Our message was a blessing, and
I was thinking where it says it pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell, it also pleases us that in Him
should all fullness dwell. Would you turn with me to Numbers
chapter 14? I've entitled this message why
God continues to forgive sin. You know, I don't want to presume
forgiveness. I don't want to simply presume
it. But I want to have some understanding as to why God would continue
to forgive me. The children of Israel have reached
the promised land. They've been going through the
wilderness for several months and God finally brings them to
the land that He promised to give them. Now, if the Lord promises
you something, what are you supposed to do? Believe His promise. They have come to the land that
flowed with milk and honey, and I want you to think about all
that they had experienced in these last few months. They had
experienced deliverance from Egyptian bondage. As they walked through the Red
Sea, seeing the walls of water on their right and left hand,
and they walked through on dry ground. What must that have been
like? They were fed with manna from
heaven. They had seen that rock smitten
and waters flow from it. And that rock, according to Paul
in 1 Corinthians 10, followed them around. That rock which
followed them was Christ. They had received the law. They had experienced the glory
of God's forgiveness when they committed that horrible sin of
making a golden calf and saying, these be thy gods, O Israel,
that delivered thee from Egyptian bondage. Now, they had every reason to
have confidence to enter into the land, didn't they? They felt a need to send spies
into the land to make sure it was something they could do. Carnal policy, fleshly wisdom,
unbelief. So a spy is sent from each of
the 12 tribes. Let's look back in chapter 13,
beginning in verse 21. So they went up and searched
the land from the wilderness of Zin and to Rehob as men came
to Hamoth. And they ascended by the south
and came into Hebron where Ahimon, Shebshi, Talmai, the children
of Anak were. Now Hebron was built seven years
before Zoan in Egypt. And they came unto the brook
of Eshkol and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of
grapes. And they bared between two upon
a staff. They brought the pomegranates and the figs. And the place was
called the Brook of Eshkol because the cluster of grapes which the
children of Israel cut down from them. So they returned from searching
the land after 40 days. And here's the report. And they
went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation
of the children of Israel and to the wilderness of Paran, to
Kedash, and brought back word unto them and to all the congregation
and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and
said, we came into the land, whether thou sentest us and surely
it floweth with milk and honey. And this is the fruit of it.
All anyone could possibly desire. Nevertheless. The people be strong, the dwell
in the land. And the cities are walled and
very great, and moreover, we saw the children of Anak there,
these giants. The Amalekites dwell in the land
of the south and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites
dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and
by the coast of Jordan. And I can feel the murmuring
going on at this time. We can't go in there. Why, we'll
get destroyed. We can't stand before these people.
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said, let us
go up at once and possess it for we're well able to overcome
it. You see, if God be for us, who
can be against us? I like what Jonathan said. He
was going to go take on the entire Philistine army, just him and
his armor bearer. And he said, if the Lord weren't
for us, there's no restraint with him, whether by few or many.
If God be for us, Who can be against us? But verse 31, the
men that went up with him said, we'd be not able to go up against
the people for they're stronger than we. And they brought up
an evil report of the land, which they had searched the children
of Israel saying the land through which we have gone to search
it is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof. And the
people that we saw in them were men of great stature. And there
we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants.
And we were in our own side as grasshoppers. So we were in their
side. We can't deal with this. They're just too much for us.
They brought in this evil report. Chapter 14, verse one, and all
the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people
wept that night. And this was the weeping of unbelief.
This was the weeping of terror. Oh, we're out here. What's going
to happen to us now? And all the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation
said unto them, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt
or would God we died in this wilderness? And wherefore hath
the Lord brought us under this land to fall by the sword that
our wives and our children should be a prey? Well, he's just brought
us out here for us to be killed and our wives and children. Were
it not better for us to return to Egypt? You know, they said
that a lot. Let's go back to Egypt. It was
better for us then. And they said one to another,
let us make a captain and let us return unto Egypt. Then Moses
and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly, the
congregation of the children of Israel. They were devastated
to see this unbelief, this lack of confidence in the God who
had brought them so far. And now they've forgotten everything.
Let's go back to Egypt. They'd heard that before. Verse
six in Joshua. the son of Nun, and Caleb the
son of Jephthah, which were of them that searched the land.
They rent their clothes, and they spake unto all the company
of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we pass through
to search it, it's an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight
in us, then he'll bring us into this land and give it to us,
a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye
against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land, for
they're bred for us. Their defenses departed from
them, and the Lord's with us. What's there to be afraid of? But look at their response. But
all the congregation bade stone them with stones. Kill them. That's pretty intense, isn't
it? That was their response. Stone them, put them to death,
and let's go back to Egypt. and the glory of the Lord appeared
in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. Now has there ever been a more
wicked bunch than this bunch? After all the Lord had shown
them, well, These people are given
as a picture of you and I. I see myself so clearly in these
people, not the way I used to be, the way I am right now. Verse 11, and the Lord said unto
Moses, how long will this people provoke me? How long am I going
to continue forgiving this bunch after all that they do? I deliver
them, they provoke me. I deliver them again, they provoke
me. How long will it be ere they
believe me for all the signs which I've showed among them?
This bunch is unreformable. He says in verse 12, I'll smite
them with the pestilence. I'll just send a disease, kill
them all, disinherit them, and we'll make of thee a greater
nation and mightier than they. Now Moses intercedes. And Moses said unto the Lord,
then the Egyptians shall hear. For thou broughtest them up,
this people, in thy might from among them. If you do this, the
Egyptians will hear about it, and they will tell it, verse
14, to the inhabitants of this land, for they have heard that
thou, Lord, art among this people, and that thou, Lord, art seen
face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that
thou goest before them by daytime in a pillar of cloud and a pillar
of fire by night, Now, if you kill all these people as one
man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak
saying, because the Lord was not able to bring this people
into the land, which he swear unto them, therefore he has slain
them in the wilderness. Now, everyone knows of your special
relationship with Israel. And if you do this, here's what
the people will say. The Lord was not able to bring
them into the land. They were just too bad. They
were just too sinful. They were just too evil. They
were just too weak. The Lord didn't have anything
to work with, with these people. So all he could do is slay them
in the wilderness. Moses appeals to God with what is most important to
God. his own glory. That's the argument he uses.
His own glory. They'll say you're not able.
Is anybody going to be able to say the Lord was not able to
save me because I was too simple? Verse 17. And now I beseech thee, let the
power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken. Now he's
only appealing to what the Lord already said. Here's what you
said, the Lord is long suffering. This is when Moses said, show
me your glory. God said, I'll make my goodness to pass before
you. I'll proclaim my name before you. I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. I will show mercy to whom I will
show mercy. And then he proclaimed his name,
the Lord, the Lord, God, merciful, gracious. You can read about
it in Exodus 34. Moses reminds him of that. This is what you
said. The Lord is long suffering and of great mercy. forgiving
iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under
the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity
of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and
as thou has forgiven this people from Egypt, even until now, And the Lord said, I have pardoned
according to thy word. Now, as I have already stated,
the children of Israel paint a very accurate picture of you
and me. I speak by shameful experience I'm filled with sinful unbelief
and mistrust. I fear the giants. I fear the
walled cities. I fall before the same sins over
and over and over and over again. Now, what makes me think that
the God of glory will continue to forgive me. I don't want to
presume on that. What makes me think that the
God of glory will continue to forgive me? Now Moses answers
that question in this prayer for Israel. And I see in this
prayer of Moses seven reasons as to why God continues to forgive. And I need something from the
Word. I don't want to just presume
on this. I need something from the Word that will tell me why
God continues to forgive. Now there really is such a thing
as sin. Because God is. And sin's an infinite evil. You
and I don't have any idea how bad it is. But it's bad. You
look at the cross and you'll see. Now how can God continue
to forgive me of my sins. Well, the first argument Moses
uses is God's glory. Moses doesn't say forgive them
because they have some commendable traits, did he? He didn't say
forgive them because at least they had enough faith to walk
through the Red Sea on dry land. He didn't use any argument about
them. He spoke of God's glory. He didn't say anything with regard
to them being worthy of forgiveness. The only argument he used was
the glory of God. Now let's look in verse 13 through
16 again. And Moses said unto the Lord,
After he said, I'll smite him with the pestilence and disinherit
them and make a greater and mightier nation of thee. We'll just get
rid of them and start all over. But you know, when Moses prayed
for people, the Lord responded to him. You remember when he
prayed there in Exodus 32, where he said, these people sinned
a great sin. They made him a golden calf and
they deserve to be cast off. Ain't no doubt about that. Forgive,
I pray thee, the iniquity of their transgression. And he said,
if not, if you don't, Just blot me out of the book you're writing. That's so astounding. But Moses knew he couldn't be
blotted out of the book, just like Paul when he said, I could
wish that I was a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh. I could wish to be a curse, but
he knew he couldn't be. But Christ did cause himself
to be blotted out for our sake. And Moses said unto the Lord,
verse 13, Then the Egyptians shall hear it for thou broughtest
up this people in thy might from among them, all redeemed by power,
the power of God. And they will tell it to the
inhabitants of this land, for they have heard that thou, Lord,
are among this people, that thou, Lord, art seen face to face.
and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before
them by daytime in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire
by night. Now, if thou shalt kill all these people as one
man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak
Satan, because the Lord was not able." Because the Lord was not
able to bring these people into the
land which he's swearing to them, therefore he has slain them in
the wilderness. Has there ever been a more glorious display of power
when the Lord brought them out of Egypt? But he wasn't able to finish
what he began. Would that ever be said? Were they just too sinful
so he had to slay them in the wilderness? That he was not able
to bring them into the promised land? They were too evil? What
that says is if they were a little better, if he had a little bit
more to work with, he could have got them in. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? I want to ask you a question. I want you to listen very carefully.
Is he able to bring you into glory with no contribution from
you? Is He able? And when I stand in glory, in
my own mind, I will be the biggest example there of just how much
salvation is by grace. I believe I'm looking at some
other people who feel that way about themselves. I will be the
biggest trophy of grace there. In my salvation, he gets all
the glory. When I stand before thy throne,
dressed in beauty, not my own, when I see thee as thou art,
love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know
Not till then, how much I owe. It will not be said, Todd was
too sinful, too weak. God had to send him to hell.
There was nothing God could work with. No, I'll be a living example. How the salvation is 100% by
grace. God doesn't need anything to
work with. He by himself purged our sins. Why does God continue to forgive? Why does the Lord continue to
forgive? Because that's who he is. That's just who he is. Look what Moses said in verse
17. And now I beseech thee, let the
power of my Lord be great. According as thou has spoken,
saying the Lord is long suffering and of great mercy, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and by no means clearing Now, why
does the Lord continue to forgive? Because that's who He is. We're
dependent upon what you have told us about yourself, and you
said you're long-suffering. You said you're abundant in mercy. You said you forgive iniquity
and transgression and sins and that your power is magnified
in the forgiveness of sins. You know, there's more power
magnified by the Lord in the forgiveness of sins than there
is in the creation of the universe. What power it took to actually
put away my sin. So it's no more. Thou has magnified thy power. and thy mercy." You know, God's
forgiveness magnifies every attribute of God. It magnifies His justice. It magnifies His wisdom that
He's made a way to be just and justify the ungodly. It magnifies
His love, His power, His grace. Every attribute of God is glorified
in the forgiveness of sins. That's why God continues to forgive. That's who He is. You're the,
you're the, I wanna say this reverently, but the most God-like
thing me or you could ever do is forgive somebody. Truly forgive
in the depth of our heart. God forgives, He continues to
forgive because that's who He is. Here's a third reason. The third
reason he continues to forgive is justification. In this passage,
in verse 17, he said, you said by no means you'll clear the
guilty. And you know, under no circumstance
will God ever clear a guilty sinner. The reason he forgives
is because he makes them not guilty. It's called justification. He makes it to where I am not
guilty. That's why he forgives me, because
he put the sin away. There's nothing there to forgive.
It's gone. I am not guilty before God. Justification, that means when
God looks at me. Right now, when God looks at
me, he sees someone who has no sin. He doesn't love me unconditionally. He loves me because I'm beautiful.
He says, there's no spot in thee. Thou art all fair, my love. He loves me because I'm perfectly
conformed to the image of his son. That's what justification
is. The reason he continues to forgive is because we have no
guilt. He said, I'll by no means clear
the guilty. He made a way for every believer, everyone for
whom Christ died to be not guilty. That cloud of guilt I have over
my head all the time, it's such a waste of time because I've
got no guilt. I have no guilt. I am without sin, not guilty
before Him. That's why He continues to forgive. Here's the fourth reason He continues
to forgive. He continues to forgive because
of the greatness of His mercy. Look in verse 19. Pardon, I beseech
thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness
of thy mercy. I like what the psalmist said,
thy mercy endureth forever. You see, if he's ever merciful
toward you once, he will continue to be merciful toward you because
his mercy endures forever it never stops it'll never be exhausted
it will never run dry for as the heavens are high above the
earth so great is his mercy toward them that fear him now that's
why God continues to forgive because his mercy is everlasting
here's the fifth reason why God continues to forgive Notice what
he says in verse 19, pardon, I beseech thee the iniquity of
this people, according to the greatness of thy mercy. And as
thou has forgiven these people from Egypt, when you first forgave
them, keep forgiving them for the same reason. You see, God
continues to forgive because the ground or the basis for forgiveness
is always the same. It's always the same. The reason
for forgiveness. Here it is, they learned this
in the Passover. They were in those houses with
the blood over the door, and God made this promise. He said,
when I see the blood. Not when I see your faith. Not
when I see your sorrow. Not when I see your intentions
to improve your life and straighten things out. When I see the blood,
that's the one reason for forgiveness. There is no other reason. When
I see the blood, I will pass over you. You see, that ground
has never changed, has it? That's God's reason for forgiveness. Ephesians 4, 32, Be ye kind,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. Now that's why He continues to
forgive. It's the same ground. You know, when I die and close my eyes, and without
sin anymore. After I've committed my last
sin, you know, that last sin I committed was forgiven for
this very same reason. The first sin was the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 25 verse 11, for thy name's
sake, oh Lord, pardon mine iniquity. for it's great. He didn't say
it's not all that bad. He said it's great for thy name's
sake. Pardon my iniquity. Psalm 79,
nine, help us, O God of our salvation for the glory of thy name and
deliver us and purge away our sins for thy name's sake. Ground's always the same. And
here's the sixth reason. He continues to forgive. I think
I might like this one the best because they're already forgiven.
Notice verse 20, and the Lord said, I have pardoned. They're already forgiven. I would not dare want to give
myself or anybody any kind of excuse for sin. But child of
God, the sins you haven't committed yet, have already been forgiven. David said, I've sinned. And
Nathan said, the Lord hath put away thy sin. And the reason
he continues to forgive, because they're already forgiven. And lastly, The reason he continues
to forgive is our intercessor. Look in verse 20, and the Lord
said, I have pardoned. What are those next four words?
According to thy word. Now, what a type of Christ Moses
is here. The Lord says to Moses, I have
forgiven according to thy word. You told me to do it, and I'm
doing it. And that's what the Lord Jesus Christ does as my
intercessor. He's not begging the father,
please forgive him again this one more time. No, he stands
as my great high priest. He shows his hands and his feet. And the father says, never again.
They're forgiven completely. Their sin is all put away. It's gone. I love that scripture
in 1st John chapter 2 verse 1. John says, These things write
I unto you that you sin not. Make it your ambition, your resolve,
your purpose to never sin again. But when you do, We have an advocate with the
Father. He's not some crooked lawyer.
He's Jesus Christ the righteous. And the glorious thing about
our great lawyer, he's one who's never lost a case. And it just
so happens that the judge is his father. And he makes every single one
of his clients plead guilty as charged. And makes every single one of
them justified. Now that's some kind of lawyer,
isn't it? We have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ
the righteous. He's the propitiation for our
sins, not for ours only, but also the sins of the whole world.
Jews and Gentiles every day. tribe, race, kindred, and done. Now, why does he continue to
forgive my sin? I don't want to presume. Well,
for his own glory, how he's glorified in the forgiveness of sin, because
that's his character. He forgives sin because of justification. He makes it till we're not guilty.
Because of the greatness of his mercy. Because the basis for
forgiveness never changes. It's always the same. First sin
and the last sin. Because he's already forgiven.
And because of our great intercessor and high priest, the Lord Jesus
Christ. That is why he continues to forgive
sin. And I'll tell you what, I can't
wait till I don't sin anymore. Amen.