Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20111127.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Numbers: Lessons From Spiritual Casualties And Conquerors
Part XXII: Our Need For Total Holiness With God After Sinful Failure
(Numbers 15:17-41)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    In today's world, many seem to "fudge" the line between right and wrong, and that almost unashamedly:

    (1) Patrick H. Caddell, past pollster for President Jimmy Carter, and Douglas E. Schoen, past pollster for President Bill Clinton, in their article, "The Hillary Moment" in the November 21, 2011 issue of The Wall Street Journal, wrote: "President Obama . . . should abandon his candidacy for reelection in favor of a clear alternative . . . that preserves the most important of the president's accomplishments . . . Mr. Obama could still win reelection in 2012 . . . But the kind of campaign required for the president's political survival would make it almost impossible for him to govern . . . throughout a second term."

    I was amazed these self-acclaimed "patriots and Democrats" of the President's party would so candidly support the President's "most important . . . accomplishments" while also tacitly admitting he could not use them as a platform to win reelection! (Ibid.) Indeed, they even claim "the White House has concluded . . . the president cannot run on his record." (Ibid.) Though the article's authors admit the voters do not like the president's "accomplishments," they still tout them in a nationwide paper in an overt effort to manipulate public opinion!

    (2) The November 16, 2011 issue of the same paper, p. A15, ran the story, "Congress's Insider-Trading Non-Scandal" commenting how Congressmen openly use inside information they have due to their positions to invest in ways they would condemn in regular investors!

    (3) I see this shameless "fudging" in religious realms, too! We have often received requests from various Christian organizations for donations, with the "punch line" that for every dollar we might give, a "secret" matching donor will add another dollar or two to the pot!

    Such manipulation is far from Scripture teaching: 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 claims giving is to involve a cheerful individual giving as unto the Lord, something God loves, not giving to "prime the pump" in manipulating other people to give! What these organizations should do is direct their "secret" donors to give their money as unto God rather than trying to lure other people to give by temporarily withholding their donations! How can trying to manipulate others to give this way please God Who wants every believer to give as unto Himself?!

    Thus, we ask: "If God graciously forgives us our sins, how lax can we be on living righteously after that?!"

    Need: "If God graciously forgives our sinful failure as we learned last week, can we afford to be lax' on living righteously? Why?!"

  1. We before learned that after God judged Israel's older generation to die in the wilderness for sin, He graciously spoke of giving the Promised Land to the new generation, Numbers 14:28-29; 15:1-2.
  2. Yet, we also before learned in Numbers 15:3-16 that this blessing was applicable only is the new generation WHOLEHEARTEDLY stayed LOYAL to GOD and so FULLY HEEDED HIS WORD.
  3. Furthermore, Numbers 15:17-41 teaches that though God's grace is FREE, it is NOT CHEAP, and this fact OBLIGATED Israel's new generation to LIVE in COMPLETE HOLINESS unto the Lord:
    1. Numbers 15:17-21 directed that upon entering the Promised Land to which GOD would bring them, the new generation was to offer Him each year as a worship "heave" offering a cake made from the first dough that had been formed from the threshing floor! Israel was thus forever to acknowledge God for His GIFT of the Promised Land.
    2. However, though God is gracious, His grace is NOT CHEAP, and every possible type of sin required blood atonement by a holy God:
      1. Sins committed unwittingly or unintentionally required atonement:
        1. Numbers 15:22-29 "describe the offerings to be brought when a man sinned unwittingly or unintentionally," Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Numbers 15:22-29.
        2. These included animal sacrifices with supplementary offerings of oil, flour and wine (Num. 15:24, 27), typifying the need for sins committed unknowingly or unintentionally to be covered by the cross of Christ (typified in animal sacrifice, Jn. 1:29; Rom. 3:23-25) along with wholehearted rededication to holiness on the part of the sinner (supplementary offerings, Num. 15:3-13).
        3. The greater the party that sinned, the bigger the sacrifice animal, Num. 15:24, 27: if the congregation sinned, it had to offer a bullock; if one person sinned, he had to offer a female goat.
        4. This rule applied to Hebrews and Gentiles alike -- total holiness was necessary in Israel's entire community, Numbers 15:29.
      2. If a party sinned in open defiance of God and His laws, the blood to be shed was that of the sinner! (Ibid., ftn. to Numbers 15:30-31)
      3. Numbers 15:32-36 shows Israel had to learn to judge even human motives to discern the depths of God's holiness and man's sin:
        1. Once while in the wilderness, the people of Israel found a man who had gone out to gather sticks on the Sabbath, Num. 15:32.
        2. Since this activity was not itself actual servile work in that he had not yet used the sticks to start a fire, the people questioned if he was guilty of violating the Sabbath. Thus, they imprisoned him until God dictated a verdict in the case, Number s 16:33-34.
        3. God said the man had violated the Sabbath: gathering the wood was done with the intent to build a fire to violate the Sabbath, so the man had "culpable intent ," Num. 15:35; J. Weingreen, "The Case of the Woodgatherer (Numbers XV 32-36)," VT 16 (1966); 361-364 cited in bible.org's NET Bible notes).
        4. The Lord judged the woodgatherer to be executed by the whole congregation through stoning, so they took the man outside their camp and executed him just as God directed, Numbers 15:36.
      4. God then led Moses tell Israel to put tassels and a cord of blue on the edge of their clothes to remind them to obey God's laws versus following their own sinful lusts [like the man who gathered wood on the Sabbath Day], Numbers 15:37-39; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Numbers 15:37-41. Thus, throughout each day, Israel was to be repeatedly reminded in many ways and events of her need to avoid sinful lusts and to obey the Lord's laws!
      5. Numbers 15:40-41 in summary claims this all revealed that God was totally separate from sin, that He was holy, and that He called His people to live fully apart from their sinful lusts by becoming as holy, or as totally separate from sin, as the Lord, 1 Peter 1:13-16.
Application: May we (1) trust in Christ to be saved from sin and hell, John 3:16. (2) If we commit sins as believers, may we confess them to God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and (3) strive by the Holy Spirit's power to live utterly separate from sin, 1 John 2:1-2; Gal. 5:16-23. In practical terms, this involves (a) heeding God's daily reminders (tassels and cord of blue) to be holy, (b) learning to discern sins we have even previously done ignorantly or unintentionally so as to correct our actions to be holy (c) in every realm of living, (d) even as this applies to examining our motives!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 This message has direct application to an issue that recently rose for us as a body, an issue that was handled by the Church Board.

As most of us here remember, there used to be a plaque on the front of the sanctuary over the organ that was placed there by members of this Church who were here in the 1930s. It commemorated the life of a Church member, Gustavus Beckwith, who had then passed away.

For years, that plaque had been a concern to people in our body as they felt it gave too much glory to a man in competition with the symbol of the cross of Christ that hangs on the wall behind our pulpit.

Thus, when the front wall of the sanctuary was replastered a few years ago, and that plaque was removed for the work to be done, several of us privately decided not to have the plaque hung back up on the wall, but rather to keep it in storage for further deliberations.

However, an intriguing issue of concern recently arose as to what to do with the plaque: the Church Board has recently agreed to a proposal for a family donor to have a Eunice Barnes Memorial Garden built on the edge of our Church property, so one of our members appropriately asked the Board how we could not also rehang the Beckwith plaque back up if we will honor Mrs. Barnes with a garden!

The Board responded to this question, acknowledging that to honor Mrs. Barnes with a Memorial Garden also indicated a duty to honor this man by displaying his plaque. However, taking care not to signal that we are honoring him or Mrs. Barnes on the level of Christ, it was decided that since the Memorial Garden would not be located in the sanctuary, the plaque would likewise not be rehung in the sanctuary, but be displayed in the historical cabinet in Fellowship Hall along with other important historical artifacts of the Church.

Thus, the Gustavus Beckwith plaque is now on display on a shelf in that cabinet.



So, may we trust in Christ as Savior if we have not yet done so, and as God's dear children, be HOLY as GOD is HOLY in all manner of life! May we strive for CONSTANT and PERFECT separation from sin in all and in every way, the OBLIGATION of those of us who are bought with the precious blood of Christ!