Service

Numbers 4 and verse number 4. And this shall be the service of the sons of Coeth in the tabernacle of the congregation about the most holy things. And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of testimony with it, and shall put thereon the covering of badger skins, and shall spread over it a cloth holy of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. Verse 8. And they shall spread upon them, that is a table and the utensils associated with it, a covering of badger skins.

And verse 9. And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the candlestick or lampstand of the light, and his lamps and his tongs and his snuffed dishes and all the oil vessels thereof were with the minister unto it. And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badger skins, and shall put it upon a bar. And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of badger skins.

Now turn please to the book of Isaiah chapter 53, verse 2. Isaiah 53 and 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor calmliness, and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. Now the final reading is in the book of Colossians, please, chapter 3, verse number 1. Colossians 3 and verse 1. If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, or you died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Now we know that God will bless the reading of his word with what we have already heard. We have heard about the perfect servant, the Lord himself, and of course this example is for you and I to emulate him. We'd all like to be godly servants.

Now I read these scriptures, and especially in Numbers chapter 4, about other servants that God had, and these servants, you know of course, were the Levites, and they had a special service, the service of the tabernacle. You have noticed that I read quite a few scriptures about the badgerskins, I wanted to try and emphasize that, and it's amazing the way these men served. I did read that Aaron and his sons, they covered the vessels of the tabernacle.

The Levites never saw the gold, the things in the tabernacle, but the gold was covered with badgerskins, and all they saw was the badgerskins. And you know, I read in Isaiah, the show, what God thought of his son first of all. He shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground.

But then it says, when they shall see him, there is no beauty that he should desire him. Men didn't see him, the majority of mankind, they didn't see him the way God saw him. He saw him in all his beauty, a tender plant, like that tree planted by rivers of water, with nothing to sustain him in this world.

And when men looked upon him, they saw the badgerskins. That's just what I have in my mind. They didn't see the gold.

God saw the gold and the beauties in his son, but when they looked upon him, all they saw was the badgerskins. Now you and I are all Levites. I know we're not Jews, maybe sometimes you may like them, but we're all Levites, that is, we're all should be engaged in the service of God.

But you know, when people look at us and they look at you and they wonder, why are you serving God? Why do you come to the Gospel Hall and there's some more beautiful buildings, maybe not in Stout, but in some areas, and yet you're associated with the Gospel Hall with the despised and rejected ones. You know why they think that way? Because they're looking at the badgerskins. They don't see the gold.

But you see, we are serving him, and I want to pick out a few, and use your memories, that really served God. And they weren't serving to be seen. It wasn't that the gold would be seen, that someone would think that this is really somebody that is somebody, and really valuable as far as the world is concerned.

No. The first one I thought about was, you remember, Mary of Bethany. And Mary of Bethany, when the Lord came to her house, remember how she anointed his feet? And she's associated with the the spikenard.

And she anointed the feet of the Lord, she anointed him for his burial. And not just the ungodly, but the disciples, they said, Judas and the others as well, why this waste? You know when they looked at Mary, they didn't see the gold. The Lord saw the gold, and the Lord appreciated this woman and what she was doing.

And all they seemed to see was the badgerskins. But you know, it didn't bother Mary. Mary was occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ.

She had sat at his feet, and she had learned something that the disciples didn't seem to have learned at that time, that the Lord was going to Calvary. There was another woman anointed his feet in Luke chapter 7, and I think she anointed his feet because she realized he's the one that came from heaven and brought the gospel to her. But Mary went a step farther.

Here's the one that's going to the cross. And they looked upon her, and they said, why this waste? You know, is worship a waste? We've been reminded so much of worship. And our brother has emphasized that.

That's the most valuable thing, and I would like to be able to minister far better than I do. I'd like to be able to preach the gospel with more power than I can, but you know, I'd like to be a greater worshiper. The world doesn't think that's very valuable.

You know, even Mr. Spurgeon, when he wrote letters to his students, there's many good things in that book, but he misquotes a scripture purposely. He says, ye men of Plymouth, why stand you here looking up into heaven? Of course, he was speaking about what some people call as the Plymouth Brethren. And he thought it's so much waste being so heavenly minded, and meeting together in worship when you could be preaching the gospel.

Don't you believe it? It's a great privilege to be able to remember the Lord, and I think maybe some of us, the older we get, the more we appreciate the privilege. But then I thought in Acts chapter 2, you know, there were people there, the Christians, they brought all their substance and laid it at the feet of the Apostles. I wonder what the world thought of that.

They thought these people are crazy. Why give everything you have for the Lord's people? Well, I'll tell you one thing about it. I'm not saying that we have to give up everything that we have, but I know this, we have to have a heart for God's people.

But you know, if they hadn't done this, those saints in Jerusalem, they would have lost everything. When the Romans came in about AD 70, they sacked the place, they took everything, and they would have lost everything. But you see, God's over all, and the world may have thought these people, they're crazy.

They're giving everything and laying it for the sake of the believers. You know, it's a good thing to put your life out for the sake of the believers. There's no people like God's people, and you'll find that sometimes if you get into some kind of difficulties, and I'm not I'm not talking about immorality or anything like that, but if you ever lose your house or something like that, or lose your partner, you'll find the Lord's people are so kind.

We should put ourselves out for them. And then I thought of Barnabas in Acts chapter 4, and what did he do? He sold a piece of land that he had at Cyprus. I've heard people saying, oh that's a wonderful thing he did.

Well, it was because, you know, he shouldn't have had land in Cyprus in the first place. He was a Levite, he would, they were scattered throughout the tribes of Israel. Well, well, given the benefit of the doubt, at least he got restored.

And he said, I'm going to give this land. Now, there's nothing wrong with having land. I know it was land that kept the two and a half tribes from going over the River Jordan.

Actually, it was their wives and their herds, their flocks and their land. But then I thought, you know, it's not all that bad to have a wife, is it? God gave Adam a wife, and he gave the patriarchs flocks, they seemed to prosper in flocks, and he gave the nation of Israel a land. So it's not all that bad.

It's how we use these things, of course. And he sold it. Now, we don't want to leave the sisters out.

Romans chapter 16. You have a dear woman called Phoebe, and what a letter of commendation she carried with her. Wonder what kind of a commendation we would carry.

Sometimes we carry little ones that are printed, and you fill in the blanks, and everybody seems to be in happy fellowship, and so on. Maybe they haven't seen them for a few weeks, and I'm not being critical, but you know, it's nice to see a real letter of commendation. And here's a woman, what does it say? She was a sucker of many.

So women can have a, I was going to say a job, it's not a job, a vocation. Maybe it's a better word. She suckered many, and here she is, she's traveling, and I wonder what others thought of her.

They thought, Barnabas, that's silly, selling your land and bringing the money to the Apostles. And Phoebe, why would you put yourself out for the brethren? And you're traveling, and here you have a letter of commendation, and you know, many of us travel around trying to help God's people, and they wonder why you're always on the move. I just tell them it's hard to hit a moving target, but that's not really why we're on the move.

We're on the move to help God's people. Why would you want to be away from home? Some of us for weeks on end, away from home, and you see, they don't see the gold. You know, all they see is a badger skin, and it doesn't amount to anything as far as they are concerned.

Then I thought of a couple, Priscilla and Aquila. What were they interested in? The Scriptures. Are you really interested in the Word of God? That's something that we've been encouraged to get into, the Word of God, and I hope the brethren will keep encouraging us.

I was encouraged, and thank God for those that helped me, and give me helps, gave me things to help me, and even give me a decent Bible. I was saved that I might study the Word of God. How much time do you put into the study of God's Word? When our brother Eric was telling us about, it's not enough to pull off the tab of the calendar.

I've told this before, but it just comes to mind. You remember Mr. Foote, out there in Langley, I think it was, in British Columbia. He's going in for, they call it open-heart surgery, bypass surgery, and he thought he'd like to get a word from the Lord to encourage him, and he tears the choice cleanings calendar off, and he reads, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

Well, that's not the way we read the Word. He didn't die then, because he's gone now anyhow, but, and he's in paradise, thank God for that. But are we serious, really serious about the Word of God? Do we really want to, and why do we want to know it? We want to be a help, surely.

We want it to affect our lives. We want to be an example, and we study the Scriptures so we could be a help to others, and here's a couple, and they learned the Scriptures, and they could bring a man in, a man even like Apollos. There was a an eloquent man in the Word of God, and they could teach him the Word of God more perfectly.

You ever taught anybody? Sisters can do that, you know, in the home, and there's many a sister, sometimes maybe more intelligent than her husband, and they can tell by the questions they ask, and they tell you what they have been reading, and what they enjoy from the Scriptures. I think we're losing out in this. Used to be that the older brethren would ask you what you have been studying, or what you have been enjoying from the Word, so you could share it with others.

It's a great thing to get into the Word of God. God has given us this Word in our own language, and many have given their lives so that we might have it in our own language. So are we really getting into it? Oh, you say, why spend all your time reading the Scriptures? Ah, but you see, it's a gold, isn't it? They see the badger skin, they say, you're only wasting your time, you're never going to learn enough, there's so much in it, you'll never... Oh, I know, and I'm glad you never get to the end where you think you know everything.

The more you learn, the less you know. But it doesn't discourage you. You want to learn more about the Lord Jesus? Would you not like to be able to enter more into what we were studying this morning in the Bible reading? I'll tell you, I would.

Sometimes I wonder why my heart is so cold. Maybe I need to get more into the Word of God, and get the Word of God into me. I thought of Timothy, and Paul says of him that there's many, and they sought their own things, but he says, here's a man that he sought the things of Jesus Christ.

Didn't matter what others thought. Timothy, you're running all over the place, it wasn't easy for them, and that day traveling from one land to another, and hazarding their lives. But you know, Timothy didn't look at it that way.

He didn't care what people thought. Do we really care what people think? Is it important what they think of us? What they think of me, or you, or anyone else? Just keep on serving the Lord, doesn't matter what they think. That's not important.

Surely the Christians maybe would be able to have a little more understanding than the world, but you know, here's a man, Timothy. He had no one like-minded like Timothy. Like Paul.

How did he get to be like Paul? By spending time with him. How do we get to be like the Lord Jesus Christ? By spending time in his presence. Just get into his presence.

Spend a little time prayerfully and carefully reading the the Word of God, and you know God will bless you for it. You may not think you get much blessing in this life. When I went out preaching, there was another preacher, he said to me, well Billy said the Lord bless you, and if the brethren bless you, take all the blessing they'll give you.

But it doesn't really matter whether they bless you or not. Of course they do, I'm not speaking against the brethren. What about Epaphroditus? Here he was a soldier, and he was sick.

I'll tell you, he really put himself out for God's people, didn't he? He's gonna leave his wife and family and go away to take a gift to the Apostle Paul. You know what people thought about him? They said there's something wrong with this man's mind. Why would you do that? Why would you hazard your life? That's the thought of Epaphroditus.

He gambled his life, took a chance, it wasn't so easy. But why was he doing it? He was doing it for the Lord. He may just have seen the badger skin.

There's no beauty about what he's doing, but you know there was a gold underneath. And I'm not going to go through everybody in the Bible of course, but I thought one more, and this is for us. What characterized him? He searched out for the Apostle, and the Apostle was bearing a chain.

He was in prison, and if you went to visit someone in a prison in those days, you were associating yourself with them. You may have ended up in the prison as well. But you know what he said? He said, he oft refreshed me.

He was not ashamed of my chain. It wasn't a great thing to be associated with a prisoner. I've never been in jail except visiting, and I've never had handcuffs on except by my grandchildren, but I can imagine what it would be like.

You know, I think I could even, if they accuse me of something, I could march to the court, but to put you in handcuffs, that'd be very humiliating. But here's a man, and the great Apostle said he oft refreshed me. Long is it since you refreshed one of the Lord's people? Well that's something we can go in for, isn't it? Now I read in the book of Colossians to remind us again that we should be like that man in Psalm number one, heavenly.

The first part of the psalm is the heavenly man. Then the hell-bound man is in the last part of the psalm. You have the Lord, you have the lawless, and here it says, if you then be risen with Christ.

That's true of every believer, and we showed that in our baptism, and into the waters of baptism, raised to walk in newness of life. So he said, if you're risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. The things that are brought in by Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

Get our minds focused on these things, and set your affections. Where's your affections, dear brother or sister? What is it that we really enjoy in this life? What is it that we really love? Is it the things of God, or is it something else? Where's our priorities? Well he says, set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. We're a heavenly people.

We're the gold of this land, you know. It doesn't matter if the others just see the badger skin, we're the real gold. And then he says, for you're dead, or you died, and your life is hid with Christ and God.

See, they just see the badger skin. They don't see the gold. But you know, the day is coming when the gold is going to be evident.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, or shall be manifested. And it says, ye shall, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Are we looking forward to his coming? We don't need to be seen or recognized by the brethren or anybody else in this life.

That's not why we're serving the Lord. Whom having not seen, they never saw the gold. The priests put the coverings over the furniture, over the vessels.

They never saw the gold. But does that not remind you of the lovely verse, whom having not seen, you love. We're serving him.

We haven't seen him in all his glory, as we're going to see him in the future. But are we serving him out of love? Not to be recognized, not to be seen, but just simply serving him. Sometimes we just need to get through life as quietly as we can.

But are we waiting for that day? That's when the gold is going to be seen. You know, they often quote that little verse, I wish I had given him more. I had thought, you know, I get some strange thoughts in my mind now and again.

And I thought, you know, I should tell everyone here, I'd like to exhort you, if you haven't already, to join the Weight Watchers. You say, am I too heavy? Well, I am, anyhow. But you don't have to join the club and go and try and eat less or something or whatever, but you know, I thought of the Weight Watchers.

We should all be Weight Watchers, all waiting and watching for his return. That would change our lives, wouldn't it? And maybe that will help us to remind ourselves. Join the Weight Watchers, if you haven't already joined.

Be waiting for that day. That's the important thing. It doesn't matter what goes on today.

The only important thing is that I serve Him. Whatever sphere God has given me, that's where I can be effective and where I can bring joy to the Lord. The Conference Platform isn't the greatest place in the world, it's a very responsible place.

You know, nowadays there's a greater work may be done among young people and among the children. That's one of the most important things today, and personal work. It's hard and difficult to get people in to hear the gospel.

Dr. Dennison in Detroit, he said it's as hard as pulling teeth, and then he said, well, it's not really. It's easier to pull teeth, but he's a dentist. But you know, we can get out to others, and they will see where our interests are.

They look upon us, and you know, if they saw the Lord, no beauty that they should desire Him. Doesn't mean this physical face was deformed or anything like that in his life. The little children weren't afraid of him, but you see, it wasn't that.

It was a spiritual part he didn't see. No beauty in him that they should desire him. But you know, that didn't deter him.

He's a perfect example. Living for God day by day, no matter what was involved, what the cost was, didn't matter. Cost him his life, third Calvary, the sufferings and agonies of the cross.

And you know, it's so that you and I would have this opportunity to be vessels that he can use, whom having not seen we love. And may the Lord help us to continue to serve Him, no matter what anyone thinks or anyone says. That's not important.

What does God think? Well, that'll be seen in the future, when our life that is hid in Him now will be manifest in the day when He comes out in all His glory.