The First Army of Israel, an Illustration of the Church Militant
W. Jones. Numbers 1:20-46 And the children of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers… : — I. THE NECESSITY OF THIS ARMY. The Church must be militant. 1. Internal foes have to be conquered. Carnal appetites, evil passions, &c. 2. External foes have to be conquered. Ignorance and superstition, immorality and irreligion, dirt and disease, vice and crime. II. THE AUTHORITY FOR ORGANISING THIS ARMY. God's command. III. THE COMPOSITION OF THIS ARMY. 1. Israelites only. Thoroughly decided Christians are needed now. 2. Able men only. Christ gives strength even to the weak and timid. 3. All the able men. None exempt. We must either vanquish our spiritual enemies, or they will vanquish us. Neutrality is out of the question here. Neither can we do our fighting by proxy. IV. THE CONQUERING SPIRIT OF THIS ARMY. When our faith in God is strong, we are invincible. When it fails, we are overthrown by the first assault of the enemy. True faith gives glorious visions to the spirit, inspires us with heroic courage, girds us with all-sufficient strength. Conclusion — 1. A call to decision. "Who is on the Lord's side?" 2. A call to courage. Our arms are tried and true; our great Leader is invincible; let us then "be strong and of a good courage." 3. A call to confidence. Our courage, to be true, must spring from faith, By trust we triumph. (W. Jones.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; WEB: The children of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war;