put the badgerskins for insulation, just in case, like bubble wrap, as they're moving, just in case something happens, it won't get damaged. Then they cover everything with a cloth of blue. You say, why blue? I don't know. But it probably had to do with identification. Because these are all very holy articles, they're very holy pieces of furniture in the holy place, so they're easily and readily identified. When you see something covered in blue, it's like, be very careful. It would be the equivalent of us writing on a box, fragile. Don't throw this around. This one's important. So they cover it all in blue so they know what they're dealing with, when they're dealing with it. Look at verse 12. And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgerskins, and shall put them on a bar, and they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon, and they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censors, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins, and all the vessels of the altar, and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgerskins, and put to the staves of it. And when Aaron and his sons, look at verse 15. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward. So I want you to notice, the first thing we see is what the priests do. What do the priests do? They come into the tabernacle, and they start taking things down, they start getting things ready to move. They cover the Ark of the Covenant, they cover all the other pieces of furniture, they put badgerskins over them, they put blue cloths, or purple cloths over them, and they put staves in them, and get them ready to move. That's step number one. Step number two, Numbers chapter four, look at verse 15. In step one, we had what the sons of Aaron or the priests do. In step two, we have what the sons of Kohath do. Notice the direction for the sons of Kohath in verses 15 and 16. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, because that's what they did, right? They went into the sanctuary, they covered everything up, got it all ready to move. When they're done, when they have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is set forward, after that, I want you to notice a sequence here. Step one, the sons of Aaron and the priests cover everything up. What do we do next? Well, after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it, but they shall not touch any holy thing. So after that, the sons of Kohath come in, and it's their job to move it. It's kind of like when you hire movers, but they tell you, you gotta pack everything up. Right? The sons of Aaron and the priests, they gotta pack it all up, get it all together. But then the sons of Kohath, they come in to bear it. Now you might think to yourself, why would God spend 15 verses telling us about this massacre of badgerskins? You know, this massacre of badgers, and why is he just going into all this detail? Part of it is because God is an over-communicator. You know, that's why the Bible is as long as it is. But the other reason is because God loves people. And you say, well, what does this have to do with God loving people? Well, look at the last part of verse 15. After that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it. Their job is to bear this furniture, but they shall not touch any holy thing. Remember, these are not priests. These are Levites. These are the support staff. They are not allowed to touch these things. Why? Look at it. Last they died. If they were to come in and say, oh, sons of Aaron, take the day off. Don't worry, we'll pack things up. If they were to come in and look at the ark and touch the ark, they would die. Now it's their job to move it, to pick it up and carry it, but they are to pick it up and carry it in such a way where they never touch it and they never look at it. So the priests, the sons of Aaron, who actually are ordained of God to work within the tabernacle and they work with these things all day long, they're allowed to touch it, they're allowed to pack it. The Ark of the Covenant, even that they're not allowed to look at. So they're supposed to take the curtain down on this side, the ark on that side. They take the curtain down and they cover it immediately without even themselves looking at it. Then they take all the other furniture and get it ready and now it's safe for the Kohathites to come in and they can bear it, but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. Verse 16, This is just telling us who's in charge of this. Notice God always puts somebody in charge. And the daily meat offerings and the anointing oil and the oversight, that's the leadership that's being in charge, and the oversight of all the tabernacle and of all that therein is in the sack tray and in the vessels thereof. Now we saw the direction for the Kohathites. Now notice the protection for the Kohathites. Verse 17, 18, 19, and 20, I think that's a funny verse because God is telling Moses, don't kill the Kohathites. He's saying, Moses, listen to me. I'm going to give you step-by-step instructions and you need to do it the way I tell you to do it. You need to first have the sons of Aaron go in there, take the curtain down, don't look at the ark, cover the ark. That's the first thing you need to do. The next thing you need to do is kill a bunch of badgers. Get their skins and cover all this furniture. Get a bunch of blue cloth, cover all this cloth, tie it all up, put the poles in, get it all ready. Moses, are you listening to me? Make sure you do it right or you're going to kill a bunch of Kohathites. That's what he's saying. Verse 18, Look at verse 20, Now, do you think that God is messing around here? Go to 1 Samuel real quickly. Keep your place there in Numbers chapter 4. That's our text for tonight, but go to 1 Samuel chapter 6. In the Bible, God literally killed people for looking into the ark. I'll give you an example. Not only that, but God killed people for touching the ark. If you remember, David was moving the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, and the Bible says that when the cart, which they had it on, which they should not have had it on, that's a sermon for another day, but when the cart stumbled and it looked like the ark was going to fall, when someone reached their hand out to stabilize it, to keep it from falling, God struck them dead. Look, God is serious about what he says, and God says, don't touch the ark. Don't look at the ark. 1 Samuel 6, verse 19, 1 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 19, You're there in Numbers, you go past Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel 6, 19, and he, referring to God, smote the men of Beth-Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. Remember, the ark was stolen by the Philistines, and then God gave all the Philistine emerods as a result of stealing the ark. So when they brought it back, the Beth-Shemites, they saw the ark, they got so excited, they looked in it, and the Bible says that when they looked into the ark of the Lord, even he, God, smote of the people 50,000 and 3 score and 10 men. 50,070 men, and the people lamented because the Lord has mitten many of the people with a great slaughter. So this is a big deal because God literally killed thousands of people for not reading Numbers chapter 4. Do you understand what I'm saying? If they would have read Numbers chapter 4, they would have known, hey, don't look at that. If they would have read Numbers chapter 4, they would have known, hey, don't touch it. If they would have read Numbers chapter 4, they would have known, hey, God has a sequence in which he wants this to be done, he has a step-by-step process, let's do it the way that God said to do it. So step one, the priests get everything ready to move. Step two, the Kohathites come in and they pick it up, but they don't actually touch it because remember, it's all covered with badger skins and all sorts of things. They don't actually look at it because it's all covered with badger skins and blue cloth. It gets ready so that they don't die. Then we have step three. This is what the sons of Gershon do. Now remember, there's a census and there's instructions. Census and instructions. So we go back and forth. Verse 21, and the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Take also the sum, that's the sub-census, of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their families, by their families, from thirty years old and upward unto fifty years old. And let me just say this, that in the Old Testament, men were to start their ministry as priests at thirty years old. It's interesting that the New Testament tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our high priest, began his ministry at thirty years old. And then they were supposed to serve for twenty years to fifty years old. This is like the service of the military, where you serve for twenty years and you retire. And I'm going to actually talk about that and give you some thoughts in regards to that, but this is what's going on. They begin at thirty, they end at fifty. From thirty years old and upward, until fifty years old. That does not mean that you get to play video games until you're thirty, and that does not mean that you get to go play golf after you're fifty. I'm going to prove that to you in a minute, but this is what we're counting. They were beginning to work in their profession, from thirty years old and upward, until fifty years old, shall thou number them, all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. That's the census. Then we have the service, verse twenty-four. This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve and for burdens. And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his coverings, and the coverings of the badgers' skins that is above upon it, and the hangings for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Remember that the three different families had three different jobs. The coethites, their job is to move the furniture. They don't pack the furniture, the priests do that. Once it's packed, the coethites come in and they physically carry out the furniture. Once all the furniture is gone, then what's left of the tabernacle, because you remember a tabernacle is just a tent. It's a big tent. It has walls made of tent, and it has the tent itself. So then the sons of Gershon, they come in and they actually take the tent down. Notice verse 25, and they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle. Look at the last part of verse 25, and the hangings for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Look at verse 26, and the hangings of the court, and the hangings of the door. The hangings is a reference to the actual material, the tarp of the tent. They're taking down, because there's a fence around the tabernacle made of curtain as well. So it's not like you can just look into the tabernacle. It had a high fence. They're taking down the curtains that make up that border. They're taking down the curtains for the doors, the curtains for the walls, the curtains for the roof of the tabernacle. Look at verse 26, and the hangings of the courts, and the hangings for the doors of the gates of the court, which is by the tabernacle, by the altar roundabout, and their courts. Because if you've ever been camping, you know it's not just tents, right? It's tents and it's courts. You're tying things down. And their courts, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them, so shall they serve at the appointment of Aaron, and his sons shall be all the servants of the sons of the Gershonites, and all their burdens, and in all their service, and he shall appoint unto them in the charge of their burdens. This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation, and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar, notice there's always a leader, the son of Aaron, the priest. So the priests come in, cover everything. The Kohathites come in, move everything out. The Gershonites come in, take down all the coverings, take down all the curtains. Take down all the tents. Then step four, what do the sons of Merari do? Notice again, verses 29 and 30, we have the census. And the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers, from thirty years old and upward, even unto fifty years old, shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. That's the census. Verse 30, here's the service. From thirty years old and upward, even unto fifty years old, thou shalt number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. What were they supposed to do? Verse 31. Well, if you think about it, what's left? They've already taken the furniture out, they've already taken all the curtains and the actual tarps and the tent off. What's left? The structure. These guys come in and take all the poles down, verse 31. And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation. The boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, and their instruments, and with all their service, and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden. This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to their service in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hands of Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, the priests. So this is what they were supposed to do when they were supposed to leave, when they were going to leave and travel across the wilderness, when they were going to head out, when they were going to get ready to cross the wilderness, when the camp set it forward. The priests prepare the furniture, the Kohathites move the furniture, the Gershonites take down the tarps and take down the actual tent, and then the sons of Merari, the Merariites come in and actually take the structure and the frame apart. And then when they get to wherever they're going, because you remember they followed the pillar by day, the cloud by day and the pillar by night, the pillar of fire. And the way they knew it was time to move is when the cloud began to move. Whenever they began to travel and the cloud stopped, wherever it stopped, that's where they built the tabernacle. And they just went through the process that I just explained to you in reverse. First they set up the frame, then they set up the tent, then they bring in the furniture, then the priests come in and take it all apart and get it all set up. And then, if you remember from several weeks ago in the book of Numbers, the different tribes aligned themselves, centering themselves upon the tabernacle. It's all organized by God. And it's interesting to me that look, to have millions of people travel across a wilderness requires a lot of forethought and a lot of organization. So don't read the book of Numbers and think, ah, this is so boring. Read the book of Numbers and think, isn't God smart? God is very smart and very organized in how He deals with His people. Now remember, there's two things going on in this chapter. Census, instructions. Census, instructions. We finished the instructions, but now we have to finish the census. First we get the total number of the family of the sons of Kohathites. That's in verses 34, 35, 36, and 37. Notice it, Numbers 4, 34. And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families and after their house of their fathers. From 30 years old and upward, even up to 50 years old, everyone that entered into the service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. And those that were numbered of them by their families were 2,750. 2,750 is different than the number we got in chapter 3. Because in chapter 3, we were numbering from one month old and upward. Now we're numbering from 30 years old to 50 years old. Verse 37, these were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service. Remember, it's availability. Excuse me, last chapter was availability. This is ability. These are people that actually might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. That's the total of the family of the Kohathites. Then in verses 38 through 41, we have the total number of the family of the Gershonites. Verse 38, and those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon throughout their families and by the house of their fathers from 30 years old and upward, even up to 50 years old, everyone that entered into the service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, even those that were numbered of them throughout their families by the house of their fathers were 2,630. Again, a different number because the characteristics as to the sentences are a little different. Verse 41, these were they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord. Then in verses 42 through 45, we have the total number of the Marariites. Look at verse 42, and those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Marari throughout their families by the house of their fathers from 30 years old and upward, even up to 50 years old, everyone that entered into the service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, even those that were numbered of them after the families were 3,200. These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Marari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. And then in verses 46 through 49, because we numbered the three families, in verses 46 through 49, we get the grand total for the entire tribe of Levi. Notice verse 46, all those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered after their families, after the house of their fathers from 30 years old and upward, even up to 50 years old, everyone that came to do service of the ministry and the service of the burden of the tabernacle of the congregation, even those that were numbered of them, were 8,504 scored. 8,580, according to the commandment of the Lord, they were numbered by the hand of Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered of him as the Lord commanded Moses. So that's the census. So I hope you understand Numbers chapter 4 now, because I'm pretty sure that before tonight you probably thought, I have no idea what's going on in this chapter. And if you just read it, you will notice that it might be a little confusing, because you got the census and you got the instructions, the census and the instructions. The reason that these two things are put together is because the instructions are for the people that can actually do the work, which are men from 30 years old to 50 years old, so we count how many people can do the work, and then we tell them what to do. That's what the chapter's about. I'm going to finish tonight by giving you a couple of applications in regards to Numbers chapter 4. The first thing I want you to notice, and we've been looking at this chapter, and I hope that I have been able to communicate to you the importance of the sequence, how it was supposed to be done. People could die if it wasn't done correctly. They had to follow the instructions as given by God. The first application that I would like to make for you tonight is this, the application of the sequence of life. Because this chapter highlights for us something about God, that God wants things done sequentially. He wants things done one after another after another. This is a character of God that is seen throughout the entire Bible, but I think that this chapter really highlights it, because God says, here's how I want you to do it. First, the priests have to go in, cover everything. Then the kothites go in, carry everything out. Then the Gersonites go in, whatever, take down the tabernacle. Then the Merites go in, and they remove the frame. If they would have done it backwards, if they would have started taking down the tent, if the kothites would have came in and started removing the furniture, they would have died. If they started taking down the tent, I got here a little early. Let me get started so I can go home early. And they started taking down the tent. Everyone would have died. Anyone that looked at the ark, it was important that they followed the sequence. It was important that they followed the plan. And let me tell you something. In life, there is a sequence to life. You know what God wants? God wants people to first get saved. Then He wants them to get baptized. Then He wants them to work on sanctification. You know what false religion says? Let's start with sanctification. Then let's do baptism. And then maybe you can get saved. That doesn't work. God wants things done decently and in order. He wants them done sequentially. You know what the Bible teaches? The Bible teaches that first you get married. Then you have a physical relationship. Then you have children. You understand that? You know what the world wants to do? Physical relationship, then children, and then maybe marriage. But we'll be so unhappy because we screwed it up so badly to begin with. You understand that? It's not that complicated. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes whoever with a baby carriage. That's how it's supposed to work. There's a sequence to life. You know what God wants? God wants men to be trained for the ministry. Then He wants them to be ordained in the ministry. Then He wants them to be sent out to the ministry. You know what people often try to do? They want to start a church, and they're not ordained. They're not trained. They're not ready. Look, all I'm telling you is that God cares about the sequence. God wants you to do it in order. And look, you say, well, I'm going to bypass this, and I'm going to bypass that, and I'm not going to do it this way. I'm not going to do it that way. Let me tell you something. People can die. Relationships can die. Your future can die. Your potential can die. So just stick to the plan. You know what's interesting about human beings is that none of us are ever content. And I shouldn't say none of us, because my wife and I actually are content in our stage of life right now. So you, you're the problem. But isn't it human nature? Kids, it doesn't matter how old they are, they always want to be the next age. I mean, they literally just turned whatever. Like, yeah, but if I was... Like, they just turned nine. I was like, but if I was a 10-year-old. And it's always like that. The 12-year-old wants to be a 13-year-old, because they're a teenager. The 13-year-old wants to be a 16-year-old, because they can drive. The 16-year-old wants to be an 18-year-old, because they're whatever. They can vote. And that's how it always is. The single person just really wants to be married. But once they get married, they're not happy, because then the married person really wants a baby. But once they get the baby, they're not happy, because they have a baby. You know, okay, and then it's like, then I got too many babies. Now I'm trying to get rid of my babies. And then once you get rid of the babies, I wish I had more babies. And the idea is this, that we're never happy where we're at. Why don't you just learn to be content wherever you're at? You say, I'm a single person, I'd like to be married. I understand that, and I hope you get married one day. But why don't you learn to be content where you're at? You say, I'm drowning in children. I've got six children, and they're difficult, and they're little, and they're this and they're that. I get that. Let me tell you something. Give it five years. Give it seven years. Maybe 12 years. It's going to get better. But why don't you just be happy where you're at? Why do we always have to be looking at the next step? Hey, enjoy the step you're in. You young people, don't try to push ahead and, I'm 13 years old, I'm wasting my life, I've got to get married. Don't do that. Just enjoy being a kid. I often tell young people, look, you will work for the rest of your life. I don't think it's good for a 13-year-old to be working 40 hours a week. You can work 40 hours a week for the rest of your life. Enjoy being a kid. We're always just trying to get ahead and get ahead. Well, I can't wait till this. I can't wait till that. Let me tell you something. If you're a single person, one day you're going to be married, and you're not going to be happy with the person you married. So why don't you just enjoy being a single for a while? And if you're married, why don't you just enjoy being married? And if you have children, why don't you just enjoy having children? And if they're little, enjoy them when they're little. They're not always going to be little. And when they're older, enjoy them when they're older, because now you can go on dates. You know, just enjoy wherever you're at. I'm looking forward to being 70 years old one day. I don't know that I'll make it. Look, I'm just saying, be happy where you're at, because God wants us to go through the sequence of life. So we find this application of the sequence of life. But then let me say this as well. We find an application of the phases of life. Because what's interesting about this chapter is that people will often bring up several things. One is that this age of 30 years old and upward, even up to 50 years old, it can be confusing. Because people are like, well, you're not supposed to start. People have literally attacked me and Pastor Anderson because we went to the ministry before we were 30 years old. And they've attacked us on this verse. And it's like, OK, number one, we're not in the Old Testament. Number two, none of us are priests or all of us are priests. But what's interesting is that some of these people attack this verse because there seems to be this contradiction. And what people think is they think like, OK, so if you're a Levite, just from one month old to 30 years old, you're just like a kid, at home, just doing nothing. But that is not necessarily true. Go to Numbers chapter 8 just real quickly. Let me show you something. Numbers chapter number 8. Numbers chapter 8 and verse 24. This is that belongeth unto the Levites. Notice what it says. From 20 and 5 years old, which is actually when I went into the ministry or right around that age. And by the way, I don't recommend people go into the ministry at 25 years old. You say, well, you did it. Yeah, I did it with like four people in a living room. It is not the same as handing somebody 50 people to pastor at 25 years old. Sorry, you want to start in a living room with four people, I'd be happy to ordain you at 25. But I'm not going to hand the 25-year-old 50 people. Whatever, you guys don't care. I'm just saying it. That is, that belongeth unto the Levites from 25 years old and upward. They shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. So people will often bring up like, wait a minute, is this a contradiction? Because in Numbers chapter 4, chapter 30, now it says 25. What's the problem? The problem is, and then, are you supposed to retire at 50? Retire at 50. All these Levites retired at 50 years old and then they all moved to Florida and lived on a golf course. Is that what God wants? Well, hold on a second. Moses started at 80 and ended at 120. And Moses is with these people. So is Moses just 100 years old, 90 years old, 100 years old, 110 years old, leading the entire children of Israel, but all the Levites 50 years old and up are done? Is that what's happening? How about Caleb? Caleb was 80 years old. And he said, I want that mountain, it belongs to me. He wasn't on a golf course somewhere. We see the sequence of life in this chapter, but we also see the phases of life. And here's what I want you to understand. What's highlighted for us is here are phases of life. You say, why does it say in Numbers 8 that they were 25 years old? Because at 25 years old, they started in their training. They started as apprentice. At 25 years old, they got into the work, but they weren't Levites necessarily. They were the helpers. They were helping. They were learning. By the time they were 30 years old, five years worth of training, they were legit Levites. You understand that? They were apprentice. And then, I don't know, what do they call it when you have an apprentice and then they're a journeyman? That's what we see here. And then at 50 years old, do you think that they just were done? Okay, you're 50 years old. Look, a 50-year-old is pretty young. And the older I get, the younger 50 gets, too. There was a time when I was like, man, 50 years old, you might as well be dead, when I was like 13. Now I'm like, yeah, 50. I feel like my wife and I could be at our just producing the most in our 60s. And so you think these guys were just done at 50 years old? Go to 2 Timothy 2. In the New Testament, if you go into the T-books, they're all clustered together. 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy Titus, 2 Timothy 2. You say, what's going on here? What's going on is that from 30 to 50 years old is when they were supposed to be working and producing. And look, wouldn't you say that those are your most productive years as far as work? 30 to 50. From 25 to 30, they were in a phase called training. From 30 to 50, they were in a phase called working. And from 50 to, if you're Moses, death. If you're Moses to 120. If you're Caleb to 80 years old. From 50 until you could not work, you were back in another, in a phase called training, but it was different. Because from 25 to 30, you're being trained. From 30 to 50, you're doing the work. And from 50 to on, you're doing the training. You're training the 25-year-old. You think these 50-year-old priests, because here's the thing, priests, they were like butchers. They're literally hacking cows and badgers like crazy. You know, they're just killing animals. So that was a very physical job. So at 50 years old, they probably stopped doing that physical labor, but who's training all these 25-year-olds? It's the 50-year-olds! And look, not only do we see the sequence of life, but we see the phases of life. What are the phases of life? When you're young, learn. Get trained. Get the training. Learn from the older men. Learn from the people that are ahead of you. When you're in your 30s and your 50s, work and work hard and produce and get things done. But you know, there comes a point in your life where you have to start thinking about the fact that you're not going to be here forever and you're getting a little older. And you've heard me say this before, there is no success without succession. And about 50 years old, these men started training these 25-year-olds, getting them ready for the next generation. This is what the Bible teaches, 2 Timothy 2. Are you there? Look at verse 2. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. And it's not just for men in the New Testament. It's for everyone. Go to Titus. You're there in 2 Timothy. Flip over to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. Look at verse 4. Titus 2, 4. And they, the context is the aged women, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be keepers at home. So we see these phases of life. God, you know what God wants a young woman doing? He wants her learning how to be a good wife and a good mother. You know what? God wants a woman right in the midst of her strength. He wants her raising children and doing the job. But you know, once those kids are grown, Mom, I'm retired now. No. Help those adult children. Invest in those grandchildren. And teach the younger women how to do the job that you did. We see this lesson of the phases of life. And honestly, I'm 37 years old, but my wife and I have talked about this. You know, if the Lord allows us to be in the ministry for decades to continue, there's going to come a point in my ministry. I'm not saying it's going to happen at 50. I'm not saying that. But probably around 60, where I'm going to take a young man and begin to train him to replace me. Now, he's not going to replace me. He might spend a decade with me from 60 to 70, but I got to start thinking about the next generation. And these are the phases of life. And wherever you find yourself in life, realize that God has given us a sequence. Don't try to rush it. Don't try to get past it. Don't be discontent in wherever you find yourself. Wherever you find yourself, enjoy that phase of life. But realize that there are phases of life. For young people, they should be learning and they should be training. For people right in the midst and the climax of their strength, they should be working and they should be producing. And then for older people that maybe your strength is beginning to be abated, this is the time for you to begin to invest in the next generation. Begin to love on those young people. Begin to impact wisdom on those young people. Begin to train those young people. I love the fact that my wife often, on a Sunday, will come home and tell me about something that Miss Joyce. Miss Joyce is, I'm not going to tell you her age and I'm not going to ask her age, but she is older in life and she served for a long time as a pastor's wife. And she takes time and I appreciate it. She takes time every Sunday to speak some words of encouragement to my wife. You have an older pastor's wife who's taking the time to invest into a younger pastor's wife, giving her some words of encouragement. Oftentimes, and Miss Joyce, I don't know that she knows, but oftentimes she says to my wife what she needs to hear because the ministry can be difficult from time to time. And it's a beautiful thing. And I hope that one day my wife and I, as older Christians, can look down and look down the path at some 37-year-olds in ministry and say, let me help you a little bit. Let me give you some instructions. Let me give you some words of encouragement. These are the phases of life and these are the sequence of life. Don't get ahead of yourself. Enjoy the teen years. Enjoy the 20s. Enjoy the 30s. Enjoy the 40s and the 50s and the 60s and the 70s. Look, the men that run this world are 70 years old and one of them is 84. Enjoy that time and see yourself in the right perspective. Young men, learn. Young ladies, learn. You're having babies, young ladies. You ought to be talking to women that are further ahead of you that have done it and have done it right and learn from them and gather wisdom from them. If you're in the years of producing, produce. Get it done. Work hard. Do what you do. And as you get older, realize that there is no success without succession. And our job is to teach others also, invest in other people, help other people along the way. The sequence of life, the phases of life, all highlighted here in Numbers chapter 4. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. And Lord, I do thank you for people that have invested in our lives through the years, many people who give us words of encouragement and give us instruction. Help us along the way. Lord, I pray that you would help everyone here to be aware of the sequence of life, where they find themselves in life. Don't try to rush that. Don't be discontent with that. Just be happy and be content where you're at. Help us to understand the facets of life. Maybe it's time for us to train and learn and be under the authority of someone. Maybe it's time for us to work hard and produce and get things done. Maybe our strength is starting to weaken and it's time for us to help the next generation. Wherever we find ourselves, help us to do that. We love you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. And I just want to remind you that we have, of course, a new soul-winning time on Thursday. If you'd like to go at 6 p.m. Thursday here in the evening, make sure that you are a part of that if that's something that you are interested in. Next week is the graduation service, Sunday night service, 6 p.m. So don't forget about that. And if you could just look around your area and kind of clean things up, fix things, and put things back, it would help the cleaners tomorrow. We would appreciate that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Now let's grab our songbooks and turn to page number 145. Song number 145. If you know the rules, it is well ladies sing first and then the answer, all the men answer the second, it is well. Sing it out. Song number 145 on the first. And beat like a river, a tent if I may. And sorrows like sea, rivers low. But ever mother thou hast done me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free. And the home of the brave, the home of the brave. It is well, in my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. One third. It is well, in my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, in my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, in my soul. One last time. It is well, in my soul. With my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Amen. Great. If anyone here has questions about salvation, baptism, or church membership, pastor will be at the door. He would love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained to do that as well. Brother George, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer? Amen. Amen. Amen.