NUM.32:1-12; 20-23 "THE MOST DANGEROUS THING YOU CAN EVER DO"
* There are many dangerous things you can do. * But I believe the most dangerous thing a person
can do is rebel against God and not do what He says to do.
* One of the hardest things to do after we are saved is to persevere, or continue in the faith,
* without being detoured by the devil. * The devil sets out a lot of detours on the road of life!
A) Moses, here, is instructing the children of Reuben and of Gad that they are to go over the
River Jordon, and help the other ten tribes subdue the land of Canaan,
* After which, they could then return to the east side of Jordon if they desired.
B) What he was saying was this: "There is a great need beyond the river."
* "You are needed to meet the need and to do the work of God!"
* "If you can go & do as the Lord has commanded us, you can help meet the need that is there,
the need that God put you here to meet, then you can go & do what you want to do."
C) "Then you can come back to this land & you can say that it is the land that God has given you."
* "But if not, beware!" * If you are not willing to do your part, beware!"
D) God expects all of us to do our part! * Our part may be different than our neighbor’s part;
* But all of us have a part to do! * All of us have a role to play, all of us have something to do!
* In other words, Moses warned them that if they did not go & help their brothers defeat the
enemy, they were committing a great sin and that God would deal with that sin!
E) Now wait a minute! * He said, "Your sin." * Was He talking about the sin of adultery? NO!
* Was He talking about the sin of drunkenness? NO! * Immorality? NO! * Homosexuality? NO!
* What sin is He talking about? * He is talking about the sin of not doing what you’re supposed to
do and what God has made you to do! * That’s the great sin here that God will judge!
F) The Bible is clear and has given us illustration after illustration that we must do what God has
called us to do! * If we don’t do it, be sure our sin will find us out!
* If we were to walk through the pages of the Bible, we could take testimonies from many people!
* I’d like for us to do that for just a few minutes this morning! * I’d like for us to take a little journey
through the scriptures & take note of the most dangerous thing you could ever do!
* I’d like for us to start as:
(1) WE COME TO A COUPLE KNEELING BESIDE A FRESH GRAVE!
* In that fresh grave, they have just covered up the body of their son. * His name was Abel!
* Cain, their other son, had slain his brother! * Now, mom & dad have had to take the body of
that son, Abel, that cold, lifeless body, and place it in a cold, dark grave!
A) God had told Adam one day in Gen.2:17 "But of the tree of the knowledge of good ......."
* That had been many years before. * They had already faced God over that.
* They had already said, "God, I’m sorry." * God had made a covering to cover their nakedness,
* and clothed them in His righteousness because they had forsaken their righteousness!
B) Many years before, they had done this! * Surely it’s all in the past, never to face it again!
* But as Adam & Eve put that son in the grave, they died with him! * How many times,
* do you think that Adam & Eve died inside, when they passed that grave?
* How many times do you suppose they shed tears?
C) One would find the other gathered around that grave weeping! * How much do you think,
* their hearts were broken when they covered up that lifeless body? * Never seen death before!
* It was like covering up their own selves, their own dreams, their own lives!
* Hey Adam, Can you get by with sin? * Adam would scream his answer to you,
* NO! Be sure your sin will find you out! * Let’s go a little farther:
(2) WE SEE A MAN WITH HIS FACE BURIED IN HIS HANDS!
* There are two small children playing beside him. * There is a cave behind him.
* There are two young girls there. * The man has his face buried in his hands.
* He raises up and looks out across the plain. * He looks across the rubble where there used
to be a great city, a great people. * He looks there and he weeps and he wails.
A) His name is Lot! * He wanted the world and the things of the world!
* He thought he could move into the city of sin! * He thought he could give up his standards.
* He thought he could let his children make their own decisions about life.
* He thought he could go his own way and dabble in sin & enjoy a little play in the world.
B) Listen to him now as he talks to us about his children. * He would call their names as he looked
at that rubble of a city. * That rubble reminded him of the rubble of his life!
* He would think about his wife & how they once were joyfully serving God with God’s people,
* How they chose the worldly lifestyle of Sodom, how she was turned into a pillar of salt,
C) He would think how he would never know her again, never see her again!
* He would think of his two daughters that did escape with him. * We ask him;
* "Lot, are those your grandchildren?" * He shakes his head, no. * "Those are your daughters?"
* He shakes his head, yes. * We say, "Lot, I don’t understand ......."
D) "Those are not my grandchildren, they’re my children!" * He has committed incest ... daughters.
* This is the man who was called righteous! * He was a man that had the favor of God upon him!
* A man whose riches were given to him because he associated with God’s friend!
* But now he is outside that cave in poverty and in shame! * He is looking at two children born
to him of his own daughters. * He is looking at his ruined life!
E) "Lot, can you get away with sin?" * "Lot, can you play with sin?" * "Lot, will you escape?"
* "No sir!" he’d say, "Be sure your sin will find you out!"
* As we move along through the Bible, we climb atop a mountain called Mt. Pisgah.
(3) WE SEE THE GREATEST LEADER WHO’S EVER LIVED STANDING THERE!
* He is looking over into the Promised Land, a beautiful land. * He weeps!
* He looks down from that mountain & he sees the people that he loved more than he loved his
own life! * He stood before God & said, "If you take them, God, You’ll have to take me out too!"
* "I know they’ve sinned, but I love them." * You see the great Moses as he weeps!
A) He says, "These are my people. I cared for them in the wilderness."
* "Those children, I was there when they were born. I helped the people raise those kids!"
* "I gave them advise. I counseled with them for hours. I should be there with them!"
* "I should be going to the Promised Land with them! I gave God my life, gave Him everything!"
B) "I promised God I’d serve Him. I went up on the mountain with God! "
* "He met with me face to face! I had privilege like no man had ever had!"
* "I had such glory of God come down upon me that I had to put a veil over my face so that the
people could look at me." * He’d say, "I handled in my hands the very Words of God,
* He inscribed on tablets of stone. * I ought to be there with them!"
C) "But you see, one day I disobeyed God. * I lost my temper! * I was told to speak to the rock.
* But instead, I got angry and I smote the rock. * In anger I reacted to the people!
* In anger I reacted to the command of God. * Now I’ll never see the Promised Land!
D) I’m talking about Moses who walked with God, who handled the very Words of God etched
on tables of stone! * I’m talking about Moses who knew God face to face like no man had ...!
* Moses lost his temper one time and he said, "I’ll never see the Promised Land."
E) You sit here and say, "Well I don’t believe this sin is bad enough."
* "I don’t believe I’ve done anything all that wrong." * It’s not that bad that I miss church a lot!
* It’s not that bad that I don’t tithe, pray, witness, read my Bible, etc.
F) God said that any sin that disobeys Him, any act that disobeys Him, is a sin great enough,
* "to find you out!" * Ask Moses, "Can you get away with it?"
* He’d say, "No! Be sure your sin will find you out!"
G) There is a payday for sin! * When you willfully say that you’re gonna do your own thing,
* And go against your God, be sure, be very sure, even if in your mind it’s not a big thing,
* You be sure of one thing ... your sin will find you out!
* Let’s go a little farther in the Bible:
(4) WE SEE A GIANT OF A MAN GRINDING AT A PHILISTINE MILL!
* His name is Samson! * He was physically the strongest man who ever lived!
* He was the heart-throb of every woman in his day! * Samson sinned and paid the price by,
* losing his eyes, and therefore was of no more benefit to God!
A) Samson, what was your sin? * I believe he’d say, "I didn’t listen to my father."
* "I didn’t listen to the teachings of my father when he warned me."
* "He warned me about these women, about my lifestyle, and I didn’t listen to daddy!"
B) "Now I’m blind, I’ve got no future, I’ve got nothing to look forward to."
* "My sin has found me out!" * "It’ll find you out!" * It may take 5 years, 10, 20, 30, or 40 years,
* But it will find you out! * The worst thing, the most fearful thing in the entire world is,
* The sin that’s unconfessed and unforsaken in your life! * It’s on your trail today!
* It’s stalking you like a hound out of hell and it will find you! * Be sure your sin will find you out!
(5) WE SEE ANOTHER MAN; HE’S HEAD & SHOULDERS ABOVE EVERY OTHER MAN!
* He’s the most handsome man in the whole kingdom, but now we see him propped up,
* between heaven & earth with his own sword! * The blade is sticking through him.
* He’s taken his own life! * His name is Saul! * Why did he die like that?
A) Because of his sin, his pride, his disobedience! * Why was he cursed of God?
* Because he tried to change the way that God said he was to do things!
* He tried to do things his own way! * He tried to sacrifice to God instead of obeying Him!
B) God said, "Saul, obeying me is better than sacrifice & to hearken than the fat of rams!"
* Saul said, "No, I’m going to do it my own way; I’m going to rebel against what You say,
* and do my own thing & live my own life and do what I want to do!"
C) Now look at him on the battlefield. * "Saul, Saul, what happened to you?"
* He’ll say, "My sin found me out! My sin found me out!"
(6) NOW WE GO TO THE CITY OF JERUSALEM! * We enter the palace!
* There’s an elderly king who walks about with his arms outstretched, weeping,
* "O Absolam, Absolam, my son Absolam. Would God, I’d died for thee."
* O Absolam, I’m sorry, Absolam, I’m sorry." * His name is David!
A) David, what happened? * You know what David would say to you?
* He’d say, "Be sure your sin will find you out!"
B) You go to the palace, it will find you there! * The battlefield, it will find you there!
* You go anywhere you want to go, your sin, like a hound out of hell, is stalking you!
* The only hope for you is to fall on your face before God before your sin catches up to you!
(7) LET’S HASTEN TO THE NEW TESTAMENT! * We make our way down a dark alley,
* behind Pilate’s hall on a cold, dark night. * There’s a fisherman on his knees weeping.
* We immediately know who he is. * He is sobbing out of control! * His shoulders are heaving!
* He’s cried so much until now he has no tears left. * His heart feels like it’s going to explode ...
A) It’s Peter. * We ask, "Peter, what’s wrong?" * "When the Lord needed me, I denied Him."
* "When I should have stood up for Christ, I turned my back on Him!"
B) "But Peter, you went with Him for three and one half years! You were always there!"
* You stood up for Him. You were always the one who stood up for Him!
* Why, you’re the one He said to that He would build a church & the gates of hell would not .......
* You’re the one who said that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God!
C) Peter, you were taken to the Mount of Transfiguration with Him!
* He always had you by His side! * He always had you with Him! * He always adored you!
* He always loved you! * He was always close to you! * You mean you’re like this now?
D) Yes! For one night, for just one night, I turned my back on Him!
* I denied Him! * Be sure your sin will find you out!
E) I am saying to you right now, that if God let’s Christianity today get away with their fooling
around, & their idolatry, & their lust, & their God robbery, their disobedience, indifference,
* their unconcern, and their coldness of heart,
F) Then He’s gonna have to resurrect Adam & Eve, Moses, Lot, Samson, David & Peter,
* And apologize before all His creation!
G) God did not let them get away with their sin and He’s not gonna let this generation get
away with it either! * Be sure your sin will find you out!
CLOSE:
A) You may not be committing adultery, drinking, cursing, gambling, doing drugs, etc.
* The question is, are you doing what God wants you to do? * "If ye will not do so ......."
* Not praying, not witnessing, not reading your Bible, not faithful to church, not tithing!
* Be sure your sin will find you out!
