In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of not lusting after evil things, drawing from the example of the Israelites in the Bible. He explains that their story serves as a lesson for us today, as we are living in the end times. The preacher highlights the consequences of partial obedience and the danger of holding back from fully surrendering to God. He warns against the lukewarmness and lack of commitment in churches today, urging believers to lay down their idols and live a holy life.

Now, if you're here for the first time and also for those who are regulars here, there are restrooms here but then you go up the stairs and there's another restroom on the top and upstairs for your convenience. Before I preach, I want to read the first 23 verses of Numbers 32. Numbers 32. Now, I'm reading from King James this morning because in this particular message, it comes out just a little stronger than the King James. So, I'll be reading from King James but you'll see it very clearly whatever version you have. My message this morning, be sure your sin will find you out. Be sure your sin will find you out. Probably one of the most misunderstood scriptures in the Bible. Now, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and a very great number of cattle, and when they saw the land of Jaser and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for cattle, the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses and to Eliezer the priest and unto the prince of the congregation saying, Ararath and Dibbon and Jaser and Nimrod and Heshbon. Well, I'm going to skip those names because it's not important in my message. Verse 4. Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle, livestock. Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for possession, and look at this, and bring us not over Jordan. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war? And shall you sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? This did your fathers when I sent them from Kadish Barnea to see the land. When they went up into the valley of Eschol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them. The Lord's anger was kindled the same time, and he swore saying, Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt from twenty years old and upward shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, save Caleb. Verse 13. And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the rivers forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. And behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. And if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness, and he shall destroy all his people. And they came near unto him and said, We will build sheepfolds, and here is my message, now we will build sheepfolds here, you know, they are on the east side of Jerusalem, we are going to build our sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones, but we ourselves will go ready, armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them into their place, and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return unto our houses until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance, for we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side Jordan. I'm going to read down to 23. And Moses said unto them, If ye do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war, and will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, the land subdued before the Lord, then afterward ye shall eternally be guiltless before the Lord. Now, remember Moses spoke once ill-advisedly with his lips, when he smote the rock three times and God told him just to speak to it? He spoke ill-advisedly, he's doing it again. This is an ill-advised word from Moses again, because God had commanded them all to go on the other side. And he said, Then afterward ye shall eternally be guiltless before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord, and what's it say? Be sure your sin will find you out. Now, many of you have quoted that and heard that preached, but you didn't know the context of it. The context is very narrow. We're going to talk about that narrow context this morning. What is this terrible sin that will find you out? Because not every sin finds you out in this day and age, as far as in life. Many times you wait till the judgment day before your sin finds you out. There is one sin that will find you out here on earth. Heavenly Father, I ask for unction, I ask for anointing this morning, that the word that you placed in my heart will find its mark to the very marrow of the bone. I pray for the unction, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and that you would give us a hearing ear, that we would hear what the Spirit of the Lord has to say. Let there be a pure, clear word go forth now. Sanctify us, both to speak it and these to hear it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now this, as I said, is probably one of the most misunderstood texts in all the scriptures. Moses is speaking of one particular sin, and that sin is a stubborn refusal to wholly follow the Lord, to go all the way in. It's no other context than that, because you know it, look me in the eye and I'll tell you. You know that the adulterer can hide his adultery, and many adulterers are not going to be discovered until the judgment day. There have been men that have lived for 50 years, and just before they died have confessed their sins of adultery. The thief can do the same thing. Sins that are covered until the judgment day. Paul said, In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men's heart, by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Look at me now. He would not have said that, if he didn't believe that there were many secrets covered. He said, on the judgment day God's going to reveal the secrets of men. These are things that were hidden, were never exposed here in time. Wicked hearts, evil hearts, those that are living with divided hearts can hide behind false piety. In fact, that's the thing that makes error the most dangerous thing on the face of the earth, that it's often hidden behind very pious lives, by lies, people who live a lie. And that makes the error all the more dangerous. But you see, God had commanded Israel. He said, You shall pass over Jordan. Now I'm reading, don't turn, but it's Deuteronomy 11, 31. You shall pass over Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein. Now, there's not a person here that doesn't know that Canaan land represents the fullness of God. It represents a resting place in the Holy Ghost, in Jesus. It means going all the way. And God had commanded Israel, all of Israel, to pass over Jordan, because this is a type of death, going down into the Jordan. In fact, the Puritans called it the stream of death. And there were two crossings that Israel had to make, the Red Sea and the Jordan. The Jordan means going down. It means burial. And these two crossings, the Red Sea and the Jordan, are very important to every Christian, because they're a type. He said, You shall pass over Jordan. Nothing on the east side, because between the Red Sea and the prominence between Egypt and Canaan, was a middle ground. Gilead and Jazar. It's middle ground, and that's my message. Middle ground. I really want to talk about the sin of settling on middle ground. The sin of settling on middle ground. God was going to choose a place, the other side of Jordan, which He would set up His tabernacle, and that was Shiloh. That's where the Ark of the Covenant was, and that was a type of the presence of the Lord Jesus. So anyone who didn't move on in the Lord, anyone on the east side of Jordan, divorced himself from the presence of the Lord. He divorced himself from the spiritual authority that was with Joshua, because later, Moses is gone when they move into the land. Joshua is the one who is led by the captain of the Lord's army. And so, they remove themselves from the presence of God, they remove themselves from spiritual authority, and they decide to go back and settle on middle ground. That's very important to understand. These two crossings. The stream of death. Two and a half tribes. Now, I just read it to you. Two and a half tribes. The tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, decide to settle on the east side of the Jordan. Boy, I have been dealing with this in my mind for almost two years. You see, these two and a half tribes get to the Jordan, and they suddenly look at all the green pastures of Gilead, because they've already moved the Moabites out. Not all of them. The Moabites are still possessing half the land. And they look at that Jordan, and what it's going to cost them to drive their cattle over the Jordan. They look at all those green pastures, and they said, this is as far as we go. This is it. We're not going any further. This suits our lifestyle just fine. We've come a long way so far. We've made a lot of progress. After all, we've come through the wilderness. We've spent 40 years in the wilderness. We're tired. We're weary. This is as far as we go. And they said to Moses, Give us Gilead. Give us Jazer. Let the rest go on. But as for us, we're going to settle right here. And I really believe that was in their mind. They weren't even going to go across the Jordan until Moses came to them and reproved them with such fiery proof that brought conviction. You see it. He said, surely you're going to discourage your brethren from going up. You remember he said about Caleb. He was the only one with Joshua. Brought back a good report. And those ten spies took the heart of the people away. The Lord's anger was killed against Israel. And he made them wander in the wilderness. Behold, now you've risen up in your father's stead. And increase our descendants of sinful men to augment, to further the wrath of God. Now Moses put his finger right on the spot. He said, you're an evil descendant. There's an evil seed in you. There's something wrong that you don't want to go all the way with God. There's something wrong with you that you won't make a full-time commitment. If you turn away again from Him, He will again leave these people in the wilderness and you'll destroy all these people. I want you to follow this. Look at verse 19. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan or forward. Now look at me. That's exactly where many in the church of Jesus Christ have arrived right now. They can't face the idea of dying to everything that's of this world and of sin. They can't conceive of giving up and pulverizing all their idols. They stand face to face with the moment when they have to die to everything in this world. And then the devil comes in and he says, Now look, you've made a lot of progress. You've gone through a wilderness. There's no use going anymore. You can be a good Christian just the way you are. Not everybody has to live like a saint. Not everybody has to be strict. Not everybody has to go all the way with the Lord. Not like these people. And giving up things. Laying down their idols. Calling for people to lay down TV sets, for example. And quit watching the filth. Quit feasting your eyes on the things of this world. God doesn't expect everybody to go that far. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan or forward because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side Jordan. Now that wasn't God's mind. That was their own concept. And when human reasoning begins to move in all the preaching of the world, not even a Moses could move them. Verse 32, verse 5. Let this land be given unto thy servants for possession and bring us not over Jordan. Hey, hear me. Listen. I don't think anybody sits right in church and says, Pastor, don't take me any further. I've gone far enough. But that's exactly what's settled in the mind, in the spiritual mind. They will come to church just like these came to Moses. They'll take any kind of reproof. And did Moses ever reprove them? Their hearts must have burned. And it's only because... And I really think that Moses, they thought, Well, look, we'll tell Moses what's going on. We'll arm our camp. We'll go over them. We're going to build sheepfolds for our family. We'll get them set and build high fences all around our cities and protect our children and our wives. We'll get our swords and we'll go with them. But I know what human nature says. Well, Moses is going to die anyhow. We'll just go through the motions. We'll go over there and then we'll just kind of slip out. That's why Moses said, Be sure your sins go and find you out. Because he knew what they were thinking. He knew what was in their mind. But you see, this is not just a history lesson about the struggles of Israel. You understand that, don't you? Because these lessons, the Bible said, Serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. Hebrews 8.5 Paul said, These things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted. And then 1 Corinthians 10.11 says, Now all these things happened unto them for examples, and they are for our teaching, our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are coming. In other words, he's saying this is history with a voice. This is a history story with a voice for all of us, upon whom the ends of the world have come. And he says, If you want to understand the backsliding in the house of God today, if you want to understand the lukewarmness, if you want to understand people woke all the way with the Lord, look at this story, you've got the answer. Search it out. This is history with a voice. Now the example of settling for middle ground speaks clearly, I believe, to the lukewarmness that's in our churches today. God is showing us this tragic story, and the terrible consequences of partial obedience. This matter of just not laying down that last idol, that holding back just one little part for self, and not going through this process of a walk of death, it's called adaptability, and that's the sin of these people, they're going to adapt, they're not going to go over, they're going to stay on the other side, the wrong side, there's a holy land and an unholy land, and they're going to settle in the unholy land, and they're going to adapt. The scriptures show us vividly that the sin of settling on the middle ground found them out. You're going to see two and a half tribes, before my story's over, you're going to see two and a half tribes that are overcome by the devil, and all their children scattered worshipping idols, and their wives being prostituted and falling before false gods. And I'm telling you now, listen to me, and I say it in love, how many times has the Holy Spirit told you to go all the way? He's told us, I'm an exact God, I'm a righteous God, and I'm not talking about works. None of these works that we do of giving things up or smashing idols has merit in the sight of God. We're saved by grace, and it's His righteousness that we've been given. But He's an exact God, and He'll not let us walk on the east side of the Jordan, He said, you're going to go through death, and I expect everyone who calls himself by my name to lay down their idols and walk with me in holiness. There's no other way except through the Jordan. That's why any preacher who tells you, oh, this is a part of the promised land, and they went on with them, and they were good people, so forth, no, because anyone who disobeys the commandment of the Lord is living in sin. And God's command is, go in. He brought them out to take them in. Now those who live on middle ground share certain characteristics. And Brother Bob, I believe this with all my heart, that after all this time that you stood in this pulpit, I stood in this pulpit, Ron has stood in this pulpit, Don has stood in this pulpit, and there's been a word going forth as clear as Moses' word to the children of Israel. There's a clear word that's gone forth, and yet there's some people, and I say it with love, I say it with weeping in my heart, that some of you have decided to settle on middle ground, and they were saying to me, they were actually thinking in their heart, he can say what he wants, preach as much reproof as long as he doesn't ask us to change. They're already settled in their mind, they're going to be on middle ground, and nothing will change them. Nothing. And I believe we have some that have decided, well, I know what's best for me, I know how far I'm going, I don't rebuke others, and I won't condemn people who live like saints, I'm not going to condemn people who live so strict, but I have my own ideas about what the Christian walk is all about, I have my own concept, and I can serve God just as well the way I am. I don't have to be like that. That's good for them, but that's not for me. And there are certain characteristics middle ground people all share. The characteristics of these two and a half tribes can be found in almost everyone today who has settled on this middle ground. Let's look at the names of these tribes and you'll find out. Reuben, first of all. That's one of the two and a half tribes. Reuben in Hebrew means a son who sees. He was the first born of Jacob, Israel, and he lost his birthright, and the reason he did it was because he had a lust in his heart. Because even though he'd been born with a vision, and he could see things that others couldn't see, it was a perverted vision, and it was perverted by the lust of his heart. He went up to his father's couch, and he laid with his father's concubine. In fact, Jacob, before he died, said, Reuben, thou defilest. He went up to my couch. You don't have to turn that, but it's Genesis 49.4. In fact, when he was dying, his last blessing, he said of Reuben, Reuben is unstable as water. Thou shalt never excel. He looked right at his son Reuben. He said, Reuben, there's something in you as unstable as water. You move as the tide moves. You move with the crowd. You have no stability, and because you have no stability and no righteousness, you're moved by your lust. What you see is perverted, and you will never excel in spiritual matters. You'll never excel. And this trait, you find it all through the tribe of Reuben, and then here they are now before the Jordan, and this trait comes out. They're unstable. They see, but what they see is in the natural and not the spiritual. They settle for cattle, rather than the commandments. Pasture instead of purity. Moses recognized that himself. Moses, when he died, looking over the tribe of Reuben, he said, Oh God, let Reuben live and not die. He knew that there was something in Reuben always moving toward the world, always moving toward the flesh. In his very dying words, Moses said, Let Reuben live. Don't let him die. He's going to destroy himself. There's something self-destructive in him. Oh, I see that self-destructive thing in so many. There have been some converts that come in here, that self-destructive spirit. They see, they can sit and tell you all about the Word of God. They see things that very few other people see, but it's a perverted view of the church. It's a perverted view of the gospel. It's a perverted view of righteousness. And there's a self-destructive spirit within them. He had his eyes full of lust for the things of the world and its pleasures. Gad, that's the second tribe, means fortune and troop. In other words, soldiers of fortune, mercenaries. Soldiers of fortune. Moses said of Gad, now listen to this, listen closely. Deuteronomy 33. You don't have to turn to Deuteronomy 33.21. Gad, he provided the first part for himself. Listen to it. He provided the first part for himself. You know what he's talking about? He said, Gad got his eyes on those green pastors and he grabbed them. His name means fortune. He moves with an association of people who are into fortune. Anybody have an idea who that crowd may be? The crowd of Gad. Providing for themselves. And you know what the idea is? Well, if I can get my family settled in here, and I can be prosperous, then I have more time and money to give to God. Isn't that what he's saying? Have you ever heard that? I hear that through the whole prosperity realm. The reason I want to make money and be prosperous so I can give more money to the work of God. And that's Tommy Rot. Ask Jesus when he stands before the widow who gives half. She gave the two months. She gave everything she had. Hmm. But here's what Gad is saying. I'm going to go out and fight with the Lord's army. I'm going to be obedient. I'm going to do everything God expects of me. But first, I've got to get a stake in life. I need to get myself and my family set up. Then I'll be free to do more for the Lord. This is the Christian who thinks, God expects me to take care of my family first. I've got to pay my bills. If I'm going to be a righteous husband, a righteous father, I've got to see some daylight first. And so here we go, spending all of our time making money, trying to provide for the family, and then fitting God in where he can be fit. This is choosing career before Christ. Boy, I see that everywhere I look today. The idea is, there'll come a time that I'm going to give God more and more of my time. And little by little, man works five days a week, then he works six days a week, and finally he takes the seventh day and desecrates the seventh day because he has the Spirit of Gad in him. Fortune! Manasseh. His name means to forget and to neglect. And by the way, do you know that the Hebrew parents, especially the patriarchs, they had a foreknowledge. They had forebodings. They named their children prophetically. Self-descriptive. Their names are all self-descriptive. Describes their personality. They could see down into the future. Jacob did. All the patriarchs. Isaac. They could name their children. They left blessings. These were not just laying hands and saying a prayer. They saw. They prayed. They saw in prophecy. They understood. Manasseh. To forget. To neglect. Now remember, Manasseh was Joseph's first son, and he was supposed to receive the birthright. Remember Joseph brought his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to his father Israel, Jacob, to be blessed. And when he was praying... Now, I'll tell you what. Go to Genesis 48 with me and just look at it. Genesis 48. You see an amazing thing happen here. Genesis 48. Let's start verse 13. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand, toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand, toward Israel's right hand, because the firstborn had the right hand laid upon him, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands, winningly means deliberately. He knew what he was doing. For Manasseh was the firstborn. And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, that God which fed me all my life, long unto this day. Look at verse 17. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is my firstborn. Put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son. I know it. He shall become a people, and he shall also be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim of Manasseh. And he sent Ephraim before Manasseh. Why? Now look at me. This man of God saw something. Even at this early age. He saw that Manasseh would be a tribe of division. He saw that Manasseh, this spirit that was in the father would pass right down through the clan. He saw that they would neglect the ways of Joseph their father. They would forget his righteousness, his holiness. You know what was said in Egypt? That there was another generation which knew not Joseph? Well, I want you to know this very thing right here is what God is speaking. What God is speaking through what Jacob did. Deliberately. Joseph tries to take it and said, That's not the firstborn. And he tried to move... Jacob said, No, I know what I'm doing. I'm going to make Ephraim first, Manasseh second. The reason he's a second class blessing is because God knew what was in Manasseh. You know what the ironic thing is? Is that Joseph, before he died, made them promise that they would carry his bones into the promised land. I'm going to read it to you. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel. Now, this had to be his two sons. The tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh. Saying, God will surely bless you, this you, you shall carry my bones from hence, from Egypt. The Scripture says in Exodus 13, 19, And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. And you know they buried him and shed him. In the promised land. Isn't it ironic that all through the wilderness journeys, this tribe of Manasseh carried a casket full of the bones of a godly man, and that casket testified all through the desert. Go in, go in, go in. Holiness of God. Nothing halfway. No middle ground. Go, go. I'm going. Bury me in the promised land. And those very bones cried out. Go in. Nothing lukewarm. Nothing halfway. Go in. I'm going. And they had to promise Joseph that he goes to the promised land to be buried. Isn't it ironic that his bones go in. Grandfather's bones are buried and they stay on the other side. What a horrible picture of the dangers of lukewarmness. Now, look at these combined traits of middle ground lukewarm people. Now listen to me. I'm going to go over them now. Here are unstable people. Unstable as water. Unstable in their spiritual convictions. They never excel in the things of God. They're always lukewarm, full of lust. They're ruled by their selfish needs. They neglect the reading of the Word. They neglect prayer. They don't take the Lord's commandments seriously. They make their own choices instead of trusting God. They forget the past blessings and His past dealings. They're unwilling to let go of certain idols. They always hold on to one certain thing. Justifying their own decisions. Not willing to die to all that would seduce them back to their middle ground. They won't die. They will not go down to Jordan and die and stay on the other side. Now, middle ground people, and this is always symptomatic, middle ground people always develop a very stubborn self-will. They develop a very stubborn self-will. They said, this is a place for cattle and thy servants have cattle. They looked at that and they said, this is ours, we go no further. This stubborn self-will. There are times that I've been preaching in pulpits and I have to almost stop and take dominion in Jesus' name to finish the message. Because I know there are people sitting there saying, I love good preaching, I love reproof, and they love, I mean, it's almost, they're almost sadomasochists that they'll take beatings from certain preachers who don't have the love of Jesus and they'll still take that. But then on the good side, they'll come and hear men of God delivering their soul. But there's no desire to change because a stubbornness is already set in. They know what they want. They will never be moved. It's middle ground, period. And their answer is, but Moses, you just don't understand. That's exactly what they're saying. Moses, you don't understand. But what they're really saying is, hey look, Moses, we love the fellowship of the saints. We're not going to go back to our old sins. We're not going back to Egypt. We plan to walk in obedience with the Lord. We'll go with you. We'll walk hand in hand with you. Because you see, middle ground people love to be around Holy Ghost people going all the way to a point. They love the fellowship. We will stand with you and fight the devil, but we don't want to live like that. We've got our own idea of what is right for us. And Moses must have known the stubbornness of their heart because he'd already said that you've risen up just like your stubborn fathers. You're a descendant of evil men. And I believe he just gave them what he knew that they would take whether he said yes or no. Now look at this. Verse 32, chapter 32. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession... This is numbers, 32-32. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side, Jordan, may be ours. Now look at that. Study that verse. Look at it. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan. Why are they going to obey the Lord? They're obeying God just so they can get their way. Look at it. Study it in a minute. Look at it. That the possession of our inheritance on this side, Jordan, may be ours. They would do anything to stay there. You know what that's saying? That some people will make any kind of self-denial just so they can stay on this middle ground. Look at verse 16 and 17. We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little ones. Our little ones shall dwell in the fence cities because of the inhabitants of the land. Now they admitted right there that they were defenseless, that the enemy was there, there were inhabitants in the land. And look at verse 26. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. Now look at it for just a minute. Shouldn't we commend these two and a half tribes and their leaders for making such wonderful provision for their children and their wives? Isn't that very commendable? They said, look, we're going to take care of our families first, we're going to build these cities, we're going to build sheepfolds. And remember, they took Gilead when it was full of cities that had high walls around it. And they said, now look, we're going to take care of our families first. We're going to put the family first. Now, looking at that at face value, it would be, yes, they should be commended that they didn't go to battle until they made sure their families were well situated. But I want to show you the blasphemy of this whole thing. I want to show you the terribleness, the tragedy of what these men were doing. They were holding their wives and their children back from their inheritance. Those children should have been there to see the walls of Jericho come down. To see the glory of God manifested. They should have been at Shiloh to see the glory of the Lord fall in Shiloh. They should have been near the Ark of the Covenant where the presence of the Lord was manifest. And these fathers thought that their love and their overprotectiveness was going to keep their families. And here's the sin of this day. Here's the sin of middle ground people. There are wives whose husbands want to go on with God. They want to cross the Jordan. They want to die to this world. They want to go all the way with the Lord. They want to live a holy, sanctified life. And they've got a wife who will hold them back. Who's speaking to herself, as long as I love Him, I'll hold Him. There are wives who want to go all the way with the Lord and their husbands hold them back. I have many wives who write, said, I'd like to get rid of all the idols in my family and I can't because my husband who's a deacon in church says that's not, that's imbalanced. You don't want to go that way. You don't have to be like that. Those people are kooks. You know, there was a Pentecostal meeting in Pennsylvania two weeks ago and the presbyter, it was Assemblies of God, and the presbyter called the meeting. You know what the meeting, the title of the meeting was, the subject? Why holiness preaching produces kooks. And they were saying, you dare not put guilt trips on people. And the pastors think just because they love their people and protect them that they're going to make it through. And what a tragedy because these men were robbing their families. They were robbing their wives and their children of the glory of God and their inheritance. They were damning their kids to hell. And that's what happens when you won't go on to fullness. When you won't go on in the completeness of the Lord Jesus Christ and you go so far and you settle in a lukewarm position, you settle for middle ground and your children suffer. And you say, well, as long as I protect them from the spirit of this age and you build that high wall around them, you say I'm going to love them, I'll protect them, I'll give them everything they need. They're going to have cattle, they're going to have all the meat they'd ever need for the two and a half years that their fathers were fighting in the promised land. They're well cared for, all the clothes they need, comfort, they're sheltered, they're loved! Fathers left assuring them of their love and you should think that would be enough. In actuality, they were damning them. Jesus warned the lawyers, He said, you entered not in yourselves and them that were entering you hindered. You won't go all the way. And I'm going to tell you now, if you're a father or a mother, a husband or a wife, or you have children, if you will not lay down every idol, if you will not go all the way and do what God told you to do, and you disobey the Lord, and you say, well, it's my love that will keep them, I'll protect them, I'll just pray for them. And I'm sure those fathers prayed for them. And by the way, these didn't make good soldiers because the whole time they were over there fighting with the Israelites, their hearts were back on the other side of Jordan. How many lonely nights those soldiers must have fought? How many times they said, how long does this last? They're going on simply because they feared the judgment of Almighty God. Their hearts weren't in the battle. The Lord said, now, if you don't want to go in, let your children go in. Let your wives go in. Let your husband go in. Don't let him back. Don't damn your family. And here's where their sin found them out. That's exactly what Moses said. Your sin is going to find you out if you won't enter into the fullness of God. If you're not going to take God's commandments seriously, if you've got an idea in your mind, well, I can go so far, or I can play with this idol, I can fight with that idol, and you say, I'm different, I'll make it, I'll make it. No. The curse will come on your family. On your children. Oh, I grieve over this. I'm going to show you what happened. Because those who live in middle ground are the first to be judged. Now, I want you to just listen. 2 Kings, you don't have to turn there. 2 Kings 10, 32 and 33. In those days, the Lord... No, turn there. It's better to look at it. See it in black and white. I like Bob's way better here. Looking at it black and white. 2 Kings 10. Verse 32. Know this is such a short time later. Just so few years later, listen to this. Verse 32. In those days, the Lord began to cut Israel short, and Hazael smote them in all the coast of Israel from Jordan, which way? Where were they? East side of Jordan. And who got it? Jordan and all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aurora, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan. Now look at me. In just a short time, because they had settled on middle ground, their children were torn from their arms, their children were turned to idols, their wives were prostituted before the temples of Baal, their wives became prostitutes before these false temples, their homes were broken up, and they were under divine judgment. Is that clear? And I want you to know, you can believe it or not, but if you refuse to go all the way with the Lord into fullness, become more and more like Jesus, if you live in this middle ground, you're going to live to see the day the judgment will be visited on your family. You'll lose God's anointing in your own life, the devil will plunder you, your household, your children, your family, because you're on unholy ground. Here's one of the worst things of all. Those who settle on this middle ground give up the presence of God for mere confession of faith. They give up the ark for just a confession. I want to show you something that has had a profound effect on me. See, the battles are all over now, the battles have won. These two and a half tribes of soldiers had gone over and they had fought their half-hearted battle with their hearts back. The Bible says, The Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He swore to give to their fathers, and they possessed it, and they dwelt therein. Now it's time for the two and a half tribes to go home. Now I want you to turn to Joshua 22, and I want to show you one of the saddest Scriptures in all the Bible as far as I'm concerned. It's one of the very saddest Scriptures in the Bible. Joshua 22. I was reading this, and I keep reading it, it makes me want to cry. Look at verse 7 first. Joshua 22. Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given possession of Bashan, but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua unto the brethren on this side, Jordan westward. Now I want you to know, I'm going to show you the cause of division in just a minute. And I want to show you the altar of contrived unity. The altar of contrived unity. We're going to see something profound here in just a moment. Verse 9. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel. Look at that. Departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh. Where were they leaving? They were leaving the house of God, the tabernacle and the presence of the Lord. Out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, which is the fullness of God, which is the promised land. And go unto the country of Gilead to the land of their own possession wherever they were possessed according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. Now isn't that one of the saddest things you can conceive? Here are the two and a half tribes and they're departing now. They're all gathered around Shiloh and there's the ark that come to the Lord in their midst. They're saying goodbye to all of Israel and there's a division taking place right now. There's a division. There's a dividing taking place. A spiritual division. I want you to notice who's causing the division now. You see these two and a half tribes are going back. They're leaving the ark. They're leaving the tabernacle. They're leaving the unity of God which is in the promised land and they are going to cause a schism. And they get to the Jordan and before they cross the Jordan back to Gilead they build an altar. Now the reason I'm using the King James King James gives the name of the altar. Look at Joshua 22. Well, I'll tell you what. Look at Joshua 22. Verse 34. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar now in King James it says witness but in original Hebrew it's ed. The altar ed. For it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God. I want to show you something now. And follow me closely please. Division is caused by those who go out from us because they were not with us. Remember that? Demas said, Paul said Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world. Alright, look at me now. The cause of all division is caused by people who took the witness of Christ and went back to middle ground. All division is caused by that. Because you see, in the promised land the other tribes are united as one around Shalom the Ark. There's total unity there. And these men feared that they would be cut off. So before they go over to Jordan they build this huge, monstrous altar. And I want to tell you that it caused such confusion in Israel that all the Israelites come against all the tribes of Israel come against the two and a half tribes that have already moved on the other side. And Elisha the priest and ten princes called their leaders and said, What is this? What is this? They said, This is Ed. The altar of Ed. The altar of Ed is an altar of contrived unity. And what they were saying, We're not going to have the Ark with us. We're not going to have the tabernacle with us. We have to have a confession. There has to be some evidence that God was with us. That we were a part of you. And they build this huge thing and they say, The day may come that our children will be told by your children you have no part with us. You went back to middle ground and we want to be able to look at that pile of stones and confess we are of God. Now think of it. They lose the anointing, they lose the unction, and all they have is a cold confession. They look at a pile of stones and say, That's where our God was. We are with them. We are one of them. These confessions, confess it, is nothing but cold stone. It's the alter ed. This that we see today is a contrived altar, an altar of contrived unity. But the Ark is not there. It's just a witness. We're going to witness that the whole world were one. Well, you can't be one when you're on the other side of Jordan. You can't be one when you're in middle ground. Do you know that people who are going on with the Lord that are dying to self and sin, they don't have to have an altar, they don't have to have some confession, they don't have to have something built, they don't have to describe the boundaries, it's just something that's there. Because they're walking with Christ in fullness. You come into the fullness of the Lord and you're one with everybody else who walks in fullness. Do you know what fullness is? It means death. Death to sin. Resurrection into the fullness and the righteousness and the love of Jesus Christ. And when they came to the borders of Jordan, they built there a great altar to see to it. At the passage of the children of Israel, they called the altar ed for it shall be witness between us that the Lord is God. A witness that the Lord is God, not a cold pile of stones. Isn't it sad that people today, you go to church and all you can do is hear, you'll hear a preacher say, repeat this, repeat this. They're at the altar of ed. You don't have to repeat some cold confession of faith if your heart's burning. I'm not putting that down. Sometimes it's good to be reminded. We're hearing nothing but cold confessions. We see a contrived unity. You go to Jordan, you die of sin and you go to the altar. You go to Shiloh. You'll find unity. It's not contrived. It's built on the holiness of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Do you believe that? Well, this was a cry for unity. It was a positive confession. Here's a whole class of middle ground Christians seeking to keep their identity with those who are united to the Lord. Boy, what kind of conflict it caused. Do you know something? Holiness preachers are accused of bringing division to the body. Who brings division to the body? The two and a half tribes that go back to middle ground. They're the ones that cut themselves off. They went out from us because they were not for us. Having loved this present world. And you know what Eliezer and the ten princes said to them? In fact, this altar of contrived unity was built out of fear. Listen to what it said. I'll just read it to you. Well, first of all, it says they went up against them. This is Joshua 22, 12. Eliezer the priest. He said, if your possession be unclean, then pass over... This is Joshua 22, verse 19. If your possession be unclean, then pass over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us, but don't rebel against the Lord nor us. Where's the rebellion? By the way, turn there please. Are you in Joshua 22? Are you in verse 19? If the land of your possession... They're talking now the two and a half tribes. If your possession be unclean, then pass over... In other words, come on, die with us. Into the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us, but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God. What a danger to build a false, contrived altar of unity, because that stands in direct opposition to the unity of the body of Christ, that's intact through a spiritual life, and not just a dead confession. The message is clear. If you fear there's division in the body, if you're going to go around saying, we're all divided, we've got to get together, then better get back over Jordan, because over here we're all united. God's presence has united us. Come on into the fullness and dwell in peace. Why build another altar? It's not needed. If you're going to go around saying, hey there's division, the body's all divided. I don't see the body of Christ divided. The true body of Jesus Christ has always been united, it's always been one. The only people who saw the division was those who moved back on the other side of Jordan. He said if you're afraid, he said this whole thing's done through fear, if you're afraid of division, then come on over to Jordan. Come on over to where the tabernacle is, and don't rebel against us. I don't think the Lord can make it any clearer than that, do you? But you see, they need invisible proof of unity. Joshua 22, 24. We have done it for fear of this thing. For fear. In time to come, your children might speak unto our children, saying, what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? We have no part in the Lord. What a sad commentary. See, every time you depart from God's fullness, and from His plan, and you settle for something that's earthly and sensuous, then you've got to have a stone-cold confession, and you've got to have some visible sign of unity, because you don't have the true unity of the Spirit. And by the way, look at me. This is important. You can come to a body of people. I believe there are a body of people here that want to move on with the Lord. I believe there are people here that some are already across Jordan, others got their feet just going into Jordan, others in the bottom of the Jordan. And, you know, if you stay here, whether it's Bob or Ron or whoever's in this pulpit, you're going to go through Jordan, or else you're going to settle on the other side. But there's going to be a call to go down into burial and be buried with Christ and resurrected on the other side. And if you don't, then you're going to say, those people are clickies. You know, that's a click down there. And try as you will, you can come and worship, you can be active in this church, in this group, but you'll always feel left out, and you'll blame the other people. Isn't that right? You'll say, those people just don't love me, they don't accept me. A bunch of holier-than-thou people. No, that's not the vision of the body, that's your vision because you decided to settle on the other side of Jordan. You won't go and die. And try as you will, you'll never be one. Do anything you want, I mean work, come help in the Sunday school, do everything you want until you cross Jordan and die, you won't feel the oneness of unity of the Holy Spirit. Do you believe that? Bill, as always there should be a good side, and there is. Caleb. The one who represents the man who crosses over. Hallelujah. Caleb. He's our type. Now remember, Joshua is a type of Christ, and Caleb is inseparable from Joshua, and Caleb is our type of walking inseparably with Jesus. Wherever you found Joshua, you found Caleb. Wherever you find Christ, you find his bride. Hallelujah. Inseparable. Remember when Caleb went over Jordan with the spies, there were ten spies, and Caleb was one of them. Moses had told them, everywhere you set your foot, it's going to be yours. And you know where Caleb, he headed right for Hebron. He knew the law, he knew his history, he was so in love with God, he goes right to Hebron, because that's where Abraham offered Isaac. That's where Abraham was buried, Isaac was buried, all the patriarchs were buried, because it was called the Mount of Death. It's a walk of death. And I know he went right to Hebron, and he claimed it for himself. He looked out over all of that side, and he thought this is where God has met His people. And there was hallowed ground. And he came back, he said, and by the way, that's where the giants were too. And he said, we're well able to go up, and his heart, he wanted Hebron. And what he's saying, I'm going to walk this walk of death. I'm going to go the way Abraham was. I want to be that living sacrifice that Abraham laid on the altar. There was a drawing toward Hebron in his heart, and the Bible says, Caleb wholly followed the Lord. There was not a time that he didn't. Remember how good Solomon started out, and yet the Bible said he went not fully after the Lord? There were only two classes of people left. Middle ground people, it can be said of them, they did not wholly follow the Lord. Those who go through the Jordan are those who wholly followed the Lord. That's fullness. And at 85 years of age, Caleb could say, as yet, I am as strong as I was the day that Moses sent me, as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, but to go out and to come in. He's 85 years old, and he flexed his spiritual muscle and said, Joshua, I'm as strong today as when God first sent me. I've not lost ground. That means, the older you get, the stronger you should get. You should not ever lose your spiritual strength. The more you grow with God, the older you get. How sad to see people that grow older and weaker in the Lord. He said, I'm just as strong now, I've got the Spirit of God on me. 85 years of age. That's a glorious message, and I love the truth. Now, Hebron means, a company associated. Now, this is so beautiful. A company associated. Associated with what? Death. In fact, it's called, Mount Hebron was called by the Hebrews, the sepulcher of death. It's a walk of death. Bob's been preaching that for many, many weeks. That's the covenant walk. It's a walk of death. And, He says, give me this mountain. He's 85 years old. Give me Hebron. Give me this walk of death. Give me a righteous walk. I'll not walk with the world. The older I get, I'm going to hold my strength. I will not let go. I'm moving on in God. Give me Hebron. Oh, thank God for this man. And, Caleb looks out over his clan. He looks out over his family. And, he's got, evidently, a beautiful daughter. Because, a young man risked his life. And, Caleb says, He that smiteth Kodoshepher, and taketh it to him, will I give Aksa, my daughter, to wife. Aksa, my daughter. Whoever goes up and takes Hebron for me, you take that mountain, you've got my daughter. And, you know who goes up? Othniel, who becomes his son-in-law, who becomes the first judge of Israel. And, I want to tell you something. When you go all the way with the Lord, and follow Him wholly, and lay down every idol, it goes all through your posterity. You start a trend. You start a spiritual dynasty, if you will. That spirit of Caleb went all through his tribe. Othniel says, yes, I'll go. And, he goes up and smites the giants, and takes it, and comes back, and says, give my prize to me. Takes the daughter. And, that daughter had more fire than her father. Her father gives her a piece of land, and she looks over that land, and she said, there's something missing. I don't want just a dry, barren wasteland. I want springs of water. And, you know what the springs of water represent? The living word of God. She lights off her donkey, the Bible says. And, she said, give me a blessing. And, I'm reading Joshua 15. Don't turn to Joshua 15. Give me a blessing for the land given me is a south land. Now, give me also springs of water. And, he gave her the upper springs, and the lower springs. I see that girl jump off that donkey, and goes to her dad. And, she's got that spirit of care up in her. Dad! I'm not going to live a wasted life. I'm going on. I want water. Oh, I want that in my children. I want every one of my children, all my grandchildren, to have that spit and fire and unction of the Holy Ghost. Should God give me some time to live? I want my daughters and my sons to have that holy fire of God in them. And, I want the spirit that God put on me to put on them. I want God to put it on all my children. If you don't have it on you, how is it going to be put on your family, and those around you? This thing is contagious. You got children? Think your love and over protectiveness is going to do it? No. You're going to holy follow the Lord. You're going to die and go all the way in. And, one of these days, you're going to have a judge in Israel. One of these days, you're going to have that daughter come to you, and grab you by the arm and say, Dad, I'm going on with God. And, you can lay down and die in peace knowing that you've got an inheritance. I've got five grandsons, and I pray for them every day. Four children in ministry now, and I'm working on my grandsons. I can see some of that fire coming out already. Hallelujah. Oh, glory. And, to know the love of Christ, which path with knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God, until all come into the unity of the faith, unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, with a perfect, mature man, unto the measure of the fullness of Christ. If you're not going to go on, He's going to find you out. You're going to see your children rebel. You're going to see trouble in your family. Your sin's going to find you out. Lord, I want to go on. Lord, I want to taste Jordan. And, I want to die to this world and everything that's in it, to its pride, to its ambition. And, Lord, why is it that there's still some of our lovely people here who hold on to a gossiping tongue, hold on to some little idol. It's so stupid, so silly. And, God says, there's one thing yet. You've got one foot on the other side of Jordan. Your heart's still back there. It's going to draw you back. If you don't lay down your heart, it's going to draw you back. And, you're going to settle for middle ground. Lord, we don't want middle ground. We want holy ground. Holy ground. Hallelujah. I want God to burn that in your heart this morning. Say, Brother Wilkinson, I want to go on. Could you look this way for just a minute? Some of you that I might not get to preach to for a long time again, you that have been coming regularly here.