Morning and welcome to our service today. We're going to commence, please, with number 601. Lead on, O King Eternal. And as we sing this hymn to the Lord's praise today, let us make it the prayer of our hearts that indeed God would lead us forward and we'd be found in the center of His perfect will. We'll stand, please, to worship. ♪ To thee, Lord, we'll be returning ♪ ♪ The day the lights have stung ♪ ♪ Yes, Lord, we'll be the one ♪ ♪ Yes, Lord, we shall be the one ♪ ♪ We'll be true, we'll be true, we'll be true, we'll be true ♪ ♪ And the rest of my life ♪ ♪ Be thou my defender ♪ ♪ Whose wings these oars shall steal ♪ ♪ And your wings shall be still ♪ ♪ Yes, in the way of freedom ♪ ♪ No, not with swords of fortune ♪ ♪ No, not to me ♪ ♪ Sing we our praises to the Lord ♪ And please be seated. Before we come to pray this morning, we want to think today about the storm that happened yesterday afternoon very suddenly across southern Ontario. It's one of those situations where you have some warning, but it caught many, many folks by surprise. We think of folks in our own congregation who live a bit north of the city and in the surrounding area. Our brother Alec Newell today is not able to be with us because in Uxbridge they had a very, very severe bout of the storm and trees are all down around his property and he is not really able to get out. And others we know connected with our church family, and those who are set aside. If you are in need of any assistance or help, you know someone immediately that is in your immediate family, then please reach out to us and we will see if there's anything that we can do at all to help. I'm sure you heard on the news of one lady in Brampton that was out walking, 70-year-old woman, and caught very suddenly in that storm, and a tree branch broke down from a larger trunk and struck her, and she was killed. You know, a circumstance like that, it really brings to light to all of us how fragile we are. a step between me and death, as David said in the Old Testament. And if that lady had have been one or two steps forward, or maybe not quite there where that branch had fallen, but it was a timing that she could not escape, an appointment with eternity. You know, friends, it makes us all think again, doesn't it? how we need to step forward each day conscious and mindful that we are in the hands of a sovereign God. And as it is appointed unto men to all people once to be born, it's appointed unto us once to die. We need to therefore be ready and be sure And this word applies to every one of us here today. Be sure you know you're in Christ. Be sure you know your sins have been forgiven. Be sure you know that when your day comes, when the Lord calls, you will be ready to meet Him. These are important times. Don't miss the message. Amidst all the other damage, and there is a lot of damage, we were driving on Highway 35 yesterday afternoon, And the storm had come through probably an hour or so before that, but the telephone poles were broken like toothpicks. There must have been 50 of them in a row. The whole power line is down in that whole area. And Brother Fraser, who knows a lot about this, said it'll take weeks to rebuild the entire line because of the devastation, and that's only one section. And so we thank God for his mercy in sparing, because to our knowledge, no one was injured within our small fellowship and body of people and the extended family. We thank the Lord for that. Other things can be replaced, but we acknowledge safety and the mercy of God to us. Let's bow, please, in prayer. Father, we commit this day into your gracious and loving hand. And we come into your holy presence this morning in Jesus' precious name. We pray, Father, that we will be led on by our God. And Lord, you would show us very, very clearly the path we are to take. We know, Lord, that our lives are held in the hand of our loving Father. Dear Father, we pray today that we will reflect on these things deeply in our hearts and know that we are not here for a long time. Our life is like a vapor appearing for a little moment and then vanishing away. And I pray, Lord, that everyone would be ready, that their lives would be directed each day, each moment. Every soul within the sound of our voice would be sure that they are right. They have been saved by your sovereign grace. They have trusted in Jesus. Lord, hear our prayer this morning. Come near in comfort and help. We pray for those who are in special need today, emergency need of help with their housing, trees down, and property. Lord, bless. Pour out your help and your direction. We think of grieving families that have lost loved ones very suddenly as of yesterday's storm. Lord, help them, bless them, we pray abundantly. Hear us now. We give thanks for the privilege of being in your house this morning. And Father, we do not take this for granted. Bless us as we worship, bless us as we read the Scriptures, and write the Word of God upon every heart. Thankful for our annual general meeting last Wednesday, the election of deacons. Father, we pray that you would continue to watch over our church as we develop and go forward to be a witness and a light in this generation and the one that will follow. Father, meet, I pray, and bless this gathering and body of believers. We are part of the body of Christ. And I pray that we will be a very vibrant witness, testimony in our community, to our neighbors, in our family. Lord, help and strengthen today, now we pray. Remember others across our nation, our churches that need your blessing, churches that need pastors, faithful groupings, bodies of believers that are meeting across our land to the preaching of the kingdom of Christ. Bless them all, we pray, and encourage everyone So hear our prayer today. We ask all these things in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Singing again, please, to the Lord's praise, number 549, and we'll stand as we sing. ♪ ♪ And I'll return, I'll come soon for thee ♪ ♪ Telling you just how I do ♪ Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew, chapter four. Reading from verse 18 to 22. The Lord Jesus, in the context of this chapter, is really just making himself known as the Messiah, and he comes upon the very first disciples that he's going to call to follow him to be apostles. Verse 18, Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him. Going thence on, he saw other two brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets. And he called them, and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. May the Lord bless His Word to our hearts this morning, as we have read. It's great to see you in the house of the Lord today. We're very happy to have a couple of, well, I was going to say old-time visitors, but they're old-time regulars. It's great to see Hyacinth and Clifton back in the service today. I know they're very, very thankful to be with us, and we are happy to renew fellowship with you folks again. It's been a very long time, And we're happy that you're here. And we also have another visitor with us this morning in the service. We're happy that you're with us today. And if I don't have your name, don't know, please know you're very welcome viewing our service online. Anyone joining with us today for the first time or if you've returned again, you're very, very welcome in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have a special opportunity this morning of making a presentation to one of our long-serving deacons who has retired from our deacon board. I'd like to ask Mr. Kingsley Jew, if you would please come to the pulpit this morning, brother. This is one of those happy and sad occasions. We are very happy to be able to take the opportunity of honoring our brother Kingsley Jew, who has served for 10 years in our board very, very faithfully. But his part in our fellowship, along with his wife Christine, his part in our fellowship has been for many years beyond that. And we had a board meeting on Thursday night, and at that time we took an opportunity of all the men just going around the table and expressing thanks and gratitude to our brother Kingsley for his faithful service in the board. and also the many other ways that he has served the Lord in our church, in our Sunday school department. in our outreach and in many other ways. And a lot of the words that were spoken on Thursday night, I think they reflect the thinking and the heart of the people in our congregation as well. And of much thanks, brethren, appreciation to you for your faithfulness in the work of God here. Now our brother felt that it was his time to step down and retire from the board. And we're going to miss him dearly because his contribution was very, very worthwhile and meaningful. And he felt it was just of the Lord that he would step aside at this time. But I said, brother, you're not stepping aside from the work that you're called to do here in the church. And he acknowledges that very heartily and very readily, wants to keep on serving in the outreach department in any other ways that he can. And so, brother, it's an honor and a joy for us to be able to take this occasion today and present this plaque to you from the congregation, from the session and board. Let me just read it to you. From the Toronto Free Presbyterian Church to Mr. Kingsley Jew. upon your retirement from the board with much appreciation and thankfulness to God for your 10 years of faithful service as a deacon. For God is not unworthy to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed toward his name." Hebrews 6 and verse 10. So brother, it gives us great joy to present this plaque to you and pray the Lord would richly bless you in your continuing and ongoing service for the Lord. Dear congregation, I give you my hearty thanks. I cannot accept this honour without dedicating it to my fellow brothers who serve faithfully on the board, both the deacons and the elders and the pastors. It's been a wonderful experience working with them, and I certainly look forward to working not only with them, but the whole congregation in our outreach, in our Sunday school, in every aspect of our church. Thank you. Thank you very much, Brother. Yes, we're going to miss our brother in the meetings with us, and yet he is never far away, and it's always an opportunity for us to invite him in for advice, an advisory capacity, any time we feel that's appropriate and necessary to be a part of the board deliberations. So we greatly appreciate our brother, Jew. Let me remind you, please, of some important ministry announcements, and then following that, we're going to be calling all of the deacons to come to the front of the church for a special prayer of dedication. And we'll come to that just in a moment. But first of all, I want to remind you of the services the rest of today on the Lord's Day and then our ministry throughout the week. This afternoon is a special day for us because we're having another of our national days of prayer, times of prayer from 4 o'clock this afternoon to 5.30, and that will include all of our churches across Canada. And we will encourage you to join via Zoom on this prayer meeting. And if you did not yet get the connection, see our brother, Jonathan McAnally, before you leave today from the service. So, that'll be at four o'clock on Zoom only. And because of that, we will not be having our pre-service prayer time today, normally at 5.50. So, when the service closes at 5.30 for the time of prayer, who will give everyone opportunity of traveling for our evening service today. So remember that, please. Our evening service then at 6.30, and I hope to continue in our study of the life and the book of Daniel. This Wednesday evening is a special missionary focus for us. We just completed another Presbytery and Times of Prayer in Greenville, South Carolina for our ministers and elders, and Brother John Kelly is one of the graduates from Geneva Reform Seminary. and he was a former pastor in Maine, but as he became part of us and joined under the umbrella of the Free Church, well, he went through some further studies, and now he has completed that and has been licensed under our denomination in order to start a work. And our brother John Kelly has a great burden for the New England states in the United States, and he believes God is calling him there in order to pioneer a work. So I've invited our brother Kelly to come along Wednesday evening via Zoom, because he is down in Greenville still. and He's going to share with us that burden He has. So that's at Wednesday evening at 7.30. And if you would care to make a donation, a love offering, something toward the work that our brother's going to be doing, you could come prepared for that on Wednesday evening, or else we will give you instructions how you could make a contribution toward that if you so choose to do. So that's Wednesday evening. The next Lord's Day, our services at the regular time, our Sunday school at 9.55, morning and evening services 11 and 6.30. A couple of advance announcements for you. Next Lord's Day afternoon, we have a memorial service that will be held here in the church basement, or in the main church here, first of all, and that will be at 4 p.m., and that's for Mrs. Maslin Campbell. Mrs. Campbell, a faithful member of our church for many, many years, and she passed away sometime not too long ago, and the family has asked if they could have a memorial service for her because it really just was not appropriate at the time during some of the restrictions and so on. So that's going to be next Lord's Day afternoon. You're very welcome to come. We hope there'll be a good turnout of folks from our own congregation, plus there will be their own family members here as well. Also, next Lord's Day is the last of the month, and we want to resume our times of fellowship after the evening services, and so we're going to do that next Lord's Day evening, so you please keep that in mind. And then another opportunity of fellowship will be on July the 1st. That's Canada Day, July the 1st. We will have a barbecue for the congregation, for your family members, and for perhaps any of the neighbors or people you would like to come along and invite to an opportunity of meeting some of the church family. That will be on July the 1st. And that barbecue is going to be taken care of. You don't have to worry about anything except just come along and it will be at 5 p.m., and that will be the time, 5 p.m., until around dusk or dark, and there will be also some fireworks we're gonna set off in the field, and so that will be a nice day and opportunity of some fellowship and food as well on July the 1st. Those are all the ministry announcements that we have at this time. I'm going to ask the two deacons that were elected, the two new deacons that were elected on Wednesday evening, Mr. Peter Powell and Mr. Daniel Siman, if they would please come to the pulpit at this time. It's a great delight and joy to be able to welcome these two brethren as the newest serving deacons for the next term of three years. As I just mentioned, we will be in a moment asking all of the deacons who were re-elected to that position to come to the front. We'll be standing down here to have a special time of prayer for them and for their service. But you know, going through the whole process of the election of deacons in a congregation, we have a nomination process whereby you had an opportunity as members of this fellowship to look out among you men who were set aside, filled by the Spirit of God for the purpose of serving in this capacity. It's following very clearly the New Testament pattern, as we have in the book of Acts, as there was need to have men who were brought on board within the local church in order to take care of the practical business of the church. And that's the office of the deacon. And so, as you nominated many men, and they were all approached and said, well, some thought maybe not this time, others thought, well, perhaps this time, and of the men who allowed their name to go forward, we're very happy that these two brethren have been added to the deacon board. So actually, this time we're following the pattern of the New Testament. We have seven deacons that will be serving for the next period of time. Part of this process is to allow these men to publicly acknowledge their belief in the Word of God, their belief that they have been saved by the grace of God. They are born again by God's Spirit, and that they acknowledge the teaching of the Scripture. And as those teachings are outlined in the Westminster Confession of Faith that are substandards of our own denomination, built upon the Scripture and also the outlines within our own book of church order as to how we understand biblical teaching. and how we see the necessity of going forward in this way. So I'm going to read these questions to these brethren, and Brother Powell will ask you to acknowledge, first of all, your answer, and then Brother Simen after that. Brethren, if you come closer to the microphone so that I'll have my microphone on here, so you'll be at least able to, men will hear you, everyone will hear you clearly. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice? I do. I do. Do you confess the Lord Jehovah as one God in the Trinity of his eternal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, And do you acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord? I do. I do. Do you sincerely receive and believe the confession and constitution of this church as containing the system of doctrine and polity taught in the Word of God? I do. I do. Are you firmly resolved through divine grace to adhere to the doctrine contained in these substandards and teach and defend it to the utmost of your power against all error? I am. I do. The following are distinctive positions of doctrine and practice of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. A, the Christ-centered exposition of the Reformed faith with a strong commitment to evangelism, the centrality and all sufficiency of the person and work of Christ in the preaching of the gospel, the doctrine of God's free justification of sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, in the merits of Christ alone. Separation from apostasy of the ecumenical movement and opposition to false charismatism and steadfast adherence to the historic, reformed, and Protestant faith, the personal separation of believers from worldliness in holiness unto the Lord, the necessity of giving ourselves to earnest prayer for a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit's power to make our service effective and glorifying to God and for genuine revival in our day. Do you sincerely embrace and will you faithfully maintain these distinctive positions? I do and I will. I do and I will. Are you now willing to assume the responsibilities of deacon of this church, engaging to walk before the flock with exemplary piety, and to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all personal and private duties that become you as a Christian, as well as in all duties that pertain to this office. I do. I do. Under this statement, both of these men will sign the confessional substandards of the Free Presbyterian Church. I believe the confessional substandards of this church to be founded on and agreeable to the Word of God, and as such, I subscribe them as the confession of my faith. Well, this is embarrassing. After all this, no one has a pen in the place here. We have one. Brother Fraser's got one. That's good. We don't want to miss the opportunity. Ask a clerk. He's the clerk of our session, so he better have a pen. If he doesn't have one, we're in trouble. Brother Powell, would you please sign and date? Thank you. Thank you, brethren. If you folks want to just come down and stand at the front, we'll ask all the other deacons who are able, please, to come to stand at the front. Just make a line straight here, please, to face the congregation. Very good. We have them all, all seven. Let me just go through their names in the event of your visitor here, and you're not just too familiar with the faces of these men. We have Brother Joachim Rodriguez, Brother Dan Broward, Daniel Vautour, Daniel Siman, Peter Powell, Eddie Santos, and Maher Lewis. Now our problem is we now have three Daniels in the session. So we have to figure out how to say, well, who's making a motion? Who's voting? How do we separate this? We had that problem before, but now we're added with one more there. So we're just gonna have to call them Dan one, Dan two, Dan three. Maybe that's how we're gonna have to do it. But these men set aside by the Lord for this purpose of serving you. They are your servants for Christ's sake. And I want you to pray for them. as they need your prayers. You know, the devil is always active, and when you have a time of blessing, a time of setting apart men for work and service and the purpose of Christ's church, you can be sure the devil is not happy about this, and he will be setting his ploy to undermine them, to affect their families, and we want to pray that God will protect them and bless them. Join with me, please, in prayer. Father, this is a very special and a happy day, and we rejoice, Lord, for your kind hand and the evidence of your Spirit's leading in the whole process of both nomination and in the election of these men. And dear Father, we do not count this a small thing. We sense the weight, Lord, of such an occasion. And our prayer upon each one of these brethren, and for their families, and for the salvation of their children, and that you would go before them, Lord, and guide them, and bless them, and direct them. And, O God, keep them from sin. Put a guard around their lives, As the angel of the Lord, blessed Savior, and camp round about them, may the wall be high of protection. Bless their families. Bless their children. Lord, go in front of them. Give great wisdom and discernment in the building of this local body. And dear God, as we pray for them, we ask, Lord, that you would go in front and bless them mightily and their service in this place. Cause there to be no division, Lord, among us in any degree. cause there to be great joy and peace and the love of Christ, and so that we might, as servants one of another, humble ourselves and walk humbly and do justly and love mercy. Hear our prayer today, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, brethren. Let's sing, please, to the Lord's praise now. Number 512. Remain seated. Actually, we'll stand. Why don't we stand to sing? ♪ Blessed are those who fear the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh When she smiles at me, let me be happy. I know I'll be happy when I have the right to say what I want to say. I can't say anything if you're not around to remind me. Oh, Son of Man, let it be well. ♪ Let it shine, let it shine ♪ ♪ Let it shine, let it shine ♪ ♪ Let it shine, let it shine ♪ Amen. I'd like you to turn with me, please, in your Bibles to the book of Numbers, chapter 10. The book of Numbers, chapter 10, reading from verse 33 to 36. And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days' journey to search out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day when they went out of the camp. And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward that Moses said, rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered. Let them that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel. We'll settle ourselves, please, now before the Lord and bow in prayer. Father, today has been a day of rejoicing, thanksgiving. We pray that as the Word is opened now, none of us would miss the application of the Word to our hearts. Hear our prayer. Bless us now. In Jesus' name we ask, amen. The dedication of our deacons today for their next term of service has application for every single Christian. It doesn't leave any one of you out. If you're a follower of Christ, the idea of dedication of your life is not a one-off experience. It is something that we do continually, In fact, to live in the spirit of that dedication to the Lord is really what we are called to do in our walk with the Lord. It's a principle that has been taught throughout all of the Scripture. And is it not a good question to ask yourself today, am I following the Lord the way he wants me to follow him? Is my life dedicated to Him? Are you purposefully engaged in following the Savior? Is it the main purpose of your life? As we look today at Numbers chapter 10, the context is the inaugural moving of the tabernacle following the time it was set up, the dedication of that tabernacle, the preparation of the Levites for the sacrifices and the transportation of that tabernacle. From the time of the Red Sea until they arrived, Israel, at the foot of Mount Sinai, three months had passed. And God promised that their enemies would flee before them. And following this, Moses went up into the mount to receive the instructions from God about the making of the tabernacle. And it was during that time that Moses, when he was away, that the whole golden calf incident occurred. Then Moses, after the tables of the law had been shattered, he went back at the bidding of God to the mountain a second time, and God gave him the tables of the law again. And the instructions for the tabernacle and all of its construction, it was finished and it was fully assembled on the first day of the first month of the second year. The calendar and dating for Israel began from the time they left Egypt. It's interesting to note that between the setup of the tabernacle in Exodus 40 and verse 17, and it's dismantling and moving on the very first time there are 50 days. So we're not talking about long stretches of time here, three months, 50 days, in which time the Lord made his presence very evident in the dedication of the tabernacle, and he spoke to Moses and told him that at the mercy seat, on the Ark of the Covenant, that is where I will meet with you, with my people. And the cloud, the pillar of cloud by day would abide, and the pillar of fire by night, so that all of Israel would know unmistakably God was with them. He was there. Now this first move of the tabernacle was between Mount Sinai and the wilderness of Perun. They were on their way to Kadesh Barnea. That was at the base of the promised land where God was going to take them in. And although there were many hard lessons for them to learn, Moses, he utters a prayer. that God himself would stand against all their enemies. He would clear the way in front of them, and they would have progress in the purpose that they were going to do. And so the prayer that Moses makes in verse 35, which is the text I leave with you today of Numbers 10, And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee." You see, the Old Testament church in the wilderness, it gave many examples for the church of Christ in every single age. What were the parallels? Well, they were strangers and foreigners having no continuing city. and so are we. They were citizens of heaven, and so are we. They had a mixed multitude of unbelievers and rebels mixed in with those who were truly followers of God, and so do we, because this has been part of the affliction of the church from every age. There are those who pretend to be followers of Christ, but they are not. They're false teachers, false apostles. Yet they have the visible presence of God with them, and so do we. We know the Lord is with us through our trials, through our issues, through our concerns, through our persecutions. yet that abiding presence of the Holy Spirit promised by the Savior, that is our portion today, and we know that. And we are not alone, for our Savior has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. The church of Christ on earth My friends today, don't lose sight of that. It is the church victorious. Oh, I know you're thinking in your mind, it doesn't look all that victorious. Sometimes it looks pretty anemic. But the point is that Christ has gained the victory for us. And He has made that promise that my church will continue. And the gates of hell will not be able to stand against it. Satan was defeated at Calvary. And because he is a defeated foe, we are to live and to walk each day in the victory, in the light of Calvary, in the light of the resurrection of Christ. Believer, are you following Christ in that spirit and way? I want us to think today, especially in light of the dedication of our new deacons and those who have returned again. and let that application be for every Christian, that we will be followers of Christ. And what's the first thing we learn in all this? That our progress, it must be in following Jesus Himself. We must have our eyes by faith upon the Lord. Israel was to travel only when the Lord moved His Spirit from the Holy of Holies and the cloud departed. And when they saw that happening, they knew it was their signal to begin to move. Numbers 9 and verse 15 to the end gives the repeated instruction that they were to govern their location by the cloud. I think it's a sad thing today when too many people have their location services on another cloud. And all of their important data and all of their communication And all of those who are on the address list and everything else, it's all in the cloud. Well, that simply means they're stored on servers owned by Amazon or somebody else. Be careful, friends, that we don't lay too much dependence upon those things that are earthly and temporal. and that will not be secure in the long run. Oh, people think, oh, I've got all my stuff stored in the cloud. It's all secure. Don't be fooled, friend. It's not so secure. Someone else has access to your data. Let us think about keeping our eyes upon the God of Israel. At that time, the Ark of the Covenant that had been constructed was a symbol of the person and work of Christ. From the very construction of this Ark of the Covenant, it was made of wood, but it was overlaid with fine gold. And the humanity of Christ that is over realmed by the deity of Jesus Christ. It all sets this before us in type and shadow. And the only place that atonement could be made for Israel was when the blood was sprinkled upon the mercy seat that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant. And the only place, my friend, that you and I can find relief from our sin and know that atonement has been made for us is through the crosswork of our Lord Jesus Christ. For his blood has been shed in order that you and I can be forgiven. that atonement can be applied to our heart. And it's the only way. There are not many ways to God. There is only one way that a person can be right with God. Some will try to find peace in other ways, ways that they establish themselves, ways that they think are going to be politically correct or acceptable ways. But any man who tries to stand before God not covered in the blood of Christ, and not knowing that his sins have been washed away by that atoning sacrifice, will be separated from God for all eternity. There is no second chance, friend, when you come to die and stand before the Lord, if you're not covered by the blood of Christ. You have no covering. You are naked. You are spiritually naked. And all your sin is exposed. And you will be judged for that. What about believers? Can we say today that we know that we are not only covered by the atoning blood of Christ, but we are following our Savior, the Son of God? Where He leads me, I will follow. Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men. Yes, the first application of that in the Lord's life as he was drawing people to himself, he was saying quite clearly, quite simply, follow me. I am the way. You want the answer for life? You want the knowledge your soul is secure for heaven? You want to be of service to the God of heaven, to the King of kings? Then follow me, Jesus said. He is the revelation of God on earth. And when we follow him, we will not go astray. The hymn writer wrote, I will follow, I will follow Jesus anywhere, everywhere. Fear, I cannot know. So what about the timing of following the Lord? It has to be in His time when we sense the direction or the redirection of our God in our lives. When the ark set forward, it was then that the camp of Israel was to be engaged in going. It was critical, you know, for each tribe and each person, every family, every individual to be responsible, to be alert to what was happening, what was going on. Those who were distracted in the camp by doing other things and were not paying attention to that, pursuing perhaps their own desires, being careless about the things of God, they were not connected. They could have been caught by surprise. Perhaps they were uninterested. Perhaps they said, this God has not served me well. Why should I follow him? And on and on it goes. It's important, you know, that as believers in Jesus, we pay attention to the leading of the Lord in our lives, and all to pray for a sensitive heart, to pray for a spirit that is in tune with God, to pray that our minds and hearts and souls will be in such a place, in such a time, that we will be sensitive to the gentle leadings of our Lord, and not have to be driven with a whip, not have to be pulled against our will, but by that leading of the Lord, sensitive in our own hearts and spirit, being directed by the Word of the Lord, how important that is. Brother Fraser this morning in the adult Bible class was talking about the reading of the Scripture and how important it is to read through the Old and the New Testaments, and how God, through our Bible reading, by His sovereign direction, will unfold a verse of Scripture in the context of the Word, will be just the thing that we need at that moment. That's how the Spirit of God works through His Word. Are you paying attention, friends? Are we reading the Scriptures to receive food for our heart and direction for our lives? Watchfulness is so important. It's a very basic necessity, isn't it? Of course, when you're driving your vehicle, if you are not paying attention to the person that puts their brakes on in front of you and you bump into them, nine times out of ten, or 99 out of 100, it will be your fault for hitting them. And you might say, well, the person stopped in front of me and there was no reason why they should have stopped. The police will look at that and they'll say, you should have been in control of your vehicle. It's your fault for hitting them. And we have to be so alert in the leading of the Lord in our life that we are attuned to what the Lord is saying to us through His Word and how the Spirit is directing us in our own hearts. Years ago as a kid, I can remember going down to the CNE, that's almost history now, the Canadian National Exhibition, and they had stunt drivers, and there were six cars lined up behind each other on the starting line, and when the signal was dropped, all six cars drove off together. And they got up to speeds of over 60, 70 miles an hour as they went around the track. And they were within inches of the bumper in front of them. And they're all going. You thought it was one car moving. How could they do that? They could only do that if every single driver was paying precise attention to what he was doing and what the person in front of them was doing and in the line. And it was a work of art to watch and to see that happening. You and I need to be taking very close care in our Christian walk, friend, to be looking to the Lord, to be waiting on Him and seeing the direction and leading of the Spirit of God. Watch and be ready. the exhortation from the Scripture. Don't be caught off guard with worldly pleasures or interests or things that flash in our mind out of the corner of our eye. We take our head off to the side for a moment and bang, the guy in front of us, well, we know the problem. Distracted driving. How about distracting Christian walks? Let us pay attention to the Lord. We need to keep our eye upon Him. We need to know His timing. We also need to be very much aware of His presence. It was when the ark set forward, the emblem of the bloodstained mercy seat was in the lead, and the people were to follow. Because God said to them, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And if the Lord's presence is promised with His people, and if He is promised to be our guide and our direction, then as our eyes are upon Him, He will not lead us astray. What did He say to Noah and to his family? He said, Come thou into the ark. Now, that was the different type of ark. That was the large boat that was made to preserve them, and God was already inside when he invited Noah and his family to come in. If they had been distracted, refusing to heed the direction of the Lord, it would not have been good for him or for any members of his family. When Israel obeyed God, His presence was with them, and they walked around Jericho. And the walls came down, and it was a great victory for them. But just a scant few days after that, they had not been watching the Lord carefully, and Joshua were told specifically he did not seek the Lord on the matter of Ai. And when they went up against that city, they were defeated, and they fled from before the Canaanites. Ah, friend, I think you and I have found enough experience in our life to know when we have been distracted and we're not following the Lord the way we should be, we get ourselves into a big mess of trouble. And we have to go back and retrace our steps until we know we are back to the place where the Lord would redirect us. Let's keep our Savior always in view, following close by Him, hearing His words, His direction to us. So how does God lead us? He leads us very often, you know, as He did in the Old Testament time. He led Israel by Moses. And he leads the people in the church of Christ today by his servants. And so, as Moses was an ordained servant of the Lord, and as the people followed God's direction through him, they were blessed. But we also know the times when, well, Israel murmured and they complained against the leadership And they were at one time ready to stone Moses. Remember Miriam and Aaron, brother and sister of Moses, they insisted that Moses took too much upon himself. They said, well, God speaks through us too, you know. Who do you think you are? You think God only speaks through you? And when the Lord heard that, he called them to come before the tabernacle." And I don't know for a moment if maybe Aaron and Miriam thought, hey, this is our opportunity. God's going to show them, yeah, exactly, we are the people God will lead through us to. But very quickly it was evident that that was not what God was going to do. And he told Miriam and Aaron, he said, I have spoken to my servants in the past through dreams and visions. I have communicated my message to people, to men, at right times and at right places. But I have spoken to Moses face to face. And you dare come to stand against him?" And Miriam became a leper immediately. God put his hand upon her as a direct word of discipline to them. And immediately that happened. Aaron knew, this has all gone wrong. We have stepped so far out of place. And of all the criticisms that you might have about Aaron, he was a humble man, and he humbled himself before the Lord immediately, and he cried out to Moses, and Moses, please pray for Miriam. We have done, we have sinned against you and against God. and they realized the error of their way, and Moses, the one who they said, you're not the only one who can speak for God, you know, he was the one who had to pray for Miriam, that she would be healed of the leprosy. Do you know something? We're not told any more about Miriam in the rest of Scripture. That was the last word we've heard about her. What about the 250 princes? They were men of renown. They stood against Moses in the issue of Korah, and fire came down from heaven at the door of the tabernacle. Isn't that interesting? At the same door where God met with Miriam and Aaron. He meets with these 250 princes. Now they think they have power in numbers. And all of them are going to stand against one man, against Moses, thinking that they have the right. They have power in number, maybe. They have power in who they think they are. That suddenly changed when God made it very clear that they were completely out of order. and God's judgment was upon them. The Lord has, through his church, through history, he has used men who are under the headship of Christ, men who are following Jesus, whom the Lord says are right to be followed as long as they are walking in the truth and doing what is according to the will of God. And therefore, it's important that you and I submit ourselves under such leadership. It is the will of God, because ultimately in following the structure of the New Testament church, the structure of elders and deacons, the structure that the Lord has established, there will be peace and unity and happiness. But when there is friction or tension or someone comes along and says, who does that person or who do they think they are? I'm going to do this my way. That's when the problems start. Let us all pray that we will be followers of Christ humbly and followers in the pattern the way that God has set out and has established. Please notice in the second place this morning that going forward with Christ, it means entering enemy territory. The reality that the enemy surrounds us is a point that, as Christians, we should never forget. This could not have been more evident to Israel than the evil done to them in Egypt. They were in the territory of the taskmasters. It showed very little mercy to them, keeping them in slavery and serving with rigor and hard bondage for over 400 years. They were aware of the nations that surrounded them. And if they did not know the extent of that animosity to the roving nations, they would soon find out and learn about that. For every man's hand was against them. And as they progressed toward Canaan, they would learn the intention of those nations to stamp them out completely. Friends, a venture into a cage with one lion, you could see that would be bad enough. But to go into a lion-infested jungle at nighttime by yourself, unarmed, would be terrifying. We are sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer number of the enemies that are against us, aren't we? You look around today, our country is becoming so anti-Christian. so angry and hostile against every Christian foundation and principle and ethic and morality and truth. We are facing a great host of enemies that are against us, and that's in the land of Canada. That's nothing to do with Muslim countries, nothing to do with countries that are overrun with those who are politically religiously opposed to everything that is Christian. My friends, today, there is no such thing as honorable surrender in these times. Satan does not take hostages. He only takes to abuse, destroy, and kill. We must realize that we are going into enemy territory in our following of the Lord. And the reality that the enemy is surrounding us, he is all around us, is very evident to the Christian as you go about your daily duty, as you try to bear a witness in your workplace, as you try to share something of the wonders of Christ. Oh, you can't say that here in the workplace. Oh, you can't do that here in this religious, in this educational institution. You cannot say that about Jesus, because you might offend other people, and the hostility rises. And also, those that would hate God and harm us, they are those who are the enemies not just of ourselves, but they are enemies of God as well. Look back please at verse 35 again. It came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee. So those that would harm us are those that hate God. They are His enemies. And they're equally our enemies as well. Satan hates everything that God is about—every good thing, every noble thing, every pure thing. He hates it, and he's trying to undermine and overturn and destroy But not only does Satan hate God, and he hates all those that are related to him. And if you're a child of the Lord today, if you've been born again by the Spirit of God, you are a child of the King, and therefore you're related to the God of heaven. And in that relation, Satan is targeted against you. In Psalm 56 and verse 1, David prayed, Yes, friends, we are In the progress of following Christ Jesus, we are to keep our eyes upon Him. And going forward with Christ, it means that we are entering into the devil's territory. Are you prepared, believer, for that? You cannot have this equipment by yourself. You can only know and have this equipment by the Spirit and the armor of God that He has promised for us. You cannot go out to attack the devil by your own power. We are weak against such an enemy. No, what we need, the third thought I leave with you today, is going forward can only be by the intervention of God in our lives. We must depend upon Him. We are no match for the enemy. God's people should not go forward by our own decisions. Many mistakes have been made when we rush forward and one hand or tarry behind in another. The will of God is not in our thinking. It's not in our way. We have our own mind. We have our own direction. we will get ourselves into a heap of trouble. The Lord Jesus said this word very specifically, without me, you can do nothing. This is where the Christian will learn not only the value of prayer, but its absolute necessity in life. I need, I must have the Savior with me, for I dare not walk alone. I must have my pathway bathed in prayer. I must be in constant communion and communication with the Lord, and to know that I have the armor of God on me, each piece put on with prayer. As the hymn writer wrote, to realize that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces in the heavenlies, in heavenly places. And so how are we to defend ourselves against this? Well, it is to know that we have the intervention of God. The prayer Moses prays, and a mighty one, as soon as the ark began to move forward, he says, rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered. It is God's work to scatter our enemies. It's not ours, friend. We must pray that God will rise up and stand to our defense, to the defense of his people. Let this cry and prayer be in every heart of every believer, that the Lord would stand to the defense of his people and stand to the defense of his work. How little, how little, friends, do we estimate the great resource that is at our disposal of prayer. We can hold on to God. It is through prayer that we will gain His power and His strength. It is through prayer that He is responsive to the cries of his people, for the eye of the Lord is upon the righteous and his ear is open unto their cry. David said, I will cry unto the Lord most high, unto God that performeth all things for me. He will bring all things to an end, to a conclusion. And in His will, it will be perfected. Psalm 18, verse 3, I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from mine enemies, and they are great. When's the last time you prayed, Lord, rise up and defend us against the attack of the devil? Would that not suit to be a daily prayer? One that we pray every morning? This is a good prayer to pray. Oh my God, I trust in Thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not my enemies triumph over me. Prayer that God would rise up in defense of His people and praying that God would defeat the enemy. It is never a bad thing to pray that God will hinder the devil's work, that God will destroy the devil's work. that he will cause those who take up the cause of Satan, that they will stumble and fall into the very ditch that they have digged for others. Rise up, Lord. Defend thy church against the enemies that come against it. Defend when Satan would raise his ugly head against those who are serving the King of kings and the Lord of lords. But let's be careful. that we will follow the pattern that we have given to us in the Scripture, for Michael the archangel would not himself bring a railing accusation against the devil, but he said, the Lord rebuke thee. Let us take up that same theme in heart. And when we pray, we call upon God to do the work that we are not powerful and able to do ourselves. The Lord does tell us to resist the devil and he will flee from us, but let's leave the rebuking of that to the God of heaven. We daily face the world and the flesh and the devil, and Satan would bring all of these things against us, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, the pride of life, And quite frankly, we are no match for these things by ourselves. But as the Spirit of God is in us, and as we are praying for the Lord to go in front of us, we would say, rise up to our defense, Lord, and deliver us from the temptation that would defeat us and rob us of the joy of walking with Christ. The things that would undermine our Christian testimony, Lord, rid them from me. Mine enemies are lively, the psalmist prayed, and they are strong, and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. Lead on, O King Eternal. We follow not with fears, for gladness breaks like morning, where'er thy face appears. Thy cross is lifted over us, We journey in its light. The crown awaits the conquest. Lead on, O God of might. Rise up, Lord, and scatter away not just mine enemies, but please, Lord, rise and scatter away my doubts, scatter away my fears, scatter those things that would kill my faith. take away those sins that would drown me, that I might walk in the light of your word every day and walk in the joy of following my Savior. For he is the great Shekinah glory, the cloud that was with his people visibly, And we, by faith, lay hold our eyes upon our Savior. And we say, Lord, we want to stay near you. Empower us today, strengthen us, and that we will glorify our God in this pilgrim earthly journey. We're going to sing a hymn in closing our service today. Verse 582, onward Christian soldiers. Let's stand please as we sing verses 1, 2, and 5. With the cross of Jesus, glory, glory, glory! Christ the Lord, the Master, the Agents of God, glory, glory, glory! Where the cross of Jesus will be hung. God rest ye merry, merry, men of God. ♪ People, join our happy choir ♪ ♪ And raise your voices with the child's choir ♪ ♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ ♪ Come to Christ the King ♪ ♪ Listen now, good citizens ♪ Father, we pray that today the Spirit of the Lord will lead us, each one unmistakably, in the center of your will, that we will be strong in the Lord and in the power of your might. Defeat the powers of wickedness. We pray, Lord, in this congregation in every dimension, may we be found faithful. Bless all of our sister works. Bless everyone who is true unto the word of God and the crown rights of King Jesus. And we pray, Lord, that we will be a witness for the honor of our blessed Savior. Part us now in your fear. With your rich and mighty blessing, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. you you you