Listen to this Sermon: 02032013ChristInNumbersDonRuhl

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Christ in Numbers 

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • February 3, In the year of our Lord, 2013

Scripture Reader and Reading: Kadin Lopez – Romans 15.3, 4

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Larry Amberg – “As the Deer Panteth for the Water,” anything else on Jesus

 

Prelude: 

  1. Do the psalmists speak for you?

    1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
    So pants my soul for You, O God.
    2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When shall I come and appear before God?
    (Psa 42.1, 2)

    1 O God, You are my God;
    Early will I seek You;
    My soul thirsts for You;
    My flesh longs for You
    In a dry and thirsty land
    Where there is no water.
    2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
    To see Your power and Your glory.
    (Psa 63.1, 2)

    1. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
  2. However, while you long for God, 
    1. God longs for you, and
    2. six things in the Book of Numbers show the strength of His longing, because
      1. each of these has to do with His blessed Son,
      2. whom Numbers pictures as a sacrifice for us.
        1. These six images will show what Jesus is to His Father, and
        2. what He should be to us.
  3. If you see Him in these six ways, 
    1. you will see your hunger for God
    2. satisfied in Jesus of Nazareth.

Persuasion: 

  1. The Passover Lamb 
    1. Numbers 9.12

      12 “They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it” (Num 9.12).

    2. John 19.33–36

      33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken” (John 19.33–36).

    3. First Corinthians 5.7

      7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us (1Co 5.7).

  2. Manna 
    1. Numbers 11.7–9

      7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. 9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it (Num 11.7–9).

    2. John 6.30–35

      30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6.30–35).

  3. Outside the Gate 
    1. Numbers 19.3

      3 “You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him…” (Num 19.3).

    2. Hebrews 13.12

      12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate (Heb 13.12).

  4. The Rock 
    1. Numbers 20.7–11

      7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank (Num 20.7–11).

    2. First Corinthians 10.1–4

      1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ (1Co 10.1–4).

  5. Lifted Up 
    1. Numbers 21.6–10

      6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. 10 Now the children of Israel moved on and camped in Oboth (Num 21.6–10).

    2. John 3.14, 15

      14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3.14, 15).

  6. The Bright Morning Star 
    1. Numbers 24.17

      17 “I see Him, but not now;
      I behold Him, but not near;
      A Star shall come out of Jacob;
      A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
      And batter the brow of Moab,
      And destroy all the sons of tumult.”
      (Num 24.17)

    2. Matthew 2.2

      2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Matt 2.2).

    3. Revelation 22.16

      16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star” (Rev 22.16).

Exhortation: 

  1. Man created a huge problem, but 
    1. God has a greater solution.
    2. The problem is sin;
      1. the solution is grace through Jesus.
      2. Do you want it?
  2. God does not want you to question your eternal destiny, but 
    1. He wants you to go through life
    2. with total inward peace,
      1. trusting Him to take you through this life and
      2. trusting Him to usher you through death to His eternal home.
  3. Jesus is 
    1. your Passover Lamb,
    2. your daily Manna,
    3. your sacrifice outside the gate,
    4. your Rock,
    5. your Fiery Bronze Serpent,
    6. your Bright Morning Star.
  4. What does God want in return? 
    1. He has done wondrous things for us, and
    2. continues to do wondrous things.
      1. Many people expect something from nothing with the government, but
      2. it is not like that with the Lord.
        1. Granted, what we do in return
          1. for what He has done for us
          2. does not even come close to matching what He has done for us, but
        2. He does wants us
          1. to trust Him enough
          2. that we will do whatever He says.
  5. The message of Jesus fills the Bible, every Book of the Bible. 
    1. Genesis through Malachi said that the Son of God will come to the Earth.
    2. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John say that He did come to the Earth.
    3. Acts through Revelation prophesy that He will return to retrieve the saved.
      1. The Bible reveals the mind of God.
      2. Yet, the main message of the Bible shows us the Son of God.
        1. God loves His Son and thinks of Him endlessly,
        2. just as the Book of Numbers shows.
          1. Moreover, God gave us the Bible.
          2. That must mean that He wants us to think of His Son endlessly!
  6. Jesus will give you power. 
    1. Jesus will give you strength.
    2. Jesus will give you wisdom.
    3. Jesus will give you sound advice.
  7. Jesus will satisfy your hunger for God. 
    1. Are you willing and ready
      1. to do what needs to be done
      2. to have that hunger satisfied?
    2. You are able,
      1. whether you realize it or not, because
      2. you have the capacity to trust and to obey.
        1. Therefore,
          1. it is not a question of ability, but
          2. it is a question of desire.
        2. What do you desire?
          1. Do you want God?
          2. Come now, and be baptized to enter the body of Christ.
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