Alright brethren, sorry I'm running
late this morning. It's sleeting pretty heavy over
in Pennington and we've got a lot of ice. Let's turn to Numbers
14. Now, you're familiar with the
background of this passage. This is where the Lord led the
children of Israel to the land of promise, and He allowed them
to send the spies in. And they went in and spied it
out, and they came back with an evil report. And their unbelief spread unbelief
through the whole camp. And when it did, it began to
It began to cause everybody to murmur. They blamed everybody,
including the Lord. They blamed everybody except
themselves. And they were even ready to set captains over them
and go back to Egypt. And when Joshua and Caleb tried
to persuade them to believe the Lord, we read here in verse 10,
it says, But all the congregation Numbers 14, 10. But all the congregation
bathed stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared
in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
And the Lord asked Moses some questions. And the Lord said
unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? And how long
will it be ere they believe me for all the signs which I have
showed among them." We'll look here at a few things we can learn
in these questions about how God regards unbelief. And then
we will spend the bulk of our time seeing how Moses is a picture
of Christ, our intercessor. And then we'll look at a few
applications. First, we see how God regards unbelief. Unbelief
provokes the Lord. He says there in verse 11, how
long will this people provoke me? That word provoke signifies
how long will they reject me? How long will they reproach me?
How long will they despise me? That's what unbelief is. Now
somebody might think, you know, I don't despise the Lord, I just
don't believe the Lord. But there is no neutrality in
unbelief. The Lord said this, he that is
not with me is against me. And he that gathers not with
me scattereth abroad. So that unbelief is provoking
the Lord. Then look at this. He reduces
all the murmuring and all the complaining to exactly what it
is. Verse 11. He says, and how long
will it be ere they believe me? They used the excuse that there
were giants living in the land in those days, which there were.
And they used the excuse that the cities were walled up to
heaven. And they used the excuse that
the land would eat us up and on and on. But God takes all
of those excuses and he says, no, that's not the problem. This
is the problem. They don't believe me. That's
it. They don't believe me. The way
to behold God's glory is believe in the Lord. The Lord told Martha,
if you would believe, you will see the glory of the Lord. If
you want to see God's mighty works, believe the Lord. The
Lord says of one place that the Lord did not do many mighty works
there because of their unbelief. You never see His mighty works
without believing Him. Unbelief is worse the more God
has done for us. Look at verse 11. He said, How
long would it be ere they believe me for all the signs which I
have showed among them? Unbelief is worse when God has
showed and done things before you. They had seen many great
works, many great signs God had done, but not nearly as many
miracles of God's grace as we have seen. We have these signs. Isaiah said, Behold, the Lord
shall give you a sign, a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth
a child, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.
That's the sign. Christ is the sign. And then
we have the sign of the death that Christ accomplished. We
have proof that God came in human flesh and accomplished the redemption
of His people. The proof is He rose from the
dead. He arose from the grave and ascended
to the Father. He was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. And then we have
the miracle of God's grace worked in the hearts of sinners. I'm
standing right here before you today and I'm a miracle of God's
grace. If I can stand here and believe
God, it ought to be proof to anybody that God can save to
the uttermost. So we have many proofs of God's
grace. He's done many, many things among
us. So here's the question. How long
will it be before you believe? How long will it be before you
believe God? After all the signs that He showed
among you. So let's answer that question.
How long will it be? How long will it be before you
believe God? It'll be until God comes in power
and takes out that stony heart and puts a heart of flesh in
place. Till he comes and he convicts
you of sin, convincing you that your greatest sin is you don't
believe God. This is the condemnation that
light is coming to the world and men love darkness more than
light because their deeds are evil. Neither would they come
to the light lest their deeds should be reproved. until the
Holy Spirit comes and convinces a man of righteousness because
Christ has gone to the Father. He went to the Father because
God received him, because God satisfied. Righteousness has
been brought in. He has brought in everlasting
righteousness for his people. A man will not believe until
The Holy Spirit convinces him of judgment because the prince
of this world has been cast out. God has bruised the head of the
serpent. He has taken all his ammunition
away because he's taken all the sin of his people away. It takes
God coming and revealing this in the heart of a sinner. But
now listen, that doesn't excuse anybody for not believing the
Lord. It does take God's grace to work this work in the heart,
but that doesn't excuse anybody for not believe in the Lord,
casting all their care upon Him. And what about us believers?
Aren't we still full of unbelief? We're still full of unbelief.
We're just mixed with everything we do. How long will it be before
we believe without any unbelief till we drop this body of death?
As long as we're in this flesh, we'll have unbelief mixed with
everything we do. So don't ever put any confidence
in your flesh. Don't put any confidence in my
flesh. Isaiah said, Seize ye from man, all together. Believe on the Lord. Alright,
secondly, now let's spend some time here. Let's behold a type
of Christ in Moses. And if God had blessed this,
this would be strength for our faith right here. First of all,
notice how everything concerning grace and mercy flows through
Moses. Look at verse 10. At the second
part there in verse 10 it says, The glory of the Lord appeared
in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel,
and the Lord said unto Moses, He spoke to Moses. Moses is a
type of Christ the mediator here. The Lord spoke to Moses because
Moses here is a picture of Christ our intercessor. Unbelievers
were speaking disgracefully of Moses. They were speaking, murmuring
against him, complaining against him. And in the same way, unbelievers
are speaking evil of Christ, murmuring against Christ, despising
Christ, provoking Christ by not believing on Him, and yet He's
the only one by which you could come to the Father. He's the
only one through which a man will come to the Father. The
Lord will have no dealings with a sinner except through a mediator.
That's the only way. Now listen to me, if you don't
believe God, The only way you can come to God is through the
Lord Jesus Christ. He will not have any dealings
with a man outside of Christ. None whatsoever. Now look, God
told Moses what he was going to do to these unbelievers. Now
look what he said, verse 12. He said, I will smite them with
the pestilence and disinherit them and will make of thee a
greater nation and a mightier than they. Now you remember now,
theirs was a covenant of works. God said if you will, I will. If you do this, the Lord said
I'll do this. So theirs was a covenant of works.
Well they didn't do anything God told them. And so God said,
I will disinherit them. But look what he said, I will
make of thee, Moses, a greater nation and a mightier than that.
But what did Moses do? Did Moses say, I'll take that,
disinherit them and give it all to me? No. Moses did what Christ
did, Christ does. He made intercession to God.
He made intercession to God. When we were enemies in our minds,
when you and I who believe, we were enemies in our minds, we
hated God, we spoke evil of Christ, we murmured against Him, Christ
interceded for us just like Moses interceded for these rebels right
here. That's what he interceded. The
only reason we were not consumed when we were in our rebellion
is because Christ stood as our surety and our advocate and interceded
for us with the Holy Father. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason that God didn't wrap the whole thing up when
Adam sinned in the garden. He had provided He had provided
a mediator. He had provided a substitute. He had provided a savior before
there was ever a sinner in this world. Brethren, let's thank
our Savior for that. And you know how we can thank
Him? By heeding His command. This is what He said. I say unto
you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good
to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you and persecute you. We don't know who the elect are.
We don't have any idea who they are. Somebody may appear as our
enemy and they may appear as God's enemy. But they might be
an elect child of God. We don't know that. And so he
says, pray for your enemies. Alright, let's see how does Christ
intercede for his people. What does he plead before the
Father? The first thing that he pleads is God's honor. He pleads God's honor. Look at
verse 13. And Moses said unto the Lord,
Then the Egyptians shall hear it. Lord, if you destroy this
people and you inherit this people, the Egyptians shall hear it.
For thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them.
Now that's what God's done for us, brethren. He's brought us
up by His might from among this world. He separated us out by
divine election. He separated us out by His blood.
He separated us out by His Holy Spirit. And He has brought us
out with a mighty hand. Separated us out from this world.
Verse 14, He says, And they, the Egyptians, will tell it to
the inhabitants of this land. You know what Christ prays? He
prays, Father, give not The Egyptians calls to speak evil of you to
the enemies that are surrounding my people. That's what Moses
was saying here. They were in Canaan. They were
right there at the edge of Canaan. And he's saying these Egyptians
will spread this to our enemies that are surrounding us now.
And they'll overcome us. And Christ praised the Father.
Don't allow the enemies surrounding my people. to overtake them. Don't let them hear this. Look
at this. For they have heard that thou, Lord, art among this
people. And brethren, our God and Savior
is among us. Now look at this. Thou, Lord,
art seen face to face. We see Him like in a mirror. We see Him through faith, and
we see His glory in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
do see Him. We see Him by faith. And that
He says, And thou hear that the cloud standeth over them, and
that thou goest before them by daytime in a pillar of a cloud,
and in a pillar of fire by night, and that thy cloud standeth over
them, and that thou goest before them by daytime in a pillar of
a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Christ is promised. He's promised He'll be with us
always. And He goes before us, and He
leads His people, and He guides His people. And so Christ prays
the glory of the Father, the honor of Him, His name, the honor
of the Father, to keep us separated, to keep us from this world, sparing
those who... And this is something He does
too. Now, He spares even those who are not His. He spares even
those who are not His to protect His people. Look at this now.
Verse 15. Now if thou shalt kill all this
people as one man. If you kill them all at once.
That's what He says. If you just wipe them out. Now
we're going to say something about that at the end. I want
you to just remember that for now. But look. Then the nations
which have heard the fame of thee They've heard the fame of
you, God. They're going to speak. And they're
going to say, because the Lord was not able to bring this people
into the land which he swore unto them, therefore he hath
slain them in the wilderness. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
intercedes for his people, saying, for your name, Father, for the
honor, for your honor, don't let this people fall away. Keep
this people. Don't let their enemies come
upon them. Then notice this. Christ also pleased the power
of God's glory. Look at verse 17. And now I beseech
thee, let the power of my Lord be great. Let the power of my
Lord be great. You know the glory of God is
the great power of God. That's what he's talking about
here. I'm going to show you that. The power, the glory of God is
the great power of God. This is that glory that God showed
Moses whenever he put him in the cleft of the rock. And that's
a type, that's a picture, because the place where you see this
glory, this great glory of God is in Christ the rock. And in
fact, Christ the rock He is this great glory and He is this great
power. Christ is the power of God unto
salvation. Now notice the glory that He
pleads. Look at verse 18. The Lord is long-suffering and
of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression. This is what
He showed him when he was in the rock, remember? He also pleads
this, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Now be sure to get this, when our great substitute pleads this
for his people, he doesn't have to say a word. He can plead this
for his people and intercede with the father on our behalf
just by being in God's presence. By the nail prints in his hands,
by the hole in his side, Because it's by the finished work of
Christ at Calvary, and it's only in Christ that God can do these
two things. Look what he said. He said, Be
long-suffering, be of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression,
and at the same time, by no means clearing the guilty. Only in
Christ do these two things meet. That's the only place they meet.
And so Christ can pray this. and say, for my sake do this,
because he's that glory. It's because Christ bore the
sin of his people in the room instead of his people. God poured
out justice on Christ till it was satisfied. He by no means
cleared the guilty. Even when the sin of his people
was found on his own son who did no sin himself, God did not
clear him. God poured out justice on him
until that justice was satisfied. And now Christ can point to those
wounds and He can plead this. Verse 19, Pardon I beseech thee,
the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness
of thy mercy. And because God, in human flesh,
because Christ satisfied justice, because He did that Himself,
justice, justice can say, now come great
mercy, let's go. and show mercy to these people.
And mercy can wrap his arms around justice and say, you come with
me, justice, because you prove that this mercy is just. They're
friends. The justice and mercy of God
are friends. The scriptures put it like this,
mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. That's because of what Christ
did. Now, look at 1 John 1 and verse 9. 1 John 1 and verse 9. This is why
we read right here. And hold your places here. We're
going to come back here a little bit more. 1 John 1 and verse
9. This is why we read this. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just. to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's because of what Christ accomplished. Look, because, look at chapter
2 and verse 1. It's because, at the second part
there, it's because we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins. He is the mercy seat, He's the
atonement, He's the propitiation for our sins. Okay, go back. Keep your place here at 1 John.
Look back here at Numbers again. There's something here that he
pleads that I almost missed. I almost read right over this.
But look at this. This is something else Christ
pleads before the Father. He pleads God's Word. Look at
verse 17. And now I beseech thee, let the
power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken. According
as thou hast spoken. When Moses beheld God's glory,
God put him in that rock and it was God who declared His glory
to Moses. God declared His glory to Moses
and so Moses pleased the very word of God Himself. He said,
do this as you have spoken. Whenever a believer is born of
God, it is God Himself who speaks through the Holy Spirit into
that new heart And He commands the light to shine out of darkness,
and He shows us the glory of God, the glory of God, how God
can be just and merciful. He shows us that glory of God
in the face of Christ Jesus. And He says to us now, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it's God that justifies. Who's going to condemn? It's
Christ that died, that's risen again, that's at the right hand
of the Father, that ever lives to make intercession for us.
And that's how the Holy Spirit convinces us in our heart our
sin really is put away, God really has reconciled us to Himself
by His Son, and He's satisfied, and He makes us to be willing
in the day of His power. And so, For the honor of that
Word, for the glory of that Word, for the honor of God's truth,
our advocate with the Father intercedes with the Father and
He says, pardon them according as thou hast spoken. According
as you have spoken your Word into their heart. Brethren, we
see now, do you see this? You see that all these things
that we once held in contempt, When we were dead in sin, these
things that we just... We sat and heard the gospel preached
and we didn't care a thing in the world about it. We was just...
We were there for some vain reason that had nothing to do with the
gospel. And we wanted to be out of there as quick as we could
get out of there. And we tried not to listen. And all these
things we held in contempt. But now, all of these very things
work for our good. Through Christ our intercessor.
The honor of God. The power of God's glory. and
the Word of God. And you know how it's all upheld?
You know how it's all made effectual in our heart and how it's all
presented to the Father and by Christ our intercessor? It's
all in Him. Now let me show you one last
thing. Christ pleads past mercies too. Look at verse 19. Verse
19. He says, And as thou hast forgiven
this people from Egypt even until now. He said, you've forgiven
them from Egypt even until now. So do it again. Now, in our court
of law, if you were to be brought before a judge, this argument
would go against you. It wouldn't go for you. If you
came in there and you had a lawyer that went in and stood before
the judge and said, you know, you've forgiven him now a thousand
times. Forgive him again. The judge
would say, we call that a repeat offender. But God's thoughts
are not our thoughts. His ways are higher than our
ways. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity,
and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?
He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He delighteth in mercy. He said,
I am the Lord, I change not, and therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Fathers, have you ever said this?
Have you ever told your child, be honest with me, and the chastening
won't be nearly as severe. Be honest with me. Well, listen
to what God says. If, back there in 1 John 1.9,
He says, if we confess our sins, if we confess our sins, that's
what Moses was doing. He's saying, they're guilty.
They need to be forgiven. And Christ is pleading with the
Father and He's saying, they're guilty. They need to be forgiven.
They've done wrong. They have sinned. And we come
and He says, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness if
we say we have not sinned. Mothers and fathers, what happens
when children say, Oh, I didn't do it. And you know they did. He says, if we say we have not
sinned, we make Him a liar and His word's not in us. Where there
is no grace in the heart, Simply because God delays judgment.
Simply because He's not pouring out His judgment right now. It
does nothing in the sinner's heart. He just goes on with a
hard heart, rebelling against God, and kicking up his heels,
and it doesn't... Just because God didn't pour
out judgment on you today, that's God giving you one more day.
But man, that won't faze a man. But where God's grace is working
and a man's been forgiven repeatedly and knows that God continues
to forgive him when he deserves nothing, there is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared. It causes a man not to
want to sin. It causes him not to serve God.
It causes him not to serve God more honorably. The forgiveness
of God does that. Now let me show you one thing,
one brief thing here. I'm going to end with this. Now
I pointed out that Moses' plea was not for God not to destroy
this people. That's not what Moses was praying
for. He wasn't praying for God not to destroy him. He was praying
that God had already said he was going to destroy him. He
said, I'm going to smite this people and I'm going to disinherit
this people. God had already determined that's what he would
do. Moses wasn't praying for him not to do that. Moses was
praying for him not to do it all at one time. Not to wipe
him off the map at one time. Now, he said, verse 15, if thou
shalt kill all this people as one man. That's what he was praying
for. Now you see, Moses' intercession
was to spare this people from being wiped out all at once.
Now, it was so, this was the reason, it was so that the enemies
would not come upon the believers among them. That was what he
was praying, that the enemies wouldn't hear about it and come
upon the true believers that were among them. Now in this,
in that right there, Moses was really praying for the good of
God's true people among them. He was praying for Joshua and
Caleb. Now understand what I'm saying. We don't know who the
Lord's people are. So he tells us, pray for your
enemies. We don't know who the elect are. We can't tell the
wheat from the chaff. But following Moses as a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who makes intercession for his people,
this is what the Lord said. He knows who his are. And the
Lord said in John 17, 9, I pray for them. I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. That's who Christ intercedes
for, for his people, for his elect. So when you see good appear
to happen to a wicked man, Looks like everything's going well
for him. Like it did with these folks. These folks sinned and
rebelled and carried on. Didn't look like anything happened
to them. When you see that happen, or when God spares an entire
nation for a people, it's because God is providing for His people
in their midst. And that's what God did here
for Joshua and Caleb. For two people? Look at this,
verse 20. We're talking about, I don't
know how many people here. We're talking about hundreds
of thousands or millions, I don't know. Look here, verse 20. And
the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word. It was
a temporary pardon. It means he wasn't going to do
it right then. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be
filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which
have seen my glory and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the
wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have
not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which
I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke
me see it." See, Moses' intercession didn't fail. Moses wasn't praying
that that did not happen. See, he wasn't praying, he was
fine with that. And Christ is not praying that
that doesn't happen to those that rebel against him either.
But here's what he's praying for. God said, But my servant
Caleb, and Joshua was included, because he had another spirit
with him, the Spirit of God, and hath followed me fully, him
will I bring into the land whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess
it. Now look at Hebrews 4, and I'm
going to just read something to you. Hebrews 4. God may be passing over your
sin for now. Just for now. Without pouring
out immediate judgment on you. But don't imagine that's the
grace of God. Don't imagine, you know, people
going around saying, oh, I've been blessed. I've been blessed
because I just got a, you know, a big fortune come my way or
something like that. That don't necessarily mean that
at all. Seek Christ for mercy while He
may be found. Seek Him now while He may be
found. Look here. And that's true for us too who
believe. Look here, verse 7. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith... Did I say Hebrews 4? I mean Hebrews
3. Hebrews 3, verse 7. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith, today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts
as in the provocation. What God said they did to Him,
they provoked Me, He said. As in the day of provocation,
in the day of temptation in the wilderness. It's talking about
what we're looking at. When your fathers tempted me, and proved
me, and saw my works forty years, wherefore I was grieved for that
generation, and I said they do all way err in their heart, and
they have not known my ways. So I swear in my wrath they shall
not enter into my rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God. But exhort one another daily
while it's called today. Lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. And it is deceitful. For we're
made partakers of Christ. This is proof of it right here.
This doesn't make us partakers of Christ. This is proof of it.
If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast until the
end. While it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard,
did provoke, howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with
them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to
whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but
to them that believed not? So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest they
promise being left us of entering into his rest, and if you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit
them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we
which have believed do enter into rest. Look at verse 10.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from
his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor, therefore,
to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example
of unbelief. Believer, believe God and hold
on to Christ and don't let go of Christ. And sinner, you believe
on Him too. Lay hold of him today. Don't
harden your heart. That provokes God. And God says
He made those folks wander in that wilderness till they died. And then He delivered their children
into the promised land. Believe God. Believe Him. Believe
Him. Amen.