I wanted to share something from Numbers, but
before I go there, I want to ask
you a question.
I don't know if we recognize that God's
Classification of sin is different sometimes than our
classification of sin We may think it's the
same we may use our use our human
logic But God's classification of sin is very
different and I want to show you an
example of that from Jude chapter 1 verse
11 Jude is the second last book in
the Bible and there's Jude shares some things
about three sinners in that verse and as
we study scripture if If we set aside
our human logic and say God I Want
to understand your logic the Bible says in
Isaiah 55 That God's ways are higher than
our ways how different from the heaven is
from the earth That's how different God's ways
are from our ways.
So we have to recognize that when God
Looks at things he looks at things very
differently than we would so you look at
this passage in Jude 1 verse 11 He
criticizes three people and he rebukes three people
here in this verse.
He says war to them For they have
gone the way of Cain Then they have
rushed headlong into the era of Balaam and
Perished in the rebellion of Korah Now there
are three people there Cain Balaam and Korah.
I would ask you think about those three
people You know what they did Cain what
did Cain do He committed murder It's a
pretty horrible thing What did Balaam do?
Balaam cursed the Israelites and caused the Israelites
to stumble it says in Revelation chapter 2
That he caused the Israelites to commit acts
of immorality By putting a stumbling block in
front of the Israelites What did Korah do?
Korah rebelled against Moses.
I think about those three sins murder causing
somebody to sin sexually and standing up against
somebody who is God's authority How would you
classify those three sins?
Would you classify it in the opposite order?
Well, it's kind of bad to stand up
to a man of God and say well,
he's wrong.
Okay But to cause somebody else to sin
sexually to tempt somebody to be more immoral
sexually, that's worse And then to commit murder,
that's the worst But you see the opposite
Order in which God looks at it and
God is saying war to these people They
first go in this way of Cain he's
talking again to people in the church That's
what we've got to understand because the people
in the church gets are so scared of
murder.
They'll never do it They may dress immodestly.
They may flirt in their conversations with other
people's wives or with other women They may
do that never commit murder, but it's called
stumbling blocks in the way they treat other
women maybe Could go both ways So that's
less serious for the men of God and
women of God and least serious is the
fact that they'll say well Who's godly authority
anybody can do whatever they want.
We're all men of God.
We're all women of God.
We all hear from God That is the
tendency you tend to find in Christianity inspect
yourself.
How close are you to committing murder?
Hope not very close at all How close
are you to talking flirtatiously to somebody at
work to provoking other people to lust?
Through leading people on maybe a lot closer
How close are we to disregarding?
spiritual authority Understanding who's a godly person very
close We see that God's ways are much
higher But as we inspect our lives in
the church, we find that the order is
correct Now if we're all out in the
world Where there is no spirit of God
living in us, then maybe the order could
be different Please don't commit murder at least
don't kill people but for people in the
church It starts off with those kind of
sins, but then we start to excuse the
more Normal sins or not that bad and
that's the great great great danger we're not
as We're not as susceptible to the sin
of Cain as we are to the sin
of Balaam and We are most likely to
fall into the sin of Korah what we
find that the sin of Korah is punished
the worst.
Did you know that God never killed Cain?
after he killed Abel Never did it.
He said well, you're gonna be banished.
You're gonna have a mark on your body,
but Neither with Balaam.
God judged Balaam a few years later and
the Israelites ended up killing him but Korah
Right then Swallowed up into the middle of
the earth in Numbers chapter 16.
You see how God took the sin of
Korah so much more Seriously than the sin
of Cain You won't see that if you
think with your logic God's ways are much
higher than our ways.
That is why it's so important for us
to Understand God's ways not just be logical
So I wanted to show you Numbers chapter
16 Numbers chapter 16.
I wanted to share with you just a
couple of thoughts Numbers chapter 16 is the
rebellion of Korah.
This is the story where Korah and a
couple of other families rose up against Moses
Verse 16 verse 1 Numbers chapter 16 verse
1.
It says Korah who is of particular He
was actually Moses's cousin if I'm not mistaken
close relative Took action.
That's what it says in verse 1.
He finally had enough.
He basically said that In verse 3, he
says you've gone far enough.
I've pretty much had it with you Moses
and You see what he says here.
It's interesting.
What is what what provoked him?
He says all the congregation are holy.
All of us are children of God.
All of us here are all equally holy
Every one of them and the Lord is
in all our midst.
There's no difference Moses between you and me
Why do you Moses exalt yourself above everybody
else That's that was the sin of Korah.
That's what provoked him.
He says look, we're all Christians.
We're all children of God What makes you
think you're somebody special?
What makes you think that you can hear
from God more than I can?
But it also is interesting also when I
read this passage That what provoked What made
Korah take action Maybe many things maybe many
things it was clearly a bunch of things
was clearly not one act But what made
him finally say is enough is what happened
before that Now if you go back to
numbers 14 and numbers 13 and 14 you
see that the Israelites were told to go
and kill the Giants of the land and
The spies came back in numbers 13 and
said no most of the spies came back
and said no this land is great But
the Giants are too big.
We should not go Joshua and Caleb were
the only two who went and they stood
up against Joshua and Caleb said we should
not go and God Punished them and said
look finally I've had enough None of you
are gonna enter the promised land So they
then went to try it to go in
in their own strength and they failed God
punished them They got beaten up by the
enemies when they tried to go out in
their own strength.
That's in numbers 14 and Then at the
end of numbers 15 you see a small
little story in verse 32 numbers 15 verse
32 where a man was gathering wood on
the Sabbath today and they brought him to
Moses and Aaron and They put him in
custody Because it had not been declared what
they should do with him Then the next
day the Lord told Moses.
This is what you got to do.
You got a stone him So Moses had
the whole congregation That's what the Lord's command
was can you imagine the scene the whole
congregation taking this man outside and Moses saying
now all of us need to take stones
and stone this man that's what it says
and the sold all congregation brought him outside
the camp and stoned him to death and
Moses Said as a result of this we're
gonna have to change also the way we
dress You read that passage.
He says now we're gonna add something to
all of our clothing now because this is
such a serious issue that has happened and
Then you see that the next verse after
that is where Korah says now we have
to take action Enough is enough a small
little sin, which we thought was a small
little sin was the final provocation and What
I noticed in there is that When there's
an unresolved issue in our lives It can
be a small little thing That the Lord
asks us to do when godly man decides
to do something that can provoke us and
then can cause us to finally have all
of that junk come to the service and
for it to come out and then it
ends up with Widespread rebellion that God ends
up having to swallow them into the earth
but where it started from was because a
Small sin must have Korah must have thought
now you see what this man was doing
in verse 32.
He was just gathering wood How big a
deal is that on the Sabbath day?
Just to be gathering wood and we could
think that the punishment for gathering wood Should
be well, maybe give him a stern warning
but because it was such a holy thing
that God was trying to establish in Sovereignty
and God was saying I want this to
be a sign.
That's what he says about Sabbath.
I want this to be a sign That
I have set you apart He wanted that
small little thing to be a sign one
day of the week Keep it holy and
this man was gathering wood and in Exodus
25.
We read that that God said I Want
this day to be holy one day of
the week because this is going to be
the sign that I set you apart That
you don't work on Sundays that you don't
labor on Sundays.
That was no again.
This is the old covenant This is not
the new agreement.
We can work seven days of the week
But that was the sign that God said
you people you're going to be known For
your Christianity by that one little sign and
when somebody assaulted that sign the punishment was
really really strong What I love about this
passage even though the Exodus chapter I think
it was at 25 clearly states what the
punishment for breaking the Sabbath is What I
love about this passage is it says in
verse 34.
They put him in custody Because it had
not been declared what should be done to
them See when I read the Lord was
very clear what you should do to somebody
who works on the Sabbath You must stone
him.
It was very clear And I don't know
the reason for this But for whatever reason
Moses and Aaron said look we're not going
to decide right away We're going to go
to the Lord and then it says very
clearly that the Lord said to Moses God
spoke to Moses and said address the sin
and address it in this way Moses he
was even though he was the man of
God Even though he was the leader of
the people he before he passed judgment on
something.
He listened And oftentimes when we see other
people sinning when we think we see everything
about a situation It is extremely important for
us to take a step back and listen
to what God is trying to tell us
Because God has a lot to show us
about his ways see because our tendency is
to examine the entire situation using human logic
and We will investigate Cain's sin and Balaam's
sin and Korah's sin and we'll give Korah
a slap on the wrist we'll tell Balaam
not to break bread for three months and
we will put Cain in jail for the
rest of his life.
That's how we would meet our punishment But
God says my ways are different especially in
the church And so we have to understand
Lord when I'm dealing with the situation when
I look at things logically I may not
be able to put all the pieces of
the puzzle together But I'm dealing with a
church where it's God's way not my way
and I cannot say Lord I have to
figure out all of this logically I have
to understand your ways and I know from
scripture your ways are way different from my
ways so I should go before the Lord
and listen to him and Try to hear
from him his way of thinking Dear brothers.
This is not a complicated thought, but I
wonder how often we do it We tend
to gather all the information.
We tend to think about all the situations
and we pass our judgment We don't go
before the Lord and we don't listen.
I want to give you a practical example
and it's got nothing to do with The
Sabbath, but it is related.
You know when I read this passage about
little tassels being put at the edge of
garments The thing that came to my mind
is the practice of head covering that we
preach in this church which is for that
when men and women Sit in the church
service according to 1 Corinthians 11 We should
cover all human glory and God's glory must
be exposed All of God's glory must be
exposed all of Human glory must be covered
and that's the way we understood head covering
too That men and women both play a
role in this where the men are proclaiming
with their heads uncovered that God gets all
the glory and Women on behalf of both
the men and the women cover their heads
as a demonstration of all human glory gets
covered very simple Small little thing.
It's like a tassel at the end of
a robe.
I remember that when we Bobby Jeremy and
I were talking about this we were brand
-new elders.
Actually, we were not been elders for long
But when we discussed this the way we
discussed this we said let's go in each
of us spend a few months I don't
know what it was a month three months
something and let's not talk about it with
each other Let's study God's Word individually and
see what the Bible has to say about
it.
I'm not gonna influence you You don't try
to influence me Let's just each of us
study God's Word When we came back together
after the period of time that we decided
to study on it There was not a
second of disagreement.
Just think about this.
You got three different people We have not
been united for that long.
I had known Jeremy for 12-14 months
same as Bobby They had not grown up
in a culture of covering the head But
they decided we decided to just study God's
Word and just read it as simply as
it sounds We can read other commentaries and
this and that but we want to be
influenced by God's Word As a result of
that we came up with a document and
different things like that What a couple of
things that I noted about that is there
was not even a second of disagreement among
the three of us It was remarkable There
are many other much more important issues you
would think of That we have discussed over
the last seven or eight years that we've
had a lot more disagreement about But I
will say that the practice of head covering
is a very very small trivial part of
the New Covenant But there was not a
single second of disagreement in the way which
we thought it needed to be applied God
blessed us with a remarkable sense of unity
to begin with And so it was out
of that that we wrote that document and
at that time There were a few people
who left our church as a result of
that and one of them I remember them
coming to me and telling me we're really
concerned of the way the way our church
is going because of your Focusing on this
and practicing it this way.
He said I believe you're becoming Inward-looking
I believe you're gonna become legalistic You're pushing
these things which are small minor things.
I knew this man for about two years.
I knew longer than I've known Jeremy and
Bobby.
I asked him.
Hey, look you've heard me speak For almost
every week I was speaking to their small
group.
He had a small group I said you've
heard me speak for several months or years.
Have you ever heard me talk about this?
You know, I talk long and hard about
the love of God and about faith and
things like that But because I talk about
it once Maybe twice now you think we're
being legalistic.
I said, maybe you're right.
I said here's a way we will test
this whether it's true.
Come back in ten years And let's see
I Said maybe I don't know in two
weeks two months not sure about it is
but take some time Come back in ten
years and you come back to me And
if you think our church is becoming legalistic
come and physically slap me and say Sunday,
what were you thinking?
I told you ten years ago.
Don't lead the people of God the wrong
way but If you come back in ten
years, and you find that this church is
not legalistic Even in their practice of it
and if you find that this church is
growing in love Then maybe We handle the
Word of God correctly small little thing But
I realized that the only way we can
prove these things When we when we are
wondering about different things that are happening is
to listen and wait Give it time Because
what I have found when I Have a
problem with the way a man of God
or the way a church leadership does certain
things I may not understand it But if
I give it time God will show me
What is in me Most of all and
God wants to show me what is in
me And if I stand up in rebellion
against it I'm not gonna ever see what
is in me and God wants to show
me what is in me most of all
And I have found that when I submit
to godly authority Even if they are wrong
About a decision that they make the best
thing about it is the fact that I
chose to submit To the people I called
my godly authority and God built the best
virtue out of me, which is submission.
I hope that all of us dear brothers
and sisters will realize that rebellion Is Such
a serious sin that we have to start
to find the beginnings of that in our
heart Murder is a horrible sin.
I hope you'll start to watch the beginnings
of murder in your heart.
God calls it anger What about the beginnings
of rebellion in your heart?
It is worse than murder.
Let me show you this verse in 1
Samuel chapter 15 1
Samuel chapter 15 verse 23 1
Samuel chapter 15 verse 23 for
rebellion is as bad as witchcraft Now you
got this festival of Halloween coming up and
And Halloween is connected with witchcraft.
It's the holy day of another religion It's
the most holy day of another religion that's
very active called Wiccanism.
They practice witchcraft so Christians Have a different
opinion about witchcraft and they say well, I'm
not gonna allow my children to be affected
by that spirit That is there in Halloween
Well, I got a question for you, do
you see rebellion or the seed of rebellion
the seed of insubordination The same way chances
are we don't God's ways are not our
ways We have to use God's ways to
say Lord when I don't understand something about
your ways But I don't understand the way
a godly person does something.
What is my first reaction?
And I'll tell you this from my own
life I mean, I've had many tests of
having to submit now I speak as one
of the elders in this church here But
I've had to practice submission myself actively continuously,
I have found that in my practice of
submission What the Lord has taught me when
I don't understand what godly authority does when
I've seen The effect of let's say in
my case Zaipunin's ministry and the way it
has been used The biggest thing the Lord
has shown me in that is this Sandeep
what have you done for the Lord?
What have you done for the Lord And
I look at my life and I ask
myself Lord, how many people have I brought
to you?
How many times have I how many people
have I reached out for you?
What has been the effect of my ministry?
What has been that effect of that and
I asked myself in soberness Lord helped me
to respect Even if somebody else has the
wrong doctrine When people are out there bringing
the good news to a lot of people
They may not have the perfect doctrine, but
when they're out there spreading in good news
about Jesus Christ helped me to be careful
Whether or not I submit to them help
me to be careful to speak out against
them.
I may disagree with them But especially with
my own spiritual authority, let me realize that
the seed of Rebellion that is in me
is worse than murder.
It's as bad as witchcraft so In addition
to knowing how serious the sin of rebellion
is So the end result of that is
can be okay.
No, I'm not gonna rebel against anybody.
I'm just gonna not have anybody over me
That's the other extreme But I find that
I have to realize that submission is one
of God's greatest virtues Submission in the work
in the church is usually told by some
people to say wives Submit to your husband's
no submission is not wives to your husband's
alone.
Why is this submission?
The submission is something for all people All
of us need to submit One of the
greatest virtues that all of us need to
have is we are people of submission That
should be one of the strongest muscles in
our body and let me ask you that
brothers as Well as sisters.
Is that one of the strongest muscles in
your body or do you tend to think
well, I've got a brain I've got intelligence.
I went to a good school I've got
God's Word I've got the Holy Spirit and
living with me.
I can figure out God for myself Is
there a role for a godly teacher in
our life?
Is there a role for people to instruct
us It's as foolish as how long have
we been Christians?
Ten years, twelve years.
Do we think we're all ready to go
and fend for ourselves in the world?
Do we know God?
These are the questions that God has asked
me as I've Seen the beginning seeds of
rebellion that can come into my heart and
I'm not brothers and sisters, please No, I'm
not speaking at anybody here.
This is what the Lord has been speaking
to me.
I am NOT right now Contemplating rebellion against
any spiritual authority, but I'll tell you what
I have seen.
I have seen that I have not been
careful to look for the seed of Rebellion
in my heart the seed of rebellion.
It starts very small and when that seed
of Rebellion comes in it can become a
root of bitterness a Root of selfish ambition
that can start to creep in and then
one day becomes a big tree.
Dear brothers and sisters Let us judge ourselves
And I'll ask myself Lord Jesus is the
muscle of submission the strongest muscle in my
body How am I demonstrating that how am
I testing that out?
Do I long to be under some spiritual
authority who can point out the areas where
I'm falling who can give me those Instructions
that lead me on to life.
Let me long to diligently come under that
We must also be very careful about the
kind of people we ask To be submitted
to you should inspect their lives carefully.
You should see the way they raise their
children should see the way they The people
around them what kind of other godly people
around them in their lives Are they keeping
the company with people who really want to
follow God are they good in the way
they deal with money Are their eyes sexually
pure?
Are they seeking to please people or are
they seeking to please God?
These are the things we should ask about
the people before we submit to them But
if we choose to submit to them then
we should ask ourselves Lord I don't want
the seed of rebellion to even come into
our hearts.
I want to fight it with all of
my heart May God help us