Numbers 16 - missions message

God allowed me to see and develop this message many years ago and gave me the liberty to preach it on a few different occasions in different venues. It speaks of two powerful, staggering events in one community, separated by only one day and impacting the most influencial and well known "famous" people in the nation. There is so much depth and richness and applications possible. This really doesnt scratch the surface and yet it was used mightily to touch lives through God's power in the life of an unworthy spokesman....hope it proves to be a blessing agian someday to someone... As we sit here today – there are Nearly 7 billion people on earth – ALL SOULS FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED More than 3 billion have never heard the name of Christ Significantly more people around each of us on a daily basis are lost rather than saved and we are in the most evangelized country on earth The emphasis on global missions as well as personal evangelism is dwindling in American churches – as a whole That is not an indictment against this church but it is a reality across this country and it is grievous to God Listen, people are dying and heading off into eternity at alarming rates today 1.73 people die every second 153,000 people die every single day Many of these people are dying without ever having a gospel witness Psa 142:4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul Bruce McQuilkin wrote a book on unreached people groups and cited these as the reasons that so many have not heard Because certainly it is not because God doesn’t want them reached or because God doesn’t have the resources to reach them 1) Some people don’t care that much – apathy o God cared for our soul and He cares for the souls of all men – We are to care for the souls of men also o Andrew Murray said this – A man is as right with God as to the degree that he loves every soul that he passes in this life… o Apathy is a sign of a poor or nonexistent relationship with Christ o "The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." -- Henry Martyn, 2) Some don’t see very well (perhaps we lack the perspective on the severity of the situation) 3) Some think there must be some other way or some other person responsible (it’s not my job – it is the missionary or the pastor’s job) 4) Our prayer life is only peripheral (praying for what we see and what directly impacts us – health, safety, finances, comfort, pastor, church and our lost loved ones.) 5) Someone isn’t listening (not hearing the call) Hudson Taylor said The Great commission is not an option to be considered but a command to be obeyed. We didn’t really need him to tell us that though did we. Unlike a few things in the Bible that we chew on, speculate about, maybe read into a little – our directive as Christians is crystal clear – given by Christ himself and repeated frequently. Matt – Go ye therefore Mark – Go ye into all the world Luke 24:46-48 thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem and ye are all witnesses of these things… John - As my father hath sent me… Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power after that the holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me BUT IT IS NOT JUST in the gospels – it is all through the Bible – One man said – if you were to take missions out of the Bible – all you would have left are the covers Jude - Of some have compassion… Proverbs - The fruit of the righteous… Prov 24 – if thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain… Psalms - Declare his glory among the heathen… Psalms - They that sow in tears… Isaiah 62 I have set watchmen upon thy walls o Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night, ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence... Romans - How then shall they call on him… 2 Cor - Knowing therefore the terror… Ps 51 -- David after saying create in me a clean heart says then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee We are to Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel [them] to come in, that my house may be filled. 2 Cor 5 - Ministers of reconciliation Ambassadors of Christ – we are to promote his cause – to Seek and to Save Col - Walk in wisdom toward them that are without We will see how Num 16 teaches us some things about methods of fulfilling this commission The text this morning takes place during the Wilderness wanderings There are 2 accounts in this chapter and both of them have a similar outline that is common in many accounts of the Bible – The history of Israel and the History of mankind really cling to this outline (RULES) – God established REBELLION against those rules – man desiring to do what is right in his own eyes RESPONSE from God in the form of judgment RESCUE – where God in his great mercy allows for a rescue to be made (Relationship) is established or restored In Num 16 we see People who didn’t want to follow their leaders – Moses – Civil – Aaron – Religious Num 16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: Num 16:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? Num 16:4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: Num 16:20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Num 16:21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. Num 16:22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? Num 16:23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Num 16:24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The children of Israel Challenged their authe authority God had put in place, got behind three guys – Dathan and Abiram from the tribe of Reuben who were essentially challenging the civil authority of Moses - and Korah – a Levite challenging the religious leadership of Aaron Not only that but they got 250 celebrities to help their cause with the people – “Famous in the congregation, men of renown” Nothings changed – Americans want to follow the words and philosophies of musicians and movie stars rather than the words of God no matter how wicked or messed up their lives are. As a result of this rebellion God judged them - Korah, Dathan +Abiram with their families were swallowed up in the earth – fell straight to hell – Just as Moses said in order to prove that He was the man called of God and then the other 250 were wiped out with fire. Rebellion – challenge authority Response – God says get out of the way cause I am going to wipe em out BUT THERE WAS A GREAT Rescue HERE ALSO- Moses and Aaron fell on their faces and beseeched God for mercy on the rest of the people – then they were able to clear the people away before God judged these 3 leaders and the 250 celebrities Lets look at the second account now in Numbers 16 Num 16:41-50 (41) But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. (42) And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. (43) And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. (44) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (45) Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. (46) And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. (47) And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. (48) And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. (49) Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. (50) And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed. Rebellion – the very next day. People don’t like that the movie stars, athletes were judged – they were still rejecting God. Response – God responds – he sends this plague and people start dropping – yet he is still longsuffering – they didn’t all die at once – there was a progression – it was moving across the people. Once again God allows a rescue. Rescue – Aaron runs to intercede. Aaron – of course if the practical picture for us of the priesthood – first Aaron then Christ of course as our Great HIGH PRIEST that is Passed into the heavens and now on to us. 1Pe 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1Pe 2:10 Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. TODAY There is a rebellion against God in this time is there not. There is judgment (response) that is imminent (The Lord is not slack concerning His promise) But in the longsuffering of God we have an opportunity for rescue. God allows a RESCUE - We are the priesthood – we are to stand between the dead and the living – we are to run. Quickly this morning I would like to share 3 lessons here for us concerning our responsibility PERSONALLY (Text – MOSES was the leader yet it was his personal responsibility to intercede for souls through concern for God’s glory and the souls of the people through intercession and action) – you have a responsibility – souls are dying – it is our responsibility • In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than reaching our world for Christ?" -- Dave Davidson no distractions are going to be acceptable when we stand before God I don’t know exactly what the Judgment seat of Christ will be like but I do know this – I expect that when we see Christ face to face and understand clearly the value of every soul – we will all have wished we would have done more for the cause of Christ… – (you see these 300 people over here – you were supposed toe plant a seed for them on Sat morning by going on visitation – you see these Chinese and Russians and Filipinos and africans – you could have had an impact there had you been more fervent in prayer, more liberal in giving, more willing to obey – these over here – it’s the family members and coworkers that you didn’t find it important enough to witness to – These guys – oh you didn’t have an answer for them because you didn’t have any tracts on you and you hadn’t studied to show yourself approved – These over here – those really grieve me because when you were around them - you were ashamed of the gospel. 2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2Ti 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: We are the watchmen – we are to call out the warning – we are to tell of coming judgment – or their blood will be on our hands – Paul was pure from the blood of all men – can we say that? I cant – I’m guilty every day • "'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face -- whose mercy you have professed to obey -- and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. -- William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army • They are calling –the rich man is still screaming - millions of people from many generations of time are screaming – screaming and begging at this very moment for us to go tell their descendents – to tell anyone to avoid this awful place – Yet we don’t hear because the TV is too loud…. • Leonard Ravenhill said JW’s don’t believe in hell and neither do many Christians. • We have the cure for something far worse and far more permanent than cancer – the one and only cure – we must not be selfish in sharing it. • I don’t know any of you here this morning so this is no indictment against you but I do believe it is imperative to understand that we are here on this earth right now to impact this world for Christ and if any of us in here are not doing all they can in witnessing, prayer, giving or other service to the Lord – then let me encourage you to give your LIFE TO THINGS THAT YOU WILL NOT REGRET WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST 2) PASTORALLY – in the second account that we read - Moses sends Aaron – Moses did it himself the first time – he set the example. This time He sends Aaron Those of us that have responsibilities of leadership – are we urging and provoking those we are leading to go stand in the gap themselves (2 Tim 2:2) Christ –was always teaching and preaching himself and yet he was always developing others at the same time to do the work Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: We need to provoke each other How is it that football players will bang helmets and jump up and down and scream and shove each other to get fired up for a meaningless game that has no impact on eternity and we will not sharpen and encourage each other regarding mission to impact the eternal souls of men Paul had no problem provoking his brethren when he said 1 Corinthians 15:34 (34) Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame. Pastors, Sunday school Teachers, ministry leaders – we must be faithfully training and encouraging the body of Christ to reach this world with the fervency that it requires Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men… – are you equipping them to that end – What are the most important things that these people need to know. – If we were to proportionally teach things based on the frequency of the Bible’s teachings –we would teach on evangelism and world missions probably 5x as much as many other topics – AFTER ALL, IT IS THE VERY REASON CHRIST CAME TO THE EARTH AND THE VERY REASON WE STILL LIVE ON THIS EARTH TODAY 3) PARENTALLY – if we went to Numbers 25 we would see another man standing in the gap and staying a plague - Phinehas – grandson of Aaron. IN Num 16 we can see that Aaron raised Eleazar to work in the ministry and all records indicate that he did that faithfully – then another generation to Phinehas Num 25:10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Num 25:11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. This is the example I want to be – not that my kids have a house, two cars, a dog and a pool. – Not that my kids learn the trade that I know – but that my kids know that I love Jesus and that I care about souls enough to leave my comfort zone and stand in the gap. – Bring the kids in the gap with you –take them soul winning – stand on a corner and pass out tracts as a family, pray with them for souls, train them about how to witness – –how better will they learn what is important, what to expect and how to go about it. • Missions begins at home - we have only a brief period of time in which to influence our children – Why don’t we raise up a Moses or an Aaron or a Phinehas or a Hudson Taylor or a David Livingston – the world will produce Doctors and Lawyers and firefighters but the world isn’t producing any missionaries! • "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliot • We will be accountable to lead our families to obedience, not to comfort – Time and again the Lord Jesus told us to forsake all of our comforts, to deny ourselves and to pick up a cross – this practice needs to be passed onto our kids • Men are not the only one commissioned to witness and be actively engaged in prayer and financial support of missions – all Christians are commissioned • If you go out and witness and see the effects of alcohol on people through the homeless etc while your kids are home watching alcohol being glorified – don’t wonder why you cant get it through to them. A father told Marc Cahill – an evangelist One Dad told me that as his sons began to witness and he noticed three things begin to happen. First, witnessing drove his kids to the Bible because they wanted to know more about this God that they were sharing. Second, it drove them to their knees, since the more you witness, the more you want to pray. And third, it drove them away from the sin that so easily entangled them. When we are doing the Lord’s work, sin does not even compare to what we see God do. Is there any better parenting that that? Lastly – let me leave you with this thought – we need to… • RUN – imagine them all falling – you’d be glad they ran – I’m glad someone ran to get in my way. Where is the fervency – Aaron RAN – can you picture it – thousands of people as far as you can see – a huge multitude and then gradually – from west to east comes the plagues – people start falling – like dominos they are tumbling –you sprint – you have the cure – you cant help those that are already fallen but the first one that you can possibly reach you are going to – you sprint and more fall but eventually you outrun the plague and stand between the last dead body and the first living one and there intercede – staying the plague – I’m sure the people that saw that plague coming at them were glad Aaron wasn’t watching the ballgame or too busy playing golf or washing his car to care about their life. Where is our ZEAL? When talking about Phinehas in Num 25:11-13 God Himself said that he was zealous for my sake among them – would that God could say that of us. It is repeated in v13 by saying that he was zealous for God. Christ himself is prophesied in Isaiah 59:17 as being clad with zeal as a cloak. We all have the same commission that Moses and Aaron here demonstrated, the same commission that the apostles were given, We are promised the same power of God to accomplish that mission men but we must accept that mission personally then we must – as Moses and Aaron demonstrated – be 1. People of prayer – falling on our faces begging God to use us to be part of a rescue – as well as praying for your pastor and missionaries as they endeavour to reach the world along side you 2. Disregard our own comforts, fears and plans to obey God’s direction 3. RUN – clad with zeal – care about what Christ cares about If we do those things then maybe when we stand before God He might just tell us – you were zealous for my sake among the people Everyone can pray for missions – and we can probably all stand to pray more than we do Everyone in here can give some to missions and we should all strive to be forward a year ago Everyone in here can witness to those they encounter – to give a tract, to share your testimony, perhaps we need to commit to be more faithful to that this morning Some of you in here, God perhaps would have you to give all – to surrender to His will for you to Go Lastly, some are in the critical position of parenthood and you can not only be willing and obedient to the Lord yourself - but you can train and encourage your children to follow God’s will and never be closed to the idea that God could use your kids in ministry here in the states or on a foreign mission field