Israel in their journeys through
the wilderness picture the Church of God in
this present evil world. They stand as they journeyed
by God's direction through a solitary, deadly, unforgiving wilderness. Even so, spiritually, that's
how we walk today. As it was then, so it was in
the days of the apostles. He says in Romans 9, verse 6,
for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. And we see
that as they journey through that wilderness. Thousands upon
thousands at a time were destroyed in the wilderness. And in case
somebody that might hear this on the internet or wherever should
question what in the world does ancient Israel have to do with
the church today, I'll tell you this. It says in Hebrews chapter
4, for unto them was the gospel preached as well as unto you. But it did not profit them not
being mixed with faith in them who heard it. The same gospel
that is preached to you today was preached to them by Moses
in the wilderness. And it was preached to them through
that tabernacle and through those types. Now God has an elect people. They are chosen by Him in Christ
by His free and sovereign grace. And all the blessings of eternity
have been appropriated for them in and through our Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us that very clearly
in Ephesians chapter 1. Every soul that is brought to
repentance and faith in time does so because God arranged
it and God brought it to pass. Nothing in the salvation of his
elect is left to chance or circumstance. There's no possibility that any
of God's elect will perish because we're told in no uncertain terms
over in 2 Peter 3, verse 9, that He is not willing. God is not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And I'll tell you this, the will
of God is not just the wish of God. The will of God is what
God does. When God wills a thing, He does
a thing. In other words, when you think
about your will, you think about a will that's powerless to bring
something to pass, but not so with God. He declares the end
from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. God does His will. There is no
possibility that anything that God has willed will not come
to pass. He worketh, He said, all things. Let me give you just a few scriptures
along those lines. Born, isn't that what he said
there in John chapter 1? Born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That is how believers are born.
They are born according to the will of God in His time. That
is when Isaac is going to be born. How is he going to be born?
Exactly as God promised, Sarah would have the child. Isn't that
right? Of His own will, James said,
begat he us by the word of truth. Whose will? God's will. And it
is God, Paul told those Philippians, that worketh in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure. But in the various assemblies
of God's saints, there will always be a mixed congregation. Not
all who say they are Israel are Israel. That's my statement at
the beginning of the message. There will always be those who
joined with them for whatever reasons were not told. what all
the reasons were. But whose hearts never left Egypt. It's obvious that they didn't
leave Egypt. They were forever saying, oh,
the leeks and the flesh pots and all that. Well, they were
beggars. They were slaves. I know they
wasn't eating beef stew, don't you? They were just eating whatever
they gave them. But, oh, out in that wilderness,
they started remembering them old leeks. I don't know much
about leeks. I see them down here at the store.
Look like a big onion, about that big around. They just don't
even look appetizing to me. They just whined and cried about
those old... Their hearts never left Egypt.
Their bodies did, but their hearts didn't. And it might have been
because of some blood ties. Maybe because they were friends. Maybe they were servants to some
of them. The reasons are many. and probably
as many as those who give. But let me tell you something. Everything that God does in His
people, He's going to prove. He's going to prove that work.
If He does a work in you, He's going to prove it to be His work.
He's going to take away every possibility that you may have
done it. He's going to remove it. And
He's going to prove, in the end, He's going to prove that their
salvation and that man that He chose in Christ was all of grace,
all of God, and all for His glory. That man won't get one ounce
of glory out of it. As gold is purged in the fire,
so the work of grace in the hearts of his elect shall pass through
the fire. Over in 1 Corinthians 3, verse
13, he said, Every man's work shall be manifested, for the
day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. He ain't talking about the fires
of judgment and hell, but he's talking about the fiery trials
And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."
Paul plainly declares in Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 that faith is the
gift of God's grace. By grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourselves, not according to our works. But
then he immediately follows up that declaration with this one.
He said, for we are his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which faith is one of them, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. The salvation of our
God is altogether owing to His power, His purpose, and His grace,
and it shall be proven to be so beyond the shadow of a doubt. The pretender's foot, his foot,
shall slip, in due season. That's what the Bible says. His
foot is going to slip in due season. That man who by his own
will and works tries to journey with God's elect should be exposed
for what he is. Where is it going to be exposed?
In this wilderness. In this wilderness. Old Janneys
and Jambrees, Pharaoh's magicians could just go so far with their
pretense, so far with their simulations until God manifested their folly
to all. Now, our text tonight is about
professing Israel caught in their shameful rebellion and exposed
in their nakedness and made to either commit themselves to God
and his messenger or die defending that freewill works religion.
which they were practicing when Moses come down from the mount.
And how did God reveal these things? He brought the law down
to them without mercy. without mercy. He brought that
law down to them. Not in a tabernacle, not sealed
up in a covenant of grace, but He brought it down to them in
those tables, in the purity. He goes on and on telling you
that God wrote this law, God engraved this law. In one place
it said God wrote this law on tables of stone with His own
finger. This comes directly from God
to the people. They were breaking that law and
dancing around a golden calf practicing idolatry while Moses
was up there receiving the law from God. And you all know the
story. Moses went up on the mount and
came down and found his beloved assembly engaged in heathen idolatry,
dancing naked around a golden calf. And Moses threw the tables
of the law down, breaking the holy tablets on the ground. He
then burned their idol in the fire, ground it up into powder,
and made every one of them to taste of it. Strew it out, strawed
it out, the Scripture said, upon the waters, and took vessels
and dipped it up out of that water and made them drink, made
them taste of their idolatry. And when he had finished addressing
them and his brother Aaron, he stood in the gate of the camp
and he said in a loud voice, Who's on the Lord's side? Who's
on the Lord's side? Let him come to me. Let him come
to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered
themselves together unto him. Who are they? You remember our
message here a few weeks ago? That's the priesthood. That's
the church. They all gathered behind Moses.
Every last one of them. And Moses called for commitment
to the Lord. He left no room for the fence
straddlers. He left no room for them who
wanted a little of both. I want a little of this, and
then I want a little of that. And then I want to come back
and get a little bit more, and I'm going out here and get a
little bit more of that." They wanted a little bit of both.
He left no room for them. He left no room for those who
didn't want to make a decision right then. Notice that. There's no leniency here. He
called for a commitment to God, a public confession of their
sin, and a public confession of their faith. No other options. No other course. No other way. Now with this in mind, let me
give you three things I see here that we need to apply to our
day and to ourselves. And the first thing that I want
you to see here is man without a true knowledge
of God. Without a true knowledge of God.
There are two ways in which God will present His law to men.
by itself in its pure and holy perfection, written by the finger
of God, or he'll present it sealed in a covenant, in the Ark of
the Covenant, overshadowed by a mercy seat and under the blood. Sealed in a covenant. And man
is a rebel. That's what he is. Man is a rebel.
Man who don't know God is a rebel. There's no other word for it.
Moses was gone out, and they didn't even miss him. Nobody was mourning here about
Moses. Well, maybe a snake bit him.
Maybe we ought to send somebody out to check on Moses. He'd been
gone long. They ain't going to talk about that. They're glad
he was gone. That's what I'm getting out of
it. Well, we want not what happened to him. They weren't even concerned
enough to send somebody out and check on him. They didn't know where he went
and they weren't interested to find out. Left to themselves,
left with no authority and no direction and no instruction
and no rebuke, they immediately took things into their own hands.
Man is a rebel. They were told to wait. That's
what Moses said, you wait here. I'm going up on the mountain.
God called me up there to give me His law. I'm going up on the
mountain. They didn't wait. They didn't wait. Waiting is
not in the nature of a rebel. They that are after the flesh,
the Bible said, do mind the things of the flesh. They don't mind
spiritual things. They don't do what they're told.
They do what they want to do. Man is a rebel. His mind, the
Scripture said, is enmity against God. It's not subject to the
law of God. Neither indeed can be. And then
secondly, he's a religious rebel. These folks didn't build a bar.
They built a cash. They built a cash. And they did
about the same thing around the cash that they do in the bar.
But they built a cash. Now here's what we're talking
about. We're talking about what the law discovers in a natural
man when it's presented to him in its purity. When the law comes
down, the law came by Moses. Moses brought that holy law of
God down to those people and what did he find? He discovered
them in their idolatry, in their rebellion. It discovers him engaged
in some form of ignorant worship and idolatry. Paul walked around
that Mars Hill there in Athens. And he looked at him and he said,
I've looked at all your devotions. And he said, I found one to the
unknown God. Just in case they left one out,
they erected a monument there with no name on it. The unknown
God. He said, Him declare unto you, whom you therefore ignorantly
worship. That's what you find out when
God begins to expose the sinner. brings that law to him in its
purity. It begins to expose him for what
he is and what he is as an idolater. Made an idol to satisfy their
own wicked imaginations and ideas about God. I'm sure they took
a consensus among the people, aren't you? They went out and
discussed it. They took a consensus. It was
a group participation, probably took a vote on it at the end
of a sharing session, what I suspect that they did, and came up with
a calf. And so it is today, God's candle
is removed, and instead of asking God to replace him, instead of
seeking spiritual advice from another pastor, they all meet
and vote on what to do, and everybody has an input on what they want
out of a man to teach them. And so they find somebody to
suit those appetites, and they get that man, and they elect
him, and they bring him in to preach for him. And from that
day on, that man will preach what that congregation dictates
for him to say. Man is a religious rebel. He's a religious rebel. He's
not of himself capable of doing anything to benefit his on poor
soul. Moses was gone just a short time,
and when he came back, the whole outfit was dancing around a golden
cap. Paul said, with tears, with tears,
he told them, he said, this I know. He said, I have not shunned to
declare unto you the whole counsel of God. I have preached to you
the gospel Right side up, sideways, and upside down. Every part of
it. I preach to you. I've not failed
to declare unto you the whole counsel of God in Christ. But he said, this I know. When
I'm gone, soon as I'm gone, this soon as I'm gone, in a very short
time, grievous wolves gonna come in. Grievous wolves. What thing soever the law saith. Listen to this. When the law
comes without a propitiation, without mercy and without grace,
it discovers man's nakedness too. They were all naked. That's how Moses finds them and
that's how Moses finds you today. naked. He's got no cloak to cover
his shame. It says, what thing soever the
law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. No flesh by the law justified
before God. And then lastly, the law broken
in the light of man's rebellion and wickedness, broken in the
light of his idolatry and shame. becomes a curse to him. You remember
that scripture I read you here? That last verse that I read to
you? And the Lord plagued the people. He plagued them. The law, that broken law, without
mercy, without a propitiation, without being sealed in that
ark is a curse. It's a curse. talk with one of
our members today about a man that he had been talking to and
that man is just absolutely convinced that he can keep the law and
satisfy God. And I gave him three scriptures
over the phone and one of them was that scripture in Romans
chapter 3 that I just quoted to you. He said, What thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. Therefore, therefore, there shall
no flesh be justified by the law before God. No flesh. No flesh. And if that's your
hope, you don't have a hope. And then the second thing I want
you to see in our text is that when God's messenger presents
this truth and manifests that broken law before your eyes,
you are commanded of God to either publicly confess your sins and
identify yourself with God's messenger or suffer the consequences. One or the other. One or the
other. Let me tell you something, and
it's been rattling some cages all over the place. Allegiance
to God begins with allegiance to his messenger. Now that rattles
folks. I know it rattles folks. It ought
to. Their cages need to be rattled. When he sent that 70 out, what
did he tell them? He said, he that heareth you,
heareth me. He that despiseth you, despiseth
me. You know why? Because that man
is God's ambassador. If our country sends an ambassador
to one of those heathen nations over there, and for whatever
reason that nation should use force against that ambassador,
that's a strike against this country. And this country's going
to strike back. You might as well just got off
the ship and started shooting at the president. That's right. And it's the same thing applies
when God's messenger brings that gospel out. Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5, he said, now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did
beseech you by us. So your reaction to that messenger
is a direct reaction to God. A direct reaction to God. Allegiance
to God begins with an allegiance with God's messengers. Now let
me give you just a few scriptures to think about on that subject. In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul said
he knew their election of God, and then he gives a multitude
of reasons. The first reason was that his
gospel came not in word only, but it also came in power and
in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. And then in verse
6 he tells them, because they became followers or disciples
of us and the Lord. You see that there? Now listen
to this. Turn with me to Mark chapter
1. Here's what Moses said, who's
on the Lord's side? Are you listening? Let him come
to me. Ain't that what he said? Let Him come to me. He didn't
say, let Him go here or there or somewhere else. He said, come
to me. That's the way it is. John the
Baptist was among all but Christ. He was the greatest of God's
messengers of the Old Testament. I suppose even of the New. He's
the greatest man born of woman. But here in Mark 1, verse 2,
it says, as it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send
my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee. The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Now listen to this. John did
baptize in the wilderness. and preached the baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins. And there came out unto him,
they came to him, are you listening, all the land of Judea, and they
of Jerusalem, and all were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing
their sins. Here is one of the most controversial
figures of the Old Testament, who by the authority of God has
instituted a new ordinance and commands men in the preaching
of the gospel to be baptized. And in Luke chapter 7, now listen
to this, it says, and all the people that heard him, that is,
that heard John, and the publicans, justified God being baptized
with the baptism of John. That's how they justified God. That's how they identified with
God. The truth of God as it's exposed
that naked idolatry and rebellion of evil man demands an immediate
confession and repentance and faith, a confession of repentance
and faith. And you can, you can if you want
to, you can You can if and maybe and what
about and you can do all that you want to do, but you can't
find anywhere in any of the great commissions or anywhere under
the preaching of the apostles where any time was given for
a kind of incubation period. You're not going to find it.
It ain't there. You remember I told you about
that Philippian jailer? He and his whole house was baptized
that same hour. That Ethiopian eunuch, the first
words out of his mouth was, what does hinder me from being baptized?
And you can go on and on and on. John baptized him. And it was such a thing in that
day that even the Pharisees and the scribes came out to be baptized
of John, no doubt for the love of the people and for fear of
the people. And when John saw him coming,
he said, you go back and bring repentance. You go back and bring
some meat of repentance to me, and then I'll baptize you. Moses did not send those naked
idolaters home to reason things out. He didn't do it. Reasoning
things out is what brought them to the place where they were.
Moses didn't tell them to talk it over and let him know what
they thought about him. He could already see what they
thought about it. No, sir, he said, who's on the Lord's side?
Let him come to me. And the Lord has no secret disciples. He has no uncommitted disciples. When God saves a man, he sets
up his rule in him, and he declares his work in him before all men. He'll identify himself. It says
that some in the book of Acts were baptized for the dead. That's not talking about being
baptized in proxy. That's talking about their baptism
marked them out for martyrdom. They knew if they went in the
water, they was as sure for death as if the sword, they might as
well fall on their own sword. They were that sure of martyrdom. And yet they were baptized. He
will, in the manner prescribed, identify himself and make a public
commitment to God, or he'll suffer the consequences. I believe we
make a grave mistake when we send men away with some idea
that God might visit them again sometime in a more convenient
season. Now, I do know this. God is long-suffering
to us all His elect. He is. And He's not willing for
any of us to perish. And we, like Paul, may hear the
gospel a thousand times. Paul heard it and heard it and
heard it. And then one day, he heard it. But I tell you this, we make
a grave mistake with men when we try to preach that same leniency
in the gospel toward them. We make a grave error. With many, they never got a second
hearing. Never did. You remember, was
it Felix that was trembling in his shoes? He said, I'll hear
you again. I'll call for you when it's convenient. He never
called. The scripture said, he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Those spies, those evil spies,
we're going to be looking at them just shortly in our study.
But those spies came back with an evil report and could not
be persuaded by Caleb to repent. And their carcasses, God said,
will fall in the wilderness. He said, they're not coming in.
They're not going to enter into my rest. And in light of their
example, the Holy Ghost says today, with a capital T and a
capital D, today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts
as they did in the wilderness, because they all fell. And none
of them entered into that rest. Don't harden your heart. And
in John 3, verse 36, he says, He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. Ain't that what that says? But
the wrath of God abideth on him. Hearing gospel truth is a dangerous
and weighty thing. In Ecclesiastes 1, verse 18,
it said, For in much wisdom there is much grief. And he that increaseth
knowledge increaseth sorrow." It's a dangerous thing, especially
if you hear it in indifference. So here's the first point. Man
is exposed in all his sin by the law. And then secondly, He
that is exposed is called upon for a public commitment to God
in identification with Him and His messenger and with His people. And then last of all, judgment
to all them that remain. Listen to this, Exodus 32, 27.
And He said unto them, that is the whole house of Eli, the church,
the priesthood of God, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every
man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate
throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, every
man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And at the
end of that day, 3,000 men lay dead and bloody on the ground."
What is the believer's sword? Paul said, the sword of the Spirit. which is the Word of God. And
if you'll allow me to use 1 Peter 1, verse 25, this is the Word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. The gospel sword is
what slays. That's what slays. He that believeth
not the Son shall not see life. He'll find himself mortally wounded
by the gospel sword. And I'll tell you this, he that
believeth not has started down a path of no return. Now he has. And of that man, Paul said, who
has trodden underfoot the Son of God, counted the blood of
His covenant an unholy thing, and done despite unto the Spirit
of grace, there's nothing left for him. Nothing left but a certain
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. And I have little hope for those
who hear and just remain adamant in their rebellion toward God.
Their very attitude is evidence of the wrath of God abiding on
them. Only a man under the wrath of
God would do such a thing. You think about this. I mean,
you think about all that Israel had seen before they came to
this point. all of the plagues of Egypt,
all of the miracle water from the rock, all of those things.
They'd seen them things. They saw the mountain quake and
burn. They saw all those things. And
here they are. Here they are. Still adamant
in their heart. Still angry. Still upset. Still in their rebellion. And
their attitude is evidence of the wrath of God abiding on them.
There was a little church up in northern Ohio, up there in
the farm country. And the pastor died. And they
prayed and asked God to send them one and some time went by.
And while they were waiting, a rich
farmer, one of the wealthiest farmers around, owned all that
ground around there and donated that little patch of ground to
the church. His ancestors did. And he wanted to be a member
of that church. He went down there and signed up, professed
faith, joined that church. And in time, God sent him a pastor,
sent him a faithful man of God. And it didn't take long. It didn't
take long. That pastor stood up and began
to preach to that man. He began to get angry, and pretty
soon they got sideways. And the man couldn't get his
way. He just couldn't get his way like he wanted to. His influence didn't mean anything
there like it did all over the rest of town. And so he left. And every Sunday
after that, He came out with all of his tractors and he'd
plow that ground during service while he was having service.
He'd plow that ground all around that church with them big noisy
diesel tractors. Heavy radios on them turned up.
And then pretty soon the crops came up and he'd come out during
service time and he'd cultivate those things right in front of
that church every time they had a service. And this went on all
summer until finally late one fall During service, sure enough,
here he is. He's out there and he's bringing
in the crops. He's bringing in the corn and
the wheat and all these things. He's got every tractor he owns
out there. And every wagon. And all them
churches out there and he's gathering in all these crops. And about
the time church was over, the congregation went back, the deacons
opened the back door and there was that man sitting on his tractor
right out in front of the church. And the congregation went out
there and gathered and looked as far down that road as you
could see. It was wagon after wagon after wagon, heap and full
of grain. Finally, the pastor came out
and the old man looked at him and he said, Preacher, he said,
for months, months and months, he said, I passed by here and
defiled your service. He said, I purposely I mocked
your authority and your worship and I did everything in my power
to disgrace you and to disgrace your message. And yet here I
sit today and you say, you say your God is sovereign and your
God does this and your God does this. And he said, if that's
so, he said, how do you explain all this bounty? He said, how
do you explain that? In that old picture, everybody
turned and looked at him. And he looked up that man, and
he said, here's how I explain it. God doesn't settle his accounts
in October. That's right. And I'm going to
tell you something. Back here, that day, 3,000 men
died. But I tell you this every time
I preach the gospel here, and men and women come in and hear
it. And they go out that door, and they despise it. And all
you have to do to despise it is to be indifferent about it.
That's all you have to do. That's despising God. Despising
God. Despising His mercy and His grace. Here's the love of God in Christ,
and the mercy of God in Christ, and the grace of God in Christ,
and all the glory of God in Christ, and you look at it like it's
a piece of old cold fish. I just don't want it. I just
don't want to eat it. That's despising God. God may not settle His account
with you right that second, but it's going to get settled. And
I tell you this, you're headed down a path of no return. You've got no guarantee that
God will ever let you hear that message again. He may take you
out when you walk through the door. He may take you right into
judgment right then. But whether He does or not, one
day you're going to stand before Him. And this much I can tell
you, apart from God's intervention, What are you going to do? What
are you going to do? And if He intervenes and by His
grace has called you in here to hear His gospel, and you despise
it, my soul, I just don't have much hope. I'm telling you, there's
just not much hope for that person who continues on and on and on. Now you hear me. Moses said,
line up. Right here. Right here. Everybody's
on the Lord's side. One of those old generals looked
at Mr. Lincoln, and they said, boy, he said, I hope the Lord's
on our side. Mr. Lincoln said, I'm not near
so worried about that as I am where I'm on his. And that's
what Moses said. Who's on the Lord's side? You
line up right here. Line up behind that messenger
and his message. Line up with the children of
God. Identify with that. That's what God commands. And
when God makes a command, it ain't a suggestion. It's a command,
ain't it? It's a command.