And then we'll begin.
Application one, a
people that assemble against their leader may provoke
even the most aged and godly to grievous
death.
Now, we cannot go over this passage without
recognizing that this provocation on the part of
the people was indeed something deliberately done.
Look again at verse 2.
There was no water for the congregation, and
they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.
This was no accident.
Here, a people that knew better, a people
that should long ago have ceased assembling against
the leadership that God provided, deliberately gathered together
and provoked this tragic sin in Aaron and
Moses.
As I've already stated, while there's no justification
for Moses and Aaron, there is incredible condemnation
upon the people.
Moses and Aaron were prevented from finishing their
life work, but the people were barred totally
from the presence and the glory of God.
Maybe there are a few troublemakers here.
There are very few Baptist churches, it appears
to me, that don't have at least some.
Now, we don't have many in the congregational
churches anymore.
We don't have many to start with.
I mean, the numbers are small, but they're
all such rank believers, there's nothing to create
trouble concerning.
Nobody believes anything.
How can you possibly stir up anything?
But I want to ask you, have you
ever provoked a man of God to sin,
and are you going to keep on doing
it?
Do you not sense deeply the urgency of
a change of heart so that, indeed, you
are one who uplifts the servants of God
instead of one of those who is constantly
troubling the church?
The second application that I would suggest to
you, God may, indeed does, fully forgive sin
through Christ and yet impose monstrous penalties on
his own servant.
There are sins that do have their accompanying
consequence.
The sin can be fully forgiven, and yet
the consequence remains.
Sexual sins often carry with them consequences that
never in this lifetime disappear, although the sins
are fully forgiven.
Now, Moses sinned, and I believe with all
my heart he was forgiven, but the consequence
of his sin remained.
And because, as I've stated already, he did
not maintain the glory of God before the
people, God maintained it at Moses' expense.
There was no way God was going to
let his glory be treated as Moses and
Aaron treated it.
And there's no way God is going to
let you rob him of his glory and
show to the people of your world how
unholy God is, because God is not unholy.
If you don't maintain his holiness before the
people, he'll maintain it, if necessary, at your
expense.
You're talking about judgment.
And I've given you this morning reasons why
these judgments are in place and must be
anticipated.
There was a price that had to be
paid for the sin of Moses and Aaron,
and although some have somehow that ability to
dismiss the consequence of their sin, oh, they
only died short of the fulfillment of their
life's purpose.
What does it matter?
But when the glory of God is uppermost
in your mind and heart and you rob
God of his glory, I can't personally imagine
anything worse.
And I say to myself, if after all
these years, by God's grace I have maintained
his glory, and now in a fit of
rage I rob him of his glory, what
could be worse?
Could a life in hell compare with knowing
that I have robbed the Lord God Almighty
of that which is eternally here?
I'm urging you to sense the significance of
sin in the life of the believer.
Number three, prayer may anger God and he
may cut it short by explicit command or
even punish it by giving cause for buckets
of tear.
I dare not launch into a spiel concerning
Psalm 80, but there's a terribly important passage
about God giving us tears to drink in
great measure instead of answering our prayers.
But we'll stick with the text.
Moses, in the last passage in Deuteronomy that
we looked at, was pleading with God.
Oh, God, would you not overlook my sin?
Would you not cover it?
Would you not permit me to get on
with my calling and to finish my work?
And the Lord said, enough!
We've got to learn when to take God's
no as an answer, when to persevere in
prayer, and when to withdraw our prayers and
say, Lord, not my will, but thine, be
done.
That's what happened to our Savior in the
garden.
And that needs most certainly to happen to
us.
Number four, God is clearly much more desirous
of having His servants maintain His holiness than
He is in any amazing exploits they may
do in His name.
Now, think about that.
We've got men in ministry all around us
who trample the holiness of God constantly in
the dirt.
And they think because of the mighty exploits,
the huge churches they're building, these wonderful things
they're doing for the kingdom of God, that
their trampling of the glory of God is
overlooked.
But no, no.
Your primary task in life is to glorify
God.
Doesn't matter what mighty deeds you commit in
His name, the degree to which you maintain
His holiness before the people is His critical
concern.
And finally, application five.
I've said it already, but this gives me
an opportunity to repeat it.
If you don't maintain God's glory before the
people, He'll maintain it at your expense.
Because He is a God who
is always timely in His judgment, He will
bring down everyone who neglects to maintain His
glory before the people.
Now, Father, what a tragedy if some aged
believer in this assembly should
sin like Moses, like Aaron.
Grant, oh grant, that essential help of your
spirit in putting into practice these words.
From your word, we pray, in the blessed
name of Jesus, amen.