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BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT
By Dr. Jack Hyles
Numbers 32:23, "But if ye
will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your
sin will find you out."
Most preachers with
evangelistic fervor have preached from this text. The normal interpretation
is that overt sins will be found out and that the day will come when sins
will be uncovered.
This is a Bible truth, but
not the primary teaching of this passage. The Israelites were about to cross
over Jordan and enter into the Promised Land. The tribes of Rueben and Gad
came to Moses and asked special permission. They asked if they could stay on
the east side of the Jordan where the land was fertile and was very suitable
for the cattle and sheep possessed by these two tribes. They said, "Bring us
not over Jordan."
Moses realizing that God
had commanded them to drive out the enemy from Canaan refused to grant this
permission. He said, "Shall your brethren go to war and ye sit here?" He
would not let them avoid the battles on the west aside of the Jordan in
order to enjoy the luxury of the fertile land on the east side of the
Jordan.
The problem was resolved
by the men agreeing to cross over Jordan and fight. They would build
sheepfolds for their cattle and cities for their families. The wives,
children and cattle would remain on the east side of the Jordan while the
men crossed the Jordan to fight the battle. The agreement was that when the
battle was over the men would return to their families and cattle. Moses
accepted this plan but warned them that if they did not go forth to battle,
if they did not cross the Jordan River, if they did not fight, God would
punish them. He said, "Be sure your sin will find you out."
Some of the members of the
tribes of Gad and Rueben are still alive today. In fact, America is full of
these loafers who say, "We are tired of fighting. Let us relive our
victories in the wilderness. It is time for us to rest and enjoy the fertile
plains on the east side of the Jordan." Oh, these people still go to church.
They just don't want to fight. To be sure, on Sunday they must be fed. They
want sermons to feed their souls. They eat the fat and drink the sweet. They
crowd the table for the best wine. They tuck their spiritual napkins around
their necks and say, "Feed me, Pastor! Feed me! Feed me!" but they do not
want to fight. The battle rages on the other side of the Jordan and while
the fighting is going on they want to stay on the east side and "feed the
sheep." They love their conferences, their worship services, their sevenfold
amen and their anthems. They even love their Bible studies and deeper-life
conferences, yet they never turn a hand to do anything in the battle. They
gird no armor, grasp no sword, hurl no spear, throw no stones, shed no
blood, render no sweat and weep no tears.
If a church has no
invitation, they shriek in horror, yet if all the converts who came forward
were theirs, there would be no need for an invitation. If the church
canceled all its visitation program, they would be angry, but they never
show up for one. If the church never baptized any converts, they would
classify the church as being dead, but they never lead a convert to the
baptistry.
These goldbricks talk
about being crucified with Christ, yet they have no scars in their hands, no
spear in their side, no jeering mob, no angry critics, no thorns on their
brow. They have no pain. They suffer no heartache. They do not want to be
called fanatics, and yet they glibly talk about being crucified with Christ.
This crowd of deserters
often know much about the Bible. They often know truths that God doesn't
even know, and they find things in the Bible that God didn't put there. They
can tell you all the types concerning what the beasts stand for; they can
tell you the symbolic meanings of the leg on the beast, the foot on the leg,
the toe on the foot, the nail on the toe and the polish on the nail. They
want victories with no battles and crucifixion with no pain.
One of these AWOL's came
to me in Toccoa, Georgia, one time, looked at me through spooky eyes and
said, "Dr. Hyles, you strike me as being a very deep Bible teacher. Do you
know what the horse' in Revelation 19 stands for?" I said, "Yes, I do." She
excitedly asked, "What?" I replied, "A horse." She looked through dejected
eyes and said, "It mentions that the horse is a white horse. Do you know
what the spiritual significance of that color white is?" I replied, "Yes."
She excitedly said, " I knew you would! I knew you would! I knew you would!
What does the word 'white' mean?" I replied, "That's the color of the
horse." All across America these loafers are causing trouble in soul-winning
churches. Practically every faithful, soul-winning, Bible preacher is
hounded by these hoards. They gravitate to committees and shun soul winning
as though it were a plague. If a preacher fights sin, he is a legalist. If
he leads as Moses did, he is a dictator. If he loves souls, he is shallow.
If he has zeal, he possesses wild fire.
These Monday-morning
quarterbacks never make a tackle, never complete a pass, never kick a field
goal, never block a kick, never make a first down and never win a game. They
simply sit in the stands and cheer those who run off sides, are guilty of
unnecessary roughness and boo the one who makes the touchdown. These modern
Korahs would think the parting of the Red Sea too spectacular. They would
have the sensationalism of Joshua making the sun stand still. They would
suggest that the feeding of the 5,000 was carnal and certainly would
classify Pentecost as an emotional experience not worthy of the morning
worship service. These Diotrophes grow nurseries of weeds, sow spiritual
crab grass in the aisles of all the soul-winning churches in America. They
are watch-gazers during the invitation. They are notoriously against the bus
ministry. They oppose being scattered abroad everywhere, and if 3,000 got
saved today, it would be no Pentecost, it would be a holocaust.
They are termites who eat
away at the foundations of our churches. They are buzzards circling the
field to pull at the carcass of new converts. They; are parasites who live
on other's toil. They are polecats who spray their odor on every church
member who gets close to them. They are serpents who shoot deadly venom at
every soul-winning church and pastor in America and cockroaches who infest
every member of the church on whom they can crawl.
The truth is no Christian
has a right to be at peace during the war. No Christian has a right to stay
on the east side of Jordan and enjoy the luxury of the fertile plains while
the rest are fighting on the west side.
Should I be carried to the
skies, On flowery beds of ease, While others fight to win the prize, And
sail through bloody seas?
No, I must fight if I
would gain, Increase my courage, Lord! I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.
Am I to receive and never
give? Am I to eat and never feed! Am I to wear and never clothe? Am I to
drink and never offer a cup?
Ladies and gentlemen, there is a war on! On
which side of the Jordan do you dwell? We, like the Israelites, are to cross
the Jordan and fight the battles until the battle is over and we can return
to our families and see the face of our Saviour and hear Him say, "Well
done."
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