We're going to begin our worship now. We're singing firstly today in Psalm 96.
Psalm 96, that's in the Scottish Psalter, page 358.
Sing to the tune of St. Magnus, verses 1 to 6.
Sing a new song to the Lord. Sing all the earth to God. To God sing. Bless His name.
Show still His saving health abroad. Among the heathen nations His glory do declare.
And unto all the people show His works that wondrous are.
If you're able to stand, we'll stand to sing these verses, Psalm 96.
Sing a new song to the Lord. Sing all the earth to God.
To God sing. Bless His name.
Sing all the earth to God.
Among the heathen nations His glory do declare.
And unto all the people show His works that wondrous are.
For Christ the Lord.
For Christ the Lord, not greatly be.
Is to be magnified.
Yea, worthy to be feared.
Is he above all those beside.
For all those beside.
For all the gods are idols found,
Which blinded nations fear.
A Seventh the land of the Hajnnej.
100%.
A se glass may be imantizized.
The way of your grave, the Mary masters fear.
With
يرon most.
The Lord by you, the heavens be interweb.
With honour is the Lord is face, and majesty divine.
Strength is within his holy place, and there the beauty shines.
Let's call upon the Lord now in prayer briefly.
Our gracious God, we give thanks today that we are gathered here in your name.
That we do so under your own promise that you will be with your people as they gather.
And we thank you that we come together of all ages and all backgrounds,
and that we are welcome in your presence.
We give thanks, Lord, for the provision you have made for us to enable us to come
through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again from the dead,
and is today seated at the right hand of glory on high.
And we thank you that he reigns over us, and that we expect him to come back to this world
at the day that you have appointed.
We pray, Lord, today that we may be still in your presence,
that we may know your blessing as we come together.
Bless the children today, we pray.
Bless them in all their activities, not only today, but as we anticipate that throughout this week.
Lord, we thank you for all our children, for our young families belonging to the congregation.
For we give thanks to you, O Lord, for the way in which we are so encouraged and so often given to rejoice
in seeing so many young lives coming to be taught the things of God.
Bless them, we pray today, and all who teach them and all who belong to them as parents and relatives.
Be with us in all our homes.
Grant us your blessing throughout this day.
For Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Now, I know you're going to be looking at Gideon again today in Sunday School Lessons,
and today you're looking at Gideon's victory, or Gideon victorious.
And in Judges chapter 7, I'm not sure if you're going to be looking at that chapter or not,
but Judges chapter 7 records a great victory that Gideon achieved by God's help over the Midianites.
And there's something quite amazing in the chapter as you read through it.
And it's this, that Gideon was told by God that he had too many people with him,
and he had to reduce that number until eventually he just had 300 out of 24,000 men that he began with.
Now, that's very strange because when you read in verse 12 there,
the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley like locusts in abundance,
and their camels were without number as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.
Why would God tell Gideon, you've got too many people,
when there were thousands and thousands and thousands of the Midianites and the Amalekites also that they were going to fight against?
Well, the reason was that Gideon was going to manage victory with God's help with the 300,
and that was going to give glory to God.
It was going to show Gideon that the power, the victory, belonged to God, not to themselves.
It was God helping them, enabling them, that gave them that victory.
And it was showing them that the power that gives us victory belongs to God alone,
and obviously from that they were being taught to depend on God and not on themselves,
not on anything that they had by way of their own gifts.
And so I want you today, young folks, to pray for God's power in your lives.
We all need God's power, and whatever age we are, we need God's power working in our lives today.
And what that means is that we need to pray for God's help and for God's power to work in our lives.
It doesn't matter what we're facing.
It doesn't matter how much bigger that may seem than ourselves.
It's important that we depend on God to give us the ability.
The second thing I want you to remember is that when we are given help by God, we need immediately to thank Him.
It's very interesting here in this chapter that you'll find in verse 15 that after Gideon,
you can look at the incident later yourselves, but he went down to the camp of the Amalekites.
He was told a dream had taken place.
One of these men of the Amalekites had had a dream, and another one was telling the story, the meaning of the dream.
And it was going to be a victory for Gideon and for his people.
And as soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped.
Isn't that important?
As soon as he heard what that dream meant and realized that it meant victory for them, he worshipped the Lord.
And for us too, that's important.
We're here today to worship God, and you young lives, you children as well are part of that.
And we're here to give thanks to God as well as to pray to God for His help.
So remember, pray for His power in your life.
And always give Him thanks.
Whatever He gives you at any time, give Him the thanks.
Give Him the glory just as Gideon did.
Well, let's say the Lord's prayer again together.
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
We're going to sing some more verses now, this time in Psalm 119.
In the same Psalms, page 159, verses 33 to 40.
And the tune is Finart.
Teach me to follow your decrees, then I will keep them to the end.
Give insight, and I'll keep your law with all my heart to it attend.
That section of Psalm 119.
To God's praise.
Teach me to follow your decrees, then I will keep them to the end.
With this sight of that dear pure law with all my heart to it attend.
We feed me in your commandment's path.
For then, O Lord, delight thy mind.
They provide my heart to the Lord's new laws.
Come, selfish King, descend my life.
Oh, God, my heart to the Lord's new laws.
Come, selfish King, descend my heart to the Lord's new laws.
Give life according to your word.
To lead your servant, keep your place.
So that you may be here, O Lord's new laws.
Be good from me, the shame I get.
Your laws accept and unrighteousness.
O how I long for your redeeming.
Please bear me in your righteousness.
A reading of God's word today is from the book of Numbers.
The book of Numbers.
And we're reading in chapter 10.
We'll begin reading at verse 11.
So Numbers chapter 10 at verse 11.
In the second year and the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony.
And the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai.
And the clouds settled down in the wilderness of Paran.
They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses.
The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies.
And over their company was Nashon, the son of Amminadab.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nethanel, the son of Zuar.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was Eliab, the son of Helon.
And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out.
And the standard of the camp of Rehuban set out by their companies.
And over their company was Elisur, the son of Shedur.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was Shelamiel, the son of Zerushaddai.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was Elisaph, the son of Deuel.
Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things.
And the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.
And the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies.
And over their company was Elisamah, the son of Ammihud.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was Gamaliel, the son of Pedasur.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was Abaddon, the son of Gedeoni.
Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies.
And over their company was Ahiezer, the son of Amishaddai.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was Pagiel, the son of Ochran.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was Ahira, the son of Inan.
This was the order of the march of the people of Israel by their companies when they set out.
And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law,
We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you.
Come with us. We will do good to you.
For the Lord has promised good to Israel.
But he said to him, I will not go.
I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.
And he said, Please do not leave us.
For you know where we would camp in the wilderness.
And you will serve as eyes for us.
And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.
So they set out from the mount of the Lord for three days' journey.
And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for three days' journey to seek out a resting place for them.
And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day whenever they set out from the camp.
And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered.
And let those who hate you flee before you.
And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the ten thousands of Israel.
Amen. May God bless to us reading that portion of his word.
Let's join together again in prayer.
Lord, our God, these words that we have read cause us to reflect upon our need for your guidance.
And the need for order in the way that we set about our lives.
And we give thanks that you are the God of order and of guidance.
That you are the one who gives counsel to your people, even as they travel through on their journey through this world.
Lord, we bless you that like Moses, we too can say that you have given us an account of what the journey will involve and where we are going to as we come to trust in you and look forward to that eternity you promised to your people.
We thank you today, Lord, that we gather as a joint company of people whose will it is that we should know you and that you should reveal yourself again to us.
So, Lord, bless us.
So, Lord, bless to us your word, we pray.
And enable us as we look upon this passage together that we will do so conscious of our need to truly belong to the company of your believing people.
To belong to those who are traveling in their own way by faith and relying upon the Lord himself and not on anything with which you may have endowed us.
So, bless us, we pray, as a congregation today.
Oh, Lord, we thank you for all the encouragement you give us.
We thank you for the many activities that we already heard of and read through as we anticipate in this coming week.
The various types of meetings and of worship services that we engage in as a people.
And we thank you, Lord, that you enable us to have the resources that we have for these activities and events.
And we thank you for them.
We thank you, Lord, that you continue to provide for us against our need.
We bless you that your promise is that you will at all times look to the need of your people.
And we pray for the confidence that your servant Paul had long ago when he could say of himself that he was confident that God would supply all the need of the Philippian church according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
So, help us, we pray, today as we worship you.
And help us by your Holy Spirit, Lord, to lay to heart the things that you teach us in your word.
Bless us, we pray, as a congregation continue to bestow upon us the blessings of the gospel, the blessings of your Holy Spirit,
so that we may progress spiritually and morally and grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
O Lord, our God, we today give thanks that the promise you give to your church in all ages is that you will never depart from them,
that you will never forsake them, even in the difficulties of life.
Yet we acknowledge, Lord, that we, by our own sin, cause the times that you face may be hidden from us.
And we will not have the comfort that we ought to have in our hearts.
We know that it is our sin that causes such times in our lives.
Lord, we ask that whenever we are conscious of being at a distance from you,
whenever we are conscious that in our hearts we have backslidden,
that we have become cold, that our love is not as it once was and should be.
Lord, help us, we pray, to return to you.
Enable us to heed your voice and your appeal to us in the word.
And Lord, help us today, if that be our condition,
that we may be drawn by your Holy Spirit again,
that we may come to appreciate anew the warmth and the benefit of fellowship with you.
Bless any today, we pray, who are still unsaved,
and who have not come to rest upon the Lord Jesus Christ for time and for eternity.
Bless them, we pray, under your word today.
Be near to them, Lord, to open their hearts and give them the mind and the wherewithal to embrace you
as you offer yourself in your word to us.
And we pray that we may know of many during our own days here and elsewhere coming to know the Lord.
Bless, we pray again, those who have particular needs in our midst today.
Again, we remember those who mourn the passing of loved ones.
We know in this past week, O Lord, again, we've had two funerals, two families involved in times of sorrow and loss.
We pray for them and we pray that you would bless them even in the times that they find most acutely the pain of departure from loved ones.
Gracious one, we ask that you would be pleased to bestow your comfort upon them.
And remember all others who reflect upon times gone by and people who are no longer with them in this world.
O Lord, in all our bereavements and our sorrows, be our comforter, we pray.
Be our God to guide us and to counsel us that we may be able to say with the psalmist long ago that you hold us by your right hand and that you guide us with your counsel.
And afterwards that you will receive us to your glory.
Bless the world in which we live in these troublous days, O Lord.
We pray especially for places where there is violence and war, terror, famine, neglect.
Be pleased we pray in all these places in the world to remember them who suffer adversity at this time.
Be with the situation in the Middle East.
Lord, we ask that through your blessing, even though it may seem to us hardly possible, bring about, we pray, a lasting peace between the warring peoples.
Remember the situation also in Ukraine.
Again, we continue to pray for your people there.
We ask, O Lord, that you would bring deliverance from the oppression and from the violence that is carried out against your people there.
Lord, we ask that you would bless your church there.
Bless those who continue faithful to you.
Be pleased in all other places of the world, Lord, to create peace where there is strife and war.
Make us thankful that we have such a level of peace and security in our own circumstances.
But bless us, we pray, as a nation, as a people.
For we know, Lord, that there is much evidence every day we live of a departure from you and from your ways and from your values, from your commands.
Turn us, we pray, to yourself as a people.
And to that end, bless those who are ruling over us.
And grant them, Lord, that they may trust in you, that they may look to you and realize their accountability to you.
And that they may come by your grace to rule wisely and to exercise wisdom and judgment.
Hear us now, we pray, and continue with us here, pardoning all our sin, washing us freely, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Let's sing once again before we turn to Numbers chapter 10.
We're singing this time Psalm 84.
84, that's on page 112.
Sing to Tune Ottawa, verses 1 to 7.
How delightful are your dwellings, O Almighty Lord, to me!
For your courts my soul is yearning, in your house I long to be.
Heart and flesh cry out aloud, for the true and living God.
And verse 5 to 7, which speaks about the journey, as we'll see in Numbers.
We're thinking today of God's people, ourselves being gathered together for travel, on a journey on into eternity.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, those who have a pilgrim's mind.
Pools from autumn rains refresh them, springs and bakers veil they find.
Strength increasing, Zionward, they go on their way to God.
So we'll sing these verses, Psalm 84, to God's praise.
Amen.
Ro
Your force my soul is bearing, in your hearts I long to thee.
I can pledge thy love for the true and living love.
Even sorrows find their dwellings, and thus follow hills and airs.
Near here, altar, Lord Almighty, where the offspring may have rest.
Blessed are those who strengthens in you, those who have a wilderness mind.
Who strong autumn waves refresh their strings and make us live behind.
Strength and peace inside of the world, they go on their way to God.
Amen.
Please turn with me now to Numbers chapter 10.
And today we're looking at verses 29 to 32.
And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, We are setting
out for the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you.
Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.
But he said to him, I will not go.
I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.
And he said, please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness,
and you will serve as eyes for us.
And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.
Well, as we continue to look at the theme of the gathered church, gathered for various reasons,
gathered in different circumstances, today we're looking at the gathered church in terms
of the church on a journey or the church traveling onwards.
And we'll see something of what comes across in this part of the book of Numbers, these verses
we've read especially.
Because Numbers really is about this journey of the people of Israel on towards the promised
land of Canaan, as the Lord had promised to them, and as Moses here said to Chobab.
In fact, that's in the Hebrew text, which is what the Old Testament was written in.
This book is not called Numbers.
That came about by it being translated firstly into Greek and then all the other various languages
into which it was translated.
But the book that we know is the book of Numbers.
The title in the Hebrew text is In the Wilderness.
In the Wilderness.
Because it's talking, telling about this journey of the people in the wilderness, through the
wilderness, on towards the land that God had promised them.
God had said to them through Moses in Exodus chapter 8 that he had heard their groanings.
He was coming out.
He had come down to rescue them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to take them out of that
land, and to take them into a land that flows with milk and honey.
Where God takes us out of, He also takes us into.
He doesn't take us out of our state of being lost, our deadness and sin.
He doesn't take us out of that without taking us into its wonderful replacement in the salvation
that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are either in one or the other today.
And the Lord is teaching us here the importance of traveling together with the mind of pilgrims
on towards the land that God has promised His people.
Now, not all the people of Israel would actually enter the land of Canaan.
Sadly, many, many of them died in the wilderness.
And when you go to the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, Hebrews actually tells us that
the reason so many of them fell in the wilderness was due to their unbelief.
Their unbelief, their lack of faith.
The word that God sent to them was not actually received by them in faith.
And because of unbelief, they did not enter into the land of Canaan.
In other words, it's the same that you find with the church throughout all the generations,
throughout all the time of history and on to the end of the world.
There will always be a mixed multitude.
There will always be people who have received the word of the Lord believingly,
and therefore are in a relationship with himself where they are saved,
where they are secure in Christ.
And there are others who have not come to place their trust in the Lord,
who are traveling with those who believe, with those who come to trust,
whose place in the church is valued,
but who have not yet come to place their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
and receive Him as their Savior.
So we remember that that's the case today as we look at this passage,
that the way we're traveling together,
it's important for us to remember that traveling together in that sense
doesn't guarantee automatically that we will enter into heaven.
We need to have Jesus for ourselves.
We need to receive Jesus as He's offered to us in the gospel.
We need to have Him as our King and as our Lord.
So let's look at these verses as we see them setting out,
the traveling together of the people.
They set out from the mount of the Lord for three days' journey.
Now Moses gives Hobab, first of all, an explanation
before he gives them the invitation to actually come to travel with them.
He gave them, first of all, the explanation of their journey,
where they were going to, where they were journeying on to.
And then having given them that explanation,
he gave them this invitation,
come with us and we will do good to you.
And then after the explanation and the invitation,
when Hobab refused and preferred to go back to his own people,
he then exhorted him,
please come with us.
And he explained to him,
any good that the Lord will do,
all the good the Lord will do to us,
we will also do to you.
So you have these three things,
this explanation,
this invitation,
and this exhortation,
all built into this short passage
describing the travels that Moses anticipated
towards the promised land.
So it's important that he began with,
we note that he began with this explanation of the journey.
We are traveling,
we are setting out for the place of which the Lord said,
I will give it to you.
He began with that statement.
That's really, in a sense,
what we do with the gospel as well.
We don't just come and look at the invitations
without something of what lies behind it,
without something of the statements
of the truth of God,
as he gives it to us,
on which the invitation is built.
We don't just appeal to people
in preaching the gospel
so that all you have is just a set of appeals
or maybe some nice stories or illustrations,
good though these are,
and important though the appeal is.
Every time you come in the Bible
to God's appeal,
to come to himself,
to follow him,
to trust in him,
and so on,
you always come to find
certain truths along with that,
certain truths on which the invitation
and the appeal is based.
And it's the same here.
In summary,
you find Moses here saying,
we are traveling to this place
of which the Lord said,
I will give it to you.
He's saying,
here is a place
the Lord has actually assured us
that he's giving us this place,
that he's made it ours,
and we're on the way to it.
So on the basis of that truth,
he's then inviting him to come and join them.
And you notice,
he is saying,
we're traveling to the place
of which the Lord said,
I will give it to you,
or I'm giving it to you.
It's really a matter of the Lord's gift to them,
so that the main feature in the passage really,
and through the whole of this book of Numbers,
though it's describing the journey of the people of Israel,
the main feature of it is the Lord's presence with them,
the Lord's guidance,
the Lord being their God as he goes before them,
as represented here by the ark being with them,
being in their midst,
and the cloud that's over them by day,
and all that's associated with that,
the Lord is with them,
the Lord is guiding them,
the Lord is in their midst,
and it's that Lord who has given them this land
that they're traveling towards.
You see, salvation,
the journey of salvation,
the journey through this world
onto the promised land of Canaan,
we didn't devise that journey.
It's not something that we invent.
It's not something that's arisen out of our own idea.
It's not something that's just grown in people's minds
and gradually built up momentum over the years
until we're at the stage that we're at today.
This is actually the same for us.
Salvation is God's deliverance from sin
and setting us on a journey that terminates in heaven,
and it's the Lord's doing.
It's the Lord's doing.
From beginning to end.
You know, we're so used, aren't we,
in the world in which we live,
the circumstances,
the situation we have in the world.
We're often told
that we don't really have a monopoly of the truth as Christians,
that we need to actually listen
and give due place to other faiths so-called,
that we need to combine together
all the accumulated wisdom of pagan writers,
of other faiths, of other religions,
and that is as you put them all together in a multi-faith,
including even the likes of secularists or scientific discoveries,
that then you're in a position to ask,
well, where can I get the truth amongst all of that?
Is it really as I put all of that together
that I come to some idea or semblance of where the truth lies?
No, God is saying,
I have given you my truth.
I have given you my word.
I have given you this revelation of myself.
I have given you this explanation of where the world came from,
who created it,
what is it like,
why is it in a state it's in?
I have given you this record of my Son coming into the world,
of His death on the cross,
of His resurrection from the dead,
of His ascension to glory,
of His return on the last day.
You have all of that.
That's the truth.
We're not traveling together without knowing where we're going.
We're not traveling on a journey,
on a path,
on a road that we've devised for ourselves.
We're not actually traveling
in what's just an accumulation of different ideas
that began with different philosophies of human beings.
It's exactly as Moses put it here.
We are on this journey.
We're setting out for the place of which the Lord said,
I will give it to you.
And you see,
there's a definite terminus as well,
isn't there,
for these people.
And Moses is reminding Hobab here,
this is where they're going to.
He's not just saying,
we're on a journey.
I'm not sure where it's going to end.
He's saying,
we are on this journey to this place
of which the Lord said,
I'm giving it to you.
There's a definite terminus in view.
And so you don't go along with current ideas,
really,
that says that you can't really be certain
about what the truth is
or can't really be certain
about things in the future.
Life is evolving.
We are evolving with it
as we go on in our human experience.
Uncertainties,
but life evolves as you go on.
So you can't really be sure
where it's going to terminate at all.
No,
that's not what God is saying.
You're on a journey to eternity.
And when you get to eternity,
there's only two possibilities,
two realities,
two certainties.
The eternity of the lost
or the eternity of the saved.
And the eternity of the saved
is this place
that the Lord has promised to His people
and Christ has prepared for them
as He taught His disciples
in the Gospel of John in chapter 14,
that wonderful chapter
that we so often read,
especially at times of loss,
of bereavement,
of sorrow.
Don't let your hearts be troubled.
I'm going to prepare a place for you.
If that were not the case,
would I have told you so?
It's the same as Moses here
saying to Hobab,
we are traveling.
We're setting out for this place
of which the Lord said,
I'm giving it to you.
You remember in Hebrews,
chapter 11,
that great list
of people who lived by faith.
And in the middle of that,
we have a statement
that fits in with the point
we've just made
that life's journey,
while it is full of uncertainties
in terms of what will happen to us
on the journey,
that's in God's hands,
but we know where the journey ends
and we know what the journey is about.
Here in the middle of this,
chapter 11 of Hebrews,
at verse 13,
you find a little summary
and then it moves on
to a list of further names.
And the summary goes like this.
These all died in faith,
not having received
the things promised,
but having seen them
and greeted them from afar,
having acknowledged
that they were strangers
and exiles on the earth.
For people who speak thus
make it clear
that they are seeking
a homeland.
And if they had been thinking
of that land
from which they had gone out,
they would have had opportunity
to return.
But as it is,
they desire
a better country,
that is,
a heavenly one.
Therefore,
God is not ashamed
to be called
their God.
Why?
For He has prepared
for them
a city.
It's been prepared.
It's ready.
Partly occupied already
by those who have gone
before us.
But Moses is saying,
we are traveling
to this place.
That's the reality
of the gospel.
That's what the gospel
is setting out
for you and for me today.
That God has prepared
an inheritance,
an eternal dwelling place
for His people.
And so,
the invitation
is based on that.
Come with us
and we will do
good to you.
So,
that's the second thing.
The explanation
is followed
by this invitation.
Come with us.
Following the explanation,
you have this invitation.
Hobab's here
with them
at Mount Sinai.
Hobab,
or Rauel,
as he's also called,
Moses'
father-in-law.
He wasn't a Hebrew.
He belonged to
the place
that he mentions himself
to his father's house,
his kindred,
the Midianite.
And he knew
the wilderness
very well,
as we'll see.
But he is
invited here
to stay with them,
to join with them,
to travel with them now.
And that's really
exactly what we do
in the gospel.
That's exactly
how we set about
not just the preaching
of the gospel,
but our evangelism,
which presents
the gospel
to the world.
It doesn't just say
statement-wise,
we are traveling
as Christians,
we're traveling
to a certain place,
a terminus
that God has prepared
for us.
We also say,
will you come with us?
Please join us.
Come with us
and we will do good
to you
out of whatever good
the Lord
will do to us.
And that's the promise.
We will
do good to you.
We will do good
to you
for the Lord
has promised good
to Israel.
In other words,
despite what you often
hear to be the case
that our interest
really in
being the church
together,
that our interest
is just self-interest,
that we're not really
interested in people
at all to an extent.
All we're interested
in is preserving
what we have,
preserving the church,
preserving our own
interests in it.
that's not what
we're saying.
This is so important
that people actually
see that our interest
in them,
that our interest
in them as people
we invite to join
with us on the journey
is not self-interest,
that it's genuine.
It's something that
has the best
motives in it.
That, of course,
means that our own
conduct,
our own behavior,
how people see us
is important.
because sadly,
some of the time,
we don't accompany
the invitation
by the kind
of conduct
that would really
draw people
to study
and to listen
to the statements
we make about
our traveling
on to the place
that God
has provided for us.
But we have
the best motives.
We have the best
intentions
for people to come
and become travelers
with us
on the way
to eternity.
Christianity
has always had
its share
of hypocrites,
charlatans,
people who are
not genuine,
people who have
simply attached
themselves
for whatever reason
to the church
visibly.
But we're concerned
with genuine
love,
genuine
intentions,
genuine motives,
genuine compassion,
genuine concern.
As we come to
say to people
through reaching
out with the gospel,
come and join us.
Come with us
because it's good
that we have
promised by the Lord.
Here is one of
the definite things
you can say to people
as you pray
that God will
bless them
and bless His word
to them.
We have to say
to them,
the Lord has promised
good to Israel.
We don't have
any doubts
about that.
Even if people
find it difficult
to understand,
this is the reality
of it,
that God for us
today has promised
good as we travel
on together,
as He gathers us
together,
especially as we
come to place
our trust in Him.
It is good,
good, good
that the Lord
has promised.
As the psalmist
put it,
how great
is the goodness
which you keep
in store
for them
that fear you,
for those
who honor you,
for those
who trust in you.
you see,
for you
as a Christian
today,
and for us
together,
as we join
together here,
is God's
assurance to us.
He isn't just
inviting us
to come
and meaningfully
be part of
His traveling
people,
and inviting us
to place
our trust in Him,
our confidence
in Him,
to believe in Him,
to receive Him,
all of what's
included in that.
God,
but He's
saying,
everything that's
going before you
as a Christian
is good.
Everything.
The goodness
of God,
even at the
most difficult
of times,
even those
incidents where
we're hurt,
where the
providence of
God is
challenging,
where we
would prefer
it to be
some other
way,
we would
prefer that
the way we're
traveling on
is just too
hard,
we'd prefer
it to be
easier.
Why does it
have to be
this hard?
Why does it
have to hurt
so badly?
Why can't it
just be a
little bit
easier,
a little bit
less challenging?
Well,
because the
Lord is
assuring us
that He
knows what
He's doing.
And He
knows what
He's doing
because He's
the good
God.
He's good
and He
does good.
Millions of
people today
are thanking
God.
That the
troubles that
came their
way in the
providence and
the appointment
of God
were a
framework or
a means by
the blessing
of God
out of which
so much
good came
flowing into
their lives.
And so He's
assuring us
today, as the
Lord has
promised good,
He's assuring
us that when
we have our
place along
with His
people,
then we
will do good
to each
other out
of the
good that
the Lord
has done
and is
doing to
us.
In other
words,
Moses is
saying,
Hobab,
you will
share in
the goodness
of God
to us
if you
come and
travel with
us.
Genuinely,
this will be
your experience.
The
explanation
invitation
is based
upon that.
But let me
just pause
and pose
the question
today.
We're all
here together
as the
gathered
church at
worship.
We're all
here together
as people
who are
traveling on
through time
on into
eternity.
We all have
different
experiences in
that journey,
but we're in
it together.
Here is the
important question
though.
What is your
relationship with
the Lord as
we travel on
together as
a people?
Is it
indeed your
expectation
that the
Lord will
continue to
do you
good?
Is it
goodness that's
waiting for
you when
your life is
over in
this world?
Will the
goodness of
God then be
a goodness
that you will
enjoy for
all eternity
because that's
what heaven
is about?
Enjoying the
goodness of
God.
Or are you
still not
saved?
In a
relationship
with God
that assures
you of the
place you
are going
to and
that it's
yours in
Christ,
please don't
journey along
with God's
people and
miss out
on the
core issue,
the eternal
life.
And if
you're here
today and
not saved,
surely this
is giving you
pause for
thought,
that you're
traveling in
the company
of people
who know
the promise
of God,
the promise
that you
know yourself
in the
gospel.
And we
say to you
today,
you come
with us
spiritually,
you come
with us
intentionally,
you come
with us
believingly and
trustingly in
the Lord,
and goodness
will be the
result.
God's goodness
will be shared
as we travel
together.
And thirdly,
there's an
exhortation that
follows on the
invitation and
the previous
explanation.
because Hobab
said,
I will not
go,
I will
depart to
my own
land and
to my
kindred.
And then
Moses said,
as he
exhorted him,
please do
not leave
us,
for you know
where we
should camp
in the
wilderness,
and you
will serve
as eyes
for us.
And if you
do go with
us,
whatever good
the Lord
will do
to us,
the same
we will
do to
you.
In other
words,
Moses is
pleading with
him,
please don't
go back,
please stay
with us,
because you
are gifted
in a particular
way to
help us on
our journey
through the
wilderness.
You will
be eyes
for us,
you know
the wilderness,
you're
experienced in
the wilderness,
you know
the place as
we seek a
resting place
for us,
you know
where we
should stop,
where we
should go,
where we
should avoid,
you will
be as eyes
to us.
In other
words,
Moses knows
the gift
that Hobab
has.
And that's
an important
feature of
the appeal
the Lord
sets out
in the
gospel,
that he
knows that
each one
of us
is gifted
in a
particular
way,
in such
a way
that would
actually
add that
gift,
whatever it
is,
to the
overall
equipment
of the
church
as it
travels
on
through
time.
And
whatever
gift you
have
today may
be very,
very different
from anybody
else's
gift.
God has
given you
that gift
to use
it,
to be a
doer of
the Word
and not
just a
hearer only,
as James
put it.
And that
gift is
not for
you to
just hold
on to
for
yourself.
It's
to use
in the
accumulation
of gifts
that the
Lord has
given to
His
people,
so that
as you
travel with
them,
as we
travel
together,
whatever way
the Lord
has endowed
us and
gifted us,
maybe it's
working with
young folks,
maybe it's
working with
older folks,
maybe it's
looking after
a creche,
maybe it's
in reaching out
to people and
speaking to
them.
Not all of us
are gifted
that way,
but we're
gifted in
some way or
other.
And as
Moses says to
Hobab,
you know,
we can
really use
your gifts.
So,
the gospel,
so the
preaching of
the gospel,
so the
voice of
God's
people,
if you
like,
and the
voice of
God
Himself is
saying to
you and
to me
today,
we can
use your
gifts.
We need
you.
We need
you to
be part
of this
gathered
church
together
as we
travel onwards
together,
serving the
Lord,
the service
that we
owe to
God and
the service
that we
give in
return for
all that
He has
done for
us.
Well,
the church
is not so
much about
what you
get from
it.
It's much
more indeed
about what
you give.
We all
get so much
from being
together.
We all
get so much
individually
from that.
We serve
each other,
but we
give,
in a sense,
more than
we actually
receive.
And,
you know,
the
gifts that
God has
given to
His
church,
while they
vary,
yet
accumulatively,
they all
fit together
in God's
way.
And
serving the
Lord
through using
these gifts
is so
important.
Let me just
conclude by
a quotation
from a book
by Sinclair
Ferguson,
a book
called
Devoted to
God's
Church.
Please read
through it.
It's a
wonderful
book.
And in
describing
the service
we owe
to God,
he gives
certain
principles,
negatives and
positives
together.
And I'll
finish with
that.
He says,
service to
God,
first of
all,
it's not
a matter
of others
recognizing
our gifts,
but it
is a matter
of us
recognizing
others'
needs.
It's not
a matter
of others
recognizing
our gifts,
it is a
matter of
us recognizing
the needs
of others.
Secondly,
it's not a
matter of
doing things
for others
at our
own
convenience,
it is a
matter of
our helping
others when
they are
inconvenienced.
It's not a
matter of
doing things
for others
at our
own
convenience,
without
putting
ourselves
out,
but he
says it
is a
matter of
our helping
others when
they are
inconvenienced.
And thirdly,
he says,
it's not a
matter of
feeling that
we have
special gifts,
but it is a
matter of
us seeing
that others
have very
special needs.
And fourthly,
it's not an
optional extra
for a member
of the church.
Service to
God is not
an optional
extra,
he says.
It's written
into the
definition of
being a member
of the church,
or you might
say even
being a
Christian.
It's written
into the
definition of
that.
As we
travel together
that each
of us
will say
of ourselves,
saving the
Lord,
saving the
church,
it's not an
optional extra.
It's a
delight,
as well as
a responsibility,
because all
that the
Lord has
done for
us,
calls upon
us to do
as much
as we can
for him.
We are
traveling to
the place
of which the
Lord has
said,
I will
give it
to you.
Come with
us.
We will
do good
to you,
for the
Lord has
spoken good
concerning
his people.
Whatever
good the
Lord will
do to
us,
the same
we will
do to
you,
as God
has
promised.
Let's
pray.
Almighty
God,
we give
thanks that
you are
the God
that keeps
company with
your people
and that
has set
them on
the journey
which you
yourself is
also on
with them.
Your
presence,
Lord,
is promised
to your
people.
We pray
that your
presence will
be out
portioned
daily.
We ask
that you
would enable
us,
Lord,
as we look
at the
ways in
which you
have gifted
us.
Help us,
we pray,
to use these
to your
service and
to your
glory in
your service.
and we
give thanks,
O Lord,
that while we
don't boast
about our
gifts,
why we
would never
see ourselves
as better
than others
or better
endowed,
we ask,
Lord,
that you
would help
us in
true gratitude
and humble
service to
extend all
that we
can by way
of our
using our
gifts to
the furtherance
of your
church.
Lord,
help us,
we pray,
as we
consider the
wonderful
truth about
your people
and their
traveling,
and the
invitation that
you send to
us through
the gospel.
Help us to
know that you
are also
exhorting us
through that
gospel to
cast our
lot in with
your people
and to come
to serve you
while we
have the
opportunity.
Hear us
now, we pray,
and receive us
graciously for
Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Well, we're
singing finally
in Psalm 107.
Psalm 107,
this time it's
in the Scottish
Psalter.
June is
Newington,
we're singing
verses 1 to
8.
Praise God,
for he is
good, for
still his
mercy's
lasting be.
Let God's
redeemed say
so whom he
from the
enemies handed
free and
gathered them
out of the
lands from
north,
south,
east,
and west.
They strayed
in deserts
pathless way,
no city
found to
rest.
For thirst
and hunger
in them
faints
their soul.
When
straits
them
press,
they cry
unto the
Lord,
and he
them
frees
from
their
distress.
Them also
in a way
to walk,
that right
is he did
guide,
that they
might to
a city
go,
wherein
they
might
abide.
Oh,
that men
to the
Lord
would give
praise for
his goodness
then,
and for
his works
of wonder
done unto
the sons
of men.
To the
tune
Newington
these
verses.
Amen.
Thank you.
And gather them out of the lands from north, south, east and west.
This great desert's pathless way, no city come to rest.
For thirst and hunger in their face, their soul west, west and west.
They cry out to the Lord and He, then preach from their distress.
Then also in our way to walk, that righteous be denied.
That they might do a city, O where they might abide.
O that men to the Lord would give praise for His goodness name.
And for His works of wonder, O where they might be.
After the bendiction, I'll go to the door to my left.
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore.
Amen.
Thank you.