Mount Nebo-From Sin to Forgivene'ss

Introduction

Slide One - Map

Slide two -Nomadic tent- The people lived in the wilderness for 40 years in tents just like this

As we Journeyed on the Path of the Israelites it led us From Mt Sinai in Egypt all the way through the Sinai Peninsula and into the Desolate wilderness that is now the Country of Jordan.

Slide 3- Eventually we came to the top of Mount NEbo where out story today takes place

Slide 4- this is a special picture for me. It is my family standing on the same mountain top that God stood on with Moses, and let him see the promised land .

Today i want us to look at another Mountainous Redemptive story that we see From the Holy Land. I want us to look at the story of Moses and Mount Nebo.

But this Mountain top story is so much more than just a view of Israel, and in order for us to truly understand the depth of this story we need to go back to where it began.

Slide 5 picture of the mountain

Where do Mountains begin?

They begin In the Bottom of the Valley.

The Bible tells us that as a result of the people’s sin and lack of faith, Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years in exile after their Exodus from Egypt.

It was during this time of Wondering in the wilderness that that Valley of this story of Mountainous Redemption Begins.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Numbers 20:1-9

Numbers 20:1–9 ESV

1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. 2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

So here is where our mountain top Story Begins in the wilderness of Zin in the valley called Meribah.

The People where thirsty and apparently there wasn't any water in this area.

So God gave Moses another Command ...to speak to the rock so that Water would come fourth, This was not just another rule for Moses to follow, But God has brought Moses in on a supernatural miracle.

Rocks dont produce water, yet thats what God has planned to provide for his peoples need

God has given Moses the Power over nature, to Speak to a Rock and command it to bring forth Water.

After God Gives Moses this Command, Moses starts to Obey. In verse 9 &10 it says “ and Moses took His staff as God Commanded Him to do. 10 Then Moses And Aaron gathered the people before the Rock.

This man of God knows What God has commanded Him to do- “To speak to the rock so that water will come forth”.

God wanted to use Moses to Proclaim His power to His people, God wanted to use Moses to do something so Supernatural that the People would know that God was the One who provided, He wanted Israel to know that He is still leading them to where He had promised.

And this is where the valley of our story Picks up.

Numbers 20:10 (ESV)

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

Moses’ Heart wasn't right. He was fed up with the people’s complaining, and their Bitterness, He was tired of their sin.

Moses was telling Isreal You dont deserve water from this rock-

Look what He does next

Numbers 20:11 (ESV)

11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

You want water Israel Here you go- Heres your stinking Water, Now drink it and stop all this bickering!

You see Moses lost sight of what God was really trying to do. God wasn't just providing water- He wanted to remind the people that He will always does what He promises to do.

He wanted to remind them that He is still on the throne.

Moses had the opportunity to be the voice of the Lord- To communicate his truth and promise to His people, But instead ALL THEY SAW WAS THE ANGER FROM MOSES.

Moses had gone against what God had asked Him to do, and in his disobedience the glory that God deserved was replaced with Moses’s disobedience.

Our first point today is this

ALL SIN IS A CHOICE

Moses Knew what God had Commanded Him to do- He knew that God wanted Him to display his power to the people.

The first thing we see about Moses’ sin is that He let other people's sin tempt His own heart.

The text tells that the people where continually Grumbling and complaining

And even after God tells Moses what he wants to do , Moses Responds back to the people

“ You bunch of Rebels.” All you want are the blessing without the worship.-

“All you want is the goodness that God brings with out letting Him be in control of your life.”

I’m Sick of it. If all you want is water than here You Go- (SMACK THE STAFF) Heres your water.

Moses was being tempted to sin- the people were driving him insane, but He Had a choice to make - He could either continue to trust in the Lord that HE KNEW WAS FAITHFUL, and do what is right, or He could chose to fall to the temptation and sin Himself.

And our story tells us that Moses, even as a righteous man, chose sin instead of Obedience.

Understand the people didn't make Moses sin- Moses made the conscious decision that his sin would be a better solution than Obedience.

In his heart He made the choice that He loved sin more than He loved God.

Right? Thats really what its all about.

We do the same thing in our own lives today-

We know what God wants, We know what God calls sin, We know what God desires from our lives.

and we too have a choice to make

every time we are tempted to sin We have a choice.

The choice is simple- Do I love this sin and the temporary pleasure it may bring more than I love my Savior who redeemed me with His own blood.

This is the question everyone of us must answer when we are being tempted to sin.

Do I love my sin more than my Savior?

Moses chose sin over obedience.

Our story in Numbers goes on in verse 12

12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

All Sin Has Consequences

After Moses Hit the rock out of Anger, God pulls Him Aside And Says Your sin has consequences.

“Because You disobeyed You will not be able to enter the kingdom which I planned for my people”

Friends there is no Sin that will not be punished

There is no such thing as a hidden sin from God.

We can not sin and think that It will not have consequences in our lives.

It doesn’t take too much to realize this truth from the pages of scripture.

-Adam and Eve disobeyed Gods rule and where instantly kicked out of the Garden of Eden: (Genesis 3).

-Lot's wife looked back at the city of Sodom against God's command, and she was turned into a pillar of salt

The Israelites' rebellion and lack of faith led to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness instead of directly entering the Promised Land (Numbers 14).

King David's affair with Bathsheba resulted in the death of their child and ongoing troubles within his family (2 Samuel 11-12).

King Nebuchadrezzar sin of Pride led God to inflict him with a severe form of madness causing him to live like a wild animal in the wilderness eating grass for seven years

in 1 Cor. we read that many people were sick and some even died because they disobeyed Gods way of doing things.

Folks our sin always has consequences,

There is hurt, there is sorrow, there are many broken relationships all because of the Sin in our lives.

but the greatest consequence of sin is that sin is what separates Mankind from God for all eternity.

Our third Point this Morning is this

All Sin Leads to Death

God told Moses that because of his sin He would not enter into the Promised Land But would would die in the Wilderness.

The ultimate cost of His sin was Death.

Friends, The Bible is very clear on this- the penalty for sin has not changed

Romans 3:23 (ESV)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We are all sinners just like Moses

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

23 For the wages of sin is death...

We are all condemned to die because of our sin- Just like Moses

Spiritual Death is the price for every sin you and I have ever committed in your lives.

Physical death is when the soul is seperated from the body for ever. Thats the death we see with our own eyes

Spiritual Death is so much worse

It is Eternal Seperation of our soul Form God forever in the lake of Fire.

Friends if you have sinned- and you have- the penalty for that sin is seperation from God forever in the Lake of Fire.

And this brings us from the valley of Meribah where Moses chose to sin to the Mountain top of Mount Nebo.

I am so glad this story ends on a Redemptive mountain instead of in a valley without hope.

Israel’s 40 year journey through the wilderness is finally coming to an end. They are about to enter the promised Land.

They are now camped in the Plains of Moab at the base of Mount Nebo, A mountain that over looks the Jordan River Valley across from Jericho and the Holy Land.

Listen as we pick up our story in Deut. 34:1-8

Deuteronomy 34:1–8 (ESV)

1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6 and [God] buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor;

Our Final Point this morning is this

ALL SINNERS CAN BE RESTORED

Mount Nebo holds a significant place in the story of Moses, Because it was the place where he beheld the Promised Land before his death. it is the final place He stood next to God as His friend.

Despite Moses' inability to enter the Promised Land, God allowed him to see it from a distance.

God brought Moses up this mountain So that Moses could see all that God had promised . This is grace.

Moses deserved death, He deserved to not even see the land, But God in Grace let him stand at the top of Mount Nebo and see all of the Land that God had promised to give his followers.

This act of grace and mercy proves God's willingness to extend forgiveness when we turn to Him in genuine repentance.

Moses didn’t stay in his sin, He confessed, and His relationship with God was restored. He stood on this mountain top as the friend of God.

And not only did he stand there with God but even in his death God is the one who carried him there. Our text tells us that gOd is the one who buried the body of Moses.

The Bible tells us that we can have this same redemption in our lives in 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9 (ESV)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Mount Nebo ultimately points us to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Jesus paid the price for our sins through His death burial and resurrection, Satisfying the debt we owe.

Understand that it is only because Jesus Paid our debt in full that God has the ability to forgive our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness

Without Jesus taking our place, there is no other way to be forgiven.

Moses was forgive and restored because one day Jesus would pay for that sin.

Friends, When we believe in Jesus and repent of our sins, he takes our sins upon himself, cleansing us from all unrighteousness, and in our sins place He gives us his own perfect righteousness.

The eternal penalty of sin is overcome by the immeasurable grace and love of our Savior.

The Bible is so clear- that when we respond to our sin like Moses and repent, and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ - Our relationship with God is restored.

we no longer have to live in seperation from God but can now stand next to him as His friend.

Bring it Home

Mount Nebo serves as a sobering reminder that God always punishes our sin., but this mountain also points us to the hope of redemption found in Christ Alone.

Remember Romans 3:23 that tells us the wages of sin is death? Thats not the end of the story,

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God did not leave us in our helpless sinful condemned state He stepped in and offers us Grace.

Grace is God giving us wha we don’t deserve.

God in Grace gives us the ability to have the same faith that redeemed Moses from an eternity apart from God.

Faith is simply believing that God will do what God says Good will do, and God promises that if we accept His Son Jesus into our lives as our substitute for our sin then Jesus will take our entire debt of sin upon his own shoulders and in its place he will give us His perfect righteousness.

Thats Redemption

So how does this transformation happen?

How do we go from Condemned to die in our sin to alive with Christ?

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Friends If your sin is still separating you from an eternity in Heaven? What are you waiting for?

Believe in Jesus Today.

I encourage you to cry out to God in desperation and accept his free gift of Salvation into your life.

Today is very special day for our church

We are about to have a baptismal service at the lake-

A baptism is about Proclaiming this message of Redemption to the World.

We as church celebrate Believers Baptisms together because it is an outward Proclamation that the one being baptized is now a follower of Jesus Christ.

It is saying to the world that I have believed in Jesus as my savior, I believe that his blood he shed on that Cross was sufficient to pay the debt of all my sins.

Our Belief is what saves us, Baptism is our declaration to the world around that because God saved me, “I no longer live my life for myself but for the glory of God.”

When you think of Mount Nebo Remember that It is a story of Redemption.

God in love redeems broken people back to himself.

Lets Pray.