"Remembering God's Grace (Numbers 15)", Austin Gooch | 3/23/25
Numbers 15 | 3/23/25 | Austin Gooch
Like many of you, I was raised in a household to Christian parents and attended church seemingly as often as the doors were open. I made a profession of faith at a very early age and was baptized. I cannot remember a time that I didn’t believe the central truths of the Christian faith: that I had broken the laws of God, Jesus Christ – the Son of God – was the only one who could save me, because of his sacrificial death and resurrection, from the wrath of God, and all I had to do was turn from my sin and place my faith in the Jesus. This is God’s grace.
And yet, I wandered. Moving into my adulthood, I looked for anything and everything but the living God to put my broken heart and twisted humanity back together. If I could achieve enough, soothe enough, have enough, experience enough, be enough, fulfill my potential enough, I could redeem my broken life.
I had forgotten the gospel. Not up here in my head, but down here in my heart. I needed to remember. In the deepest part of my person, that part that had forgotten the grace of God revealed in Christ, that part needed to remember.
As we will see in our text this morning, the 2nd generation of Israelites – already saved, already rescued out of slavery in Egypt – this 2nd generation is at risk for forgetting the grace of God. They too need to remember.
READING
I invite you to stand as you are able out of respect for the reading of God’s word from Numbers 15. If you don’t have a Bible, please don’t leave here without one. You can obtain a completely free at our Info Bar out these double doors and to the left after the service. In the meantime, the word will be on the screen. Hear the word of the Lord:
Laws About Sacrifices
15 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, 3 and you offer to the Lord from the herd or from the flock a food offering or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the Lord, 4 then he who brings his offering shall offer to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil; 5 and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb. 6 Or for a ram, you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. 7 And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 8 And when you offer a bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to the Lord, 9 then one shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil. 10 And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
11 “Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each lamb or young goat. 12 As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one, as many as there are. 13 Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 14 And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he shall do as you do. 15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the Lord. 16 One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you 19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the Lord. 20 Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. 21 Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord as a contribution throughout your generations.
Laws About Unintentional Sins
22 “But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses, 23 all that the Lord has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations, 24 then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering, a food offering to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord for their mistake. 26 And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the mistake.
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27 “If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. 29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. 30 But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.”
A Sabbathbreaker Executed
32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35 And the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Tassels on Garments
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. 40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
This is the Word of the LORD.
Please be seated.
MAINT POINT 1
The first way we are called to Remember God’s Grace is that we, point number 1, Remember our Instance.
Look at verses 1-2:
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you,
[Explanation] Now let’s remember the context for this passage. If you were not here last week when we covered Numbers 13-14, or if you’ve simply forgotten, allow me to remind you of the story.
The Israelites are camped out in the Wilderness of Paran in route to Canaan. The LORD commanded through Moses for spies to be sent into the Land of Canaan – the land the LORD has promised his people. The spies return to Moses 40 days later too afraid of the inhabitants of Canaan. Because of their fearful disobedience instead of obedient faith in the LORD to bring them into the land as He has promised He will do, God promises judgement. The 1st Exodus generation – those 20 years old and up will die in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua. It is the 2nd generation the children of those who will die in the wilderness that will inherit the promised land of Canaan.
Verses 1-2 of Chapter 15 demonstrates the LORD’s commitment to His promises. He has promised to bring the 2nd generation into the land despite the failures and judgement upon the 1st generation. The 2nd generation would need this assurance of God’s promise in their instance between the Exodus and the entry into the land to remember the grace of God.
Recall from Numbers 1:45-46:
“So all those listed of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel – all those listed were 603,550.”
Not including women. 603, 550 graves that would be dug one at a time over 40 years in the desert by their children as each person of the Exodus generation fell in the wilderness.
The 2nd generation would need to remember that although they are still in the wilderness although their parents will not see the promised land, God is going to bring them (the children) into the land of Canaan.
[Bridge] The pattern of God’s people in the wilderness – between the Exodus and the entry into the land – serves as a picture for church between Christ’s resurrection and ascension (Easter) and second coming. Like the 2nd generation in the wilderness, we can remember God’s grace by understanding the instance in which we find ourselves.
Jesus came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. In one sense, the Kingdom is already here:
Matt. 12:28 this is Jesus speaking: “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” We see Jesus cast out demons, therefore, the kingdom of God is upon us.
Yet in other sense, the Kingdom has not been fully consummated:
Matt. 8:11-12 also Jesus speaking: “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. In that place will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Theologians refer to this reality as as the “already but not-yet.”
In one sense, the Kingdom is already here as it has been inaugurated, but it had not yet been fully consummated.
Already:
2 Cor. 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Christ has been given authority as King,
Matt. 28:18, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’”
In fact, in the letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul claims that by virtue of our Union with Christ by the unbreakable bond of the Holy Spirit, we are mysteriously with Christ before the throne of God, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will appear with him in glory.” Colossian 3:3-4
And yet, it often doesn’t feel that way for us in the wilderness. It doesn’t feel that way when your infant, who finally began sleeping through the night regresses 6 weeks later and now he won’t sleep more than 2 hours at a time.
It doesn’t feel that way when a classmate at school bullies you on social media and the hurt you experience is the only thing you can think about.
It doesn’t feel that way when tornados plow through West County knocking out power for many of us for 2-3 days.
It doesn’t feel that way when the stories and images and rituals of our current cultural moment have been gutted of any sense of the supernatural. Our world begins to feel like what philosopher Charles Taylor calls “a house without windows.”
This is what we call the not-yet.
It is because of this tension of the already but not-yet that we often forget our instance, we forget where we are in the story of God’s rescue plan.
[Application] So what should we do? We Remember. For example, each week when we recite the Great Commission of Matthew 28, confessing that we will make disciples until the end of the age, we are remembering that this age is not permanent. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. If we want to Remember God’s grace in our lives, we must Remember our Instance.
MAIN POINT 2 Furthermore, if we want to Remember God’s Grace in our lives, we must, point number 2, Remember our Inheritance. Let’s look at verses 3-13 and 17-21:
3 and you offer to the LORD from the herd or from the flock a food offering or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the LORD, 4 then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil; 5 and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb. 6 Or for a ram, you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. 7 And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 8 And when you offer a bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to the LORD, 9 then one shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil. 10 And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
11 “Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each lamb or young goat. 12 As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one, as many as there are. 13 Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
[Explanation]
If a lot of this language of sacrifice sounds familiar to you, it is because this is partially a recap from the language of Leviticus which we studied last year. For the sake of time, I will direct you towards those sermons which you can find on our website, westhillsstl.org, for more details on the rituals themselves.
BUT, there are some additions to these laws about sacrifice that are new in Numbers 15, namely, the addition of 1) fine flour and 2) wine.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that none of you have attempted farming in the Wilderness of Paran. So, it may or may not surprise you to find out that the Wilderness of Paran, where the 2nd generation is walking around, is a terrible place for farming.
In fact, it kind of looks like this. (advance slide).
I see no wheat fields. I see no vineyards. I see dirt.
The very fact that God required that future generations of Israelites comply to this law for proper worship of Him with these materials (fine flour and wine) indicates that he will provide the land himself and its abundance – God will be gracious to provide their inheritance.
[advance slide]
But they also needed to remember what they had already received. Return with me to verses 17-21:
17 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you 19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the LORD. 20 Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. 21 Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD as a contribution throughout your generations. Nu 15:17–21.
The dough used in this command is not the same fine flour previously mentioned for the purpose of worship within the sacrificial system. This simple act, which would occur as often as the people prepared bread (which was probably VERY OFTEN) – prevented them from forgetting their rescue from slavery in Egypt and obliteration in the wilderness. This practice served as a way for them to remember their inheritance and, accordingly, remember God’s grace.
[Application]
What does this have to do with us? What is the inheritance of the church? There are numerous – some we have received now, and others we will receive later.
For example, we have received Spiritual Gifts. When the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to a person that person is gifted in a way especially for the service to the church. By using those giftings now, we remember that we have inherited gifts from God.
Our sanctification – we remember the perfection we will receive in the future in God’s New Creation when we grow in holiness in the present. God promised through the prophet Ezekiel, “And I will put by Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules.” Ezekiel 36:27. Sanctification – growing in imitation of Christ – serves to help us remember that one day we will be like him.
Most importantly, we have inherited communion with the Triune God himself, Colossians 1:12-14, “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Revelation 21-22 vividly paints a picture of the New Heaven and the New Earth that awaits God’s people:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Re 21:1–4.
The land that we are going to inherit – this earth, this creation and all its entailments: (nature, society, culture, engineering, technology, arts, literature, corporate worship) made new with no more suffering or sin. And most importantly, in the presence of the God who is eternally loving and perfect. Let us remember that inheritance.
But also let us not forget the inheritance that has already come to us in our salvation. Like the Israelites who gave some of the first of their dough once they were in the land to remember God’s rescue from Egypt and eventual conquest of the land, we contribute the first of all that God has graciously given to us in the giving of our tithes, in the giving of our talents and in the giving of our time in service to the LORD. We corporately remember God’s sacrificial death weekly when we participate in communion – the bread and the wine.
MAIN POINT 3
To Remember God’s grace, we Remember our Instance, we Remember our Inheritance, and now point 3, we Remember our Inclusion. Let’s read verses 14-16:
14 And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do. 15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. 16 One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”
[Explanation]
While the people of Israel were called to be Holy – Set apart for the LORD – they were never called to be exclusive. God’s rescue mission has always been for all people.
When God called Abraham over 400 years earlier in Genesis 12, he said:
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
When Solomon offered his prayer of dedication in 2 Kings 8, he prayed:
41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. 2 Ki 8:41–43.
The LORD speaking through the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 45:22-23:
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ Is 45:22–23.
Israel’s Mission was to display the goodness of God among the nations so that all the nations would come to worship the LORD. This is why they are called a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” in Ex. 19:6. Priests represented God to the people and the people back to God. The very location of Jerusalem was strategic as a thoroughfare for all the traveling nations so that the sojourner would be able to join in worship upon seeing the Glory of the LORD.
In 1 Peter 2 beginning in verse 9, Peter says applies the same logic of priesthood to the church:
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
[Application]
What relevance does this have to West Hills Church? It’s relevant to us because our church is situated both geographically and historically with the best opportunity we’ve ever had and may ever have for the inclusion of the sojourner into the people of God
Brad Wos from Ambassador City was with us in our Religions of St. Louis Class 2 weeks ago and informed us that St. Louis is the fastest growing foreign-born city in America.
[advance slide]
We are surrounded by sojourning communities: the largest, of course, being the 70,000 strong Bosnian community that fled to St. Louis during the Serbian cleansing in 1992. By Joshua Project standards – the resource we elders use when praying for the unreached people of the world – by their standards the Islamic Bosnian community in St. Louis in unreached. I recently heard a presentation by a local missionary to this community, Alex McLain, that of the 70k Bosnians in St. Louis, he has identified 4 Christians. Not 4k. Just 4. I hope some of you will join me for the Bosnia Alliance gathering this Thursday from 9-2:30 at The Journey Bayless Road to learn more.
Twenty years ago, there were two Mosques in St. Louis. Now there are over twenty.
[Advance slide]
I took this photo on March 4th with Mike Piles. This is during the prayers for Ramadan at the Mosque on Weidman Road, which is largely populated by Muslims from places like Bangladesh and Pakistan. These are sojourners. They’re not terrorists. You can get to know them.
[Advance Slide]
For those of you living in St. Charles, this photo was taken the week before last at the Masjid Dar Ul Immam Mosque in St. Charles where I along with 19 other brothers and sisters were able to have a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner with their congregation and their new Imam, a gracious man named Omar from Somalia. It was such a success that the Imam’s wife, Jessica (who is from St. Louis and whose father was raised Southern Baptist and converted to Islam), Jessica suggested we hold a dinner each month. I’m going back this week. If you live in the St. Charles area, you can get to know Omar and Jessica.
Of the 1,000,000 International Students that come to the United States each year from countries with very little Christians and proclamation of the gospel, most of them will never step foot inside an American family’s home during their time in the United States. We have the chance to partner with International Student ministry right across the street at Maryville University. We’re simply waiting and praying for someone to take the lead.
[Advance Slide]
Most of you recall our on-going partnership with Oasis International and locally supported missionaries, Eric and Melissa Davis, to the sizeable refugee community in St. Louis, many who cannot return to countries like Syria and Afghanistan for fear of losing their lives – places that you and I could not penetrate with the gospel short of an act of God.
Friends, that act of God is here. The sojourners are not on the other side of the world, they’re on the other side of town. Generations of Christian St. Louisans before you and I have never had this kind of opportunity to show the love of Christ to the sojourner so that they might know and worship Jesus. I do not bring this up to place a guilt trip on you but to excite you about the opportunity that’s available to you and invite you to join God’s mission. This isn’t my mission – this is God’s mission – and you can be a part of it.
[Advance Slide]
Check out our Missions Portal at westhillsstl.org/missions. Read through what is there and prayerfully ask the Lord how you can get involved.
Let us not forget our neighbors – the sojourners - and forget God’s grace towards us, let us Remember our Inclusion into the people of God – we who were once not God’s people but now are God’s people – and let us act in cooperation with the Mission of God to love the sojourner in our midst.
MAIN POINT 4
But we will not remember God’s grace towards us if we do not Remember our Iniquity.
Let’s return to our text beginning with verse 22:
22 “But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses, 23 all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations, 24 then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering, a food offering to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD for their mistake. 26 And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the mistake.
27 “If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. 29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. 30 But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.”
32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35 And the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Nu 15:22–36.
[Explanation]
This is a troubling text, is it not? At first glance, the punishment does not seem to fit the crime. It offends our sensibilities even for those of us in the church. Imagine how this text must read to someone unfamiliar with the Bible. So let’s break it down.
Our ESV Bibles render the word שַׁגַה as “unintentional” and that is a legitimate rendering. Provisions are made for both unintentional corporate sins (vv. 22-26) and personal sins (vv. 27-29).
But what about other narratives in scripture? What about King David’s sexual sins with Bathsheba and his murdering her husband Uriah? That sure seemed intentional, and it was. The difference in the case of King David was his repentance. With a contrite heart, he turned from his sin. Listen to Psalm 51, which David wrote after Bathsheba:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”
David also suffered the consequences as the story of his children ends in tragedy in 2 Samuel.
It may be helpful, therefore, to classify these categories of sins between defiant – for which there neither atonement nor forgiveness – and non-defiant – for which atonement and forgiveness was available.
Verse 30 describes a person who sins with a high hand. It’s not this. It’s this. It’s a raised fist in intentional defiance towards God.
This Israelite gathered sticks – most likely to build a fire – in blatant defiance of the LORD. The fire would have been public and flagrant in Israel’s camp. He did not merely pick up sticks. This narrative serves as a warning that we neither make a practice of sinning lest our hearts drift into such hardness that we act in open defiance against a holy God.
The New Testament warns in the same way that a person who turns their heart from God will have God turn his heart away from them:
Jesus spoke to the scribes in Mark 3: “28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” Mk 3:28–29.
The author of the letter of the Hebrews states: “26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Heb 10:26–31.
If you have never received Jesus as your savior and as your Lord by placing your faith in him for your salvation because of your need due to your iniquity, I plead with you this morning to do so. Please do not raise your fist against the Lord.
For the one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit – and I should comment that if you fear that you have blasphemed Him that is an indication that you have not for the one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit does not care. But for that one, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Let us not forget our need for salvation but let us remember our iniquity and be continually putting sin to death. The towering Puritan theologian, John Owen, famously said “be killing sin or it will be killing you.” My greatest problem in life, your greatest problem in life, the thing we should be asking for prayer for in our small groups when we go around in a circle is that our sin would be put to death.
MAIN POINT 5
And it can be put to death, because we have such a great high priest who continually intercedes for us. If we want to Remember God’s Grace in our lives, let us point number 5 Remember our Intercessor.
Let’s read beginning in verse 37 to the end:
37 The LORD said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. 40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” Nu 15:37–41.
The tassels served as a visual reminder for God’s people to look at and remember his commandments and obey them.
We no longer look at tassels, we look at the cross. We look towards our permanent once and for all high priest who as the author of the letter to the Hebrews states, “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”
That word, uttermost, is used here to mean he saves us from ALL sins for ALL times. The work of Christ did not end at his ascension. He continually intercedes for us before God the Father - because He loves us.
The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:34, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who is interceding for us.”
Christ Jesus is the great high priest, who both offered the sacrifice on the altar of the cross and was himself the sacrifice. We may Remember God’ s Grace when we Remember our Intercessor.
CONCLUSION
In Summer of 2020, a few months into Covid and a few months into our relocation t
o St. Louis, my wife Catherine and I visited this small (to me at least) church called West Hills. I remember standing in that balcony. Mask on and everything. And I remember weeping during praise and worship, because my God’s grace I had finally remembered the gospel. Not here. But here. I invite you this morning to remember God’s grace. Let’s pray.