Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Tree of Life
Weekly Review
Dispensations of the Mosaic Law.
The Doctrine of Flaws.
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As we continue our study of the Exodus congregation, I think that we need to take some time out and remember just how easy it would be for anyone of us to fall into the same traps as they did.
1CO 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am,”
And that popular statement that came from this verse said in effect “If it were not for the grace of God, there go but I”. And I say that this morning because I would like to take a break from evaluating the Israeli congregation to evaluating ourselves. First of all, there are four major problems the Jews have faced that we need to set as our guideline.
In NUM 14, we have a depressed congregation.
NUM 14:1-3, Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night [these depressed believers are making accusations against God’s men]. And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! And why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
So, in NUM 14:4, they are making plans to elect new leaders.
NUM 14:4, So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
And then finally in verse 10, they have stones in their hand and are getting ready to throw them at Moses.
NUM 14:10, But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
So, this is a very active bunch of depressed believers. They are very frustrated, disappointed, discontent believers who are now living in terrible depression. And therefore they are looking for someone to blame for their depression.
In vs 2, it’s the leaders fault;
In vs 3, it’s the Lord’s fault;
In vs 4, it’s the geographical location;
In vs 10, stoning is the answer.
However, everyone of us have something within us which could snap under pressure at any time unless we have integrity or the spiritual strength to challenge the different pressures of life. This is why we need to understand and recognize a doctrine coming up which is the doctrine of mercy and compassion which Moses will reveal in NUM 14.
All of us need to remember the mercy of God in dealing with our own life as well as the life of others. And we have noted, the mercy of the Lord is illustrated by the mercy seat.
The mercy seat was constructed of wood and gold. Inside the ark were three items that spoke of the sins of Israel. On each side was a gold cherub: One represented the righteousness of God; One represented the justice of God.
When the high priest came into the Holy of Holies twice on the day of atonement, he sprinkled blood over the top of the ark or Mercy seat. That blood represented the saving work of Christ on the Cross. One golden cherub representing the righteousness of God looked down and was satisfied because Jesus Christ was perfect in His humanity.
The other golden cherub representing the justice of God judged those sins, and God the Father was satisfied with His own judgment placed upon His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, the ark was a wooden box made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The wood represents the humanity of Christ; The gold represents the Deity of Christ. Together, they represent the hypostatic union.
Inside the box was:
1) The urn of manna, which represented sin as rejection of God’s logistical grace provision. Analogous to the murmuring and complaining that has taken place in the congregation of Israel. And also analogous to the murmuring and complaining which takes place in the life of believers today. However, the Lord meets our murmuring and complaining with his mercy.
2) Aaron’s rod that budded, which speaks of sin in the sense of rebellion against the authority of God and rejection of God’s system for communication of doctrine. This was analogous the congregation of Israel and their rejection of Moses as their spiritual leader, and also analogous to the rebellion and rejection of God’s system for communication of doctrine today.
However, please note that the Lord meets our rebellion and rejection once again with His mercy.
3) The tablets of the Law, which spoke of sin as a transgression of the divine law.
The mercy seat was the place and is the place that God meets fallen humanity. Every believer has a relationship with God which is based on His mercy.
DAN 9:9, to God belongs mercy and forgiveness.
HEB 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
Therefore, mercy is the basis and the grounds for the believer’s relationship to God. And mercy is that which the congregation of Israel should have remembered every time that they failed one of the tests that the Lord gave them.
So, before we go on with the children of Israel we need to understand that all believers fail and all believers sin. This is why the Bible says: JER 17:5-10, Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit. The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”
Do not trust in a man, rather always trust in the Lord and His word whenever you are faced with the giants in the land!
ECC 7:20 says, Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who {continually} does good and who never sins.
Now, it doesn’t even matter what stage of spiritual growth that we are in, without Him all of us are nothing and we can do nothing. This is why we read in JOH 15:3-5, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
Now, this is why the Apostle Paul said what he did in ROM 3:10-18, as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
The point is that all of us have a sin nature which is different than other people’s sin nature because we all have areas of strength and areas of weakness.
The Doctrine of Flaws.
Point 1: Definition.
Distinction must be made between genetic and environmental handicaps and flaws. Genetic flaws are the weaknesses with which we are born because of the old sin nature in the cell structure of the body.
PSA 51:5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
PSA 58:3, The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.
Now, we are all born in a different environment. Environmental flaws are those which we acquire because of where we live and the surroundings that we face. We are simply products of our environment. However, there are also genetic handicaps.
In genetic handicaps and flaws, human volition is simply not involved. We are just born with a sin nature which has weaknesses and strengths. In environmental handicaps or flaws, human volition is involved.
We allow the environment to dictate to us and to control us and begin to make decisions based on that environment. Genetic or inherent flaws often manifest themselves through impulsive actions. The person may be caught off guard and the suddenness of a pressure situation brings out a weakness that you may have never seen in that person before.
Remember, don’t ever be shocked what you find in man!
As our Lord revealed to us in JOH 2:23-25, Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man.
Never be shocked what you find in man. Even our Lord had to deal with this. For example in MAT 10:34-39, our Lord said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter in law against her mother in law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.”
Go forward to chapter 12.
MAT 12:46, While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
Again, the background is important here! Our Lord’s mother and brothers apparently came to Him for reasons noted in MAR 3:21, And when His own people [family] heard of this [He claimed to be the Son of God], they went out to take custody of him; for they were saying, “he has lost His senses.”
His own family, including His mother, thought that He had lost His senses and that He was out of His mind! And so they did not come to believe on Him and to follow His teachings, they came because they thought He was going nuts, that He was taking this thing a little too serious! In fact, His own family did not believe that he was the Son of God!
JOH 7:5, For not even his brothers were believing in Him.
In fact, they did not come to believe in Him until after His resurrection when He appeared to His brother James! Even His mother was mistaken at this particular time!
MAT 12:46, While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
Notice that they were standing outside, they didn’t want to even come in and listen to Him!
MAT 12:47-50, And someone said to Him, “behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you.” But He answered the one who was telling Him and said, “who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Remember the will of God is summed up in one verse for us in the N.T. 1TI 2:4, He wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Your number one priority demands that you have a right relationship with God.