In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of maintaining God's glory before the people. He warns that neglecting to do so will result in God bringing judgment upon those who fail to uphold His holiness. The speaker also highlights the significance of sin in the life of a believer, urging listeners to understand the gravity of their actions. Additionally, the sermon discusses the concept of prayer and how it can anger God if not aligned with His will. The speaker concludes by emphasizing that while God can fully forgive sin through Christ, there may still be consequences that accompany certain sins.

And then we'll begin. Application one, a people that assemble against their leader may provoke even the most aged and godly to grievous death. Now, we cannot go over this passage without recognizing that this provocation on the part of the people was indeed something deliberately done. Look again at verse 2. There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. This was no accident. Here, a people that knew better, a people that should long ago have ceased assembling against the leadership that God provided, deliberately gathered together and provoked this tragic sin in Aaron and Moses. As I've already stated, while there's no justification for Moses and Aaron, there is incredible condemnation upon the people. Moses and Aaron were prevented from finishing their life work, but the people were barred totally from the presence and the glory of God. Maybe there are a few troublemakers here. There are very few Baptist churches, it appears to me, that don't have at least some. Now, we don't have many in the congregational churches anymore. We don't have many to start with. I mean, the numbers are small, but they're all such rank believers, there's nothing to create trouble concerning. Nobody believes anything. How can you possibly stir up anything? But I want to ask you, have you ever provoked a man of God to sin, and are you going to keep on doing it? Do you not sense deeply the urgency of a change of heart so that, indeed, you are one who uplifts the servants of God instead of one of those who is constantly troubling the church? The second application that I would suggest to you, God may, indeed does, fully forgive sin through Christ and yet impose monstrous penalties on his own servant. There are sins that do have their accompanying consequence. The sin can be fully forgiven, and yet the consequence remains. Sexual sins often carry with them consequences that never in this lifetime disappear, although the sins are fully forgiven. Now, Moses sinned, and I believe with all my heart he was forgiven, but the consequence of his sin remained. And because, as I've stated already, he did not maintain the glory of God before the people, God maintained it at Moses' expense. There was no way God was going to let his glory be treated as Moses and Aaron treated it. And there's no way God is going to let you rob him of his glory and show to the people of your world how unholy God is, because God is not unholy. If you don't maintain his holiness before the people, he'll maintain it, if necessary, at your expense. You're talking about judgment. And I've given you this morning reasons why these judgments are in place and must be anticipated. There was a price that had to be paid for the sin of Moses and Aaron, and although some have somehow that ability to dismiss the consequence of their sin, oh, they only died short of the fulfillment of their life's purpose. What does it matter? But when the glory of God is uppermost in your mind and heart and you rob God of his glory, I can't personally imagine anything worse. And I say to myself, if after all these years, by God's grace I have maintained his glory, and now in a fit of rage I rob him of his glory, what could be worse? Could a life in hell compare with knowing that I have robbed the Lord God Almighty of that which is eternally here? I'm urging you to sense the significance of sin in the life of the believer. Number three, prayer may anger God and he may cut it short by explicit command or even punish it by giving cause for buckets of tear. I dare not launch into a spiel concerning Psalm 80, but there's a terribly important passage about God giving us tears to drink in great measure instead of answering our prayers. But we'll stick with the text. Moses, in the last passage in Deuteronomy that we looked at, was pleading with God. Oh, God, would you not overlook my sin? Would you not cover it? Would you not permit me to get on with my calling and to finish my work? And the Lord said, enough! We've got to learn when to take God's no as an answer, when to persevere in prayer, and when to withdraw our prayers and say, Lord, not my will, but thine, be done. That's what happened to our Savior in the garden. And that needs most certainly to happen to us. Number four, God is clearly much more desirous of having His servants maintain His holiness than He is in any amazing exploits they may do in His name. Now, think about that. We've got men in ministry all around us who trample the holiness of God constantly in the dirt. And they think because of the mighty exploits, the huge churches they're building, these wonderful things they're doing for the kingdom of God, that their trampling of the glory of God is overlooked. But no, no. Your primary task in life is to glorify God. Doesn't matter what mighty deeds you commit in His name, the degree to which you maintain His holiness before the people is His critical concern. And finally, application five. I've said it already, but this gives me an opportunity to repeat it. If you don't maintain God's glory before the people, He'll maintain it at your expense. Because He is a God who is always timely in His judgment, He will bring down everyone who neglects to maintain His glory before the people. Now, Father, what a tragedy if some aged believer in this assembly should sin like Moses, like Aaron. Grant, oh grant, that essential help of your spirit in putting into practice these words. From your word, we pray, in the blessed name of Jesus, amen.