“Service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation” (Numb 18:5-6)

“And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.” (vs6)

If we need to serve God, then STRENGTH shall be given; God has never called us to do anything, except what He STRENGTHENS us to do by faith, as reconciled to God and forgiven of sins. God gives the Holy Spirit by the PROMISES that we are JUSTIFIED to receive, so that help is our right, because we have the position God gave us, and we are RESPONSIBLE to serve Him properly - “According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue: whereby are GIVEN unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust“ (2 Pet 1:3-4).  He will be GRACIOUS to give us the obedience that we need.

As Levites, we have things that we cannot do, but we still assist the Lord Jesus in serving the people. Paul said that we’re LABORERS together with God (1 Cor 3:9).  Paul said of Philemon that he is a “fellow worker”, and others are “fellow soldiers”, etc, so that we SERVE God (Phile 1:1-2).  Phoebe was a servant at Cenchrea, and she was sent to Rome with Paul’s commendation, “receive her in the Lord, as becomes saints, and that you assist her in whatsoever business she has need of you: for she has been a helper of many, and of myself also” (Rom 16:2). This WOMAN served God, even as the saints do, helping in the cause of Christ, though He bears away the sin.

Just like the High Priest must bear the iniquity of the holy things, even so, Jesus our Great High Priest bears the iniquity of our wickedness in serving God - “And the Lord said unto Aaron, You and your sons and your father‘s house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood“ (Numb 18:1). He bears the blame for our faults in service, even as He bore away our sins - both the sins of disobedience and obedience… the sins before I knew God, and the sins since I’ve known God - “For such an high priest was fitting us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needs not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself” (Heb 7:26-27).  The elect serve God, the Lord takes the blame for all faults, and all who die don’t have the mediation of Christ: His ministry cannot fail; it produces SERVICE in others by assuring us the forgiveness of sins.

“Mine” (Numb 3:12-13)

“And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that open the womb among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord” (vs12-13).

We belong to Jesus Christ; we are the bride that He chose, elect from the world’s foundation.  We cannot have this world, when He said, “You shall abide for me many days; you shall not play the harlot, and you shall not be for another man: so will I also be for you”, so that He stamps His GLORY upon our faithfulness, and promises that sin won’t reign over us, washing us, quickening us, and helping us LEARN from instead of DIE for sin and our weakness (Hos 3:3). We are BLESSED of God, so we are His to use, and we are to SURRENDER to His will, serving Him in cleanness and pardon, honoring Him by what we receive, walking in humbleness, understanding that He is WORTHY of our devotion and commitment.  The gospel has made me yield to Him, because He is RIGHT and wonderful to have REDEEMED us to conquer sin and love people to Christ.  God becomes ours, and His purpose is mine now, too.  We SURRENDER to Christ.  This is His due, and the REDEEMED shall do it.

Gain the More (I Cor 9)

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.” (I Cor 9:19)

The Christian is gaining by serving God. We GAIN the salvation of men and the thrill of living for what matters. All that is noble, we do: we save, we invest ourselves in reality, and we gain from God thereby. Everything about serving Christ is BETTER than serving our lusts and what profits not.

Grace has given meaning to my life, and as I live this purpose, I live for what I am made, and EVEN THOUGH I sacrifice and SUFFER, I get the reward of a clean conscience, the reward of OBEDIENCE to Christ, and the reward of men being saved by God, the one thing needful – “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world, and more abundantly to you ward” (II Cor 1:12).

If you and I have this reason to live, then use it.

1. We have work in the Lord - “are you not my work in the Lord”, (I Cor 9:1). We have SOMETHING to do, a reason to live, a reason to exist. We have WORK to accomplish, and like laborers, we have REWARD to experience. We are wrong to say, “I will not work, because I have all that I need, God loves me, and He will bless me for Christ’s sake”, because we don’t realize that He BLESSES me His way and not my own. I am blessed by faith, and faith obeys the Lord’s word, doing what He says. He doesn’t just “bless us” with peace REGARDLESS of our actions, but He blesses and DISCIPLINES through the obedience and DISOBEDIENCE of saints. Paul says essentially, “Don’t be SELFISH, living for you, because you miss the reason God saved you, which is for Christ’s sake and His glory”.

2. The gospel must be served above ourselves, “Nevertheless we have not used this power [to be supported financially]; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ” (I Cor 9:12). We are FREE to love God, and not free to serve ourselves. We have a joy in obedience, and we are defeated in selfish sin. We think, “Take care of yourself, because no one else will”, when in reality, God CARES for those that OBEY Him, and our labor is not in vain.

For Christ’s sake, we suffer, serve, deny ourselves, and receive more in the end. For our own bellies, we labor vainly and find no true relief. Cast your bread upon the water and believe the gospel unto living it in your life: don’t MERELY believe in YOUR own salvation from hell, but believe in your SALVATION unto faith and love. Believe you have newness of life and live.

He Shall Rise Again (Matt 20:1-19)

“Behold we go up to Jerusalem: and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again (vs18-19).”

Christ is the only reason that we shall be saved. It is because of His death that we have life. We have made no contribution to LIFT ourselves above anyone else, and all that we have, is grace.

We will not GET more because we do more, but we will be rewarded according to the goodness of Christ. If we look upon our brethren, expecting more from God because we do more on earth, then we MISS the blessing of the gospel, and we are actually last, instead of first (Matt 20:16). We look upon ourselves as having worked and deserved what someone else sees as free. And, as long as I “deserve” more from God by how I am living, I am forgetting that all that I have is FREE. Christ is the REASON of blessing.

If there is any other reason to be saved, then grace is destroyed. It is nothing but SURVIVAL of the fittest, where Christ is lip-served, while I labor for my belly. God ONLY accepts the labor of love, so we must be cleansed before we can be clean; we must obtain mercy before being merciful. And, we must hope in Christ before the hope is LIVED in us.

We can try to serve God all that we want by gritted teeth and partial forgiveness, but it produces sin. Unbelief is conquered by FAITH in Jesus Christ’s complete SALVATION, unto good works.

1. We were nothing when God saved us – “And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market place” (Matt 20:3). We were going to hell, He intervened, and now we have Christ.

We didn’t help God in any way, deserve, seek, ask for, or even know that salvation existed. We would have gone to hell and not known it.

2. It was God’s mercy in Christ that called us to Himself, “And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and said unto them, Why stand you here all the day idle” (Matt 20:6). He didn’t save us because we loved Him or because we would be such great Christians as to justify His decision. He saved us in love, died for us in pity, and came down here to GLORIFY Himself in redemption, “According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:4-6). God’s LOVE and God’s GLORY, which is to SAVE those He loves, is the gospel.
3. Our sadness in service is not knowing grace the way that we should, “And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have worked but one hour, and you have made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day” (Matt 20:11-12). We are MISERABLE because we don’t look to the hope of salvation, the gift of life, and the slain sacrifice that earned it. To lightly esteem Christ’s SUFFERINGS and grace is to think that serving Christ is bondage, hard, and unfair. To believe on Christ is to see that serving God is a privilege given to the unworthy who must suffer for a little while. We don’t deserve more than hell, and yet we get heaven. Don’t think you deserve more at any time, and you’ll be ahead of the game.
4. Let us not disparage the GOODNESS of the Lord who saves the vilest of men, because that man is you – “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is your eye evil, because I am good”(Matt 20:15).

You and I look down upon those that do less than we do, that don’t work as hard, do as much, and are not as faithful. Let us rather look at the goodness of the Lord who gives us GRACE to do what we can, and let us SERVE one another by this grace, which pleases Him.

We are not in competition or on a merit basis among brethren. We are BRETHREN graced to help those in need, reprove those who err, and do good unto men by the power of God’s goodness to us. He was SLAIN, so that I can be saved, so let me tell you about His love for men.
5. We didn’t even choose our destinies, “for many are called, but few chosen” (Matt 20:16). It wasn’t that He called, and then we made our mind up and “stepped up to the plate”. We showed no leadership, insight, or any other thing. It was GOD choosing our destiny for us, and then calling us with force that made us DENY ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him.

You and I are MIRACLES of God, if we are saved. He convinced us of the value of Christ by revealing that nothing else could help our ETERNAL souls.

The Fear of the Lord

Two things make us serve God:

1. Fear of what will happen, if we don’t

2. Hope of what will happen, if we do.

There is no other reason to serve God than my own personal need of salvation. Take away the WARNINGS and the REWARDS, and service is meaningless. I will live my own boss. But, add in the PAIN of sin and the joy of FAITHFULNESS, and you will see sinners serving God by grace. We will come to Christ for strength sufficient to do His will, but it is ONLY when God stirs us up to DETEST and abhor sin by revealing it and the consequences to us. Until we are taught inwardly, service to God means nothing. But, when we fear, we flee to Christ to live. We have FEAR and hope.

A Book of Remembrance (Mal 3:13-4:6)

“Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name (vs16).”

First, envying sinners comes from thinking that God’s way is worthless, which is the temptation of the Garden - Your words have been stout against me, said the LORD. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against you? You have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yes, they that work wickedness are set up; yes, they that tempt God are even delivered (vs13-15).” We BELIEVE that sin is better than God, so we eat what hinders and hurts us, and we are deceived. God TEACHES us differently and brings in the light. He shines knowledge to deliver us FROM sin, cleansing us in righteousness. He has the RIGHT to deal with us lovingly because Jesus paid the sin debt of believers. All that Christ earned by blood must BE PAID by God to those He died for, for He atoned our sins (I John 2:2). Now, faith grabs hold of mysteries and glorifies God for salvation so strong that it can’t be stopped. Now, God saves His people by DELIVERING us, rather than PUNISHING us, because He punished us in Christ, and He is Father now.

He corrects, but He makes us see the GOODNESS of Christ, for godly sorrow works repentance. Bless Him for His love, because He spared not His Son to be good to you.

Secondly, our victory now is hindered, but soon it shall be complete, and we shall rest from our sins – “And you shall tread down the wicked; for t6hey shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts.” Sin shall be destroyed, peace shall be enjoyed, and every blessing imaginably earned by Christ’s blood shall be granted us FOREVER.

To show off His love, He chose the means to be the price of His Son’s blood and to die for SINNERS. This is God’s glory, that we are saved by power that is His own. But, the REWARD shall show the GREATNESS of salvation, so that what we receive, both positive (heaven) and above hell, shall be so great as to honor God.

I’m mindful of the man whom the king delights to honor. Scripture says, “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delights to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the kin delights to honor”, so that the King’s glory is to array those that believe on Him with the glory of being as the King Himself (Esther 6:8-9). We are pure & shall experience it, for we, like He, are the sons of God. He is the cause of salvation and the unique essence of God, but we’ve taken upon ourselves His human nature, & this nature shall be glorified with spiritual body fit for communion in holiness (I Cor 15:49). We shall be all that God can ever desire us to be, pure, holy, and without blame before Him. Consciences & deeds will be clean. There will be no checking at the door, no need to fear, for all those things… all that could offend… has been barred from entrance forever. Hell reveals her fury, while the smoke ascends the furnace, but liberty & love shall envelop God’s people. We shall be in paradise unknown to Adam.

Thirdly, He shall work salvation, lest God come and destroy us all, because without repentance and faith, salvation doesn’t exist – “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Mal 4:5-6).” The blood has been shed and regeneration/turning to God is mandatory as well. The Lord says, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified”, made holy and clean, “by faith that is in me”, so as Jesus Christ is preached in truth, God opens eyes, so that people can be spared and not cursed (Acts 26:18). He causes us to see His law and to walk with Him in Christ, knowing the holiness of God. We are not under the law, but the believer lives in harmony with the law, which is love.

Let the inheritance guide you. Labor on for now. Fight the fight by faith, know your acceptance in the Beloved, and receive your instruction for the wicked shall be damned and you rewarded (Mal 3:18-4:1). He has a “book of remembrance”, and He promises that all who obey God now, though forsaken of men, hateful of self, and seemingly alone and forgotten, shall all be remembered, “as a man spares his own son that serves him (Mal 3:16).” Walk in the light of His love, yielding to His will by the power of God.

Build the House (Haggai 1:8)

“Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the Lord.”

First, doing what God says is best for us. Wealth and health are not signs of pleasing God, for you and I can be poor and serve God with zeal – “their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yes, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves”, “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man has, and not according to that he has not” (II Cor 8:2-3). Yet, affliction comes for a reason, and God says that we’re experiencing bad because priorities are distorted and unordered. We serve self, thinking it makes us happy. But, it is the opposite: joy comes by doing God’s will and not mine.

The Lord’s mother said, “Whatsoever he says unto you, do it”, and we hear the same from God daily (John 2:5).

Secondly, I don’t have to worry about my health or wealth; I need to seek God’s kingdom and live as He sees fit, and He will guide and order my circumstances BETTER than I ever could.

Don’t live for yourself, because you’ll suffer and miss out on the fruit you could have, the love, joy, and peace. God says, “You looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? Says the Lord of hosts. Because of my house (my will, God says) that is waste, and you run every man unto his own house (serving self).” You and I could be a great church because everything is FOR us: God is for us, the blood is for us, the Spirit is for us, and if God be for us, then who can be against us? We have been reconciled to live as God says, having the help of the Spirit. We’ve sinned, but He says, “I am with you, says the Lord”, and again, “my Spirit remains among you: fear you not”. The blood has so availed that God is on our side, as if we had not sinned, because we are forgiven, received, and able thereby to live as He sees fit, growing in Christ. But, we need to believe that doing God’s will and not ours is the highest we can achieve. And, as we do, the joy, amidst the pain of constant need of growth and unbelief, we’ll have the productivity promised. He promises, “build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the Lord”, so that God will add His blessing, whether man sees much or not.

Thirdly, we don’t have human praise or applause in mind; we seek the glory of God, and God REMOVES all selfish ambitions leaving us with His GLORY and the GOOD of sinners: we find our own HAPPINESS thereby. “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34).

Do you believe that serving Christ is best? Then serve Him in the home, family, and job. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in His mercies. Receive the life that He gives, and be what eternity has declared you will be, which is God’s child, with His Spirit, walking in allegiance to Him.

You have been born again to believe God’s love unto loving others. Paul said, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (II Tim 2:10).”

We live because He lived and died for us (John 14:19). Now, we live so that others can see Him too.