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Thank you for the opportunity to come to your house, Lord. Thank you for the dear people, Lord, that are faithful to your house, Lord. We pray that you bless the service. We pray that you bless the singing, the preaching, and the fellowship to come. And we love you. And Jesus, I pray. Amen. Alright, so now it's time for our favorites, where if you're selected, we will sing a stanza from the song that you picked. Lexi's brother. Go ahead. 188. I called Lexi Noah's sister last week, so what was it, 188? 188 on the last. The love of God, Son of God, 188. Sing it out, on the last. Could be within the ocean fill and where the skies of parchment may Where every stock, honor, will, and every man ascribe by trade To write the love of God above, who drained the ocean dry Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong It shall forevermore endure a Satan's angel's song Miss Irene, go ahead. Song number 44. We'll work till Jesus comes. Song number 44. We're gonna sing it out on the first. Song number 44. Go ahead and sing it out on the first. O land of rest for thee I sigh, when will the moment come When I shall lay my armor by and dwell In peace at home, we'll work till Jesus comes, we'll work Till Jesus comes, we'll work till Jesus comes And we'll be gathered home Elijah, 328. I want that mountain. Song number 328. Sing it out on the first. I saw the giant, prayerless nest upon a mountain high He laughed so hard at my unbended knee No longer in the wilderness I'll stand, so I cry I want that mountain, it belongs to me I want that mountain, I want that mountain Where the milk and honey flow and the grains of ash will grow I want that mountain, I want that mountain That mountain that my Lord has given me Brother Nate, 143. Blessed assurance. Song number 143. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Let's sing it out on the first. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine O what a foretaste of glory divine Heir of salvation, purchase of God Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior all that they love This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior all that they love This is Christine, go ahead. Song number 215 on the first. Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. Song number 215. O what a wonderful, wonderful day. Sing it out on the first. O what a wonderful, wonderful day May I will never forget After I'd wandered in darkness away Jesus my Savior I met O what a tender, compassionate friend Shadows dispelling with joy I am telling He made all the darkness depart Heaven came down and glory filled my soul When at that cross the Savior made me whole My sins were washed away And my night was turned to day Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Let's sing one more song. I see little Noah got it. 27. Song number 27. I think it's the old rugged cross. Song number 27. We will end favorites with the old rugged cross. This will be the last song so let's sing it out on the first. On a hill far away Stood an old rugged cross The emblem of suffering and shame And I love that old cross Where the dearest and best For a world of lost sinners was slain So I cherish the old rugged cross Till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross And exchange it someday for a crown Amen. Great singing. Amen. All right. Well, let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements this evening. And we're glad you're here, of course, tonight. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up. And one of our ushers will get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week, Isaiah 26.3. That will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. That's a good verse there. We like that. We appreciate you being here. And, of course, my wife and I were in Fresno this morning. But I see that several came back for the Sunday evening service here in Sacramento. So that's good. Be in prayer. We still have several families in Fresno. And they'll be driving back, I think, tomorrow. So pray for them. I want to say thank you to Brother Oliver for preaching for me this morning. And we, of course, are glad to be back home. Open up your bulletins there. You'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10.30 a.m. And we do invite you, of course, to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. and then our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. We'd love for you to join us for those. If you look at our soul-winning times, our main soul-winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul-winning times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. If you are a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. Here's a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building tonight. If you go out our main foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up. And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have, but the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it. And we want to give this to you as a gift, so please make sure you don't leave here tonight without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. And you're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We'd love to have a record of your attendance. We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your info to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we'll receive the offering. And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate. If you look at the announcements there, of course, we've got our Family and Friend Day coming up. You should have one of these cards in your bulletin, which is an invitation to our Family and Friend Day. And Family and Friend Day is on Sunday, September 10th at 1030 a.m. And of course, our church is celebrating 13 years of ministry. We're going to have several things going on on that day. Of course, we're going to have a free lunch after the service. We'll be grilling and have a lunch after the morning service for everyone in attendance. We'll have our anniversary mugs that we give out every year. We'll have candy suckers for the kids, special music from the VBC Choir and Orchestra. So be, of course, planning on you being here for our anniversary and be thinking about something that you can invite on that day, maybe a coworker or a friend, someone that you can invite to church. We're also having a soul winning push several days leading up to the Family and Friend Day. So if you notice there, on Thursday, September 7th at 6 p.m., Friday, September 8th at 6 p.m. and Saturday, September 9th at 10 a.m., we have three soul winning times leading up to our Family and Friend Day. So we'd love for you to make plans to attend one of those or two of those or all of those. We'd love for you to be a part of that. Notice that there's a choir practice. Of course, they have practice today at 5 p.m. There's a ladies weight loss accountability group. They meet on Wednesdays at 615 p.m. in the mother baby room that is closest to the main foyer. So if you'd like to be a part of that, you can do that. Discipleship class, they have class at 5. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service. That is not a distraction. And then, of course, one serious announcement to make and one big announcement is the fact, I'm sure most of you probably already know, but if you don't, around 4.30 a.m. on Friday, August 11th, baby John went to be with the Lord and he did pass away peacefully in his mother's arms. And we're thankful for that. And I know that we've been getting a lot of questions about the funerals and all that. And we want you to be aware that the funeral is scheduled for this coming Friday, August 18th. It'll be here at the church building. It's probably going to be at 11 a.m. But that actually won't be confirmed until it won't be confirmed with the funeral home until until Monday. The funerals here, but the burial and when their availability for that, we won't be able to confirm that till Monday. So it'll probably be around 11 a.m. But that might change. So just know that it'll be on Friday, August 18th here at the church building. Once we have the times confirmed, we'll make sure to text the church family through our BBC text list. If you're not part of our BBC text list, this is why you want to be part of our BBC text list. We'll send the information out through there and and make sure that you are aware of what's going on. There was supposed to be a cleaning crew appreciation dinner on that day. That's obviously going to get postponed. So the funeral is the priority. So I apologize for that. We're probably going to move that back one week. So just be aware of that. And we'll reach out to all of you that have RSVP'd and make sure that you're aware of that. But just know that there is a funeral for Baby John this Friday, probably at 11 a.m. If you look at the back of the bulletin, we've got birthdays and anniversaries. Brother Joe and Kathy Maples have an anniversary tomorrow, August 14th. Brother Vlady and Miss Antonina Vokulchek have an anniversary tomorrow, August 14th as well. And then there's other things there for you to look at. And, you know, we appreciate all everyone that's praying and just be in prayer. Obviously, this was a busy weekend. You know, my wife and I were in communication with Brother Sean, Miss Eva early on Friday morning, obviously after John had passed. And, you know, that morning we had to kind of just figure out, obviously, we needed to go be with them. They were in Palo Alto at Stanford, the children's hospital there in Stanford. You know, we but we had our six kids and they were supposed to be in Fresno. So we had to get that situated. And I'm thankful for my family, my sister, Brother Jose, and my parents just kind of took our kids and drove on to Fresno. My wife and I drove three hours from Sacramento to Palo Alto, of course with Friday traffic and all that. We were there in Palo Alto for several hours just ministering to Brother Sean, Miss Eva. And then we had to drive from Palo Alto to Fresno, which should have taken three hours, but it took five hours because of Friday traffic and because of, you know, those two car accidents and whatever. So we ended up driving eight hours that day. We got to the wedding as they were cleaning up, which was fine. But we got to at least be there a little bit and congratulate people. And of course, Saturday we have a soul winning marathon, soul winning in the morning, soul winning in the afternoon. I preached there this morning, drove three hours to preach here tonight. So the sermon may not be that good tonight. But, you know, just it's been busy, of course, being prayer for the several families that are still in Fresno as they come back. And it's going to be a busy week coming. You know, we're going to have a funeral on Friday and have a funeral on Friday. And then on Monday, my wife and I are going to get in a plane and we're going to fly to the UK. And then I'll be preaching there a couple of times. We'll have a soloing marathon. So it's the ministry. The ministry is busy and we praise the Lord for it. But please be in prayer for us. And of course, be in prayer specifically for Brother Sean, Miss Ava and for them during this time. So I think that's it for all the announcements. So let's go ahead and take our song books and let's go to page number 100. Page number 100. And we're going to sing day by day as we prepare to receive the offering this evening. Page number 100. Sing it out on the first day by day. And with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my mother's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto each day what he deems best. It's part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil and peace and rest. Page number 100. Sing it out on the second. Every day the Lord himself is near me with a special mercy for each eye. All my cares he paid would bear and cheer me. Claim his counselor and I. The protection of children's treasure is a charge that on himself he lay. As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure, this the pledge to be made. Sing it out on the last. Help me then in every tribulation. So to trust thy promises, O Lord, that I lose not faithful consolation. Offer me within thy holy heart. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meet me. Dare to take us from a father's hand. One by one, the day's the moment's waiting till I reach the prophet's land. 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. We pray that you'd bless the gift and the giver. Lord, we pray for Brother Sean to save, of course, at this time. Lord, we pray that you would comfort them, help them to know there's a church family that loves them, cares for them. Lord, we pray that you'd bless everything that happens this week. We pray that you'd bless this evening's service. Bless this offering, bless the preaching to come. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Please open your mouths to Numbers 9. Numbers, chapter number 9. If you do not have a Bible, please put your hand up and I know she'll come by and bring you a Bible. Numbers, chapter number 9. If you need a Bible, keep your hand up or she'll come by. Numbers, chapter number 9. We will read the entire chapter as our custom. Numbers 9, beginning in verse number 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year, after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season, in the fourteenth day of this month, at even. He shall keep it in his appointed season, according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall he keep it. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at even, in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they should not keep the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man. Wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel? And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord. The fourteenth day of the second month, at even, they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any bone of it. According to all the ordinances of the Passover, they shall keep it. But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbereth to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people, because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, and that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger shall be sojourned among you, and will keep the Passover unto the Lord, according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do. He shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely the tent of the testimony, and at even, there was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire, until the morning. So as always, the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. When the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed, and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord, the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched. As long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle, according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from evening to the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed. Whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days or a month or a year that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents and journeyed not. The one who was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. They kept the charge of the Lord at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word, and for our church, Lord, for everyone that's here. As you please give us all tender hearts at the message, and as you please be their pastor to strengthen them and fill them with your spirit. We love you, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, well we're there in Numbers, chapter number nine, and of course we've been making our way through the book of Numbers in a sermon series called Wilderness Wanderings. It's a chapter by chapter study through the book of Numbers. And this evening we find ourselves in Numbers chapter number nine. And we are almost done with this first section of the book of Numbers. And I've been kind of explaining and teaching that the book of Numbers has to do with the children of Israel walking through and wandering through the wilderness. And most of the stories you know about the children of Israel in the wilderness come from the book of Numbers. It's actually a very exciting book, a lot of stories and narratives. But the first eleven chapters are chapters where the children of Israel are preparing to enter the Promised Land. Preparing, I should say, to walk through the wilderness in order to enter the Promised Land. And there's a lot of just instructions and things that are being taught. And we're almost done with that section, and we'll get into some of the narrative soon. But tonight we find ourselves here in Numbers chapter number nine. And in this chapter there are two major themes, and I'll just kind of point them out for you and teach you some things and give you some applications. And if you want to jot these down just as we get started, the first theme is that of the Passover. And you can maybe give it the heading of the Passover of Christ. And then the second theme is that of the presence of God. So there's a theme regarding the Passover of Christ, and then there's a second theme regarding the presence of God. And the first part of this chapter deals with the Passover. I want you to notice that the Passover was a yearly reminder. In Numbers chapter nine and verse one the Bible says this, And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the first month, I want you to notice this, in the first month of the second year, after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season. So I want you to notice that, and we've been talking about this, that where we find ourselves right now in this first section of the book of Numbers, we're about a year into the wilderness. The children of Israel are celebrating a one-year anniversary since they came out of Egypt. They're at Mount Sinai, and they're preparing to head into the wilderness. And they're supposed to journey through the wilderness into the Promised Land, like I've stated already, and we'll see it as we get into it. They're going to make a lot of mistakes, have a lot of sins, and as a result end up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and 40 years of their life before they go into the Promised Land. But here God says to Moses, if you'll notice there verse one again, The Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year, the first month of the second year, after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, So God is telling them, God is reminding them, Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover. I want you to notice He's telling them this at this time because He wants them to keep the Passover at His appointed season, because there was a season, an appointed time, in which they were to keep the Passover. And I want you to just notice in verse one that He's telling them this in the first month of the second year. Now keep your place there in Numbers. That's our text for tonight. But if you would go back with me to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 12, and if you go back, you'll go past the book of Leviticus into the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 12. Let me show you the first Passover, because really what we're going to look at in Numbers chapter 9 is the second Passover. But the second Passover has a catalyst, which is the first Passover, and that is found in Exodus chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12 in verse 1, the Bible says this, And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. So whatever month the children of Israel found themselves in Exodus chapter 12, God said, we're going to start over, and He said, I'm going to restart the calendar right now. And He says, we're going to have a new biblical calendar, and He tells the children of Israel, This month, the month you're in, shall be unto you the beginning of months. It's going to be the first month of the year. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Look at verse 3, Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month shall they take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. I want you to notice when God established the Passover, this is of course Exodus chapter 12, the children of Israel are still in Egypt. The nine plagues, the nine out of the ten plagues have already taken place, with Moses trying to get the people to be able to leave Egypt. Moses going to Pharaoh and saying, Let my people go. And then God comes to him in preparation for the tenth plague, and He says, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. This is going to become the first month of a new year, and on this month, we're going to establish the Passover. Now notice there in verse 3, because I want to talk about the Passover and make sure you understand what the Passover is. In verse 3 the Bible says, Speaking unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb. Notice they were supposed to take a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. The reason that I gave a heading to this part of Scripture as the Passover of Christ, is because of the fact that the Passover is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. We notice here that they were to take a lamb, every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. Now you don't have to turn here. If you want to jot this down for your notes, that's fine. But in John chapter 1, in verse 29, we see John the Baptist who identifies the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord Jesus Christ is coming and really coming and presenting Himself for public ministry. John 1.29 says this, The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. So I want you to notice that John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God and in this Passover they were to take a lamb. So we see that the Passover was a yearly memorial that really foreshadowed and pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 5 of Exodus chapter 12. Exodus 12 and verse 5 says, Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. So notice they were to take a lamb that was a male and it was without blemish. And of course when they were looking at the lamb, they were physically looking at the lamb and making sure that there was no blemishes on it. No spots, no handicaps, that it was healthy, that it was strong. It was supposed to be a lamb without blemish. And we know that of course that pictures the sinlessness of Christ. In 2nd Corinthians 5.21 you have to turn there. The Bible says, For he, referring to God the Father, hath made him, referring to God the Son, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So the Lord Jesus Christ was not only the Lamb of God, but he was the unspotted, without blemish, who knew no sin, without sin, Lamb of God. Notice there Exodus 12 and verse 6. What were they to do with this lamb? Exodus 12, 6, And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. So notice they were to pick a lamb, a lamb for every man and his household. And then they're also given instructions. We didn't read it all. But if the household was too small to eat or consume a lamb, then a couple of households could come together for that lamb. But then the entire assembly was to come together and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And this is exactly what happened with the Lord Jesus Christ where the entire assembly, the nation of Israel, came together and they put him to death or had him put to death. Look at verse 7, And they shall take the blood and strike it on the two side posts of the upper door posts of the house wherein they shall eat it. So they're supposed to sacrifice this lamb. Then they were to take the blood and they were to strike it or paint it on, the Bible says, the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the house. So they were supposed to go to the front door of the house and they were supposed to apply the blood on the door posts on the frame of that house. And notice what would happen. Skip down to verse 12 just for sake of time. And this is what God told Moses and the children of Israel on the first Passover. He said, For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are. And when I see the blood I will pass over you. And of course that's why we sing that song, When I see the blood I will pass over you. Literally taken from this passage. But I want you to notice that the name of the Passover is also taken from this passage. Because God was going to send the angel of death into Egypt and he was to kill on that night. He was to judge the nation of Egypt and kill every firstborn, male beast. The firstborn in every household was to die. But when the angel of death came to a house that had the blood applied on the door post, then instead of coming through and killing the firstborn, he said, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite in the land of Egypt. And I want you to notice that there was no other condition here. There was nothing else that determined whether the angel would pass or whether the Lord would pass over the house. There's nothing in here that tells us if they were religious he would pass over them. If they were really good he would pass over them. If they had repented of their sins he would pass over them. There was just one determining factor. Is the blood applied on the door post? And of course this is a picture of salvation. And this is all picturing the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was the sinless Lamb of God. He shed his blood for our sins without the shedding of blood. There is no remission of sins. And the only thing that will get anybody into heaven and that will allow God to pass his judgment of hell over an individual is not whether they're good, is not whether they're religious, is not how they live their life. There's only one thing that will save them. Is the blood of Christ applied on the door post of their heart? Have they put their trust? Because see these people had to trust and they had to believe that if they took the blood and applied it to the door post of their house that he would pass over them. So he says, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite in the land of Egypt. Notice verse 14. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. So back in Exodus 12 when this event actually took place, he told them you're going to do this every year. On the first month of every year you're going to celebrate and you're going to perform the ceremony of the Passover so that you can remember that the Lord brought you out of Egypt. That the Lord saved you and that the judgment of God passed over you. Now go back to Numbers. With that understanding go back to Numbers chapter 9 and look at verse 3. Remember in Exodus 12 he said ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord. Numbers 9 and verse 3 says this, In the fourteenth day of this month at even ye shall keep it in his appointed season according to all the rites of it and according to all the ceremonies thereof shall ye keep it. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel that they should keep the Passovers. I want you to notice that this is established now. It is instituted that the Old Testament nation of Israel was to keep the Passover on a yearly basis. On the first month, on the fourteenth day of the first month every year. They were to keep the Passover. They were to sacrifice the lamb. They were to take the blood and apply it. They were to go through the ceremony to remember how it is that God delivered them out of Egypt. Now we already talked about the fact that this is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how they were actually delivered out of Egypt but it really was a foreshadowing of the true salvation that is brought to us by the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. What's interesting is this, and I'm not sure if you kept your place there but if you want to go back to Exodus 12 real quickly and look at verse 14. Exodus 12 says this, this is what God told them at the first Passover. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance, and I want you to notice this word, forever. He said you're going to keep this as an ordinance forever. Now when you read that you might think, well wait a minute pastor, because here at Greater Baptist Church we're not dispensationalists and we're not Zionists. We believe that the Old Testament has passed away, which is what the Bible says. We believe that the Levitical priesthood has passed away. We believe that sacrifices have passed away. We believe that all these ceremonies that we read about in the Old Testament, though we can still learn from them and we can see the value and the shadowing and the foreshadowing, we don't keep the Passover today. So how is it that God would say that this is a ceremony that was going to be kept forever if the Old Testament law has been done away with? I want you to understand that Jesus, right before he died, right before he brought the Old Testament covenant to a close and established a new covenant, a better covenant of the New Testament, He made sure to create a New Testament continuation of the Old Testament covenant, of the Old Testament Passover found in Exodus chapter 12 and Numbers chapter 9. Let's look at it real quickly. Go to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. You say, what is it? Today, as New Testament believers, we have an ordinance that we call the Lord's Supper or Communion. But I want you to understand that the Lord's Supper or Communion was not something that Jesus just kind of made up on his own and just said, I think this is a good thing that maybe we should start. In Luke chapter 22 and verse 7, we get this idea of exactly what it is that Jesus was thinking when he instituted the Lord's Supper and what it is that he was trying to accomplish. I want you to notice it real quickly. Luke 22 verse 7. Then came the day of unleavened bread. Now, I don't have time to run verses tonight. You can study this out on your own. But that phrase, the day of unleavened bread, is used anonymously with the term Passover. It is referring to the exact same event. Then came the day of unleavened bread when, here's a proof for you, the Passover must be killed. So the day of unleavened bread was upon them when the Passover must be killed. We know that Jesus is actually going to be the Passover that is killed on this particular Passover. Verse 8, and he, Jesus, sent Peter and John saying, I want you to notice what Jesus says to Peter and John. He says, go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. He instructs the disciples that they are to go and prepare the Passover because it's Passover time and he wants to take the Passover with them. Look at verse 14 for sake of time. Luke 22, 14. And when the hour was come, he sat down and the twelve apostles with him and he said unto them, I want you to notice what he says. He told them, go prepare the Passover. We didn't take the time to read it, but they go and they find someone and they take them to an upper room. They get things set up for the Passover. He shows up for the Passover and in verse 14 the Bible says, And when the hour was come, he sat down and the twelve apostles with him and he said unto them with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I die. He said, I want to eat this Passover, but what's interesting is that when you keep reading the passage, they don't eat the Passover. In fact, when you keep reading the passage, what he does is he institutes what we now today refer to as the Lord's Supper. Look at Luke 22 and verse 17. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this and divide it amongst yourselves. Look at verse 19. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, I'm not going to have you go there for sake of time tonight, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 where the apostle Paul is talking about the Lord's Supper and the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, he literally quotes this passage as the institution of the Lord's Supper. Here's what I want you to understand. The Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples, I want to eat the Passover. I need you to prepare the Passover. Get the Passover ready. They sit down and he said, with desire, I've desired to have this Passover with you. And then he institutes the Lord's Supper. You say, well what does that teach us? It teaches us this, that the Lord's Supper is the New Testament continuation of the Passover. And if you think about it, and again, I'm not necessarily preaching on the Passover, on the Lord's Supper tonight. It's just the passage we're in. But if you study the Passover and you study the Lord's Supper, you find that it's pretty much the exact same meal. Both meals have unleavened bread. Both meals have a representation of the blood. In the Passover, they literally have physical blood from the lamb. In the New Testament version, you have the cup of wine, which pictures the blood being shed. The only difference is that in the Old Testament Passover version, you literally have a lamb that is killed and eaten. In the New Testament, there is no lamb because to sacrifice the lamb would be sacrilegious because Jesus is the lamb, slain once and for all. But the application, and I just want to be clear about this. This is why we here at Verity Baptist Church have taken the position that we do the Lord's Supper once a year. Because of the fact that it is my persuasion that the Lord's Supper is the New Testament continuation of the Old Testament Passover, which was done once a year. And today you have Christians, and look, I'm not against them, and I'm going to talk about that here in a minute. You have Christians who say, we take the Lord's Supper whenever we want, or we take the Lord's Supper the first Sunday of every month, or we take the Lord's Supper once a quarter, or we take the Lord's Supper whatever. And I'm not against, you know, whatever people want to do. You know, every pastor is going to answer to God for what he did in his ministry. It's not my place or my job to try to go police everyone and make sure they're doing everything the way I like it. I know this. I have to answer for what's done here. And I'm just saying here at Veridian Baptist Church, we have taken the position that since the Lord's Supper is the New Testament continuation of the Old Testament Passover, and since the Passover was a yearly event, then we take the Lord's Supper on a yearly basis. The other thing that I have found is that when you take the Lord's Supper once a year, it becomes a lot more special than when you just take it once a month. You know, because if you grew up in churches, you've been in the church where it's like, well, it's the first Sunday of the month. You know, we've got to take the Lord's Supper because that's when the Constitution says we're supposed to take it. So they're just kind of rushing through it and it's kind of like, okay, drink your little cup real quick. Okay, let's go. You know, when we do it once a year and we take a full service, and of course we do it the week of Easter. On Sunday, we're celebrating the resurrection of Christ. So on Wednesday night, it just makes sense to take the Lord's Supper, remember the death of Christ. When you take a whole and entire service to do the Lord's Supper, it just becomes a very special thing. I feel this way, and I've had several of our church people say this, that they've never been to a church that they felt like the Lord's Supper has done so well here. And part of it is because we take it seriously, but part of it I think is just because we're not doing it every other week. You know, we're not like the Catholics who are taking communion every day or every Sunday. So we have chosen to do it once a year, and I've actually been criticized for doing it once a year, which I think is funny. Because the other side says, you know, the other argument is you can do it whenever you want. And my response to that is, hey, I don't care. You answer to God. And they're like, no, but you can't do it once a year because the Bible says that you can do it whenever you want. And then I'm just kind of scratching my head. I'm like, well, if I can do it whenever I want, why can't I do it once a year? You know, and it's like, well, you can do it once a year. You know, you can do it whenever you want, as long as you do it once a quarter. You know, it's really what they're saying. You can do it whenever you want, as long as you do it once a month. You can do it whenever you want, as long as you do it on our schedule. It's like, no. You know, we're independent Baptists, and praise God for the fact that any church can do whatever they want. Now, let me just say this. Don't get hung up on the date. Because sometimes people really get hung up on the date, and then they're like, well, are we doing it on the right day because of the Jewish calendar? Look, I'm not listening to the Jewish calendar, all right? I'm not listening to Jewish anything. I'm a New Testament believer. I've got the Bible. But people sometimes, they get really hung up on the date, like, well, are we doing it at the right time? But look, and this is what I like about Numbers 9, is that it teaches us the importance of the Passover. He wanted them to do it. He did not want them to skip it or miss it. But he also teaches us to not get hung up on the dates. You know, God is not for genealogies and chronologies, and as far as New Testament believers, he doesn't want us to just get hung up on these details. And even in the Old Testament, they weren't supposed to. Let me show it to you. Numbers 9, look at verse 5. Numbers 9, 5. And they kept the Passover, right? Because that's what he told them to do. They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, and even in the wilderness of Sinai, according to all the commandments, all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. But notice verse 6. In verse 6, the Bible says this. And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man. And you know, we're not really given a lot of details here. But these people were defiled so that they were not able to take the Passover. And we're not told whether this was their fault or not. You know, I think that this was not their fault. Sometimes you can't help this. You know what I mean? I mean, if these guys were having dinner at, you know, Aunt Plutie's house or whatever, and she falls over dead, you know, they think she's like asleep at the dinner table, and they start, hey, are you okay? And they realize she's dead. Well, then they were defiled by reason of a dead body. So it doesn't really seem like this was their fault. But the Bible says, and there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. And those men said unto him, we are defiled by the dead body of a man, wherefore are we kept back that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in His appointed season among the children of Israel. So they come to Moses, the leader, and they say, hey, we got a problem. I know you go on to seek the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, but we are defiled by reason of a dead body, and we're not able to do this. So what are we supposed to do? Verse 8, and Moses said unto them, stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. And by the way, let me just say this, that is always the right answer. The right answer is not like, oh, well, I'm supposed to have, I'm the leader, I'm supposed to have an answer for everything. You know, here Moses didn't know what the answer was. So instead of just trying to pretend like he knew, he just said, stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. And I'm going to make this, you know, because people like to ask me a lot of random questions. I always think it's funny because, look, I'm a pastor. I preach for a living. I understand that. You know, honestly, I've read the Bible cover to cover over 25 times. But, you know, I'll be preaching on the family on a Sunday morning, and I always just think it's hilarious when somebody walks up to me and they're like, you know in Zedekiah chapter 3 verse 12 where it says, and I'm like, no, I don't. And neither do you. You know, like, are you serious? You know, not everybody's just going to know everything. So from now on when people ask me, I'm just going to say, stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. Or I'll say, I don't know, let me think about it, pray about it. But that's what Moses did. He didn't have an answer. He just said, I don't know, let me find out what God says. Verse 9, and the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, saying, if any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body or be on a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord. Notice verse 11, on the fourteenth day of the second month, at even they shall keep it and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. But notice here that they're supposed to do it, verse 5, on the fourteenth day of the first month. But because these people were unable to do it, then God himself said, well, let them do it on the fourteenth day of the second month. This was like, if you missed it, you know, this was a redo. In verse 11, so here's what we can learn from this, is don't get hung up on the dates. You know? And people like to, this is what I've learned about Christianity, is that people, they, once they feel like they learned something that other people don't know, then they just want to bash people with it. You know? So I preach, you know, what I just got done preaching, right? And then people want to go on Facebook and be like, when does your church take that? Let me show you something. You know, and look, you know what the Bible says? The Bible says this, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So you know what? You should be growing in knowledge, but don't just grow in knowledge so that you can know something someone else doesn't know and beat them over the head with it. You know, you should also be growing in grace. And knowledge says this, that in the Bible, the Bible seems to indicate that the Lord's Supper is the New Testament continuation of the Old Testament Passover. So because we're trying to just follow the Bible to the best of our ability, we're going to do it on a yearly basis just like they did the Passover. That's what knowledge tells you. You know what grace tells you? Grace tells you that if other churches do it differently, we're not going to bash them. And we're not even going to bring it up to them. We're not going to try to, now if they ask us or whatever, then we'll tell them, well, here's what we do. And look, I've had pastors say, hey, I heard you guys do the Lord's Supper different. And I'm never like, you know, I never get up and I'm just like, everything I've ever heard anyone preach is wrong. I'm the only one that's right. No. You know, I tell people, well, here's what we do at our church and here's why we do it. But, you know, if you want to do it different or you see it different, you interpret it different, whatever. That's between you and God. So we should never have this attitude where we're just like trying to beat people over the head with our knowledge. We should grow in knowledge. We should grow in grace as well. And, of course, this passage itself teaches us that God himself is not that hung up on the dates. But we've just decided that at Verity Baptist Church we're trying to do things the best we can following the Bible. And this is what, I'm fully persuaded that this is the right position. And this is the position that we take. So we see a yearly reminder and we see that we should not get hung up on the date. But then I want you to notice also that there's a picture of Christ here. Notice Numbers 9 and verse 12. It says, So notice when they kept the Passover, they were instructed. And it's interesting because it's pointed out here in Numbers 9, not necessarily pointed out in other places, that they were to leave none of it until the morning. What they were going to consume, they were to consume it that night. They couldn't let it carry over until the next day. And they were told, They weren't to break any bone of this lamb. They were to eat the meat, leave none of it until the morning. And they were to know where to break any bone of it. Now, with that in mind, go to John, if you want John chapter 19. I'm not sure if you kept your place in Luke. I meant to ask you to keep your place in Luke. If you did, then just flip over to John, the next book. If not, then it's just Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. John chapter 19. And let me show you a passage here. John chapter 19. In John 19 and verse 31, we have the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice what the Bible says. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, I want you to notice that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day. For the Sabbath day was in high day. So when Jesus died, the next day was a holy day or a holiday. It was a Sabbath day and the bodies could not remain upon the cross. They could not, because oftentimes when the Romans crucified someone, they would leave those bodies on the cross for days. And sometimes it would even take days for someone to even die. It would be a long, painful, excruciating pain. But when Jesus was crucified, because the next day was the Passover, the next day was a holy day, a holiday, and the Jews in their culture could not just have these dead, or half dead, half alive, half dead people hanging on the cross, because of that, verse 31, the Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day. I want you to notice that correlates with Numbers 9-12, they shall leave none of it until the morning. Because remember, the Passover is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God told them, don't leave anything until the morning, because when Jesus dies on the cross, they're not going to leave his body up on that cross until the morning. When he dies, he needs to die on that day, and his body needs to be taken down. So notice verse 31, the Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for the Sabbath day was a high day, but sought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Because the Jews did not want these bodies on the cross. And of course, and I won't go into details with the crucifixion, but the crucifixion was meant to be a painful death. It was meant to be a death that was slow. And as they hung on that cross, they were supposed to literally, what they were supposed to happen was to suffocate. After being beaten and nailed onto those crosses, they would have to pull themselves up in order to be able to expand their chest and be able to breathe. But obviously, after being beaten, after being dehydrated, after being starved, that process would become harder and harder. And eventually, their chest would cave in on itself, and they would suffocate. Here, they don't want this to happen a long time. So the Jews are telling the Romans, can you break their legs? They besought Pilate that their legs might be broken. They're trying to hurry up this process. They're trying to get them to die. Because if they could break their legs, and break the bones of their legs, that would not allow them to be able to raise themselves up to take a breath, and it would hurry up the process of them dying. This is what the Jews are trying to do. Look at verse 32. Then came the soldiers. Now remember, when Jesus was crucified, he was crucified with two thieves, three people total. Jesus in the center. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, because if you remember, and I won't take the time to go through it, but Jesus, his life was not taken from him. He laid down his life. And he actually dismissed his spirit. He said, it is finished, and he dismissed the spirit, and he gave up the ghost. He was not killed. He sacrificed himself. So Jesus knew the time frame. He knew when he needed to die. He died at that time, and the Bible says here, verse 33, but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, notice what it says, they break not his legs. To fulfill numbers 9 and 12, when it says they shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any bone of it. None of the bones were broken on Jesus' body to fulfill numbers 9 and verse 12. Look at verse 33, but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. Go to Psalms real quickly, Psalm 34. If you open your Bible just right in the center, you're more than likely to fall in the book of Psalms. And go to Psalm 34, and do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something in Psalm, because we're going to leave it, and we're going to come back to it, and I'd like you to be able to get to it fairly quickly. Psalm 34. Here's another verse that kind of shows this prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he was not going to have his bones broken. Psalm 34, 20 says this, He keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken. So this is of course a picture of the Passover, nor break any bone of it. And we see that Jesus, when he died, none of his bones were broken. They break not his legs when they saw that he was dead already. So we of course see this picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Numbers 9 and verse 13. Numbers 9, 13 says, But the man that is clean and is in a journey, and is not in a journey, because remember we just saw where it said they were supposed to take the Passover on the first day of the 14th month, Excuse me, I'm tired. On the first month of the 14th day, there's no 14th month. They were supposed to eat the Passover on the first month of the 14th day, but then he said, if by reason of being they are undefiled because of a dead body, or if they were on a journey and they couldn't take the Passover, then they had this make-up time where they could do it on the 14th day of the second month. But here in verse 13 it says, But the man that is clean, he's not defiled, and is not in a journey, so he's not just out of town, and forbereth to keep the Passover, so this guy in verse 13 could have taken the Passover and just chose not to, didn't want to, and forbereth to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. Now of course this is talking about the children of Israel under the Old Testament covenant and the Old Testament law, but I want you to understand that it signifies the same thing regarding salvation because in 1 Corinthians 5, 7 the Bible says this, For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. He is the Passover. And let me tell you something, today when a man forbereth to keep the Passover, when they choose to not receive the Passover, when they choose to not accept the Passover, not the Lamb of the Old Testament, but the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, you say, what's going to happen to that man? That man shall bear his sin. Because salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, period. And it doesn't matter how religious you are, it doesn't matter how good you are, it doesn't matter how bad you are, none of that matters. The only thing that matters, because look, today when you ask people, you know so many people, oh for sure if you died today, if you're on your way to heaven, most people are going to say something along the lines of, I think I'm a pretty good person. I'm trying. I'm not that bad. But look, the difference between the people that go to heaven and the people that go to hell is not how moral they are. It's not how good they are. The truth of the matter is this, that some really bad people are going to be in heaven and some really good people by our human standards are going to be in hell. Because there's only one determining factor as to whether you go to heaven or you go to hell is have you been washed in the blood of the lamb? And he that forbearth to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people because he brought not the offering of the Lord. In his appointed season that man shall bear his sin. And the spiritual application is the same. The person who rejects Christ, for even Christ the Passover is sacrificed for us, that man shall bear his sin. Then in verse 14 we continue. He's just giving some instructions regarding the stranger. And there's a lot that I could say about this. I'm not going to just for sake of time. But in verse 14 he says, If a stranger, that's a foreigner, shall sojourn, that means they're journeying among you, and will keep the Passover unto the Lord according to the ordinance of the Passover and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do. Ye shall have one ordinance, one law, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land. So I want you to notice that numbers 9, 14, and again I could go on a big rabbit's trail. I'm not going to. But this shows us that anybody could have become a believer of the Lord in the Old Testament. Because being an Israelite or a Hebrew or the children of Israel, being part of the congregation of the children of Israel was not an ethnic thing. It was a religious thing. And a stranger who was so journeying, if they said, hey, I want to keep the Passover, then they could have been part of the congregation. And it says here, Ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land. You know what the Bible teaches? The Bible teaches that you should, that nations should have one law that applies to everyone. Not this thing where like, well, if you're an American you have rights, but if you're not an American, then we're going to treat you differently. That's not biblical. The Bible doesn't say that you should have rights because you're American. I know the Fox News Baptists, they don't like this type of preaching, but the Bible does not say that your rights are given. You know, any right that any human being has is because they were created in the image of God. A nation is a hypocritical nation that says, well, we're going to treat them American in a certain way, but if they're not American, then let's waterboard them and torture them and where that's not of God. The Bible says that you should have, you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land. Everyone should be treated the same. Now in verse 15, we have a shift. The first part of the chapter had to do with the Passover of Christ. Then the second part of the chapter has to do with the presence of God. I want you to notice that because remember, they're getting ready to go into the wilderness and to journey in towards the Promised Land and God is going to give them some direction regarding how they're going to get there and what they're supposed to do, like verse 15. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud, and you're probably familiar with this, but the Bible says the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely the tent of the testimony, and that even there was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire until the morning. So this obviously was a miracle that God did while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. He put a cloud over the tabernacle during the day and at night there was this appearance of fire that, you know, hovered over the tabernacle at night. And of course, they're out in the middle of the wilderness, literally in the middle of nowhere and in a desert. So I think this is very nice of God. He provides cloud coverage for them, you know, and gives them some shade. And then at night He's providing a fire like a nightlight, like a nightlight for the nation of Israel. And I'm sure that it provided warmth as well if you were close to it. Look at verse 16. So as always, the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. So it's there, but I want you to notice that this cloud and this fire, they also provide direction. Look at verse 17. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle. So you have the tabernacle and the cloud hovering over it. But when the cloud was taken up and the cloud began to move, then they were to pack up their stuff and follow the cloud. Look at verse 17. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord, the children of Israel journeyed and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched. As long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents. So notice, if the cloud abode on the tabernacle, they rested. If the cloud began to move, then they journeyed after the cloud. Look at verse 19. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle, according to the commandment of the Lord, they abode in their tents. And according to the commandment of the Lord, they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed. So I want you to notice the emphasis. When the cloud moves, they moved. When the clouds tarried, they tarried. Here in verse 21, it says, And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up. So when the cloud was taken up in the morning and began to move, then they journeyed. Whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents and journeyed not. But when it was taken up, they journeyed. Okay, so do you get it? Not that complicated, right? When the cloud moves, they moved. When the cloud tarried, they tarried. When the cloud rested, they rested. When the cloud got moving, they got moving. This is how they were directed throughout the wilderness. This is how God directed them and through this journey is they were supposed to follow the cloud. They were supposed to follow the cloud by day, the fire by night. Most of their travel was done during the day, so the emphasis is on the cloud here. But if the cloud is abiding and not moving, they just parked it right there. It says here whether it were two days or a month or a year. But when the cloud was taken up and it began to move, they followed the cloud. And this is how God led them through the wilderness. You know, I say, well, what does this mean and what can we learn from this? Well, there's a couple of things. Go back to Psalms, if you would. Go to Psalm 23. The first application is this, that the Lord should be the one that is leading us. And the Lord should be the one that is guiding us. Psalm 23 is one of the most famous Psalms, famous passages in the whole Bible. Nobody wants to ask me questions about Psalm 23. They all want to ask me questions from Zephaniah or something crazy. Psalm 23 verse 1, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. If He's my shepherd, He's my leader. Notice verse 2, He maketh me to lie down in grief's pastures. And then I love this little phrase. We sing a song, a hymn that's based off this. He leadeth me. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. Notice it again. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake. You know, our goal in the Christian life ought to be this, that we can sing the song. Not just sing the song, but actually mean it. He leadeth me. He leadeth me, He leadeth me. Our lives should be one that is directed by God. And we should not be moving ahead of God. We should not be lagging behind God. When the cloud stops, we should stop. When the cloud moves, we should move. He should be the leader of our lives. He leadeth me should be your prayer. But I want you to notice that this is not just some spiritual, like, oh, the Lord should lead you. And people are like, oh, the Lord's leading me. No, no, no. There's actually a very specific application to how it is that the Lord is to lead you. And it's not going to surprise you when I show it to you, but I'm going to show it to you because this is what the Bible says. You say, well, what does this mean exactly? How do we apply this? Because God doesn't send a cloud today, you know, in a fire today to lead me. So how does God lead me today? Well, look at Numbers 9. Keep replacing Psalms. Look at Numbers 9 and look at verse 18. See, the cloud and the fire was a representation of something. It pictured something and it's expressed in Numbers 9 and verses 18, 19, and 20. Look at verse 18. At the commandments of the Lord, the children of Israel journeyed. Now you say, well, wait a minute. I thought it was when the cloud moved. It was when the cloud moved. But when the cloud moved, that represented the commandment of the Lord because it was God's direction. It was God's will. God was directing them. So when the cloud moved and when they followed the cloud, God said, at the commandment of the Lord, the children of Israel journeyed. And at the commandment of the Lord, they pitched. You say, no, no, they journeyed when the cloud moved. They pitched when the cloud stopped. But God says, yes, but here's what that represents. They moved when I told them to and they stopped when I told them to. At the commandment of the Lord, the children of Israel journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord, they pitched as long as a cloud abode upon the tabernacle and they rested in their tents. Look at verse 19. Then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord. You see that phrase, kept the charge? That's an older phrase. We don't use that a lot. But that word charge means order or command. It's like in a military when the captain says, charge! He's ordering them to move. And here God says, I ordered them. I charged them to move in the wilderness with the cloud as it moved and as it tarried. They kept the charge of the Lord. They kept the command of the Lord. Look at verse 20. And so it was when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle. Notice the words. According to the commandment of the Lord, they abode in their tents. And according to the commandment of the Lord, they journeyed. It wasn't just the cloud and the fire. It's that the cloud and the fire represented the commandment of the Lord. When did they move? When God said to. When did they stop? When God said to. What did the cloud represent? The commandment of the Lord. What is that picture for us today? We'll go to Psalm 119. Psalm 119. Look at verse 105. Psalm 119, of course, is a famous passage on the word of God. Psalm 119 in verse 105 says this, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. You say, what can we learn from this? Here's what we can learn. You shouldn't move until God tells you to. You should move when God tells you to. You should tarry when God tells you to. You should keep the charge of the Lord. You need to figure out before you start making all sorts of decisions and deciding, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to go here, I'm going to go there. Hey, why don't you figure it out? What does God say? What is God's mind on this thing? What is God's will? Is the cloud moving or not? Because if the cloud is moving, then follow the cloud. But if the cloud is staying, you better stay. We get ourselves into trouble when we start deciding on our own, we're going to do this and we're going to do that and we're going to go here and we're going to go there. No, no, no, no. At the commandment of the Lord is when we should move. And look, this was every day. Every day they woke up and they looked up the cloud. Is it moving? No, it's not moving. Then we're going to stay. Every day they woke up, they looked up, the cloud started moving. They said, let's go. Every day, every day. And look, the Christian life is this. The type of life that you open up, this cloud. This is the cloud of God. This is the fire of God. Every day you open it up and you say, God, what do you want me to do? You want me to move? You want me to move somewhere? You want me to do something? You want me to take an action? You want me to make a decision? You tell me in your Word what you want me to do or you tell me to stay put, but I'm not just going to do whatever I want. At the commandment of the Lord, they went. And at the commandment of the Lord, they rested. They kept the charge of the Lord. So many Christians get themselves into trouble when they just decide they're going to do whatever they want. And look, the Christian life, obviously, as we've learned this week, comes with its good days and bad days. And I'll be very honest with you. The only way that I can have the confidence, the only way that my wife can have the confidence in weeks like this, my wife literally spent hours with Ava this week talking to her and comforting her and fellowshipping with her. I spent hours with Shaul this week. And people say, what do you say? The only thing that gives us the confidence to be able to know anything worth saying is spending time in this book. And look, the only way that a Christian man and a Christian woman who obviously are hurting and obviously are grieving but yet their hope is in God and yet their hearts are broken but their spiritual life isn't falling apart, you know, how does that happen? I'll tell you how it happens because the Bible says, though the outward man perished, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. See, you don't know when the worst day of your life is going to be. You don't know what tomorrow will bring forth. You don't know what trials and tribulations will come upon you. But I can tell you this, the only way to be ready for that day is what you do the day before and the day before and the day before and the day before as you spend time in God's word, as you spend time looking at that cloud, looking at that fire, letting it guide you, letting it lead you, that gives you the confidence when it's a dark day to know, hey, I'm doing what God told me to do. I may not always know why God tarries for a month or for two years or for a year. I'm not sure sometimes what God is doing. I can tell you this, we've been following God and we trust God day by day. So before you start making all sorts of crazy plans, making your decisions based off the stock market and wow, I can make this money and I can do that and I can go there, hey, how about you get along with God and get the mind of God on that thing? Numbers 9 and verse 23, notice how the chapter ends. Numbers 9 and verse 23, this is the idea of this passage. Pray that it is the idea and the description of your life. At the commandment of the Lord, they rested. At the commandment of the Lord, they rested in the tents. And at the commandment of the Lord, they journeyed. They kept the charge of the Lord, the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. So I'll be honest with you, the only thing that gives us confidence in this life is the Word of God. You know, the ministry, I've said this before and I was reminded of it this week, that the ministry is just a spiritual rollercoaster. I've often said in the ministry, sometimes you're grieving and rejoicing, literally all in the same day. You're weeping with one person, driving five hours and celebrating with another. Say, how can you do that? I can't do that, my wife can't do that, but God can do that. And when our confidence is in the Lord, and when we have confidence, when we can go to a young man and a young lady that are getting married and say, hey, I know that this is right and I know that this is the will of God for your life, not because of some little feeling I have, but because you followed the Bible. When I can go to a grieving mother and father and say, hey, you will see your son again. And these are not just words that you say to someone trying to make them feel better. No, I literally, we know that because of what the Bible says. It is the Word of God that gives us confidence. So stay with the cloud. Stay with the pillar. Don't get out of the will of God. At the commandment of the Lord, they rested. And at the commandment of the Lord, they journeyed. They kept the charge of the Lord. I hope that's true of you. I hope that's true of me. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. Lord, we thank you. Lord, I pray you'd help us. Thank you for this chapter, this passage of scripture. Help us to keep this picture that you give us in mind, this cloud, this fire that directed the children of Israel. They just went where God told them to go. They did what God told them to do. And there's so much confidence there. Lord, I pray you'd help us. I pray you'd help us not to get ahead of you, not to lag behind you. Help us every day to look at the cloud and the fire of the Word of God and allow you to lead us that we might say like the psalmist said, He leadeth me. We love you, Lord. We do pray for Brother Sean, Miss Ava. To strengthen them, you help them at this time, Lord. I thank you for the great testimony that they've been. I'm proud. My wife and I are proud of them and how they have dealt through this and went through this trial, though I know their hearts are broken. Lord, I pray you'd help them. You bless them. Thank you for our church. I pray you'd bless the rest of this week. 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. I just want to remind you a couple of things. First of all, if you are part of the cleaning crew and if you have signed up for the appreciation dinner, just know that that is not going to happen this Friday. That is going to be postponed. We're going to go ahead and postpone it to the Friday following and we'll reach out to you through text or whatever and make sure you're aware of that, but if you can make a note of that, we would appreciate it. Be in prayer this week. Lots of things going on, but of course the big thing is the funeral here on Friday, August 18th. I realize it's a little bit of short notice. I mean, it's a week's notice, but I would say this. If you can make it, you should make it. The Bible says that we're supposed to rejoice together and we're supposed to mourn together. As a church family, we need to be here for our brothers and sisters when they're going through troubles. I realize it may not be possible for you to make it and I understand that, but if you can make it, I would encourage you to make plans to be here on Friday. We'll give you the details as far as the hours and all of that soon. It'll probably be 11 a.m., but it'll for sure be Friday, so just be in prayer for that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. I want to encourage you, if you just look around your area and kind of pick up and put things away, it helps the cleaning crew on the next day to just make sure the hymn books are back and all of that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother R.J. come up and lead us in a final song. Amen. Let's grab our psalm books and turn to page 261. Song number 261. We will sing, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Song number 261. Sing it out on the first. O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see. There's life for a look at the Savior And life for abundance and peace. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. On the second. Through death into life everlasting He passed and we follow Him there. Over us sin no more at dominion For more than conquers be our peace. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. Sing it out on the last. His Word shall not fail you He promised. Believe Him and all will be well. Then go to a world that is dying. His perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. Amen. Great singing brother Matt. Would you dismiss us with a word of prayer? We thank you for everything you do for us. We can pray and call back to church all over the world.