If you would first turn with
me tonight to the epistle of 1 John chapter 2. I want to begin
here in a moment reading in verse 15. As you may remember from
our study a long time ago in Numbers chapter 32, the two and
a half tribes had petitioned Moses to give them their inheritance,
their possession of the land, on the other side of Jordan before
Israel passed over Jordan into the land of promise. This land
was suited for their great multitude of cattle, livestock, so they
asked Moses for that land instead of the land that they were to
inherit on the other side of Jordan. And this upset Moses
a great deal. And he charged them saying, he
said, shall your brethren go to war and you just sit here? And Moses explained that this
would discourage the other tribes just the same as those 10 spies of the tribes of Israel
had discouraged. the congregation of Israel when
they returned with their evil report of the land. Oh, there's
giants there, and we're grasshoppers in their sight. Well, God had
promised to give Israel the land and defeat their enemies for
them, and the spies report greatly angered the Lord and caused their
wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. We know that story
well. And it was then that the tribes
of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh promised before
the Lord to go to war and help the other tribes in the land
of promise. They promised not to return under their homes until
the children of Israel had rested in the land of promise. And this
satisfied Moses and he allowed them their request. And one of
the most well-known phrases in all the Bible found in Moses'
statement to those two and a half tribes in Numbers chapter 32
in reference to them reneging and not fulfilling their promise
was this, be sure your sins will find you out. If you don't do
what you promised, what you've made an oath unto the Lord, you
can be certain that your sins will find you out. And I suppose
this would be a good time for me to say that in preaching the
gospel, our purpose is always, whoever, whatever true gospel
preacher preaches, is to point men to Christ. That's the only
way sinners can be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father
but by Him. If a sinner is not found in Christ,
there's no hope of them ever being redeemed. Well, we're nothing
but sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
Paul said, of whom I am chief. It pleased the Lord to send His
Son into the world, to die in their room instead, to keep God's
law perfectly, to satisfy God's justice on their behalf. No salvation
apart from that. But yet also the Scriptures,
and by the grace of God, I might add, God often warns us from
the pages of Scripture about coming short of being in Christ. And that's a great grace too.
And that's what we have before us tonight. We have a real warning. And these messages are tough
sometimes to preach, but they're necessary. They're necessary.
Be sure your sins will find you out. Now that phrase is often
been misunderstood and misapplied. And the only difference between
the two and a half tribes and the 10 spies that Moses sent
out was that the spies who returned were afraid to enter into the
land of promise because of unbelief. But these two and a half tribes
refused to enter into the land of promise because of earthly
gain. But the issue is this, both refused
to enter the land of promise. It came short. To enjoy the promises
of God and to enjoy the sweetness, to be tasted in the land of promise,
you must, you must enter into it. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
10, verse 11, all things, all these things that happened to
Israel that we've studied in Genesis and Exodus and in Numbers
and now in Joshua, They happen for examples, as types to us. These things were written for
time in the Old Testament, were and for our learning, that we
might, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, have hope.
May God be pleased to teach us from their example and do just
that, give us hope. Know this, none of us are exempt
from unbelief. Apart from God sovereignly keeping
us by His grace, any and all of us are, through unbelief and
gain of the world, capable of losing out on the promises of
God. If God doesn't keep us, we won't
be kept. The land of promise is not only
a place, but the enjoyment of that place was the fact that
the land flowed with milk and honey. to enjoy the fruit that
God gave, you had to be there. You had to be there. God had
given Reuben and Gad and Manasseh this land and its fruit and they
would never enjoy it because they decided not to enter. They chose what their eyes saw
instead of what God promised. That happens a lot today. And
what a great warning their example is to us. Their affection was
set on things below and not on things above. And I'll say this,
and I say it with great sadness, over the last past 30 plus years,
I've seen the same thing. There are many that I know who
chose worldly gain over spiritual blessings. While there was a
time that I did, And if not for God's intervening grace, I hate to even think about what
things might be today. I know several men who've moved
their family from a place where the gospel was preached to a
place that it wasn't. I've seen some who've stopped
attending where the gospel's preached for other reasons, and
none are reasonable and good. Some have left for job promotions,
earthly gain, worldly opportunity, others for personal reasons.
Others just stopped coming, period. Yet, in most cases, those who
leave still profess to be believers. They still call themselves Christians. And maybe they are, maybe they're
not. God knows, I don't. But certainly it doesn't look
good. And I know this much. Their choice will cause them
to lose out on the enjoyment of God's sweet milk and honey.
The feast of fat blessings, the wine of the leaves well refined,
and the sweet fruits of the spirit in this life cannot be tasted
if you're not there to taste them. And in most cases, it's
the love of the world. It's the cause and it's the reason
why. It was the reason for these two
and a half tribes. The love of money, love of possessions,
love of attention, love of man's approval, the lust that men and
women of the world covet. Be sure that your sin will find
you out. Okay, 1 John 2, verse 15. John
wrote just that. Love not the world. That's pretty blunt, isn't it? Pretty simple, pretty plain.
Meaning love not the world in which men live. Love not the
world as your home. Love not the world as your place
of habitation. Now I like my home and I know
many of you like your home. It's comfortable and I can rest
there. I can stay in a $200 a night
Holiday Inn Express and rest well, but not like I do at home.
But it's not my forever home. You know, I see some of these
shows on, they say, we're looking for our forever home. Well, my
home's not my forever home. As they say, God's people are
but sojourners and pilgrims and strangers here. We're just passing
through. We really are. This is not our
dwelling place. We find no true peace or rest
here. We're not to love this world,
neither the things in the world. That's what John said. Our Lord
has prepared a place for us. And that place is our home. And
that place that he's prepared for us, he's gonna be there. And that's what makes it so wonderful.
We're waiting for our departure to that place. At the end of
Paul's appointed time, Paul told Timothy, he says, I'm now ready
to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. Not the time of my death. We're gonna live forever, either
with Christ or in hell. But he said, my departure's at
hand. I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give
me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also
that love His appearing. Now look at what John writes
in verse 16. John tells us what the things
that we are not to love are. Man, it's a wide and it's a large,
it's a broad and extensive subject. Verse 16, for all that is in
the world. How much of it? All of it. The
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of
life is not of the Father, but is of the world. Now, these three
things pretty much cover it all. Paul did say for all that's in
the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride
of life, these things are not of the Father. They're the things
of the world and they're not to be loved by us. The lust of
the flesh, that's specifically speaking of unclean desires,
not the corruption of nature. That's why we have the lust of
the flesh. It's not talking about indwelling
sin. That's the cause of all our problems. This is specifically
speaking of sensual desires, unchaste desires, thoughts, words,
and actions, fornications, adultery, rape, incest, sodomy, the indulging
of what is called fleshly desires. The lust of the eyes, second
thing mentioned. What we see and believe to be
earthly treasures are not at all. riches, possessions, worldly
extravagance, wanting what we see that others have and coveting
what we see that others have. The lust of the eyes, the pride
of life, the craving of grandeur and pomp and vainglory. honor and the applause and approval
of men, ears that must be flattered and praised and admired, the
striving for attention. These things are not of God the
Father. They're of the world and we're
not to love them. Look at verse 17. These with the world will
pass away. And all the lust thereof is one
day gonna end. But the one who does the will
of God will abide forever. The one that trusts in the Lord
Jesus Christ, puts all their hope of redemption in His finished
work, they will abide forever. Where? Where Christ is. And in verse 19, speaking of
those who love the world, lovers of pleasure more than lovers
of God, John says, they went out from us, but they were not
of us. For if they had been of us, they
would have continued with us, but that they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us. And again, I'm reminded of the
words of Moses, be sure your sins will find you out. And that's what is so alarming
about what John writes here. Who's he speaking to? He's writing
to those who profess to be the children of God. He said, I write
unto you, little children, for your sins are forgiven for His
name's sake. He's writing to those who profess
to know Christ. Those who claim to have overcome
the wicked one. He's writing to those who declare
to have the Word of God abiding in them. Now the tribe of Reuben
and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh were of the 12 tribes
of Israel. They were delivered out of Egypt
just like the rest of Israel. But they stopped short of the
land of promise. Yep, they defended the name of
God. Yes, they were willing to die
for the cause of the Lord, but they did not enter the promised
land of God. Now, turn with me to Joshua chapter
one. When Israel gets to the Jordan
River to pass over, Joshua addresses those two and a half tribes here
in verse 12. Joshua chapter one, verse 12. It says here in verse 12, and
to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half the tribe
of Manassas spoke or spake Joshua saying, remember the word which
Moses, the servant of the Lord commanded you. saying, the Lord
your God hath given you rest and hath given you this land.
Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain
in the land which Moses gave you on this side, Jordan, but
you shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of
valor, and help them until the Lord hath given your brethren
rest, till he's given them their inheritance. the land that he
promised them and the sweetness thereof is what he's talking
about. As he has given you and they also have possessed the
land which the Lord your God giveth them. Then you shall return
into the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses and
the Lord's servant gave you on this side, Jordan, toward the
sun rising. And they answered Joshua saying,
all that thou commandest us, we will do. And whithersoever
thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearken unto
Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee. Only the
Lord thy God be with thee as he was with most. Now we fast
forward to Joshua chapter 22, verse one. Joshua 22, verse one. Then Joshua called the Reubenites
and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and he said unto
them, you have kept all that Moses, a servant of the Lord,
commanded you, and you've obeyed my voice and all that I commanded
you, and you've not left your brethren these many days unto
this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord
your God. And now the Lord your God hath given rest unto your
brethren as he promised them. Therefore now return ye and get
ye into your tents and into the land of your possession, which
Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of
Jordan. But take diligent heed to do
the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant of the Lord,
charged you to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all
His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to claim unto Him, and to
serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua
blessed them and sent them away, and they went into their tents."
Now, in the time that we have remaining, I want us just to
consider for a few minutes these two and a half tribes, and I
pray that we can glean and learn from them as our example. First, let's consider their promise.
I won't turn you there, but in Numbers chapter 32, verses 17
through 19, they promised to go armed before the children
of Israel until they had brought them unto their place. They did
that. They had promised not to return
into their own homes and to their own tribes, to the other tribes
that inherited their land and rested from fighting. We just
read where they did that. They promised to forsake any
inheritance that they had on the other side of Jordan, where
the majority of Israel would dwell. And they acknowledged
that their inheritance was on the the side of Jordan before
crossing, but they fought for what they refused to be a part
of. And it's always suspect when
you fight for what is right so that you can possess what is
wrong. These tribes did not fight for the promised land because
they loved it. They fought for it so that they
could have what they wanted in this world. Their whole motivation
for staying where they were was earthly gain. I mean, we just
have to call it for what it is. And I don't want to be harsh
here, but for all practical purposes, these two and a half tribes were
really nothing but mercenaries. They were hired, more or less,
paid, and bought contractors. There are many such professors
of Christ today. They are in the business of religion. Religion's big business, you
know that. And they are in business of religion
for worldly gain. They maintain that they're fighting
the good fight of faith. They defend the gospel that they
profess to believe. But their defense for the gospel
is not for Emmanuel's land, but for worldly gain. Wealth and
possessions. They refuse to enjoy the sweet
fruit that's found in the land of promise. They reside on the
wrong side of Jordan. What testimony do you and I have
if by our own will we choose and decide to come short of God's
promises? Cross over Jordan. cross over
Jordan, die to the other world, come and dine upon the sweet
milk and honey of God's Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
plenteous mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We sing that hymn, Depth
of Mercy. Can there be mercy still reserved
for me? And the answer is absolutely. God is plenteous in mercy. For
thou, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy
unto all them that call upon thee. Psalm 85, 5. But thou,
O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious and long-suffering
and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86, 15. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. Come to Christ. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. Psalm 130 verse seven. Now it's
suspect, it's suspicious for one to fight for what they refuse
to enjoy. And how effective is one's testimony
if they choose to come short of God's promises? We testified
the Lord's love, mercy, and grace in Christ by telling folks what
Christ has done for us. But will anyone be influenced
to trust in Christ if we have nothing to tell them from personal
experience? In John chapter 7, when there
was a division among the people because of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Pharisees asked this question. Have any of the rulers or any
among the Pharisees believed on this Jesus? In other words,
if there's anything to Him, wouldn't we, the spiritual giants that
we are, have believed on Him? And you know, Nicodemus was president
at that meeting. And Nicodemus defended the Lord
in the fact that he said, doth our law judge any man before
it hear him and know what he does? But you know, he could
have said, I believe on Him. I'm a Pharisee. I'm a ruler.
I believe on him. Like Peter, he could have said,
I believe this man to be the Christ, the son of the living
God. But the scriptures simply state that Nicodemus left this
meeting as did the rest of them, and no indication at all is given
that he confessed Christ. Now in John chapter 19, Nicodemus
brought a mixture of myrrh and alloys along with Joseph-era
methia, and took the body of Christ and prepared it for burial.
That was a wonderful act of mercy and grace. But if Nicodemus did
believe in the Lord, he never really enjoyed the peace and
the rest that that brought because he
continued to dwell, so to speak, on the other side of Jordan.
This is the point I'm trying to make. Being close to the promises
of God is not the same as enjoying them. And defending the promises
of God are not the same as enjoying them. Are you enjoying the promises
of God? I want you to. And I want to, are you faithful
to attend the preaching of the gospel? Do you love to hear the
story of Christ crucified? Are you resting in his finished
work? Or does your service to Christ just make you comfortable
in the world? Or is it just a way to convince
the world that you're a good person? Secondly, I want us to
consider their life. As we've already mentioned, these
tribes kept their promise, but they gained their wealth and
their prosperity outside of the land of promise. And for those
who refuse to enter into the promises of the Lord and keep
the people of God at a distance, there'll come a time when their
faith is called into question. I know a man who attended here
for many years. He and his wife stopped attending
for personal reasons. He came back for a while and
then left again. And when I asked him why he left,
his response was, I'm going to make a goal of it on my own.
Only one problem with that. No one can make a goal of it
on their own. That's the very reason why the apostle Paul exhorts
professing believers not to forsake the assembling of themselves
together. Now listen, salvation is not
in church attendance, but one whom the Lord has saved wants
to come and hear the gospel preached. That's their only hope. That's
the only comfort they find in this life ridden with depravity
and sin. Not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. You know, I am encouraged to
see This is a nice crowd for Wednesday night. That encourages
me. That blesses my heart. Our Lord
said where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst of them. But to go alone is to go without
the Lord. And if you worship alone, Christ
will not be there. We are to exhort one another
and encourage one another. That's why we come together.
That's why we want to hear the gospel because that's our hope. And you can't be defended or
justified by your actions if you don't. The same man who was
quick to inform me that he was not, he said, I'm not a novice
in the things of God. Well, and then he began to critique
my preaching, telling me that I needed to preach more on this
and less on that. And maybe he came back because
he needed to keep me straight. And I just told him, I said,
well, God didn't need any help doing that. God's gonna keep
his preachers straight. You don't have to worry about
a true minister of the gospel getting puffed up. The Lord well
knows how to keep us humble, doesn't he, Gene? That's what
such a one does, though. They'll boast of their close
relationship with God and brag on their personal knowledge.
And the two and a half tribes didn't just build an altar. We'll see in the next study,
Lord willing. Well, after they left, Shiloh
and headed back home. They stopped at the River Jordan
and they built an altar unto the Lord. And they built a big
one. So big that you could see it.
The way the scriptures read from Shiloh. They just didn't build
an altar, they built a big one for all to see. And they were
basically saying, we might not be a part of your group, But
we're still believers and we're strong believers at that. See
how big our altar is? I wish I had a quarter for every
time someone asked me how big our church was. And I wish I
had a dollar for every time someone asked me how many members we
had. I'd have enough money we could
all go to Dairy Queen tonight and have a good meal. But the
world don't care what you preach. and the world don't care who
you worship. If there's a big group, then
you must be right. After all, can't that many people
be wrong? And if you don't have many people, you must not be
right or you'd have more. And that thinking is not correct
when you consider that broad is the way that leads to destruction
and narrow is the way that leads unto life. Be sure, your sins. We'll find you out. And then
thirdly, we must consider the end of those who are outside
the promises of God. Remember the tribe of Reuben
and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh chose to reside outside
the land of promise. They preferred the rich land
for their livestock and the wealth that it brought them over the
land that flowed with milk and honey. And there are many today
who do the same. Sad but true. They walk by sight
and not by faith. They want what is tangible and
monetary, not what's invisible and eternal. But Christ is the
one thing needful. And not to have Him is to have
nothing. Nothing to offer God, nothing
that God will accept. Christ is the one thing needful.
And it's interesting to note that when war came to Israel
in the book of First Kings, those who made their home short of
the land of promise were the first to fall. Be sure that your
sins will find you out. Friends, there's nothing in this
world to love enough to put this world and the things of it before
the promises and the blessings of God that are found in the
Lord Jesus Christ, nothing. It's God the Father who blesses
his people with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ. Are we gonna leave? Where else will we go? He has
the words to eternal life. We're hearing the words of eternal
life when we meet together. Is it any wonder that the Lord
himself said, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth? There are no treasures upon earth.
Where moth and rust does corrupt and where thieves break through
and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven. That's where true treasures are.
That's where Christ is. Heaven is heaven because Christ
is there. Where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, now listen, you know this, There
will your heart be also. The light of the body is the
eye. If therefore thine eye be single on Christ and Him alone,
the body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. No man can
serve two masters. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus. For either he'll hate the one and love the other, or
else he'll hold to the one and despise the other. But you cannot
serve God and mammon. It's impossible. You can't have
two masters. One of them's gonna take superiority
over the other. There only could be one master.
You'll hate one and love the other, and you'll hold to one
and despise the other. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall
drink, nor yet for your body that what you shall put on is
not the life more than meat and the body than raiment." Friends,
life, eternal life, is to know the only true God, in Jesus Christ,
whom God sent. There's nothing else that matters.
There's nothing else that matters. By nature, we all have sinned
and no doubt come short of the glory of God. But never forget
that we're justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. We came into this world naked
and that's the way we're going to leave. We brought nothing
with us. When we came in, we're not leaving
with anything. So we must not come short of
being in Christ. Don't stop at Jordan because
the world looks attractive and nothing attractive about it.
If we don't have Christ, we do just that. We come short of the
land of promise. We fall short of the only one
who is faithful that promised. And we miss the one thing needful
in order to have life. The greatest token of God's grace
toward us, other than saving us by His grace, is keeping us
by His grace. And He's faithful, they promise.
Oh, I'm so thankful that we're kept by the power of God, aren't
you? We're prone to wonder, we're
prone to leave the God that we love, but we're kept, kept by
God. what God has done for us in Christ,
the power of God. It's the gift of God. Well, as I said, that's a difficult
message to preach, but I think God that He's saved some by His mercy
and His grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we've got to continue
to look to Him. Every hour of every day, look
to Him. Not to ourselves, not within,
but to Him. May God be pleased to make it
so. For His glory, our good, and for Christ's sake.