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[0:00] I'm excited to be able to get back in the Word of God along with you. Take your Bibles and go with me to the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter 15. Numbers chapter 15 is where we are at this evening.

[0:13] We're just continuing to make our way through this portion of Scripture and just continuing to look at the Old Testament. It is here we begin to see kind of the repetition of a theme that we will see throughout Scripture and really highlight it here.

[0:29] So I'm excited to be here with you tonight as we look at this together. I know there's just a few of us, but still excited to be in the Word of God together on Numbers chapter 15. Before we get into the text, let's open up with a word of prayer and then we'll just get started.

[0:44] Lord, I thank you so much that you have allowed us to gather together. We thank you for the great privilege it is of coming and lifting up our voice in song, of coming and opening up the Word.

[0:56] Lord, just praying that you would speak to our hearts and minds. Lord, we pray that each time we gather together that it would be a time of growth, it would be a time of renewed energy and a time of renewed commitment.

[1:10] Lord, it may not just be the going through the motions, but Lord, may it be sincere worship. Lord, may it be a time and a season of growing in the knowledge of you and growing in the knowledge of all that you have done and all that you have called us to.

[1:24] And may those times, Lord, lead us to walk in absolute obedience for your glory and your honor. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, at this point in the book of Numbers, Numbers 14 is the great rebellion or the resistance of God's people to walk in faithful obedience to what he has called them to do.

[1:42] We are in that downward spiral which is quickly proceeding throughout the book of Numbers and is transitioned when God began to make them march on their way to the promised land and it reaches its pinnacle when God commands them to go in and take the promised land.

[1:57] And that command was met with resistance. And the first resistance it was met with was the resistance that said, well, shouldn't we go in and look it over first? And we get that from the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 1 when Moses reminds the people because Deuteronomy is just a repetition of the history.

[2:14] It is Moses, it literally means second law. This is the next book that we will get to. And it is a retelling of what got them to that point immediately preceding Moses' death and Joshua leading the nation into the promised land.

[2:28] But Moses tells us in Deuteronomy chapter 1 that when they got there, it was not God who had ordained that they send 12 men in to spy off the land, but rather it was the nation who questioned whether they should send 12 men to spy off the land and God allowed them to.

[2:47] Again, it is just one of those things where God allowed man to have his way. And when man had their way, it led to rebellion. And that is the failure to enter into the promised land because as they come back, 2, Joshua and Caleb bring back a good report.

[3:03] 10 bring back a good report of the land being exactly as how God described it, but rather said the people are massive, they're big, the cities are fortified. We're like grasshoppers in their sight, we'll never make it.

[3:14] And they led the people to rebellion. They led the people to failure to follow what God had commanded them to do. And therefore they began to grumble, complain, and say, I wish we were back in Egypt. And then we saw there in Numbers 14, it's important to know how we get here, right?

[3:29] That they said, well, okay, we're not going to do this, and God pronounces their judgment. That the judgment would be that they would wonder a year for each day in which they spied out the land, so 40 years, in the wilderness.

[3:40] It would be 38 years from this point on because they've already been in the wilderness 2 years. And that their children, their young ones that they said would be killed when they went to the promised land would be the ones to inherit the land.

[3:54] That those 20 years and upward would die. All of them would die except for Joshua and Caleb. And then God would bring them in. That the children would suffer as shepherds in the wilderness for those 38 more years.

[4:07] And then God pronounced immediate judgment upon those 10 spies who led the nation astray. And they died from a plague. Then the people woke up sorry. They were upset. They were not sorry that they had rebelled.

[4:18] They were sorry that they were suffering for their rebellion because this is a common theme among men. It is not necessarily a brokenness over sin. More so it is a brokenness over the consequences of sin.

[4:30] And it is being distraught because we do not like to pay the penalty for sin rather than being distraught over sin itself. So they said we shouldn't do this. Let's go in and take the land. And Moses says don't do it. But they go in and they attempt to take the land anyway.

[4:42] But Moses doesn't go nor the Ark of the Covenant. Therefore the presence of God does not go. And they fall. As a matter of fact they are driven 100 miles away by the inhabitants of the land.

[4:53] Because God was not with them. God had given them command to turn around and go back by the way of the Red Sea. He had told them to go back and to see and to go wander around in the wilderness. And that leads us now to Numbers 15.

[5:06] And we will read Numbers 15 and then we will make our way through the text. Numbers 15 says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you, then make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or a freewill offering or in your appointed times, to make a soothing aroma to the Lord from the herd or from the flock.

[5:33] The one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with one-fourth of a hen of oil. And you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one-fourth of a hen with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice for each lamb.

[5:50] Or for a ram you shall prepare a grain offering, two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hen of oil. And for the drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hen of wine as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

[6:02] When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings to the Lord, then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with one-half a hen of oil.

[6:17] And you shall offer as the drink offering one-half a hen of wine as an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord. Thus it shall be done for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or for the goats, according to the number that you prepare.

[6:32] So you shall do for every one according to their number. All who are native shall do these things in this manner, and presenting an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord. If an alien sojourns with you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so he shall do.

[6:52] As for the assembly, there shall be one statue for you, and for the alien who sojourns with you. A perpetual statue throughout your generations, as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord.

[7:03] There is to be one law, and one ordinance for you, and for the alien who sojourns with you. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land where I bring you, then it shall be that when you eat of the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the Lord.

[7:18] Of the first of your dough, you shall lift up a cake as an offering, as the offering of the threshing floor. So you shall lift it up. From the first of your dough, you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.

[7:31] But when you unwittingly fail, and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses, even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day when the Lord gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations, then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering, and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.

[8:02] Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven. For it was an error, and they have brought their offering, and an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord for their error.

[8:15] So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error. Also, if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one-year-old female goat for a sin offering.

[8:30] The priest shall make atonement before the Lord, for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, make an atonement for him, that he may be forgiven. You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel, and for the alien who sojourns among them.

[8:47] But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people, because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken his commandment.

[9:00] That person shall be completely cut off. His guilt will be on him. Verse 32. Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

[9:11] Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. And they put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death.

[9:25] All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. So all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[9:36] Then the Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassels of each corner, they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.

[9:51] It shall be a tassel for you to look at, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them, and not follow after your own heart, and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

[10:06] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God. Numbers 15. I want you to see this evening what it looks like to move forward after failure.

[10:19] What it looks like to move forward after failure. And we will see the theme that runs throughout Scripture, of which I have spoken of before, but we really see it highlighted in this passage.

[10:32] And it is really the whole intention that this passage is here. And hopefully we will see at the end of it that this is more than just God commanding a series of offerings, but rather we will see exactly what it is that God shows us, how his people were to move forward after failure.

[10:45] And since God does not change, for he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, this is also the expectation we can have today. Then when God calls us to live in obedience, and we fail to walk in that faithful obedience, and we fail him in following him, that does not stop the plans and purposes of God, because they continue on, because what God has purposed will come about.

[11:09] One thing we need to understand that is so glorious throughout Scripture is that God's purposes are not dependent upon man's activity. God's purposes are not dependent upon man's activity.

[11:23] What he intends to do, he will do, even when man fails. And what we need to understand is that there is always this forward movement of what God has determined to do.

[11:38] Throughout Scripture, the plan of God moves forward. God had a plan when he called Abram out of the land of the earth, the Chaldeans. He had a plan when he told Abram he would call his people into the land in which he is sojourned.

[11:53] God had a plan when he led them into the Egyptian captivity, and a small multitude grew into a mega multitude. God had a plan when he delivered them from Egyptian captivity, and it was in order, he was taking them out to bring them in.

[12:06] When man failed to follow through in obedience what God had determined, it did not stop the plan of God. His plans will come about.

[12:18] But, man moves forward after failure with consequences. And I want you to see what it looks like to move forward after failure.

[12:30] Four truths I want you to see in this passage. Number one, we see there is an immediate refocus. There is an immediate refocus. At first sight, it seems as if this chapter is out of place.

[12:46] It seems as if it doesn't fit here. But if we believe that the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit of God moved the hand of man to write with authority the Word of God, and we believe in divine inspiration, and we should, if we believe what we have before us is the very Word of God, though Moses wrote it in the wilderness, Moses wrote it according to the leading of the Spirit.

[13:12] The Scripture testifies that the men of God were moved by the Spirit of God, that the Spirit was flowing through the agent of Moses, and he was intentionally compiling and recording the events as they took place.

[13:24] There was an intentionality for the numbering of God's people before they let out from Sinai. There's an intentionality of why Numbers 15 immediately follows number 14. Numbers 14 describes for us the ultimate failure of God's people.

[13:39] They refused to go in. They refused to follow Him in obedience. They refused to follow the clear command to go in and take possession of what I am giving you. They rebelled against Moses.

[13:51] They rebelled against Aaron. They rebelled against Joshua. They rebelled against Caleb. They sought to stone them until God intervened and the Shekinah glory of God revealed Himself among the tent of meeting.

[14:02] God pronounced judgment upon them, told them they would wander around in the wilderness, told them that their children were going to take the land. They sought to presume that they could go for it in their own strength, and God showed them that their own strength would certainly fail them.

[14:15] They were driven a hundred miles away from that location, and the very next thing God does is, when you go in to the land which I will give you.

[14:25] Now one thing that we have to understand here is God is not speaking to those 20 years old and up. At this point, it says, Then the Lord said to Moses, Tell the people.

[14:42] Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel. You know, that younger generation, in which they had said our sons and daughters will be taken captive and slaughtered if we go in there.

[14:58] Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you.

[15:11] Look at the refocus here. God is calling the younger generation. He is saying, Your fathers have failed. Your fathers have failed to move forward in faithful obedience, but it does not change my plan.

[15:28] It does not change my purpose. And friend, it does not change my promise. What he is saying to them is, Quit focusing on the failures of the generation ahead of you and begin to stand on the promises that God has extended to his people.

[15:48] There are two great tragedies which happen in church life. Two great tragedies which happen in a church that is existent for any amount of time. We stand and I'm not saying that these tragedies are present in our own congregation, though we sit and stand in a building which has been blessed of God to be in existence for over 150 years.

[16:08] That is astounding in any church life, by the way, especially that in our own country. You do not find very many of them. You do not find very many of them that are still being very effective. But we are blessed to be a part of that.

[16:20] But there are two great tragedies which happen because the studies show us that new churches, that is new birth churches, new church plants, baptized at the rate of two to three times more people than existing churches.

[16:35] That the new churches baptized reach so many more people than existing churches. And it's because they do not have anything to stand or lean upon in the past. There are two great tragedies which churches deal with.

[16:47] And there are two great tragedies which are confronting God's people. That is, standing in the failures of the past or relishing in the victories of the past rather than focusing on the promise of God in the present.

[17:06] Now that does not mean that we forget the things that happened in the past. There are always those Ebenezer's stone of help. Thus far the Lord has helped us. Those are Ebenezer's.

[17:18] Alright, that's where we look back and we go, God was faithful then, God is faithful now. But what we see here is God's refocusing the nation. Two times He tells them the land where I am bringing you to live.

[17:32] Again, these promises of God are emphatic. they are not conditional. It is God saying He is going to bring it to pass.

[17:44] God had promised Abraham that the descendants of Abraham, He did not say that generation that failed to go in would go in, but that the descendants of Abraham would go in.

[17:56] God refocuses them and this is an immediate refocus because the longer we walk in the regrets and the misery of our past failures, the harder it will ever be to move forward after stumbling.

[18:13] Satan always works in the past. Satan always reminds us of what we are and where we have messed up. I don't know if you've ever noticed that or not. Satan always likes to point out our failures and God always reminds us of His promises.

[18:27] We see here this immediate refocus that God extends to His people and it is not out of place. As a matter of fact, it is right in place. Number two, not only do we see an immediate refocus, secondly, we see an increased requirement.

[18:44] An increased requirement. Now this is a theme that I told you that was exhibited throughout Scripture. When I went through a class of Old Testament survey, it's an Old Testament survey class and it's one that stands out to me more than any because it was one of those classes where I went into with a little bit of, I had been a pastor for some time.

[19:06] I was going through Luther Rice University and it was one of those things where God chose to humble me because at that point I had been a pastor for some time and I knew how to construct and write sermons, at least so I thought.

[19:18] I was pretty used to being around writing and writing about things of Scripture and this was one time that one professor told me my writing was completely wrong and miserable and it was a misery and a shambles and I needed to correct everything.

[19:30] And what humiliated me more than anything is that this gentleman's occupation other than being fluent in Hebrew and being a professor of Old Testament he was also a professional rodeo clown. So until you've been a pastor and you had a rodeo clown tell you you didn't know how to write a sermon I don't think you've ever been humbled.

[19:46] And I thought, man for a living you paint your faces and wear baggy clothes and run in front of bulls but you want to tell me I don't know how to write a sermon. But he was absolutely right. But one thing that he taught me in there was that if you follow Scripture because the man was excellent at the Old Testament every time God's people mess up more is expected.

[20:07] Every time God's people mess up more is expected. So I began to pay attention to that as I read the Old Testament as I studied even getting into the New Testament and lo and behold it is exactly right.

[20:21] Every time there is a great discourse of God's failures it is immediately followed by an increase in requirements every single time.

[20:38] Every time there is a discourse or an account of God's people stumbling in the Old Testament in the historical writings it is immediately followed with God increasing the requirements for them to meet with him.

[21:00] Sin does not cause God to make it easier to meet him. Sin causes man to have to work harder to reach him.

[21:12] Moses went up on the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. The people fall they fell they're worshipping the golden calf when Moses went up to the mountain God had made a promise I will make you a nation of priests as he's up there there's this discourse and there's this account of their failures and they're worshipping this golden calf Moses comes down gets mad gets angry breaks the tablets he goes back up then when he comes down now they are a nation with priests not a nation of priests and he comes down with the instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and he also receives all the oracles concerning the laws and how they should reach through the sacrifices what we have for us in Numbers 15 is a recounting of the free will offerings that are described for us in Leviticus 4 and if you were to open up Leviticus 4 and you were to read the account of the free will offerings now free will offerings means it was not a guilt offering or a sin offering okay the guilt offering and the sin offering were to be very dedicated offerings that were a ram or a bull for the blood and these were something when we did something wrong and this is what

[22:24] God says and this is amazing to me because this just make us go oh wow God said this is what is required when you do something wrong bring this to me this is your guilt offering this is your sin offering okay that does not change the reason that does not change is because he is pointing to one guilt and sin offering who is Jesus Christ it is all sufficient it will never have to be added to the free will offerings were when man just had this spontaneous urge to worship him man longed in the joy of their life to go worship God maybe it had been a great season maybe it had been this great account maybe their harvest had been plentiful and they wanted to offer a free will offering some of it was a fellowship meal where they would come together and just celebrate all that God was doing and they were just worshiping in God's presence and now all of a sudden God says when you come into my presence to worship it's going to take more because if you were to read in Leviticus 4 and then you were to put that alongside of Numbers 15 and you should because this is a repetition of something you find in

[23:27] Numbers 15 more is added to the requirements of the free will offering described for us in Leviticus 4 namely in Numbers 15 when you bring that offering now you better bring a grain offering and an oil offering and a drink offering don't just bring the ram or the bull some and I believe rightfully so have said that this additional requirement aligns with the sin of the people they complained about the grain and the manna they were eating so God says when you come before me now you better bring a grain offering they knew that this land was flowing with beautiful splendor they knew the harvest of the land because when they came back from filling out the land they brought back the grapes so God says now when you come before me you're going to bring me grape juice so anytime you come before me you're going to be reminded of the grains that you complained about and the wine I had provided yet you failed to take the first additional requirement the first increase is when you come with a free will offering you will add to it worship gets harder when we fail to walk in obedience

[24:43] God increases the expectation why because God will not be mocked and while there are consequences for our sin there is also an increase here in the Old Testament of what is expected from the people when they want to worship after they sin the first increase we see is the additional offering that must be giving alongside their free will offering we also see the increase where it says in verses 17 through 21 and it went now by the way this increase okay let's just go ahead and say this here this increase does not take effect until they go into the promised land because God is speaking to the sons and God says when you come the father made it harder for the children to worship think about that the fathers paid the price for their own sins they died in the wilderness but the sins of the father made it more difficult for the children to worship that's a reality even today that's not an

[25:58] Old Testament theology we see these things right we see them so we see this as it flows over here and when they come into the land verse 17 says then the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the sons of Israel and say to them when you enter the land where I bring you here's another increase and you have the harvest when you're on the threshing floor make a cake and offer it up to me it is the offering of the!

[26:23] first! because God was going to remind them that the harvest that they were reaping the grain that they were reaping in this land was a direct result of his provisions and they had failed for forty years they went without that harvest and as soon as they make it the very first thing they're going to do is make a cake and offer it back to God he increased that's an increase the third increase we see in this passage if we were to go to the book of Leviticus and we see the offerings in the book of Leviticus there is recorded for us and I actually spoke of it this morning not with the intended purpose of having referenced it again tonight because just to be honest with you I do not prepare Sunday evening service normally before I prepare Sunday morning service I did that I would probably preach both sermons so I usually work on Sunday evening service after church you guys go home normally I'll stay here sometimes I'll have it done sometimes I'll want so I did not know this in advance but I kind of highlighted it this morning but here's the reality

[27:24] Leviticus we find that there is an offering for a sin committed unintentionally there is the unintentional sin that is committed that there is an offering and we find that Leviticus says if you do something and you find out later I shouldn't have done that that was the sin here's what you offer there is no offering for the sin committed intentionally so that's what we find in Leviticus now we come to numbers and we see this increase now God unintentional commission this is the sin of unintentional omission this is not that you did something you wasn't supposed to do this is when you don't do something you are supposed to do the unintentional sin of omission God had provided for them a sin for unintentional commission now all of a sudden we see that there is an offering for a sin of unintentional omission by the way the sin of omission is just as just as detrimental as the sin of commission when we do the things we are not supposed to do it is just as detrimental to us when we do not do the things we are supposed to do

[28:44] I believe again when we read the New Testament says he who knows to do right and does not do it to him it is a sin here starting in verse 22 and going all the way down to verse 29 is God extends to them an offering for a sin of unintentional omission God says when you do not do what it is you're supposed to do and you didn't mean not to this is what you offer all I want you to see numbers 15 the reason it is where it is in scripture it's because God is showing us it's harder to come into my presence more is expected when man fails more is expected let's just stop right here and ask the question why why is

[29:44] God doing that through all the historical writings why is God doing that because God is reminding us over and over and over and over again man will never be able to go into presence the law never because every time we break the law more is added to the law and we have broken the law in every part we desperately need one who fulfills the law and bridges the gap we need that high priest we need that savior because every time man falls every time man fails god does not take things out of the way and make it easier no god adds to it it makes it harder it increases the requirement third we see there is the instant removal god says that there is a sin for an unintentional omission but there is an offering for the sin of unintentional omission but he says in verse 30 but the person who does anything defiantly!

[30:55] defiantly now that word means with a high hand the person who does anything defiantly whether he is a native or an alien that one is blaspheming to the Lord and that person shall be cut off from among his people now to be defiant means to have a high hand and it literally means this to shake the hand at God and say I'm going to do it anyway or I'm not going to do it no matter what you say it is to sin with a high hand in the face of God saying this is what I'm doing God says to him there is no sin offering to that individual there's no offering that would forgive that because it is the Old Testament equivalent of the blasphemy!

[31:42] the one unpardonable sin by the way if anyone comes to me and they say oh I'm afraid that I have committed the unpardonable sin I will tell them the very fact that you're asking me the question and whether or not you have committed the unpardonable sin shows me that you have not committed the unpardonable sin because to commit the unpardonable sin Jesus says there is but one sin that is not forgiven a man and that is the blasphemy of the spirit now to blaspheme the spirit is to deny the existence of to deny the work of the spirit and the reason I can say that the one asking me that has not committed that is because only by the power and presence and the work of the spirit will one have an awareness!

[32:17] see what I'm saying? that if I have blasphemed the spirit denied the existence of the spirit then I would never ever ever have any acknowledgement of my sin nor any regret of my sin because it is the spirit and it all makes perfect sense of why this is the unpardonable sin is because we are drawn by the spirit to an awareness of our sin which shows us the need for a savior and if I deny the existence of the very agent which God uses to show me my failures then I would never see it and therefore forfeit my hope and all my reality for repentance and what we are doing here in the Old Testament is these are shaking their hand in the face of God saying God I don't think you exist and I'm going to do what I want!

[33:10] show us exactly what God is saying here because he says those people are to be instantly removed from your presence and to give us an example of it we meet an individual in verse 32 now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day now he is breaking the fourth commandment to honor the Sabbath by the way after the giving of the law if we were to follow the breaking of the commandments reading the reading of the people we would find that the very first commandment they break is number one honor the Lord your God they make a golden calf and we find that they break number two and they break number three and here all of!

[33:55] we find them breaking number four he is not keeping the Sabbath day holy now this is a very clear command God had commanded him to do it it's in the Decalogue right he knew about it one of the ten commandments is given keep the Sabbath day holy don't do any work on it yet we find this man on the Sabbath day saying God I don't care what day it is I'm!

[34:16] gonna go get some fire wood and again God says there is no sacrifice for this man because he knew so they kept him in custody now we don't know why they kept him in custody because God had given very clear commands so there is some kind of discussion among Bible students as to why they did because it says they took the man in because it had not been declared what should be done to him God had said for the man who wrote the Ten Commandments he should die so maybe this is the first time they seen somebody break you know commandment number four or maybe they were just hesitant to see if God was really serious about this we don't know so they kept him in cussing the Lord it's very clear the Lord says this man shall be cut off this should stay true to us because the second mentioning of the church is after

[35:18] Peter's great confession in Matthew 16 the second time the church is ever mentioned in scriptures Matthew 18 while we all know what Matthew 16 says many of us fail to really understand what Matthew 18 says Matthew 18 deals with church discipline Matthew 16 deals with the great profession Matthew 18 says and when one denies that great profession then the church should stand up and discipline because it becomes a corporate matter and it is discipline for the purpose of corrective action discipline for the purpose of maintaining the holiness of God's people and we see here this instant removal where God says high handed sinful behavior will not be tolerated notice this theme as it runs throughout scripture because God is not a big mean God we see it running throughout scripture people are falling dead in the first church in the book of Acts why because they're lying about how much they give to

[36:19] God they're mocking God they're looking at God saying God we're going to make ourselves look better and they lie about it fall down dead husband! Then the wife God has no place for high handed!

[36:32] sins which wave their hand! in his face he says they will be instantly removed now I told you that every time we have a record of God's people walking in sinful disobedience there immediately follows an additional requirement here numbers 15 verses 32 through 36 pause to tell us of one walking in sinful disobedience do you see what follows it is an additional requirement and it is the fourth and final thing this evening there is an intentional reminder because this man thought that he could go do what he wanted to and live as he wanted to and collect wood when he wanted to God says if you tell me you couldn't remember!

[37:27] I'm going to give you a requirement that will cause you to remember I'm going to put something before you and you're going to have to do it until your generations that would be an intentional reminder of who you are and whose you are says the Lord also spoke to Moses saying speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corner of their garments throughout their generations and that it shall put on the tassels on each corner of the court of blue and it shall be a tassel for you to look at and to remember all the commandments of the Lord so as to do them and not follow after your heart and your eyes after which you have played the harlot so that you may remember to do all my commandments to be many tassels around them in Jewish society later on when we get to the book of Deuteronomy that won't be enough so they'll bind them to their foreheads they'll bind them to their hands they'll bind them around their wrists

[38:27] God says if you say you can't remember I'm going to give you something to remind you and here he tells them that if it's a matter of not to hide the word in your hearts put a tassel on your garment so that as you're walking around and you see this thing moving around in the corner of your eye with this cord of blue that was always signifying royalty and to be a reminder that they did not belong to themselves there was one after them it would remind them that they were not free to make their choices and their own decisions but rather that they were subject to walk according to the commandments of God one thing that we understand is that God calls his people to put things before them that intentionally remind them of who they belong to and unfortunately in our society today we have put less and less of those things before our eyes sure like the Jewish people it can become habit forming we can overlook the habit and it but God calls his people as they move forward after failure to set something before them to remind them they're not called to walk after their own desires they're called to walk after his commandments and his own let's pray

[39:42]  Lord I thank you for this evening which you have given us to look at your word we pray as we have read it God that we would be captivated by it Lord help us to be your people walking in faithful obedience forgive us where we failed you forgive us where those failures have made it more difficult Lord I pray as we move forward it would be for your glory we ask it all in Christ name Amen