WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.760 Well, good morning, church. It's good to see you all on this rainy Sunday. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:12.160 Would you turn with me to the book of Numbers. This summer we've been traveling through this 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:17.039 ! great Old Testament book, seeing God's faithfulness and seeing His holy presence among His 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:22.240 people throughout their wilderness journey. And today, we're actually going to wrap up our series 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:31.280 by considering the very last big portion of this book, chapters 26 through 36. So, would you turn 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:37.579 with me to chapter 26 of the book of Numbers? That begins on page 125 or 126 of the Pew Bible. 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:41.859 We're not going to put it on the screens above, so if you want to turn there in the Pew Bible, 00:00:41.859 --> 00:00:46.560 that would be great. If you're new to Trinity, this morning's sermon is going to be a little out 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:50.359 of the ordinary for us. Typically, our practice on Sundays is to take a portion of Scripture 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:56.259 and walk through it fairly closely, trying to capture the main point of the text in the main 00:00:56.259 --> 00:01:01.480 point of what we speak and teach and reflect on. Today, we're taking a bigger chunk of Scripture, 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:04.900 so we're going to be flying at a little bit of a higher altitude and seeing how this section of 00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:09.039 Scripture connects to some of the great themes of redemption all the way through the Old Testament 00:01:09.039 --> 00:01:17.019 and the New Testament. So, Numbers, chapters 26 through 36. Let me pray for us as we come to God's Word. 00:01:17.019 --> 00:01:26.859 Our Lord in heaven above, Lord, we do come to You this morning. Lord, we come expectantly 00:01:26.859 --> 00:01:37.899 because You, our triune God, our speaking God, that You, in Your kindness and grace, 00:01:37.899 --> 00:01:44.459 have communicated Yourself to us, not just through the prophets and the apostles, 00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:51.419 but ultimately in Your Son, Jesus Christ. So, we pray that by Your Spirit, as we come to Your 00:01:51.419 --> 00:01:58.619 Word written this morning, You would continue to enlighten our eyes, our hearts to hear what Your 00:01:58.619 --> 00:02:04.759 Word says to us today, that we might see Christ and worship Him and follow Him as Your people in this 00:02:04.759 --> 00:02:12.539 world that You have made. Father, we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, let's turn to Numbers 26. 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:17.259 I'm going to read portions of this just to get us started. So, Numbers 26, verse 1, 00:02:17.259 --> 00:02:21.379 After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, 00:02:22.019 --> 00:02:26.500 Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel from twenty years old and upward 00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:33.180 by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war. And Moses and Eleazar the priest 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:38.780 spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, Take a census of the people 00:02:38.780 --> 00:02:45.780 from twenty years old and upward as the Lord commanded Moses. The people of Israel who came out 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:51.759 of the land of Egypt were… And then if you scan down through verses 5 through 51, you'll see just 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:59.300 that. There's this census of the tribes, Reuben and Simeon, Gad and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, the two 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:06.039 tribes stemming from Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, Naphtali. And then we pick up 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:16.539 in verse 51, this was the list of the people of Israel, 601,730. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:23.439 Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names. 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:28.259 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. 00:03:28.739 --> 00:03:35.039 Every tribe shall be given its inheritance in proportion to its list. But the land shall be 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:39.560 divided by lot according to the names of the tribes of their fathers, they shall inherit. 00:03:40.219 --> 00:03:45.060 Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller. 00:03:46.899 --> 00:03:50.539 And then the chapter goes on and says, This was the list of the Levites according to their clans. 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:56.919 And then in verses all the way from 57 through 62, we see the tribe of Levi counted and their special 00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:02.299 role of serving as priests and servants to the Lord in the tabernacle. And then the chapter concludes 00:04:02.300 --> 00:04:11.780 in verse 63 and following, These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest who listed the people 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:19.400 of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan and Jericho. But among these, there was not one of those 00:04:19.400 --> 00:04:25.420 listed by Moses and Aaron the priest who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 00:04:25.420 --> 00:04:33.400 For the Lord had said to them, They shall die in the wilderness. Not one of them was left except Caleb, 00:04:34.020 --> 00:04:44.560 the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun. Okay, so chapter 26 of the book of Numbers marks 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:52.939 this fresh beginning for the people of Israel. For 40 years, they had been wandering in the wilderness, 00:04:52.939 --> 00:04:57.480 as that last paragraph alludes to. They'd been wandering in the wilderness as a result of their 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:03.160 unbelief. God had promised them that they would enter the land that He had given them, that He would 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:09.259 go before them. And tragically, the people turned away in unbelief. And as a result, they were forced 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:16.920 to wander in the wilderness until all of that generation died. But now, a new generation has risen up. 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:23.920 And again, just as this book of Numbers began, so it concludes with a census of the people, with a 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:31.360 counting of the people of God, the people being counted and organized to enter the land and to 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:36.920 receive their inheritance. Now, we're not going to read the rest of chapters 27 through 36. We don't 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:41.340 have time for that this morning. But if you go home and you were to read through those chapters, 00:05:41.339 --> 00:05:46.719 you'd see that much of these chapters at the end of Numbers, much of these chapters are concerned 00:05:46.719 --> 00:05:53.819 with preparing the people for life in the promised land. God will instruct through Moses different 00:05:53.819 --> 00:06:00.899 routines of regular worship daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, the different Sabbaths and feasts and 00:06:00.899 --> 00:06:07.000 festivals. These chapters will take up the boundaries of the land just where they can expect God will 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:13.480 settle them and inherit them. These coming chapters will talk about cleansing idolatry out of the land 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:18.120 and making it a place where the Lord alone is worshiped. And these chapters will talk about 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:24.399 planning out cities of refuge where people who are in trouble or need justice can flee to. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:30.500 These chapters will talk about the principles of fair inheritance and what vow-keeping and justice will 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:35.100 look like in the land. You see, most of these chapters here at the end of Numbers are forward-looking 00:06:35.100 --> 00:06:44.280 to their inheritance in the land. God sets their sights on what's ahead of them, sets their sights on the 00:06:44.280 --> 00:06:50.939 fresh beginning that He has in store for them. So, this is where the story of Numbers ends. 00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:59.920 The renewed people on the verge of the promised land, a people literally born anew in the wilderness, 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:11.400 looking ahead to their inheritance. Now, as the New Testament looks back to this moment in redemptive 00:07:11.400 --> 00:07:22.860 history, it sees a picture of what has come to fulfillment in the church. What is the church of 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:32.460 Jesus Christ? Friends, we are the people who have been born anew in the wilderness and who look ahead 00:07:32.460 --> 00:07:39.060 to God's promised inheritance. What was true of Old Testament Israel so many years ago has now come 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:45.720 to fulfillment in the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Israel's Messiah, the world's true Lord. He has 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:53.480 brought these plans to fulfillment. Think about it. Just as God's Old Testament people were chosen, 00:07:53.640 --> 00:07:58.200 so now God's New Testament people are chosen in Christ. Just as God's Old Testament people were 00:07:58.200 --> 00:08:03.340 redeemed from slavery in Egypt, so God's New Testament people have been redeemed from a deeper 00:08:03.340 --> 00:08:09.940 slavery to sin and death when Christ died to forgive all of our sins. And just as God's Old Testament 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:16.779 people were granted an inheritance by grace when they trusted God's promise in the wilderness, the same 00:08:16.779 --> 00:08:23.519 is true for God's New Testament people. We look ahead to an inheritance given to us by grace. Listen again 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:30.899 to how Paul describes it in verses 13 through 14 of Ephesians 1 that we read earlier. Paul says, 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:40.379 in Christ, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in Jesus, 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:49.740 were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire 00:08:49.740 --> 00:08:58.319 possession of it to the praise of His glory. So you see, like that new generation in Numbers 26, 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:04.180 so we, the church, likewise look ahead to the promise of God's inheritance. But of course, 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:10.700 it's not an earthly or this age inheritance that we look forward to. The promised land in the Old 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:16.360 Testament, you see, was always a shadow. It was always a type. It was always a pointer to an even 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:24.100 greater inheritance for God's people. What God ultimately planned for His people was not just a few 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:30.519 acres on the west side of the Jordan River. The ultimate inheritance of God's redeemed people 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:39.680 is nothing less than a new heavens and a new earth, a completely renewed creation free from sin and death. 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:43.019 That is the inheritance that God has in store for His people. 00:09:45.180 --> 00:09:49.300 So when we read the end of the book of Numbers in light of its fulfillment in the New Testament, 00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:54.179 we see that this fresh beginning that we read of wasn't just a reality for God's people long ago. 00:09:54.659 --> 00:10:00.419 It's the story of the church right now. Again, listen to how Peter, Peter describes it in his first letter. 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:03.359 In 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 through 5, he says, 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:11.279 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He's caused us to be born again 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:20.180 to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:28.240 undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:39.100 for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Born again to a living hope through the resurrection 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:47.639 of Jesus Christ from the dead. I want to use those lines from Peter. I want to use that apostolic lens 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:55.700 to draw out the implication of Numbers 26 through 36 for us today with our time together. The first thing 00:10:55.700 --> 00:11:02.140 we see here is that God's people have been born again. In Numbers, as we said, the people had literally 00:11:02.140 --> 00:11:08.020 been born again, right? By Numbers 26, the generation that came out of Egypt in the Exodus had all perished 00:11:08.020 --> 00:11:12.520 in the wilderness just like God said they would in judgment because they refused to believe His promise. 00:11:13.160 --> 00:11:18.960 But the new generation, the generation that for the most part was basically born in the wilderness, 00:11:19.140 --> 00:11:23.900 now stood on the verge of the promised land. And all of this demonstrates that God has remained 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:32.639 faithful to His promises. He's preserved His people. The failure of the previous generation did not define 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:40.000 or need to define the new generation, a new start, a fresh beginning was being made. And friends, the same 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:46.399 is true for every Christian today, but it's even more radical, you see, in light of the new covenant. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:54.000 For what the gospel offers us isn't just a fresh start from the failures and flaws of the generations 00:11:54.000 --> 00:12:00.799 that have come before us, right? The gospel comes to us with the good news that there can be a fresh start 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.919 from your own moral failures and flaws. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:17.959 You see, in a sense, we are all just like that first generation in the wilderness. Like that first generation, 00:12:18.459 --> 00:12:26.079 we don't want to hear God's promise and believe in our natural self. Like that first generation, we'd rather do 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:34.100 things our own way and think that that will be better and safer. And as a result of that, we wander in the 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:40.520 wilderness of our own making and stand under God's judgment. You see, we have our own moral failures and 00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:46.160 flaws. In reality, we aren't any better than the generations that have come before us. Isn't it easy, 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:53.640 right, to see the flaws of our parents or grandparents, right? You know, if you've ever talked to, you know, a 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:57.620 grandparent and they say things and you're like, oh, I don't think we should say things like that, right? 00:12:58.620 --> 00:13:04.240 You know? It's easy to see the flaws of those generations that have come before, but the truth is, 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:12.279 friends, our kids and our grandkids and the coming generations will look back at us and they will think 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:21.259 the same thing. Here's the truth. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. None of us 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:32.279 is righteous. But the good news is that God, our creator, yes, against whom we have sinned, is a 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:41.360 gracious God, a God who delights in mercy, a God who displays the wonder of his matchless glory in the 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:47.379 forgiveness of sins. And how does God accomplish this? 00:13:47.379 --> 00:13:54.759 Well, do you remember the first thing that happens in Jesus' ministry after his baptism, 00:13:55.100 --> 00:14:01.320 after he goes through the waters? What happens? Well, a number of the gospel writers tell us 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:11.960 that the Spirit drives him where? Into the wilderness. In the power of the Spirit, Jesus willingly 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:20.500 goes into the wilderness. He willingly goes out into the place of our unbelief and rebellion. 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:28.420 And what does he do there? Well, you remember the story. Satan comes to him and tempts him. 00:14:29.900 --> 00:14:36.980 Satan comes and tempts the Lord Jesus, we might say, to sort of take a shortcut, right? Don't trust and 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:45.620 obey God. Just make some bread and satisfy yourself. Or do something spectacular and make a name for 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:52.259 yourself. Or, look, give up on God and God's kingdom. Choose the kingdoms of this world instead. 00:14:52.259 --> 00:15:06.200 And friends, unlike every generation that came before him, Jesus did in that moment what no one had ever 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:19.139 done. He completely and fully and perfectly obeyed the Father's will. You see, Jesus went into the 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:32.100 wilderness for us so that his obedience could undo our disobedience. So that his obedience in that moment 00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:39.000 and the moments of his entire earthly ministry, so that his obedience could mean a new beginning 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:42.240 for everyone who trusts in him. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:51.799 But you see, that's not all. At the end of Jesus' ministry, he willingly goes outside again into an even 00:15:51.799 --> 00:16:01.980 greater and darker wilderness. He willingly goes to the cross, and in that wilderness undergoes the penalty 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:09.560 for our human sin. He dies the death that we deserve to die. But his death is not the end. 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:17.579 Three days later, the Father raised Christ from the dead, and by his resurrection, it's not just the 00:16:17.579 --> 00:16:24.199 failures of your parents or grandparents, but the failures of you, your own failures and your own sins. 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:32.359 Those don't need to define you anymore. You see, there's a break now in Christ between your old life 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:44.259 and your new. There's a new day. You know, that's why the outward sign of becoming a Christian, the outward sign 00:16:44.259 --> 00:16:52.440 of that is baptism. Right? Why did Jesus command everyone who believes in him to also be baptized? Well, baptism 00:16:52.440 --> 00:17:00.460 is the perfect display of what is true for everyone who comes to saving faith in him. Just as Jesus died and 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:08.460 rose again, so in baptism we go down into the water and come back up again to signify that through faith in 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:18.980 him. Our old nature has died and our new life has begun. It's the ultimate fresh beginning in Christ our Lord. 00:17:22.180 --> 00:17:24.579 But, you know, here's the good news about the good news. 00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:30.500 Most fresh starts over time start to lose their luster, don't they? You know? 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:37.799 If you've ever painted a room in your house, you know this. You know, you walk into your, whatever, 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:43.319 your living room one day and you're like, man, these walls are kind of old and dingy, right? Who picked 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:51.079 this color beige, right? So you get a bit of fresh coat of paint and then it looks great. It's shiny and new 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:59.019 for a while. But over time, the scuffs and the dust start to accumulate. 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:03.579 And after a while, it doesn't seem so fresh anymore. 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:10.180 How often are our attempts at sort of self-moral reform like that, right? 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:16.180 Today I'm going to try to be a better person. We kind of go for a little bit and then it sort of peters out. 00:18:18.700 --> 00:18:27.240 Is that what Christ has done for us? Is the Christian life like that? Does Jesus sort of clean us up once 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:36.240 and then sort of set us loose and we're on our own after that? Is it something that we can somehow lose? 00:18:38.019 --> 00:18:41.019 Can we somehow lose this new beginning and go back to the old? 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:58.819 Well, here's the good news, friends. What Jesus has done, when Jesus saves you, there is no undoing it. 00:18:58.819 --> 00:19:09.200 In John 10, Jesus will say that the Father has given him all that are his and he holds them in his hand 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:19.980 and no one can take us out of it. And Paul says that God has promised to bring to completion 00:19:19.980 --> 00:19:30.940 the good work that he began. God preserves and keeps all of his children, you see. He is faithful. 00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:36.339 He will do it. Here is the fresh start. It never fades. 00:19:36.339 --> 00:19:43.639 So this is the first thing we see. God's people have been born again. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:49.099 The second thing is that God's people have been born again to a living hope. 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:53.319 To a living hope. In Numbers, the new generation looked ahead to the promised land. 00:19:54.159 --> 00:19:59.779 Now, some of that generation were perhaps old enough to remember sort of their earliest childhood days in Egypt, 00:19:59.779 --> 00:20:09.259 but most of them had spent their entire lives in the wilderness. They were wandering nomads without a place to rest for 40 years, 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:13.700 persecuted and oppressed by the peoples they encountered along the way, 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:17.720 afflicted by the heat of sun during the day and the bitter cold at night. 00:20:19.059 --> 00:20:22.240 This was their everyday existence. 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:28.980 But now, a new horizon opens before them. 00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:34.139 What lies before them is a home, 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:40.740 a place where God will remove idolatry and false worship 00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:45.960 and where there will be peace and righteousness and rest. 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:51.480 They look ahead and they look ahead with hope. 00:20:51.480 --> 00:21:01.319 And so too, friends, the church today looks ahead with living, vibrant hope. 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:07.559 And that hope is living in the sense that it's never going to go away. 00:21:08.579 --> 00:21:10.440 It's a hope that's not going to disappoint. 00:21:10.620 --> 00:21:12.380 It's not a hope that's going to peter out and die. 00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:16.320 Why? Because our ultimate hope is not in this age, you see. 00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:23.080 Our hope is not in the machinations of a nation or a particular political movement. 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:26.940 Our hope is not in the amount of wealth that we can accumulate. 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:31.800 Our hope is not in the amount of prolonged health that we can somehow stimulate. 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:37.299 In his second letter, the apostle Peter writes, 00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:43.799 but according to God's promise, we're waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:55.659 You see, when Christ rose from the grave, it was the sign and the seal that God's promise of a new creation, 00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:00.519 a creation healed of all the effects of sin, would be fulfilled. 00:22:01.879 --> 00:22:09.879 In his own body, Christ our Lord began the new creation, began it, and nothing was going to turn it back, you see. 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:17.240 And that new creation will be fulfilled when he returns in glory to make all things new. 00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:27.020 And then those who have hoped in Christ will also be raised in resurrection bodies like his, the New Testament says. 00:22:27.520 --> 00:22:33.560 And we will dwell forever in God's presence in a world healed of all sin and death and decay, 00:22:34.560 --> 00:22:39.860 where there's no more idolatry and falsehood, where there's no more war, where there's no more greed, 00:22:39.880 --> 00:23:09.860 where there's no more greed. 00:23:09.859 --> 00:23:15.339 And realize that there is an inheritance coming. 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:27.319 First Peter says that it's an inheritance that's imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:36.079 you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:41.460 Now surely an earthly inheritance is a good thing, right? 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:45.099 It's a wonderful gift to receive if you've received an earthly inheritance. 00:23:46.659 --> 00:23:51.159 But even the greatest earthly inheritance, friends, will one day perish and fade. 00:23:51.160 --> 00:24:00.540 But what God has in store for His children will never perish and never fade. 00:24:02.540 --> 00:24:09.440 In fact, what God has in store for His people will grow sweeter and richer as time goes on. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:11.440 Right? 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:22.240 For in the new heavens and in the new earth, our greatest joy, do you know what our greatest joy in our coming inheritance will be? 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:31.460 It is going to be our unceasing communion with the triune God. 00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:45.799 And because God is infinite in beauty and wisdom and goodness, there will be no end to our increasing delight as we increase in our knowledge of Him. 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:52.019 You know, maybe you're like me, maybe you like music, but you're not a classically trained musician. 00:24:52.139 --> 00:24:57.559 So sometimes when you hear classical pieces, you think, huh, that's a bit abstract, right? 00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:00.159 So what do we do in those instances? 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:03.599 We take a music appreciation course and we learn a little bit, right? 00:25:03.619 --> 00:25:08.079 Or you go to an art museum and you look at the pieces of the wall and you're like, I don't get it, right? 00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:12.359 But then you take an art appreciation course and you start to see things in it. 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:15.959 It puts it in context and you're like, oh, that's actually pretty stunning. 00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:19.399 You know, or maybe you go see some of these pieces that you've seen in books. 00:25:19.479 --> 00:25:26.459 Maybe you go see them in person and you think, oh, that Jackson Pollock painting that looks sort of just like splatters of paint on a canvas. 00:25:26.579 --> 00:25:28.039 That's actually pretty powerful. 00:25:30.379 --> 00:25:34.059 As we learn a little more, we start to appreciate more. 00:25:34.159 --> 00:25:35.339 It starts to fill us more. 00:25:35.339 --> 00:25:53.500 Friends, if that is true, if that is true of mere human products of beauty, imagine what it will be like in heaven when our appreciation classes of our triune God never end. 00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:57.919 In the never-ending wisdom and beauty of God. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:22.880 We will be caught up in the beauties of God. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:29.620 God carried up freely and willingly by the rushing winds of His love. 00:26:33.040 --> 00:26:34.540 Psalm 16 says of God, 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:42.340 In your presence, God, there's fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:45.820 Friends, this is the real inheritance. 00:26:47.020 --> 00:26:49.460 To enjoy God forevermore. 00:26:49.460 --> 00:27:02.319 But this certain hope, this certain hope of our future inheritance through the resurrection of Jesus, it doesn't give us, it doesn't just give us strength to endure through trials, right? 00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:12.000 It also gives us motivation and direction to walk in the ways of love and obedience now. 00:27:14.340 --> 00:27:15.840 What is the Christian life? 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:25.359 The Christian life ultimately is living the life of the world to come right now in the present. 00:27:27.199 --> 00:27:31.079 The church is a colony of heaven. 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:37.279 It is the future come into the present to show the world what's really to come. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:48.339 So we pattern our lives together in the church, not after the wilderness, but we pattern our lives after the inheritance. 00:27:48.339 --> 00:27:54.199 And as you walk through Numbers 26 through 36, you see what does God emphasize? 00:27:54.459 --> 00:28:05.039 He starts to emphasize wholehearted worship of Him, where even the structure of our time takes shape around loving and knowing Him as God. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:19.639 You see God emphasize the value of keeping our vows and promises, being people of our word now, being people of truth and integrity now in a world full of falsehood. 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:39.660 You see God in these chapters emphasize mercy and forgiveness and protection as He tells them to set up cities of refuge throughout the land where those who have been caught up in accidental things can flee from mercy and justice and protection. 00:28:39.660 --> 00:28:46.240 So we are a people of mercy and forgiveness and care. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:50.940 For the people of Israel, God was telling them this was life in the land to come. 00:28:51.360 --> 00:28:52.980 And that is true for us today. 00:28:53.120 --> 00:29:02.120 The church is the place where we worship God wholeheartedly and we extend mercy and forgiveness and we speak the truth and we keep our promises and we invite others to join us. 00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:16.939 To join us under the reign of this good and faithful King Jesus to receive the new life of His forgiveness and to be together a people of living hope. 00:29:18.679 --> 00:29:24.959 Friends, doesn't the world that we live in need a people of living hope? 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:54.940 Friends, don't the world that we live in need a people of living hope? 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:59.840 Under the unfurling banner of His sovereign saving grace? 00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:03.960 That's where we're headed in the months to come. 00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:17.380 But here in Numbers, here in Numbers it ends with this great hope that God is rescuing His people through the wilderness and the promise of His inheritance is sure. 00:30:17.380 --> 00:30:25.400 Friend, do you know the reality of this fresh beginning for yourself? 00:30:26.120 --> 00:30:29.340 Do you have the joy of this living hope? 00:30:31.780 --> 00:30:33.520 Call out to the risen Lord Jesus. 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:35.680 Put your hope afresh in Him. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:39.760 Everyone who receives Him in faith, Jesus says, 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:46.379 I will not cast you out. I will embrace you and make you my own. Let's pray together. 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:52.839 Father in heaven, we thank you for the rich inheritance that you have promised us, your 00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:59.660 people. God, thank you that there's coming a day when all of your glorious promises will come true, 00:31:00.460 --> 00:31:04.259 when the earth will indeed be covered with your glory like the waters cover the sea. 00:31:05.140 --> 00:31:09.700 And God, thank you for the foretaste of these things that we see as your church spreads throughout 00:31:09.700 --> 00:31:15.299 every corner of your globe. Lord, even as we've prayed this morning for other churches in our region 00:31:15.299 --> 00:31:19.900 and in our country and in the world, Lord, we see the advance of your kingdom. 00:31:21.220 --> 00:31:27.259 And along with the church of every place and of every age, we say, come, Lord Jesus, 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:33.740 complete the good work that you've begun. And as you tarry, we pray that your word would go out, 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:42.680 Lord, calling and drawing all your people to yourself. Father, I pray for my friends and my 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:47.620 brothers and sisters in this room this morning that we would hear that call, respond in faith, 00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:54.500 Lord, and that we would walk in the newness of life by your Spirit. We pray all this, 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:56.180 Jesus, in your mighty name. Amen.