Good evening. I’m going to read two passages tonight, the first in the Gospel of John, and the second in Numbers. If you’d open up your copy of God’s Word to John 14, I think that’s on page 1,146 of your Pew Bibles. And then we’ll move to Numbers. Preaching tonight will be on chapter 2 of Numbers. Let’s give attention to the very word of God, John chapter 14. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms.
If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, You may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, You have known my father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Amen. If you would now turn to Numbers, and I believe that’s on page 139 of your Pew Bibles. Numbers chapter 2. Again, let’s give attention to the very word of God.
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, the people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard with the banners of their father’s houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being Nashan, the son of Aminadab, his company as listed being 74,600.
Those who camp next to him shall be of the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nathaniel, the son of Zuar, his company as listed being 54,400. Then the tribe of Zebulon, the chief of the people of Zebulon being Elieb, the son of Helan, his company as listed being 57,400. All those listed in the camp of Judah by their companies were at 186,400. They shall set out first on the march. On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elisur, the son of Shadur, his company as listed being 46,500. And those to the camp next to him shall be The tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon, being Shelumiel, the son of Zurishadai, his company listed as being 59,300. Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad, being Elisaph, the son of Reuel, his company listed as being 45,650.
All those listed of the camp of Reuben by their companies were 151,450. They shall set out second. Then the tent of meeting shall set out. With the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps, as they camp, so they shall set out, each in position, standard by standard.
On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishema, the son of Amahud, his company listed being 40,500. And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel, the son of Pedahusir, his company listed as being 32,200. And the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abadan, the son of Gidonai, his company as listed being 35,400. All those listed of the camp of Ephraim by their companies were 108,100.
They shall set out third on the march. On the north side, shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahasuer, the son of Ameshadai, his company as listed being 62,700. And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pegael, the son of Akran, his company as listed being 41,500. Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira, the son of Inan, his company as listed being 53,400. All those listed in the camp of Dan were 157,600.
They shall set out last, standard by standard. These are the people of Israel as listed by their father’s houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550. But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel as the Lord commanded Moses. Thus did the people of Israel, according to all the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards. And so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his father’s house.”
Thus far in the word of God. Thank you, God. Amen. Would you pray with me? Our Father and our God, we come once again to this historical account, and we wonder, God, what you would have it to do with us. Guide our hearts tonight. Open your word. Apply it to our hearts. Work powerfully by your spirit. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen. What or who is at the center of your life? It seems that this passage might be asking that question to you, what or who is at the center of your life?
What became the center of Adam’s life? Certainly as he was made, as he was created by God and created very good and placed in what we would seem to be that place of paradise, the garden, everything was good. everything which God had made, and the garden was a special place. But what became the center of Adam’s life? It was no longer God. As he sinned against God, something else became the center, and it was actually the creation itself became the center of Adam’s life. What was to be the center of the disciples’ lives?
As the Lord Jesus Christ was continuing to teach them in the upper room discourse we read in John’s gospel this evening, he was telling them that he was about to go, he was about to leave them. And you can note from the passage in John that the disciples were disturbed, they were concerned. But Jesus was telling them that he was yet to be the center of their lives. Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. Jesus was saying, even as I go, I’m still the center of your life. I’m gonna come and take you to be with me forever.
In a sense, that brings us to our text tonight. We’re at that place at the foot of Mount Sinai when everything seems to be ready for the Israelites to go. They’re not at the promised land yet, but they’re to be headed in that direction. And there’s a sense in which everything is being assembled and put forth and planned that they can make their way there. This book of numbers, you heard it tonight, numbering each tribe, how many there were in each tribe and in the total, all headed to the promised land, all getting ready to go. But first, God needs to give them part of his plan. Much of the plan of God has already been set forth, but here, in this particular passage, we see what we might consider to be mundane. This is trivial. Where are you going to camp? Does it really matter? It mattered to God.
It mattered that he would place them in certain campsites every time they were to get up, move, march on. There was a particular way for them to march and a particular camp for them to occupy when the pillar of cloud and fire came to rest. Remember, the pillar of cloud of fire was directing and would be guiding them through the wilderness to the promised land. And every time it rose up from the tent of meeting and went out, they were to follow it to the next place. And so here we read as to how they were to camp each and every time. They came to that next place that the Pillar of Cloud and Fire would take them. The Pillar of Cloud and Fire was always over the Tent of Meeting, always guiding them back to the Tent of Meeting, guiding them to that new place, that next place where they would camp. The Levites, remember, were camped around the Tent of Meeting and then the tribes on the outside of the Levites. That’s what we have tonight. This text is rather straightforward. And you may be even wondering, how does this apply to me tonight? I’m hoping we’re going to see that and see that clearly in this way. Jesus Christ has positioned himself to be the center of every believer’s heart. Jesus Christ has positioned himself to be the center of every believer’s heart.
As you go through the text this evening, I want us to see three different things. First, a particular place for being with the Lord. Secondly, a particular place for providing comfort and hope in the Lord. And finally, a particular place for seeing the Lord. Again, as we go through this passage, I’d like you to be asking yourselves, who is the center of my life? Well, first, a particular place for being with The Lord. We read in this chapter, if we read nothing else, that the Lord had clearly established or apportioned a particular geographic location for each and every tribe.
The Lord spoke to Moses, verse 1, and Aaron, saying, the people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard with the banners of their fathers’ houses. on the east side, to be Judah. Now we’re speaking of the east side of the Tent of Meeting, just to get that picture in your minds. The Tent of Meeting was at the center. The Levites camped around it.
And now the 12 tribes were portioned their particular side along with two other tribes. to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies. Along with Judah was to be Issachar and Zebulon. Each tribe had a particular location that God himself had established for them. Judah had a place on the east side, along with Issachar and Zebulon.
Every campsite was set forth with reference to the Tent of Meeting. Just understand that. Every single campsite was in reference to the Tent of Meeting. Other tribes were on the southwest and north sides of the Tent of Meeting. The Lord had planned and purposed for each tribe to have its own specific place around the Tent of Meeting.
What does that mean? Why would the living God care so much about the particular place for each tribe to camp, to pitch their tents? Why would it matter which plot of land the tribes lived upon while the pillar of cloud and fire remained stationary over the tent of meeting in a single place? Why would the living God be concerned for their particular location?
First, we must recognize and confess that God is a God of order and that’s whom we serve. God is not a God of confusion but of peace, 1 Corinthians 14. And then, a few verses later in the same letter to those at Corinth, all things should be done decently in order because we serve a God of order. God is a God of order. And not only the order of placement, which speaks of his order, but also an order of marching, of moving from place to place.
All those listed in the camp of Judah by their companies, 186,400, they shall set out first on the march. So those to the east were to go first. As they heard the trumpet blaring as the cloud of pillar and fire was up and moving, those on the east side were the first ones to set out. Then the south. Then the tent of meeting was to set out, with the Levites carrying it. and then those on the west and those on the north.
A particular process, a particular order of movement with the tent of meeting being in the middle. Each one camping by their own standard with the banners of their father’s houses. Camping within their tribe. A god of order but also a god of division. Obviously, the Israelites were to camp among their particular tribe. Whoever their father was, their father’s father, their grandfather, their great-grandfather, they were to camp amongst their tribe members. So in Judas’ camp, there would be none from Reuben. In Simeon’s camp, there would be none from Gad. Only tribe members would be within their particular place, that particular place where that tribe was to camp.
Remember, the Israelites were one nation, and yet God had segregated them into their particular tribes, not just by name, but by place. There was a definite separation, a definite segregation. It was the plan of God. Consider this, that the Lord Jesus Christ will divide all the nations upon his return. On the day of the Lord, on the day of judgment, he’ll separate the sheep and the goats. Consider what Paul wrote to those in Rome. It’s not as though the word of God has failed, as he was bemoaning the fact that his brothers and sisters by flesh would not enter the kingdom of God. It’s not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Paul was saying there’s a division, there’s a separation, even within the nation. Not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring, but through Isaac your offspring shall be named.
A division. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. There will be separation, and sheep and goats. There will be division, a dividing line, a singular line. dividing all people into one of two groups, either the sheep or the goats, the sheep being those who will enjoy eternal life with Jesus, the goats being those who will suffer eternal death outside of his presence. Do you see this picture of division?
Division amongst the tribes, a picture of one nation, and yet a segregation of these tribes points to the reality that there will be This segregation, this final division, the eternal vision will come to pass. And it also points to the fact that there is a mixture in the church today. In the true church, there are sincere, faithful Christians who are looking forward to the day of Christ’s return. who are seeking to live a repentant life, who are sincerely believing upon Him mixed with others, who are in reality not within the faithful, not sincerely trusting, holding themselves out as a follower of Christ.
And yet, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who’s in heaven, on that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?
And the Lord will call these to depart. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. And so while there exists this mixture within the church today, the wheat and the tares, There will be the separation on the day of judgment to be with the Lord.
Lord Jesus states that the one who does the will of my father, that one will enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus wasn’t talking about being a perfect follower. He was talking about those who would believe upon him. That’s doing the will of the Father, isn’t it?
So certainly the question is for us tonight, will you be with the sheep or with the goats? Are you truly trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight for your salvation? Or are you deceiving yourself? It does bring us to our second point, A particular place for providing comfort and hope in the Lord. Yes, a particular place for being with the Lord, a particular place that speaks of division, but also a particular place for providing comfort and hope in the Lord. What am I speaking of? If this chapter is about anything, it’s about God having a plan in place for his people. And we see it here as particular places are designated for their particular campsites, particular tribes named for each of those individual sites. And we see it.
The Levites were identified as those who would camp around the Tent of Meeting in a particular place for Judah and Zebulon and Issachar and Reuben. And God had ordained who would lead the procession out. As the pillar from cloud begins to move, Judah would be the first, along with Issachar and Zebulon. These three would lead the procession.
God has a particular plan in place. bringing his people to the promised land, ultimately pointing to the fact that he’s bringing his people into glory. The people are numbered. The people are identified by tribe. He’s assigned each one work. He’s assigned each one a place to live and exist in the wilderness.
So this chapter opens up a portion of God’s plan for his people, ultimately a plan of redemption, but certainly a plan of comfort and hope to all who would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn’t mean that the Israelites knew everything. No. There were certainly aspects of uncertainty. Think of them.
Not yet, but they would be wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. They never knew when the pillar of cloud was about to set out or how long it was going to stay. They never knew how long it would be before they stopped their traveling, their march, and they ended up in the place where the pillar of cloud would stop. At times they must have been tired. Likely on certain days they were exhausted.
Continual movement, continual wandering throughout what appeared to them to be a vast wilderness Yet each and every time the pillar of cloud and fire would come to stop in their next location, they knew where their campsite would be. They knew where their place would be. God had already determined it and told them that he had assigned them a particular place. He’d allotted it.
No jostling for position. No, no, I want to be. No, you don’t get that sight. That’s our sight. God has given it to us. No uncertainty about where to pitch the tent. They knew where their neighbors would be. But most significantly, they knew their place. And that place had been designed and given to them and allotted to them by the living God. What a comfort that must have been. Have you ever been on a long road trip traveling by car and not knowing where you would stop? I’ve done that. There’s a bit of unease in it. As the night sets in, as the night gets longer, will there be a hotel? Will a room be available? Will there be a bed for you to sleep in? Would there be a place for you to stay? You see, the Israelites never experienced that.
They always knew that God had provided a particular place for them to be, to camp, to live with their families, within their tribe by their banner and standard. Isn’t that exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing? Isn’t he reserving, making a place, a particular place for you to be forever?
If you’re trusting in him tonight, is that not the promise? We read it. In my father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? He’s reserving a place. He’s making a place, a particular place in glory.
The Lord had a particular place for each of these tribes that he had designated, and it points to the truth That there’s a place in glory that the Lord is designated in heaven for each one of his children. Jesus told his disciples that he needed to leave them in order to prepare a place for them. And so this passage should cause us, every one of us, to consider everyone who’s on their way to glory, to think upon, to meditate upon the truth that the Lord God has decreed a place, a particular place, and his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is about the work of preparing it for you. See, there are many rooms in the Father’s house, and he’s busy preparing each child of God a particular place, a particular room in his father’s house.
Do you find that to be comforting? As you’re traveling through this world of sin and misery, as the Israelites were traveling through a wilderness, as you’re weary, In your walk, your day-by-day walk amongst the sin of the world, amongst your own sin, amongst the temptations of Satan, just as Jesus did for his disciples as they were wringing his hands over his leaving them, the Lord Jesus Christ is providing you with comfort and ease tonight.
And knowing that he’s got a particular place, a forever place for you. Such that as you walk today, There’s no concern. There’s no reason for anxiousness or unsettledness. As you walk through this world today, this wilderness, you can be and should be at ease.
In fact, we spoke of rejoicing and being thankful in all circumstances this morning from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And you can do that. You can rejoice, you can be thankful in all situations. You can have that attitude of peace, of rejoicing, because Jesus Christ has made a place for you in glory, a particular place with your name on it, allotted to you, reserved for you, so you can rejoice and be thankful in all circumstances, in every event, in this world of sin and misery, knowing and trusting and being assured that he has reserved that for you in glory. What a comfort.
But it’s also a particular place of hope, isn’t it? I mentioned that God is a God of order and we see this order as he apportions those particular places to particular tribes all assembled in order as they camped. This order points to his further plan, doesn’t it? A plan of God to bring these people, this nation, into the promised land. Just consider this chapter. You may be tempted to flip through it as you’re reading through the Bible in the year or whatever you do. Oh, I don’t need to touch upon this much.
But it points to God’s plan, an orderly plan. What would be the purpose of setting out tribe by tribe in order, a particular order of packing up the tabernacle, setting out to the next place, if the Lord their God was not taking them to the promised land? Why all this order? Why all this structure? Why this plan?
If you were not taking them to that place of peace and communion and glory in the promised land, Also consider, each time the Lord brought them to a new campsite as the pillar of cloud and fire stopped, these Israelites, these tribes, were following this God-ordained plan.
Each time they stopped, they were getting closer to the promised land, the goal of God, the promise of God. Each time they set up camp in the particular location that God had provided for them, they were looking forward to that ultimate particular location, the promised land.
In other words, they were given hope as God was moving them along the way according to his perfect particular plan of placement. And that hope didn’t fade. While they were in the wilderness 40 years, Yet the presence of God was with them. They were being reminded of the presence of God with them each and every time they’d set up camp. Each and every time the tabernacle was set up, the representation of God’s presence was then reestablished with them each time they were given that particular place amongst all the other tribes under their banner, under their standard. And yet they were still on their way to that place that God had promised to take them to.
And so we see the possibility of that hope, that hope remaining, not fading, as they camped next to the same neighbors on the same side of the Tent of Meeting, with the Tent of Meeting in view every single time. The consistency and the faithfulness of God being shown forth every time they camped, and thus the ability to trust His promises and to continue hoping that he would bring them exactly where he said he would. You see, the Lord has given you a routine as well. You see this as a routine?
As you walk through this world of sin and misery, this wilderness, you were given a routine, six days to do all your labor and recreation. And all during those days, being comforted, knowing that a day is coming when you’re given rest. On the first day of the week, the Lord opens a particular place for you to rest in him. Jesus Christ has torn the veil in two such that you can come and enter the throne room of glory where you’re able to rest in the Lord. In this place, one day a week, you’re able to devote the entire day to worship and service and praise. The day becomes a kind of rest from trudging through the wilderness of this world. But the day also becomes a reminder, doesn’t it, of the faithfulness of the triune God, a place where He has set His children each week, a particular place of worship.
And as He does, He’s reminding you that He’s a faithful God, just like the Israelites headed to the Promised Land. He will bring you to that final resting place in paradise. And this daily routine is a reminder, it’s a promise of that. In other words, the Lord your God will bring to completion that which he began.
What a blessing. A place, a particular place of hope and comfort. Do you see the Lord’s day that way? I think this passage is saying that we might want to consider that particular place of comfort and hope every single week. That brings us to our third point, a particular place for seeing the Lord. We’ve noted the divisions. We’ve noted that the tribes were separated. There was a segregation. There will be a segregation.
But did you notice that there’s something similar about every single tribe? As they were positioned, whether it’s on the east or the south or the west or the north, as they were positioned differently, there was something significantly the same about each and every tribe. And it begins in this chapter, they shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. They were to pitch their tents, every tent, every tent within the tribes be facing the tent of meeting. One direction, one place, each tribe, every tribe, every family, every individual, was to be facing, looking toward the tent of meeting, or the tabernacle.
That was to be their posture, facing the tent of meeting. That’s how they were to pitch their tents. That’s how they were to sleep. That’s how they were to eat. That’s how they were to cook their food. That’s how they were to tend their sheep, looking at the center of their existence, looking to the tent of meeting, that place that represented the dwelling of the abiding God in their midst.
Think, just speculate with me a little bit. As that father arose in the morning and lit the fire for his first cup of coffee, what was he looking toward? The tent of meeting. As the mother of the family was out gathering manna and the firewood for the day so she could cook the manna which had fallen on the ground, what was she gazing at? The tent of meeting. As the young children were playing with their friends in the middle of the afternoon trying to stay out of the heat of the wilderness, what were they pointed toward? The Tent of Meeting.
Each one of them purposefully pointed toward the Tent of Meeting, toward that place that represented the abiding of God. 600,000 tents, about that many. 150,000 on the east, 150,000 on the south, 150,000 on the west, 150,000 on the north. That’s a lot of tents, all facing one direction. One and the same thing, the dwelling place of the living God. All looking, all seeing, all positioned to set their hearts and minds upon the things of God. Now you might be thinking, well, some of them were a long way off, 150,000 tents is a lot.
Right, the tent of meeting was not that big, but the pillar of cloud and fire was. And it positioned itself over the tent of meeting, the pillar of cloud and fire, That pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God was calling them, visually calling them, day and night, the fathers, the mothers, the children, to gaze toward Him.
Every day. As their center. The center of their lives. He was the reason for their existence. It was God who made them, and it was God who was sustaining them through the wilderness. He was bringing them to their ultimate dwelling place, the Promised Land, but along the way, He called upon them to face him, to face his dwelling place, day by day. We know the temple, once it was finally constructed, was the center of the life of the Jews.
As Solomon completes his temple, he’s praying to the Lord, and he prays this, Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I’ve built. Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to this plea. Listen to the cry and to the prayer that your servants pray before you this day, that your eyes might be open night and day toward this house, this place of which you have said, my name shall be there. Listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. See, that’s why Daniel opens his window and he prays toward Jerusalem.
God was the center of his existence. And even as Solomon is dedicating the temple, he’s saying, this place, this place, your dwelling place, it’s where our eyes and our hearts must be pointed. And certainly as Jonah is descending into the depths of the sea, what does he do? When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord.
And my prayer came to you into your holy temple. You see, what about you, though? What about day to day for you? For the Jews, it was second nature. Jerusalem, we’re looking toward the temple. But what about you? Is Jesus Christ the center of your life? It’s a valid question that’s raised by this passage. As the Israelites were positioned to face toward the center, the tent of meeting toward God, it’s a picture, an illustration of God being the center of their existence, their day-to-day lives.
You might be thinking, well, we don’t camp around a tent of meeting. We don’t have a pillar of cloud and fire. You may be wondering, well, Christians live across the globe. We have a very different living situation than did the Israelites. And of course, you’re right. But this picture, this image of looking toward the tent of meeting is still a reality. It’s still a call for you tonight.
Jesus is to be the center of your life. Just as Paul wrote in his letter to those at Philippi, as he’s in prison, he’s suffering now for preaching Christ, wrongfully imprisoned, and yet, he writes this, I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it’s my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed. But with full courage now, as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. See, Paul’s life was hidden in Christ, and so Paul lived through Christ because Christ was the center of Paul’s life. For me to live is Christ. And as the Israelites were at the camp looking toward the tent of meeting, looking toward the pillar of cloud and fire which represented Christ, their lives were centered and focused upon him.
And that’s the call this evening. If you’re wondering as we read this passage, how can this apply to me? That’s how. Because you’re called tonight, like we were called this morning, to fix your eyes upon Jesus. If you walk away with nothing else from this passage, please hear this, God in Christ is to be the center of your life. As you awake in the morning, your eyes should be fixed upon Christ. As you make your first cup of coffee, your eyes should be fixed upon Christ. As you cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and send your children out to play in the afternoon, your eyes should be fixed upon Christ.
No, there’s no pillar of cloud and fire. There’s no tent of meeting, but you have something better. You have the Spirit of God abiding within you if you’re trusting in Christ. How is it that you could look away from Christ with the Spirit abiding within you?
Consider this, when you’re tempted this week, and let me assure you, you will be, to place something else, someone else, at the center of your life, to make someone more central, more significant, more important than Jesus, Remember that at the center of the Israelite campground was the ever-present, ever-illuminating pillar of cloud and fire going nowhere else, leading no other peoples, watching over no other nation, keeping these on track perpetually, completely devoted to one task, leading them into the promised land. And now consider Jesus. and how devoted he has been and continues to be to you.
The sinless one has suffered the eternal wrath of God in your place. He suffered being forsaken by his heavenly father because of your sin. He has spent what is akin to eternity in the tomb, lying dead in your place. He’s poured himself out completely for you. There’s nothing more for him to give to you.
And remember now he’s sitting at his father’s right hand, ruling and reigning over your heart and all things in your life. He’s interceding for you constantly, pleading His blood for you, and He is indeed, as we’ve already spoken tonight, preparing a place for you to spend eternity with Him. And as He rules and labors, He is ensuring that when He returns, He will yet be able to confess you before His Father as one who truly, sincerely trusts in Him. Satan will tempt you.
But could anyone else truly be the center of your life? I’ll tell Satan to get behind me. Christ is my center. For me to live is Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ has indeed positioned himself to be the very center of every believer’s heart. Adam fell. The center of his heart became the creation, his wife. But as the spirit works, it continues to mold and shape and change our hearts. such that Jesus Christ will be the only center of your life.
Praise be to God. Amen. Father and our God, how powerful this passage is. Help us never to skip over it, but help us to continue to dig out of it all the riches of Christ. We thank you for our Savior. We pray, Lord God, that as Satan seeks to tempt us away from him, even this week, that you would remind us of all that Christ has done and all that he’s promised to do in the future. Oh, Father, remove from us, remove from us any one or anything that we are tempted to put in the place of Christ and help us to cast our eyes constantly upon Him. We ask all this in Jesus’s name, amen.