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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, we're there in Numbers chapter number 25. And, of course, we've been going through a study in the Book of Numbers on Sundays, and we are doing a chapter-by-chapter study through the Book of Numbers. If you wouldn't mind, I feel like I can't hear myself. If you could just raise me a hair, I'd appreciate it. We've been studying the Book of Numbers chapter-by-chapter. We've been calling it a Wilderness Wandering. We've been wandering, of course, in the wilderness with the children of Israel through the Book of Numbers. We've actually took a break from Numbers for a little while because we were doing different things, but tonight we find ourselves here in Numbers chapter 25. This incident that we read about in chapter 25 is actually spoken about all throughout the Bible. It's referred to as the matter of Baal Peor, the incident that took place at Baal Peor. And if you remember, what's leading us into Numbers 25 is the fact that we spent several weeks looking at several chapters regarding Balaam. If you remember, Balaam, the false prophet, was hired by Balak, the king of the Moabites, and he was hired to curse the people and to bring a curse upon the people. What we learned was that Balaam and Balak could not get God to curse or destroy the children of Israel. That's the context that leads us into this chapter. There are several things that I'd like you to notice. If you're taking notes, and I encourage you to take notes, there are several points that maybe you can write down or an outline for this chapter to help us understand it. And what we're going to see in this chapter is that the children of Israel engage themselves in sin, and they engage themselves in sin that actually causes God to bring a curse upon them and to turn on them. And I'd like you to notice where it begins here in verse number 1. And if you're taking notes, and I always encourage you to take notes, and maybe you can jot this down, I'd like you to notice that it begins where all sin begins, and it begins with an invitation, an invitation to sin. The Bible says there in Numbers 25 and verse 1, the Bible says there, And Israel abode and shit them, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. The Bible is telling us here that the people are engaging in fornication, and they are committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And again, where does it begin? It begins where all sin begins, verse 2, And they called the people, and they called the people. The Bible tells us here that the Moabites and the daughters of Moab, they called the people. They invited the people. They went to the nation of Israel, and they called them. They invited them over, and they called the people there in verse 2. The Bible says, The sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And I want you to notice that this is always where sin begins. It begins with an invitation. There's the invitation of sin. And of course, what we need to understand is this, and to get the context, and we already talked about this a little bit before, but I just want you to see it again. If you're there in Numbers 25, can you replace there in Numbers 25? That's obviously our text for tonight. We'll go to Numbers 31 just real quickly, and I want to remind you that when we left Balaam, remember Balaam was doing everything in his power to curse the people of God, and I'm not going to go through and re-preach the story of Balaam. If you remember, he tried to curse the people, and God would not allow it. He tried to curse the people, and God kept stopping him, and God kept putting words in his mouth, and Balaam even talks about the fact that he was in a trance, that he was not in control of his own mind, and God was mocking him in that sense. So what we are going to learn in this chapter is this, that when Balaam and Balak, because these individuals, they're real individuals, this is a real story, but of course, this is also a representation of something else, and it is this. Balaam really is a picture of the devil here, and Balak is a picture of the world. The Children of Israel are a picture, of course, of God's people, and what we're going to see in this story, I'm sorry, now I feel like I'm a little too loud. It's a little too cold, a little too loud, being like Goldilocks over here. But what we're going to see is that when Balaam and Balak could not get God to curse the people, they then could get the people to curse themselves. When they could not get God to turn on the people, they got the people to turn on God. You're there in Numbers 31, look at verse 16. Notice what the Bible says. In Numbers 31 to 16, the Bible says this, Behold these calls the children of Israel, notice these words, through the counsel of Balaam to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. So when we look at Numbers 25, and we get to verse 1, and the Bible says, And Israel abode and shit him, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods. We're not told this in Numbers 25, but in Numbers 31, because the Bible is always its best commentary, the best commentary of the Bible is the Bible itself. And the Bible comments for us, or gives us additional information, and tells us that this was Balaam's idea. That the people there in Numbers 31 to 16, Behold these calls the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. So Balaam is the one who had this idea, and Balaam is the one who went to Balak, and Balaam is the one who told the Moabites, hey, we can't get God to destroy these people. We can't get God to curse these people, but we can get these people to curse themselves. And notice, they didn't force them here. All they did was, they called. And this is where sin always begins. It begins with an invitation. And they called the people. You're there in Numbers, keep your place there in Numbers if you would, and go with me to the New Testament book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 4, first book in the New Testament, should be fairly easy to find. Matthew chapter 4. Do you understand the Bible teaches that you and I have free will? The Bible teaches that if you're saved, that you're no longer under the power of sin. You're not under the consequence of sin, praise God for that, but you're not under the power of sin. Now that doesn't mean that you're not going to stop sinning. That is a choice you make. But you don't have to sin. You and I have the power to say no to sin through walking in the Holy Spirit. All that the devil can do is invite you. All that the devil can do is tempt you. All that the devil can do is offer an invitation and make a phone call, or send a text message, or send some sort of social media message, and invite you to sin. That's all the devil can do. The devil cannot get God to turn on you. The devil cannot get God to curse you. The devil can get you to curse yourself. Matthew chapter 4 and verse 1, notice what the Bible says. Then was Jesus led of the spirit into the wilderness. Notice these words. To be tempted. To be tempted of the devil. And we've learned in the book of Hebrews, of course, that Jesus was tempted at all points like as we are. Yet without sin, verse 2. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward in hunger. And when the, notice how the Bible refers to the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. And here's what you and I have to remember. That we are not under the power of the devil. The devil cannot force you to do anything. Cannot force himself upon you. He cannot possess you. He cannot make you do anything. The Bible says that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. If you're saved, you've got the Holy Spirit of God. And the devil has no power over you. He can't get God to turn on you. He can't get you to lose your salvation. He can't get anything to happen to you. But he can get you to turn on yourself. He can send an invitation. He can tempt you. He's the tempter. And I want you to notice in the story we see first the invitation of sin. This is where sin always begins. With a temptation, with a proposal, with a call, with an invitation. And I'd like you to notice secondly, if you go back to Numbers 25 and look at verse 2, not only do we see the invitation of sin there in verse 2, but in verses 2 through 5 we see the indignation of God. Numbers 25 verse 2, notice what the Bible says. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods. They didn't have to go. They just got tempted. They just got called. They just got invited. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their God. And the people, they'd eat and bow down to their God. It's a choice they made. They made to go. They decided to go. They decided to eat. They decided to bow down themselves to these false gods. Look at verse 3. And Israel joined themselves unto Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. It's so interesting and I would even say saddening that in the book of Numbers you have these chapters where Balaam is trying to get God to curse the people and God is defending them. They don't even know what's going on on the mountainside there in the wilderness as God is protecting them and God is defending them and God is shielding them against the curses of Baal and against the curses of Balak. But here we see that Balaam succeeded. Not to get God to turn on them, but to get them to turn on God. And the Lord said unto Moses, verse 4, Take all the heads of the people, notice these words, and hang them up. That's exactly what it sounds like is what he's talking about. They are putting these people to death. Hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal Peor. I think it's time that you and I as Christians get a proper view of God and realize that God is a holy God. There are many attributes to God. The Bible gives us many attributes to God. He is love. He is holy. He is righteous. He is good. He is so many things. But the attribute that is emphasized over and over and over again, I can show you many verses that give us the attributes, the characteristics of God, but the one that is emphasized above all is His holiness. His holiness is the only attribute that we see repeated. We're told that in the throne of God the cherubims are proclaiming, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. I think if you and I got a proper view of God, it's interesting, and this is a sermon for another day and I'm not preaching it now, but I will say this. In the Bible when individuals come before God and they get a right view, a correct view of God, when Isaiah gets a view of God high, holy, and lifted up, he realizes his own sin. He gets a proper view of himself. I think you and I need to realize that the Bible says that God is angry with sinners every day, that God hates sin, that God hates sin in our lives, and though God will never turn on us and the devil can never get God to turn on us, the devil can get us to turn on God. Go to James chapter 4 if you would. Keep your place there in numbers. If you start backwards from the book of Revelation, you go past the book of Jude, third, second and first John, second and first Peter, then the book of James, James chapter 4. When you get to James, I'd like you to put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. I'd like you to get to it quickly if you can when we come back to it. James chapter 4 and verse 4. Notice here what the Bible says. James chapter 4. Remember, the children of Israel are engaging in fornication. They are engaging in adultery. They are engaging in immorality of the physical relationship. Of course, they're also worshipping false gods in doing these things. Here in James chapter 4 and verse 4, James says this, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that, notice the words, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? The word enmity means to be put at odds with, it's where we get our word enemy. We'll see the same word here in James as well. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. You need to get the right view of God. Because here's what you and I, here's what Christians think. We think, oh well I'm saved and God is my heavenly Father and I love God and I want to be friends with God and here, I'll hold hands with God but at the same time I'll go ahead and hold hands with the world. And I can be friends and I can be in a relationship with both God and the world. And God looks at that and says, no you're an adulterer. No, you're an adulteress. He says friendship of the world is enmity with God. God says the world is my enemy. He says I am at odds with the world and when you align yourself with the world, you align yourself against God. And this is the great message in this chapter and the great lesson in this chapter is that God loves you. God sent His Son to die on the cross for you. God has given you salvation and He's given you grace and He has all sorts of blessings that He wants to put on your life and God is helping you and God is protecting you and even against the Balaams and the Balaics in the wilderness when you're not even aware, God is there to defend you. God will never turn on you. But yet so many Christians turn on God. And this is the great lesson for the sermon tonight, it's this. That if the devil cannot get God to turn on you, He'll just get you to turn on God. Because friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be friend of the world is the enemy of God. So we see the invitation of sin. That's where sin always begins because the devil cannot. The devil made me do it. The devil did not make you do anything. You're a grown man. Start taking responsibility for yourself. Nobody made you do anything. We see the invitation of sin. We see the indignation of God. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Keep your place there in James, we're going to come back to it. If you have your place in Numbers, after Numbers you have the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 4, look at verse 3. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 3, notice what the Bible says. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 3, the Bible says this, Your eyes have seen. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 3, Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor. For all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. Balaam, I wish you would get this. The devil and the world are cursing you. They can't get God to destroy you. But they get themselves to destroy themselves. That's how the devil works. The Lord had to destroy them. The Lord had to chastise them. The Lord had to send a plague on them. Not because He hated them, but because of their own sin. We see the invitation of sin. We see the indignation of God. Like you notice thirdly this evening, we see the insolence of the rebellious. The word insolence means outright disrespect. It means to have a hostile attitude towards someone. I want you to notice what we see in the story because it's a very interesting story. And if you're not familiar with it, then I think you'll find it interesting. In verses 1 through 5, we get an overview of what's happening here. We get an overview of the situation. But then in verse 6, we transition to a very specific story of what is happening with the children of Israel. In Numbers 25 and verse 6, the Bible says this, And behold, one of the children of Israel. Now many of the children of Israel are doing this, but now God is going to focus in on just one individual. And He says, One of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren, notice the words here, a Midianitish woman. Understand what's happening here. Moses has become aware that the children of Israel are engaging in fornication. They're worshipping false gods. They're worshipping in Baal Peor. And as a result, God is going to send a plague and many people are going to die. And God has already told Moses that he needs to start sending things right and he needs to start taking people and hanging them, slaying them. And as this is going on, the Bible tells us that there's a young man here, one of the children of Israel. This was not someone from the Moabites. This was someone who grew up in the nation of Israel, an individual who had grown up in the household of God. And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman. But notice the words here. Notice the insolence here. Notice the disrespect here. In the sight of Moses in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, get the picture, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. In the tabernacle, in the place where God meets with His people, you have Moses, the man of God, and you have the leadership there and the congregation of the children of Israel. They're at the tabernacle. They're on their knees. They're praying. They're weeping. They're asking God to forgive and to have mercy about His people. This is what Moses is doing. We often find Moses doing this, weeping before the door of the tabernacle. I mean, could you imagine this? Think about Moses. I mean, you would think any man of God, any pastor, any preacher, but think about Moses. Not just a man of God. I mean, this is the man of God. God spoke to him as a friend speaks to another friend. And the Bible tells us that Moses is there before the tabernacle and he's weeping with the elders of the congregation on the side of the congregation of the children of Israel and they're weeping and asking God for forgiveness and mercy. This guy, we'll get his name later in the chapter, takes a Midianitist woman. I envision he's holding her hand and in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the congregation of the children of Israel. He takes her into his tent to commit fornication. What insolence, what disrespect, what hostility puts the man of God and the things of God. We meet this young man in his rebellion I'd like you to notice in verse 7 we meet another young man. The Bible says in Numbers 25 and verse 7, And when Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, remember, the son of Aaron, Aaron is the high priest, Eliezer is Aaron's son who will be the next high priest when Aaron dies or who is the high priest when Aaron dies and then Phinehas is his son, this is Aaron's grandson. And when Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest, notice these words, saw it. Phinehas is there with Moses and the rest of the elders in the congregation. They're weeping before the tabernacle and asking God for mercy and to forgive the people of Israel. And Phinehas sees the insolence of this young rebellious man who walks before them and walks in front of them holding hands probably with this Midianites woman and leading her into his tent so that they can fornicate. And when Phinehas saw it, the Bible says in verse 7, if you don't mind writing in your Bible, you ought to underline these words. He rose up. He rose up from among the congregation. You ought to start reading the Bible. It's more interesting than Hollywood. He rose up from among the congregation, notice the words here, and took a javelin in his hand and went, don't miss it, verse 8, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through. The man of Israel and the woman threw her belly, so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. We see the invitation of sin. We see the indignation of sin. We see the insolence of sin. You know, what I've noticed is that oftentimes sin in people's life begins as something small and an invitation and oftentimes as something they keep secret and hide from others, but as they grow in their sin and they grow in their rebellion, they become more open about it, more rebellious about it, more rude about it, more insolent about it. And here we have this man, no shame walking right in front of Moses, but here was another young man who said, oh no, he rose up. Notice how purposeful. He took a javelin in his hand, and he went in after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. We saw the invitation of sin. We saw the indignation of God. We saw the insolence of the rebellious, but I want you to notice, fourthly tonight, the inflicting of death. He thrust them through their belly, thrust her through the belly, and the Bible says, so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. Go to James. Go back to James, if you kept your place there, James chapter one. I want you to understand that this is where sin always ends, with death. We know that already. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. In James chapter one and verse 14, the Bible says this, but every man is tempted, that's the invitation, when he is drawn away of his own lust, nobody forces you, nobody makes you. It's a decision you make and entice or alert. And look, the Bible is clear about the fact that there is pleasure in sin for a season. We're not going to sit here and lie to you and say, oh, there's no pleasure in sin. If there's no pleasure in sin, nobody would do it. But the thing about sin is that it doesn't just end there. Look at verse 15. And when lust, that's your desire, hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. When you allow yourself to do whatever you feel like doing, it will always end in sin. You say, well, what's wrong with that? Well, here's what's wrong with that. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. We see the inflicting of death. I want you to understand the story and I want you to see the story. I want you to get this picture. One of the children of Israel, verse 6, came and brought unto his brethren a Midianites woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation who were weeping for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Verse 7, when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest saw it. He rose up from among the congregation and took a job in his hand and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. I don't mean to be crude, and I hope you'll understand. I don't think I'm making more of this than the Bible itself is making of it. The Bible is being very explicit here. But we see that these individuals are killed even in the position of sin. In the position of sin. If you're old enough to understand that, the judgment of God comes down. And notice, in the position of sin, they're now pinned down by sin. Literally. Phinehas takes a javelin and thrusts it through and pins them down to the ground. And while in the position of sin, they're pinned down by sin. And now they're experiencing the pain of sin. I don't mean to make more of it, but I think that sometimes God gives us these types of stories in the Bible to make a point. We're told that being pierced through your stomach is one of the most painful ways to die and could be one of the slowest ways to die. These individuals, the Bible tells them, the Bible tells us that he thrust both of them, not one of them, both of them, through the man of Israel. He went in to the man of Israel, through the man of Israel, into her belly. I'm not trying to be crude, but I do want you to understand the picture that God is trying to give you here. And I wonder, while they were engaging in this fornication, if they had even noticed Phinehas walk into the tent, if they had even noticed that Phinehas was standing above them, if they had even noticed the javelin raise above his back, as it pierced through his back, through his guts, into her belly, bringing them down, I would imagine that there was a moment of shock, maybe confusion. Obviously their mind was somewhere else. And they probably took a moment to realize when they began to feel the pain, when the blood began to run, as they maybe looked up and watched Phinehas walk out of the tent and realized that they'd been impelled with this javelin. They had time, I'm sure, as they laid there, died there, looking into each other's eyes. We're told that they probably would begin to bleed from their mouth. This is the pain of sin and lust. You say, why are you taking the time to illustrate this for me? I'm hoping every young person because young people and even old people get this idea that, oh, pastors are just trying to keep me from having fun, and Ms. Joanne's just trying to keep us from having fun, and my mom and dad, they're just trying to keep us from having fun. But listen to me. This is where sin ends. So go ahead and drink that. Go ahead and smoke that. Go ahead and swallow that pill. Go ahead and sniff that, snort it, inject it into your veins. Go ahead and watch that. Go ahead and go there. Go ahead and get in the back of that car with that individual. You go ahead and have your fun. But listen to me. This is where sin ends. And I'm sure that this young man sat there dying, realizing that the wages of sin is death. Not just spiritually. Physically. But you know that sin will also bring death to your marriage? You know that sin will also bring death to your relationships? It will bring death to your health and death to your joy. And as they lay there in the position of sin, they were now pinned down by sin, and as slowly, painfully, death came upon them. As they were agonizing in pain. I wonder if this young man realized that lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. So we see the invitation of sin. It's where sin always begins. The devil can't get God to curse you. He can get you to curse yourself. We see the indignation of God. When you align yourself with the world, you instantly become an enemy of God. God who loves you, and God who protects you, and God who protects you and blesses you in ways that you're not even aware of. Becomes your enemy. Not when he turns on you, but when you turn on him. We see the insolence of rebellion. And you know, the Bible says that pride goeth before destruction. Go ahead and tell yourself that I don't need anyone, I'm not going to let anybody tell me what to do. We see the inflicting of death. I would like you to notice fifthly tonight. We see the injury of the innocent. Look at it there in Numbers 25 and verse 9. See, it wasn't just about this young man and this young lady. And those that died in the plague were 20 and 4,000. I don't believe that 20 and 4,000 people were committing fornication. I think there was probably a lot less than that that were committing fornication. But the fornication that came into the sin that came into the camp brought the judgment of God upon the camp. And the plague, the plague, ended up killing 20 and 4,000, we're told here. This is recorded for us also in the New Testament In the book of 1 Corinthians, if you can go there, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 8. Notice what the Bible says, neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed. And especially, I hope all of you, but especially young people, I hope you get this. Fornication is not something to play with. God killed 24,000 people here as a result of it. In 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 8, we're told this, neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed, notice what it says, and fell in one day 3 and 20,000. I'm not preaching on this necessarily, but people often want to point to this and say there's a contradiction here because 1 Corinthians 10, 8 says that they're fell 3 and 20,000. Numbers 25, 9 says they're fell 20 and 4,000. And they'll say there's a contradiction here. But 1 Corinthians 10, 8 says, remember, nothing in the Bible is incidental, coincidental, or accidental. It says that they're fell in one day 3 and 20,000. So what happened is 3 and 20,000, 23,000 die in one day and another 1,000 die in the next several days from the plague, from injuries, whatever. And the Bible says in Romans chapter 14, if you go back, you're there in 1 Corinthians, you go back to Romans. I said number 5, what are we looking at right now? 20 and 4,000, 20 and 3,000 in one day. What are we looking at? We're looking at the injury of the innocent because people get this idea and they'll say, oh, my sin, it doesn't hurt anybody. It's just me having fun. It doesn't hurt anybody. Let me tell you something. Sin hurts everyone. It hurts everyone around you. These individuals decided to go commit fornication and go worship in Baal Peor. And as a result, 20 and 4,000 people died. Your sin will hurt others. Romans 14 and verse 7 says this, for none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Listen, dad, your sin will hurt your wife and your children. Mom, your sin will hurt your children. Even kids, your sin will hurt your parents. There's always an injury to the innocent when it comes to sin. You're going to say, I'm just having fun. I'm not hurting anyone. Sin hurts everyone. You see the injury of the innocent. I'd like you to notice if you go back to Numbers 25. Keep your place there in 1 Corinthians. We're going to come back to it. I'd like you to notice there in verses 10 through 13, I'm going to read these for you. We're going to come back to it in a minute. But notice the Bible says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, have 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. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the children of Israel. We're going to come back to that here in a minute. But I just want to continue with this idea of the injury of the innocent. I want you to notice, not only do we see the injury of the innocent, but we see the identity of the destroyed. Look at it in verse 14. See, God gives us a story, and he goes into much detail, I think, trying to make a point. But then he makes sure that we understand this is not just some random story. These are real individuals who really lived with real names and real families. Numbers 25 and verse 14, the Bible says this, Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianites woman, notice there, was Zimrai. God takes the time to tell us his name, Zimrai. Not only does God take the time to tell us his name, God takes the time to tell us his father's name, the son of Sallu, a prince of the chief house among the Simeonites. Not only does God take the time to tell us his name and his dad's name, he takes the time to tell us his dad's position. His dad was a prince of the chief house among the Simeonites. But please understand something. God is no respecter of persons. It doesn't matter who your mommy is, it doesn't matter who your daddy is, God will judge you for your sin. And then in verse 15 we're told, And the name of the Midianites woman that was slain was caused by. We're told the name of her parents, her dad, the daughter of Zor. He was head over a people and of a chief house in Midian. It's interesting that God takes the time to give us the name Zimrai, caused by. He didn't have to give us this. We got the gist of the story. We didn't need to know the names. In fact, I would say that most people probably don't even remember when they read the story or are familiar with the story, don't even remember the name of these individuals. But God takes the time to give us the name and said, this young man, he had a name. His name was Zimrai. This young lady, she had a name. Her name was caused by. And they had a father and they had a mother and they had grandparents and they had cousins and they had people who loved them. We see the identity of the destroyed. And here's what I'm saying to you. I understand that lust when they have conceived bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. I understand that the wages of sin is death. I understand that people reap what they sow and I understand that they get what they deserve. I understand all of that. But lest we get too hard-hearted, let's always remember that the individual that you are averting your eyes from as you walk by them because they're a homeless person and in your mind you say, well, I can't get everything they deserve and they're just a drunk and they're just a drug addict and they're this and they're that. And I'm not arguing with you and I'm not saying that we should feed them. The Bible does not say that. But I would remind you that they have a name. They had a dad. They had a mother. Maybe they had a pastor and a pastor's wife. And to God these are not just stories, these are individuals. He says the name of the Israelite that was slain was Zimrei. The name of the young lady was caused by it. They were people to God. Not only that, but God tells us that Zimrei was the son of Salu and caused by the daughter of Zer. What's interesting is that these names come up later on in the Bible and it's almost like God is trying to make a point because, please understand, as a result of Balaam's counsel, the Moabites' counsel, they call the children of Israel and they begin to commit fornication and here in this case with the Midianite, this woman, later on in the story, when we get to Numbers 31, God is going to bring judgment upon those nations because of the matter of Baal Peor. And in that account, Numbers 31, I'd like you to go there. Look at verse 8. God takes the time. See, names are not just there to fill in space. These individuals, these names that are named in the Bible, they mean something to God. You ever say that God knows the amount of the numbers of hairs you have on your head? Not the number of hairs, but He has your hair's number. And God knows your name. And God knows their names. And God knows the name of every individual who has their life destroyed by sin. Numbers 31 and verse 8, I just want to show you this and I mainly want to show this to the young people. Caused by this Midianite, this woman gets killed for fornication. But as a result of that, God's judgment comes upon her people. Numbers 31, verse 8, the Bible says this, And they, the children of Israel, under the command of Moses, bringing the vengeance of God upon the Midianites, and they slew the kings of Midian beside the rest of them that were slain, namely, Levi, Enrichem, and, do you recognize this name? Zir. Zir! Caused by the daughter of Zir. She dies in fornication, and then dad dies when God's judgment comes upon them for her fornication. And Zir, and her, and Reba, five kings of Midian, Balaam also the son of Beor, they slew with the sword. Because remember, caused by the daughter of Zir, he was head over a people and of a chief house in Midian. And the Bible tells us here that he dies as a result of her sin. And let me just say this, with this idea of the injury of the innocent and the identity of the destroyed is that your sin and my sin always hurt others and affects others. But especially you young people, let me just remind you that your sin will hurt your parents. Caused by his sin hurt her dad. I remember hearing a story from a preacher who said that he'd done his best to bring his children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, I would imagine so, as any of us would. But because there is free will, his adult son had gone down the road of sin. It started with an invitation, it always does. And as a result, he'd lived a life that had destroyed his life. This preacher tells the story of how one day walking through the streets, the downtown area, the city he lives in, specifically in search for his son, he found his son strung out on drugs. He said that he looked at his son and he said, Why don't you just take a knife and plunge it through my heart? And when you're done, just take a knife and go to your mother's, go to our house, and just plunge it through your mother's heart. That would be more merciful than the slow death you're putting us through. I just want to remind you that your sin hurts other people. You do not live to yourself. You do not die to yourself. There's an identity, there are people here. There are wives and husbands and children and grandmothers and aunts and uncles and pastors and people that love you and are around you. When you respond to the invitation of sin that leads to the indignation of God, that props you up in insolence and rebellion, when you finally end where sin always ends in the inflicting of death, remember that there's the injury of the innocent, there's the identity of the destroyed. But I'd like you to notice also tonight a different story, a different young man, a different individual. Go back to Numbers 25, look at it, verse number 10. The Bible says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Look at it, Phinehas. Phinehas goes down in history as one of the heroes of the Bible. Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, that's the son that made his father proud. The son of Aaron the priest, that's a young man that made his spiritual leader proud. Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron the priest, notice these words, just look at it please. Phinehas, have turned my wrath away from the children of Israel. Look at these words, they're powerful words. While he was zealous, while he was zealous. Here we have a young man who the Bible tells us, God tells us what zealous, what does the word zealous mean, what does zeal mean? It means dedicated, it means enthusiastic, it means ardent, eager, it means excited about something. You say, well, but young men and young women, they're excited, but this young man, it doesn't say that he was zealous about sports, it doesn't say that he was zealous about music, it doesn't say that he was zealous of sin or the things of the world. God says, while he was zealous for my sake, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consume not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Here we have a young man who had power with God. He turned the wrath of God, why? Because he was zealous for my sake. God says it again in verse 12, Wherefore, say, behold, I gave unto him my covenant of peace. Look at it in the Bible, the times that God makes a personal covenant with an individual, it doesn't happen a lot. And God made a covenant with Phinehas, with Phinehas, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. Why? Because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. God looked at Phinehas walking into the tent and thrusting Zimrai, thrusting Chazbai through her stomach. He said, I'll accept that as an atonement, a sacrifice, and he's turned my wrath from the children of Israel. I've got to ask the question, where the Phinehas is today? Where's Phinehas? You know what Rarity Baptist Church needs? It's a Phinehas. You know what we don't need? A Zimrai. You know what's interesting to me in the story is that the children of Israel are really at the end of their 40-year sojourning in the wilderness. They're at the end of their wilderness wanderings. They really just need to get past this whole Balaam situation, and they're going to get ready to walk into the Promised Land. They're right at the edge of entering into the Promised Land. And what's interesting is this, that Zimrai never made it in. Zimrai didn't make it in. The Phinehas did. There's two types of Christians in this world. There's the Zimrais and the Phineases. Which one are you? You know what we need is we need a Phineas. You know what the young people in this church need? We need some young people that will stand up and be a Phineas, that will have some strength and stop messing around and stop wasting their lives and get serious about the things of God and get serious about God. We need a Phineas that will rise up. He rose up from among the congregation. He didn't just stay back with the crowd. He rose up from among the congregation and took a job in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust them through. You know what Phineas said? Phineas said, not on my watch. This isn't a game for me. This isn't something we're playing. And please understand me. I'm not telling you tonight that your job is to go out and try to correct everybody and try to be the police, the spiritual police for people. That is not your job and that is not what God has called you to do. I preached a whole series of messages on the subject of judgment and discernment, and if you need to go back and listen to those and relearn those, then you need to do that. Your job is not to go around correcting people and confronting people. I've taught you that the only time that you insert yourself into a situation, you need to ask yourself the question, is it my place? Is it my problem? Is it my place of authority where I have to deal with this, or is it my problem in the sense that they're involving me into this problem or it's injuring me or my family? That's when you insert yourself. So I'm in no way telling you that you need to go and insert yourself and correct people and walk up to people and tell them that they're not dressed right or they're not this or they're not that. I'm not telling you that. But I am telling you this. That when people flaunt their sin before you, you have to not just sit there quietly. That's weakness. Because silence is agreement. And when we sit there and just... Look, I'm just saying this. I don't get into people's businesses. I don't involve myself in anything. But if I'm out to dinner with you and you order a beer, I'm going to say something about it. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? If you offer me a ride and I get into your car and you're playing worldly music, I'm going to say something about it. I'm not going to sit idly by and I'm just telling you we need some fitness to sustain. This isn't a game. I'm not playing games here. I'm not just here playing church on a Sunday morning or a Sunday night. I love God and I'm zealous for the things of God. I wish young people would wake up. Let me let you in on a little secret. All these people you think are cool in the world are a bunch of losers, drug addicts, and idiots. And the only people that look more stupid than they are is Christian kids trying to imitate them. What to God you'd wake up and just say, you know what, I just love God. I love Jesus. And what's interesting to me is the cooler you try to be, the lamer you are. But when a young man stands up and says, I don't care what you think, don't talk about that in my presence. I'm not going to laugh at that joke. Don't talk to me about that movie. Don't talk to me about that music. Don't try to show me that on your phone. When a young man and a young woman stands up and says, I'm going to be a Phineas and I'm going to have zeal for the things of God. Hey, that's the individual that God looks at and says, wow, I'm impressed. We see the invitation of sin and the indignation of God and the insolence of rebellion and the inflicting of death and the injury of the innocent. But we see the intensity of zeal. I just wish that some of you men would get as excited about soul winning as you get about football. I just wish that some of you would get as excited for Bible preaching as you do the stock market. I just wish that you would get excited for the things of God and say, I'm not going to waste my time looking and listening to things that don't matter. I'm going to be zealous for the things of God. The intensity of zeal. I'd like you to notice lastly tonight. You look at the last part of the chapter. Numbers 25 and verse 16. We see the insidiousness of the enemy. I have to keep them all eyes, you understand. Numbers 25 verse 16. Insidiousness, what does that mean? The deceptiveness, the trickery. Notice what the Bible says here. Numbers 25 16. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Vex the Midianites and smite them. For they vex you with their, notice this word, wiles. That word is used of the devil. Wiles, what's a wile? It's a trick, it's trickery. Remember Wiley Coyote? What was he doing trying to trap the roadrunner? The devil's Wiley Coyote and you're that dumb roadrunner. For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have, notice this word, beguiled you. What does beguiled mean? In the matter of Peor, in the matter caused by the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake. I won't have you turn there, I'll just read these for you. But the Bible says in Genesis 3 13, And the Lord God said unto the woman, this is Eve, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent, Satan, beguiled me. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. And you know what's interesting to me? As I've pastored over 13 years of ministry, is that the devil puts these, the devil has no, the devil has no power over us. He cannot get God to destroy us. He cannot get God to curse us. He cannot get God to do anything but bless us and help us. But he can beguile us into destroying ourselves. And we fall to our heads. The insidiousness of the enemy. This is why Paul told the Corinthian church, Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. Go to Revelation chapter 2 if you would. We've already seen this verse, but I'd like you to see it again. We'll finish off. The devil's not your friend. The Bible says that he walked about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And the devil, he's just tricking you. He's just playing with you. He's just playing games with you. He's letting you have a few wins. Because he's ultimately going to destroy you. And like the bullfighters, like the matador, which means killer, the Bible says that the enemy cometh to steal and to kill and to destroy. He sits there and he just waves his red flag before you. He can't get the bull to do anything, but he can tempt him. And you run and we run to that flag and run through it. And all that was fun and we do it again. And all that was fun and we do it again. But like Samson, who the Bible says when his hair was cut off that he woke up and you wished not that the Lord had departed. One day you're going to go through that red flag and there's going to be a sword that hits you and stabs you or a javelin that thrusts you through your belly. And you'll remember that there is pleasure and sin for a season, but lost when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. But the devil can't do that to you. Only you can. Revelation chapter 2, look at verse 14. But I have a few things against thee. This is Jesus speaking. Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of, here's our friend, so-called Balaam, who taught Balak, look at it, to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel. What's a stumbling block? It's something meant to trip you up, something meant to make you stumble. Who cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit for vacation. So let's remember the great lesson of the story. What is it? The great lesson that we see in the story is this, that when Balaam, the devil, and Balak, the world, cannot get God to curse and destroy the children of Israel, his people, then the devil will just get us to curse and destroy ourselves. Because if the devil cannot get God to turn against you, he'll just get you to turn against God. And it all begins with an invitation. And it ends with death. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, this is a serious story, I think it's serious, that you would take the time to detail these things for us. Father, I pray you'd help us not to forget the seriousness of sin. My desire is not to dramatize the Bible here, but I do want to make sin exceeding sinful. I think it's time that we get the proper view of God and realize that God is not playing games. We don't get to flirt with sin and flirt with decisions and not think that we're going to suffer the consequences. And though obviously one day sin will bring death to all of us, sin also hurts other people. Help us to remember that. Help us to remember that. When the devil can't get God to turn on us, he can get us to turn on God. Lord, help us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Matt Taylor, excuse me, Brother RJ, come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to give you a couple of reminders. First of all, don't forget that we've got the clipboards back there for you, and this is going to be a busy week. We could really appreciate your help. There's clipboards back there for Monday at 10 a.m., Tuesday at 10 a.m. Monday 10 a.m. over the new building to clean it. Tuesday 10 a.m. here to pack and organize. Ladies, that would be a perfect place for you. To volunteer, tomorrow is President's Day. God is giving you permission to take President's Day off and come help at the church building. And then on Thursday and Friday, starting at 9 a.m., probably honestly from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., we're going to be moving, and if you men could help us with that. Saturday, we'll have soul winning in the morning, and then moving at 2 p.m. And if you have a trailer, we would appreciate your help. There's a clipboard for that as well. Also the nine chapters a day clipboard is over there, and make sure you go by there and look at your name. Make sure it's spelled properly. If it is, please put a check mark next to it. If it's not, please cross it off and fix it so we can fix it. If it's not there and it should be there, please add it. If it's there and it shouldn't be there, how about that one? You can remove it as well. And we'd appreciate your help with that. And I want to encourage you to be here Wednesday night. Last service in this building. The end of this season of ministry for us, and I hope you'll be with us for the last service here. And of course, be with us on Sunday morning for the first service over on the other side. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. My brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Okay, man, let's grab our songbooks and turn to page number seven. Song number seven. We haven't sung this in a while, and I just want you to notice that this song is actually coming from the perspective of Jesus Christ. And there's a question in each of the last of the stanzas, so I want you to pay attention to the question. So, song number seven, if you know it, sing it out. If you don't, let's learn it together. Song number seven, sing it out on the first. I gave my life for thee, my precious blood. I shed that thou mightst ransom be, and quicken from the dead. I gave, I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me? I gave, I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me? Song number seven on the second. My father's house of light, my glory circled throng. I left for earthly night, for wandering sad and low. I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for me? I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for me? A bitter struggle need to rescue thee from hell. I borne, I borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for me? I borne, I borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for me? Sing it out on the last. And I have brought to thee down from my home above. Salvation full and free, my parlor and my love. I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to me? I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to me? Amen. Great singing. Before we dismiss, if anyone has questions about salvation, baptism or church membership, Pastor will be at the door. He would love to talk to you or direct you to someone who is trained to do that as well. Brother Adam, would you dismiss us with the word of prayer? Amen.