Be Sure

Numbers 32:16-33 BE SURE

23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

I. BE SURE OF YOUR SIN - IT WILL FIND YOU OUT. Num. 32:23

A. Judas—Matt. 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

B. Cain—Gen. 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

C. King Herod—Acts 12:23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

I. WE CANNOT ESCAPE SIN BY A LAPSE OF TIME

There is no "statute of limitations" with sin—

Ecc. 8:11; Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Ps. 50:21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

II. WE CANNOT ESCAPE SIN BY CAREFUL CONCEALMENT

1. Sin has a way of escaping—Ecc. 10:20

Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

2. Heaven will reveal secret sins—Job 20:27

The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

3. Though concealed now, they will all surface in judgment—Ecc. 12:14

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

III. WE CANNOT ESCAPE SIN BY BEING REPENTANT

Sin is forgiven but its results follow—2 Sam. 12:10-12 David.

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

IV. WE CANNOT ESCAPE SIN BY DEATH

1. A man's sin will follow him into judgment—Heb. 9:27

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

2. A man's sin will drag him into hell—Rev. 21:8

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

3. A man's sin will torment him for eternity—Lu. 16:23

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

II. BE SURE OF YOUR CESSATION BECAUSE IT IS COMING

Heb. 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

A. Death comes to the young. B. Death comes to the old. C. Death comes to all

III. BE SURE OF YOUR STAY BECAUSE LIFE IS UNCERTAIN.

Pro 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth

A. Life is like a Shadow,

Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

B. Life is like Grass,

Isaiah 40:6. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

C. Life is like Flowers of the Field,

Psalm 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more

D. Life is like a Vapour,