[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. I would like to go ahead and turn to Numbers chapter 30. Don't be scared, I'm not going to preach out the rest of the hour.
[0:12] But we're going to look at the first point, then we're going to go back to our normal order of service. We're going to try to catch you off guard here for a little bit. Because chapter 30 and chapter number 31, chapter number 30 is something that you might find published in something like Southern Living.
[0:30] It's about how a home should be created. Chapter 31 is something out of The Art of War. When a pastor leaves, I always am tempted to want to punt a chapter. I look at this chapter and I think, this is a problem.
[0:43] And then I look at the next chapter and then I realize this is a problem as well. So in chapter 30 we see this, how if Elizabeth makes a vow and Josh doesn't disallow the vow and it stands, then the vow's got to happen.
[0:55] And I thought, oh brother, that's a problem. Then I get to chapter 31 and the Midianites, the children of Israel, go out and they bring back the Midianites and they bring back the women.
[1:05] And Moses comes out and said, you didn't kill the women? And they're like, no. He's like, well you've got to kill the women. And so I was all the way in the book of Mark before I found something I was comfortable with. I kept flipping and flipping.
[1:17] But there are wonderful truths. And I would hate to skip a chapter. I wouldn't mind that you would know that I wasn't able to find the riches of God's Word. But I'd hate to ever give the indication that there's nothing to be found in his book.
[1:31] Because it's always there. We may not find it, but it is always there for us. And so I have found wonderful truths and been encouraged by this. And so the thing that would connect chapter 30 and 31 is holiness.
[1:43] Chapter 30 would talk about a holy home. That's why we're going to talk about it before we have the men come forward and pray and get back to our regular schedule. And the next chapter will be chapter 31, which is a holy war.
[1:56] And we see how the fight against the Midianites was not just strategic. It wasn't about land, but it was about the idolatry in the hearts of the children of Israel. And then we get to see that Balaam dies.
[2:07] We thought he left, but he stuck around. And because of that, he will die. But let me read the whole chapter too in Numbers 30. And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.
[2:21] If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall not do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth.
[2:38] And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul. And her father shall hold his peace at her. Then all her vows shall stand, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.
[2:50] But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any of her vows or her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. And the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
[3:03] And if she had at all a husband, when she vowed or uttered aught out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul. And her husband heard it, and heard his peace at her in that day that he heard it.
[3:16] Then her vow shall stand, and her bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it, then he shall make her vow which she vowed, that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul of none effect.
[3:32] And the Lord shall forgive her. But of every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith she has bound their soul, she shall stand against her. And if she vowed it in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath.
[3:44] And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not. Then all her vows shall stand, and her bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband has utterly made them void on that day, he heard them, that whatsoever proceedeth out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand.
[4:03] But her husband has made them void, and the Lord shall forgive her. Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul. Her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her.
[4:21] He confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. But it shall in any ways make them void after that which heard them, that he shall bear her iniquity.
[4:31] These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house. That's the reading of Numbers chapter 30.
[4:43] So as we read in the Old Testament, we understand living at different times, but we don't live with a different God. That God feels the same about integrity, and he feels the same about a home, as he does all the way back in Numbers 30.
[4:56] So the first question I'd ask myself is, why did this come here? In the next chapter, it's going to pick up right where chapter 25 left off. We have a few chapters here where we get more understanding of Balaam, but chronologically, the next chapter is going to jump right back into the war scene.
[5:10] It's going to be the art of war. It's going to be craziness going on. But this chapter seemed to be out of place, because we've had a chapter talking about the sacrifices and the things that are going on.
[5:23] First thing I'd like for you to see here is that integrity as a form of worship. Is that being a person of integrity is a form of worship to our Lord. Verses 2 and 3, if a man vow a vow unto the Lord.
[5:37] Verse number 3, if a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord. Those three words, unto the Lord, takes this area of making vows and integrity into an area that is worship.
[5:48] And it's unto our Lord. So in line with chapters, I describe worship requirements. First, vows are usually sealed with a sacrifice, and when the prayer was answered, another sacrifice would be offered.
[6:00] Leviticus 7.16 says that. But if the sacrifice of the offering be a vow or a volunteer offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice. And on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten.
[6:12] The vows often came with sacrifices. So this chapter would make sense in that context. Secondly, vows were frequent during wars, and Israel was about to engage in a long campaign. During this war, the wives should be left on their own, so that the questions or vows made in their husbands' absence might arise.
[6:29] The next chapter, the men of war go to the war in 32.26 says, Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead.
[6:40] So when they go forth to war, they're going to put their children, and they're going to leave their wives, they're going to leave their little ones, and they will be left there, and they will make vows. My grandmother was left, and my grandfather went off to World War II, and things changed in history.
[6:55] The home changed because women, they did things that they might not have done up to that point. And this is a time that they're facing. They're going to go forth to war, and so these women may be making vows. But then we look at number three.
[7:07] Israel had made a vow that would annihilate the Canaanites. Canaanites are the umbrella company that take in all those other ite people, the people of Canaan, all the ones that we will talk about.
[7:19] And they had made a vow unto the Lord in Numbers 21 and verse number two. And they have a covenant relationship between God and Israel, and it's likened to that between a father and a child or a husband and a wife.
[7:31] Numbers 21.2, it says, So we have to be filled with meaning to these people as they look at when a man makes a vow, he should keep it.
[7:46] When a woman makes a vow under these conditions, they should keep it. And we learn some things. Integrity is a form of worship because we make a vow and we do it unto the Lord. The word integrity means a state of being whole or undivided.
[7:58] You know this. It comes from the word integer, a whole number. Not a fraction. I've always joked about how I never want to do my banking with fifth, third bank. Is that what they're called?
[8:09] Fifth, third? Is that a bank? Disagree with me? Because they don't even understand math. There's no fifth, third. There's one and two-thirds bank, right? And so I can't trust them with my money. And fifth, third, but that's not a whole number.
[8:21] One, two, three. Those are whole numbers. Integrity is being a person that's complete, that is whole. It was seen when Joseph runs from the room. He loses his coat, but he keeps his integrity.
[8:34] It was seen when Daniel, as he trades his house for a den, but he still continues to pray. It was seen when my stepdad lost his job because they came to him and they said, you have to have a college education to do this job.
[8:46] And he said, I don't have a high school education. And then they hired him back a few years later because they couldn't ever find anybody to do the job as well as he did. But it's integrity. We see it there. Just doing what's right and saying, God, I trust you regardless of the circumstances.
[9:02] It comes out of not needing to manipulate your environment because you trust God. That I don't have to manipulate the circumstances here. I can just trust you, God. That's where integrity comes in.
[9:13] It's a keeping and breaking of vows to demonstrate a desire to live unto the Lord. Positive, I will do this. Or negative, I won't do this. That's how it works here. Positive and negative.
[9:24] And we take vows today. If you've ever bought a house. If you've ever agreed to work for someone under conditions. If you've ever got married. If you gave your word to somebody. We still have this opportunity to worship God through integrity.
[9:37] Positive, the family dynamic and truth telling we see here. We were taught to be very independent. Some years ago we went to Six Flags and some teenagers came from India. And at the end of the day their family had come with them, the mom and an aunt.
[9:50] And they said, we had so much fun. Because they said these American kids are just taught to be independent thinkers. And I said, that might be what you call them. But they said they all know what they want to do. And they all know which roller coaster they want to go to.
[10:01] And they just ran from one to another. But from the east they would gather together in circles. And they would always talk about it. They were more contextual in their thinking. Of what do you want to do? What should we do?
[10:11] And they would ride like three rides during the day. Where the other ones were going one after another. And so we're taught to be independent. And America is known for that. And we hope that for our kids. We want to make them independent.
[10:22] Until Thatcher tries to make his own bowl of cereal. And we say, not yet. Alright? Let's slow down on your own being independent. But what it calls for here is truth telling and the family dynamic.
[10:33] That's why I wanted to mention this before the men come forward and we pray. First of all, it really calls for men to man up. And it does. And we really need that to happen in America.
[10:44] The day is Sanctity of Life Sunday. And we think it's an issue that is dealt with with women. But what we need is we need men to stand up and say, in this situation I'll be a dad. I didn't plan for this to happen.
[10:55] But if men would stand up and say, I'm going to be a person of integrity. Then we wouldn't have the issue that we have on the level. It really comes down to men standing up. So first of all, if a man makes a vow, he's got to keep it.
[11:08] You know, there's no backup plan. If a man makes a vow and his wife knew it was a dumb idea, A man still made a vow and he still has to keep it, we learn here. And there's no one else to blame.
[11:18] In times of crisis, men turn to God in prayer. And their prayers often take the form of vows. If God helps me now, I'll go on this trip or I'll go do this. I'll go to church and tons of examples are found in the Bible.
[11:30] In Genesis chapter 28 verse 20, it said that Jacob here, he feared the Lord. And Jacob vowed a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me this way that I go, I'll give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace.
[11:45] Then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone which I set per pillar shall be God's house. And all that shall give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. So he made a vow. He was fearful, he makes a vow.
[11:56] It couldn't be seen any more clearly on Jonah's boat. You know, when the boat is in the waves there, men are vowing about everything. They're making all kinds of promises. 1.6, Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and they offered a sacrifice unto the Lord.
[12:09] And they made vows. They just wanted off that boat in one piece. Ecclesiastes warns us that if we vow a vow unto God, we shouldn't defer to pay it. He hath no pleasure in fools and pay which we have vowed.
[12:22] And so men, first of all, we need the man up. This chapter says if you make a vow, keep it. You know, we can't. It's hard to understand exactly. You don't feel like you're making vows. People don't ask you.
[12:32] If you give your word, keep your word. And integrity is a form of worship. It's a form about living this holy life in the world as a form of worship. Swear to your own hurt.
[12:43] If you say you've got to do it, then you need to do it. Secondly, women, you're going to like this one. Might even get an amen from you. We need to pay better attention to what our wives are saying. That's the moral of verse number four.
[12:53] Let me read that to you again here. Because some of you men wonder if the Bible says that. And the father hear her vow and her bond with, she has bond with, she has bond with, so. And her father at peace at her, then all the vows shall stand.
[13:06] Verse number six. And if she had a husband when she vowed or uttered out of the lips, wherewith she bound her soul? And if her husband heard it and held his peace at her in that day and he heard it, then her vow shall stand, her bonds wherewith she shall bound her soul shall stand.
[13:22] So if the wife says something, men, you might want to start paying attention here. Because this is a big deal to us. And once again, we're looking at how God views the family dynamic and truth-telling and integrity.
[13:33] That we're not supposed to act independently, but we should help one another in this. Our silence indicates consent. If the husband says nothing for a long time from day to day, he's thereby established his wife's vow.
[13:45] And Hannah's example, Samuel's mother, provides a classic example. When she makes upon herself this Nazareth vow to dedicate her son and her husband allowed it, and then they lived it out. Samuel was taking there.
[13:57] And so I ask you men, we may share our budgets, we may share schedules, we may share a mortgage with our wives. But you want to make sure that you're sharing your heart with them. Because they're supposed to live codependent upon each other.
[14:10] That what they say we should be listening to, and we should be able to advise them. And that as a wife, they should see us as a provide security there. We're listening to what they're saying, and we say, you might want to consider this.
[14:20] I want you to think through some of these things. Never goes that easy, does it? That sounds nice, what I just said. But we help them as they're processing this, and we should listen to them. So first of all, we say, men, we need the man up.
[14:32] Because we make a vow, we're supposed to keep it. Secondly, men, we need to listen to our wives. Wives and husbands, we should work together in this. Because truth-telling is a family dynamic. And then thirdly here, children should look into their fathers for guidance.
[14:46] It should provide protection. And it changed when a woman married. So first of all, we see there's this safety here. That children should be looking to a father. And that if they make a promise, there's a safety net there.
[14:57] That a kid can't say, I vow that the next thing that comes through the door of our house, I'm going to slaughter, as we have in the Old Testament here, a story. Because then the dad could say, that's not very wise.
[15:08] You should really consider this. You should really think over this. And so students in here, teenagers, you ought to realize that God gave you your family for your displeasure.
[15:18] No, God gave you your family for your safety and your protection and the guidance there. Even making provision that when you make a vow here, that the dad there would be able to veto it.
[15:29] And we see how God feels about the family. And then vows should not be used to divide a family, as said here. Jesus was very direct about this point in Matthew 15, 3-5. We can't evade our responsibility.
[15:41] He said, He answered and said unto them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded us, saying, Honor thy father and mother. And he cursed father and mother, let him die the death. But you say, Whosoever shall say to his father and mother, It is a gift by whatsoever mightest be profited by me.
[15:57] Saying, You can't say, I don't have to take care of my parents, because I made a vow unto the Lord, and my vow unto the Lord now keeps me from taking care of my parents. It was the parents were coming to these people, and saying, We need some help.
[16:08] And they say, Hey, we can't help you. But it's saying that you can't make a vow that contradicts a God-given responsibility here. So vows are not made to divide a family. Neither wives nor children may substitute a self-imposed religious obligation for God-given duties.
[16:24] And I've seen it before. I've seen a form of rebellion in Christians, in the Christian world, that seem to motivate young people to want to do something, not for God's glory, but because their desire to rebel from their parents in any form possible.
[16:38] Maybe you understand the words that I said, and maybe you know exactly what I'm talking about. That teenagers can get caught up in just wanting to say they want to do all those things, and it's really just because they want to rebel.
[16:50] And whatever direction it's going in, they want to be a part of it. And so God is talking about integrity in the home, and the value of it. And it also says that it's unto the Lord, which means integrity is a form of worship.
[17:03] We say it over and over again. If you minimize worship, what happens with music that's being sung in the church, you really miss out on things. It can happen. You have decisions that you'll make throughout this week, and you say, I'm going to keep my word.
[17:15] I'm not going to manipulate this situation. I'm going to live a life of holiness. And then also inside of our homes, that our home should be a dynamic that helps with truth-telling. Men, listen to what your wife's saying, because we're supposed to listen to their heart, and help provide shepherding and pastoring.
[17:31] Listen to what your kids are saying, because you're supposed to be involved in their lives. We're not supposed to just wind up and let them go, and let them make their own decisions. But it says until while this lady is in, or young girl is in a home, that that dad is there for, then she'll move on to a husband, and that husband will be there for them.
[17:48] And then in a little bit, we will see how drastically different that chapter is from the next. You know, as a joke, but me and Stephanie like totally different movies. You know, she likes things about the home, and I like blood.
[17:59] If you like blood, you'll like the next chapter. Amen. Our Lord is holy, and He is totally separate. He has opposed the sin, and we were thankful for that, and that there is none like Him.
[18:11] And we don't make any apologies for it. Very clear in the last chapter, even more clear in this next one. I won't say more clear, but describe to us in different terms that our God is holy, and He hates sin.
[18:23] To an extreme, what may appear to be extreme to us, our God hates sin. And we make no apologies about the fact that our God is holy. We don't change His book. We don't change the stories of the Bible.
[18:34] And He makes it very clear how He feels about sin. So we're in chapter 31. So in chapter 30, we say that integrity is a form of worship. God says, keep your vows.
[18:45] Be a person of integrity. Do right unto the Lord, as unto honoring Me. Don't try to manipulate circumstances. Just do what's right, and to trust Me. And that's important in a home. The children of Israel, you said that you were going to kill the Canaanites, and when you make a vow, you should keep it.
[19:01] And me as your father, I didn't disallow this vow. I allowed it to stand. Now here's your opportunity. Go and do what you said that you were going to do. We are right on the verge of the Promised Land.
[19:13] And the children of Israel have to want to get into the Promised Land. And if there's any other group of people in the world that want the children of Israel to get into the Promised Land, it ought to be us. Because we've been through the book of Exodus, and we've been in the book of Numbers, and we are ready to get out of the sand, and we are ready to get into the Promised Land.
[19:30] And so they're finally in the verge, and they're going to go there. So Moses has... I'm not going to read the whole chapter, but we'll look at many of the verses here. But Moses has one more task to do.
[19:41] And chapter 31 picks up right where 25 left off, and now it's time for them to attack the Midianites because they had induced a plot against Israel and their idolatry.
[19:52] And now God says He is going to vindicate Himself and His people. That vengeance belongs unto Him. You shouldn't think of your low definition of revenge, but when God is going to vindicate His people, that He has the right to go after them here.
[20:09] Verse number 2 says, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites. Afterwards shalt thou gather unto thy people. So Moses has one more task. That's what God tells them to do.
[20:19] He says, I've got one more thing for you, then you're going to die. You know, if you tell me I've got one more thing to do, then I'll die, I'm not going to drag my feet a little bit after it. But Moses gets ten days to live. After you get this thing done, you're done, Moses.
[20:31] You'll be gathered with your people here. And he knows this. It's an important job that he has to do. The killing of the Midianites was to fulfill the divine command of chapter 25, verses 16 and 18.
[20:43] The Lord said unto Moses, saying, Vex the Midianites and smite them. For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have to guide you in the manner of Peor, in the manner of Horsby, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.
[21:00] And it's very vivid there. The plague is going through them. There's a mixing of the Midianite women and the Israelite men. And then they come out. Son Eliezer comes out and stabs them.
[21:11] He kills them in the tent. So it was very clear why the plague was coming. It was very clear what God wanted a separation from. And he says, My children have been vexed.
[21:22] These Midianite people, not Midianites, the Midianite people have been drawing their hearts away. And because of that, now you are going to smite them and you're going to vex them.
[21:32] And so 12,000 men, a thousand of each tribe are called forth and they slay Balaam and all the kings of Midian that had returned. They were nomadic people. This isn't the last we'll hear of them either.
[21:45] And isn't it amazing here how that when they got to outside of Canaan and how they could have entered the promised land the first time, but they said we're too afraid to go in, we would lose too many people, and then now we're here again and God says, just give me a thousand from each tribe.
[21:59] And then in the story, all 12,000 come back. They count them and they say, everybody's here. And they killed all the men that they went out to fight. And they brought the women back and they lost nothing.
[22:11] It's amazing how obedience protects us. Doing things God's way, it brings protection to us here. And it's very clear. And the Midianites had come between God and Israel.
[22:22] They had drawn Israel into worship of Baal, and therefore they had to suffer God's awful vengeance. This is the Lord's vengeance upon Midian. It's the punishment because of their seduction of Israel, the true husband.
[22:35] And since the rebellion of Baal involved sexual immorality, Moses demanded that the Midianite women who were not virgins also be slain. And I told you already how the son of Eleazar, when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, he rose up in the congregation and he stopped the plague in Numbers 25.
[22:53] And there's some needed perspective, I believe, here. In the book of Numbers and Exodus, Israel has several times been threatened with extinction and divine judgment for their apostasy, and they were spared through Moses' intercession.
[23:06] Remember that? It wasn't long ago where God says, I am going to kill these rebellious people, and then Moses pleads for them. Now, God hates sin. It's not a racial thing.
[23:16] It's not one people versus another, but God hates sin this much. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, and all the older generation, save Joshua and Caleb, they're going to be sentenced to death in the wilderness. The priests and the Levites, they're guarding the temple.
[23:29] They were expected to slay people that break the covenant. The person didn't come there. He didn't come and celebrate the Passover and come there.
[23:39] They had that second opportunity a month later, and if not, they were to die. There's a balance here between God's vengeance against the sinner with the greatness of His mercy on those that He redeems from sin.
[23:51] And it's not just revenge, but it's vindication of His honor and His people. God's been long-suffering. Genesis 15, 16, speaking of the Amorites, but it says, But in the fourth generation, they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
[24:06] All those years, they've been going through the wilderness. When He parted the sea and word got to those people, He was being long-suffering towards them. And we know this is a holy war. Verse number 6, And Moses sent unto them a thousand of every tribe of Daphneus, the son of Eleazar, the priest, to the war with holy instruments and the trumpets to blow in His hand.
[24:27] Why did He send the priest? And why did He send these worship instruments? Because this was a holy war. It wasn't about land, but it was about He was fighting for their hearts. It's not about Israel winning, but it's about God being worshipped here.
[24:41] That's why purification is going to have to take place. After they came, so if you picture the scene here, is that Moses goes outside of the camp and there's all these 12,000 soldiers and they've been covered in blood and they've been fighting and he goes there and they have all the women that they had taken as captive and Moses says, Don't you understand that it was through the women that sin had come into our camp?
[25:06] That God is fighting for our hearts? That He's vindicating His people? They have to be killed and then they stay out there and they cleanse themselves on the third and the ninth day and the purification has to take place.
[25:17] And Moses had to go outside of the camp because he's fighting here for their hearts. Purification involved sprinkling with the water of impurity on the third and seventh day. And the booty had to be purified.
[25:28] When you say that, you kind of say it with an Irish accent. You feel like a pirate even when you're reading the Bible. And the booty here means more than just, I crack up this way I say it every time, but it means not just money, but it's people and things.
[25:41] It's everything that was collected. That's what that word's about. So they brought all the things that they had. And all the metal objects, things that would not catch on fire, would go through a fire and it would be purified and anything that would burn up had to be washed and it had to be cleaned.
[25:57] God was separating. That out of 1,000 animals seized in the conflict of the soldiers. The soldiers would keep 499 and the people would keep 490 and the priests were given of that as well.
[26:10] Those that wouldn't fight and those that would stay. Moses protects that the women in this case that there's blame there. He protests that here. He says, Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive?
[26:21] Behold, these caused the children of Israel through the counsel of Balaam to commit trespass. He's saying smooth-talking women can be more dangerous than sword-slinging men when God is fighting for our heart and it's not just about land.
[26:35] So this is a holy war. We see a picture here that there's a group of people that brought compromise to them that has started to draw their hearts away and he makes a final decision that says we have to cut this off.
[26:47] We'll just start for a second. If there's something that comes in your life, so they go out there and they kill the men, but they keep the women. Then they have to kill all the women. Think about it in your own life, in your own holy war against sin.
[27:00] What provision you're making there for the flesh? What is it you're leaving? And if there's something that you say, I know that if I would do this, Satan wouldn't have a stronghold in my life, but I just think it's too radical?
[27:12] Really. You think it's too radical? Compare it to Numbers chapter number 31. How he feels about sin and how he feels about compromise that comes among the children of Israel.
[27:23] Something needs to be done. Verses 1-12, we see that. There's no argument that something has to be done. Those that lead others to sin, it must be dealt with. The Midianites had led the men of Israel to sin and now it had to be dealt with.
[27:38] In Luke chapter number 17, verse number 1, we have a New Testament reference to what happens when we are leading others to sin. Then it said unto the disciples, It is possible that that offense will come, but woe unto him, though whom they come, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and he cast into the sea that he should offend one of these little ones.
[27:59] Take heed to yourselves if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him, and if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, seven times in a day, turn against thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.
[28:13] It says, Don't allow compromise in your life. That if a person that leads other people astray, a false teacher, as we'd see in the New Testament, it would be better if a millstone was placed around them, a rock is put around them, and they die than to lead more people in destruction.
[28:31] Isn't that heavy? Then it says that if your brother's leading you into sin, you rebuke him. And if he repents, you forgive him. And if he does it again, you forgive him. And there's no end to forgiveness, but there's also no end to rebuking him every time he tries to do that, that he gets confronted that we don't allow compromise because we have a holy God and because sin brings suffering every time.
[28:57] We saw it clearly with Brother Roberts on Thursday night was talking about the instruction and even though we may not always see it coming, it is always there. I told her I was a teenager, my engine light always came on and I got kind of used to it.
[29:09] I thought your dash was supposed to look like a Christmas tree, you know. It just means things are happening. If the light's on, then the battery's working. All right? But I got into my friend's car and the oil light came on and I'm like, oh, it happens all the time in my car.
[29:22] And we threw a rod, clunk, clunk, clunk, ruined their car. And so just because you can drive a while without a problem doesn't mean that the light should be ignored. And sin always brings suffering.
[29:33] And so God hates sin because He loves you. Not because He's opposed to your pleasure, but He's for you. He's for your joy and His pleasure. And we should feel that way in our lives. Complete separation from sin.
[29:44] Something's got to be done. Something drastic has to be done. And it ought to bring complete separation. The disagreement was the extent of action needed to be taken for victory. You might be shocked at how extreme had to happen.
[29:57] They came back. So what was told to them is that there's an enemy that's far off. You go and you kill the men and that the women can be brought back because their community and their culture shouldn't come in.
[30:08] But if they're close to you, then you've got to kill both of them because you don't want their gods coming in. And we've seen this in the Bible. Solomon's temple. Queen of Sheba's coming. Global evangelism would be taking place.
[30:19] Meaning the whole world had a place they could go to and God was going to be made known. But then what happened was that the heart of Solomon was gone through the women there. And so what they knew that sin had to be dealt with, but the men of Israel, when they brought those women back, they didn't think the action had to be as radical as Moses knew that it had to be.
[30:39] And we should see. And so we are making provision for what are you making provision for that leads to sin? Men, if it's a computer in a certain room, destroy it. Ladies, if it's a person you try to ignore because you're dealing with bitterness, deal with it now.
[30:55] I remember being a young teenager and seeing people get up in a service and go and hug people that they had been mad about for years. It seems silly, doesn't it? It probably added years to their life.
[31:06] It probably changed the family what they did there in getting up. I'll never forget that. Teenagers, if it's a relationship, you know that it's just for your enjoyment. It's not for God's glory.
[31:17] End it. Does it sound extreme? It really doesn't sound extreme when we look at Numbers chapter number 31. Romans 13, 13. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and whatness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.
[31:38] Put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision here for flesh. Give no occasion to the enemy. Cleansing must be made in our own lives as well. Verses 19 through 24 we have here in this holy war.
[31:52] Cleansing. As I told you, they had to stay outside the camp because they had been where there was dead people. They weren't allowed to come back in. That's why the priest didn't normally go with them to them.
[32:03] It wasn't supposed to be around these dead bodies, but we see it's a holy war. And not only did the people have to be cleansed, but the things that they had on them. And through His self-offering, Jesus provided the water of cleansing that removes the stain of death from our lives.
[32:17] He removes the guilt from us. That the Gospel removes the guilt that is on our lives here. If we accept the blame, if we accept the blame for our actions, God will remove the guilt.
[32:29] Isn't that a wonderful truth? That if we accept the blame that God's going to remove the guilt, that they stay outside of the camp, that there's a purifying taking place, and then they're allowed to come back in from there, and God will watch them.
[32:42] And the Gospel does that to us as well. It not only forgives us, but it also purifies us by His Word, the washing of the Word here. Accept the blame.
[32:53] You know, in heaven, if we were to stand there, you know, we never stand there and there's not an argument between the two angels deciding if we get in. People think about that a lot, but that's not how it happens. But if there was in heaven, we would hear, this one's sins have been all paid for at the cross.
[33:07] There is no possible charge against Him for which He could be condemned, is what we would hear because of His sacrifice. We must let God dictate how we will spend our lives.
[33:18] He cleanses us here. An offering will be brought unto God. Verses 48-54, we see this. Verse number 50, it says, We have therefore brought an oblation to the Lord that every man hath gotten of jewels of gold, chains and braces, rings, earrings and tablets, not an iPad if that's what you're thinking, earrings and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord.
[33:40] They have a free will offering after this where they give unto the Lord because they know that He had done the work. An offering should be brought unto God because this is a holy war.
[33:52] What we need is an offering that will make atonement for our souls and enable us to remain alive in the midst of the final holy war on sin. We see in this chapter what's going to happen. At the end of time, there's the ultimate holy war where God will destroy all those that oppose Him and we will be hid in Christ Jesus there.
[34:11] In God's mercy and grace, He has provided the ultimate atonement offering for our sin in the person of Jesus. The holy war of God against our sin has not by any means been abandoned. The charges are real and someone must answer for them that there at the cross, the Lord executed total warfare against sin in the person of Jesus so that we might be spared the consequence of our unbelief, disobedience, and sin.
[34:34] Through His death, our lives are now spared. And because of that, we ought to want to bring an offering to Him. And so we see that. When we're fighting this war with sin, we ought to know that there's cleansing that was made.
[34:46] That God did that. Don't be dealing with shame and with that guilt He took care of those things. There needs to be a complete separation from sin. Don't play around with it. Don't go 80% at it.
[34:57] Don't take one small step. Radically cut it off knowing that sin brings suffering. And do what other people may think is beyond necessary because know that's how He feels about it.
[35:07] And as He brings this cleansing and as we know that He is going to do it, how does 12,000 people kill all the men of the Midianites without losing somebody? They didn't do the fighting. It was not them that did it.
[35:20] It was the God of Heaven that won this holy war for them. And the same here with you. You think about all the things we have to worship our God for. If you are winning the victory against sin, He's doing that.
[35:32] And it ought to cause you to worship Him. It ought to cause you to bring an offering to Him. Not just financially, but financially. But come to Him with our lives and say, God, You are winning this war in my life.
[35:43] They react to the Lord's grace with a generous offering. If you understand the cleansing that you've received, the atonement that God has provided for you in Christ, then you will delight and respond with an offering as well. And our Lord suffered outside the gate for us.
[35:58] We'll close in Hebrews 13, 12-14. It says, Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate, outside of the people, outside of the city, let us go forth there unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach, for we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
[36:18] He was despised and shamed for us, and let us go outside the gate to worship Him. And we see Him over our desire for comfort. Then it goes on in verse 15-16 there in Hebrews.
[36:29] We should praise Him with our lips. By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice to praise the God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. So we praise Him with our lips, verse 16, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifice, God is well pleased.
[36:47] And we praise Him now with our lives, and we offer a sacrifice for Him. Then closing that chapter, it said in verse 54, And Moses and Eliezer the priests took the goat of the captains of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.
[37:06] And so at the end of the battle, they made a memorial to remember these men that won this holy war for them. They knew that they did not win the battle, and you do not belong to yourself, and your holy war has not been won by you, but it's been won by Him.
[37:20] They said, these people won this battle and it was so important, let's set up a memorial to remember it. In our lives, we have that as the cross that has won this holy war against sin. How does God feel about sin?
[37:32] He hates it. What does He think we should do about sin? He doesn't take extreme measures to remove ourselves from it because He's holy. He expects holiness in our home.
[37:43] He expects us to be people of integrity. He expects us to fight a holy war, and He expects that we ought to live a life knowing that there must be a complete separation between us and the war, and in any area of compromise that comes around, we should put it to death because He loves you too much to see you go forth enjoying your sin.
[38:03] Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for these two chapters of the Bible so we learn more about you which is our ultimate pursuit in life to know you more. We know how you feel about sin.
[38:15] We know how you feel about compromise. And we know we should take radical steps against it. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.