Numbers 16:28-34

[0:00] So we'll start reading in number 16 and verse 28. He says, And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of mine on mine. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, with all that I pertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men had provoked the Lord. And it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words that the ground clave us under that was under them. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses, and all the men that I pertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that I pertain to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled it to cry them, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. That's all I want to read right now.

[1:22] So once again we have Moses, Moses making this declaration here that the Lord had given him. Moses wasn't doing this off his own mind, wasn't doing it off his own heart. Moses once again was the intercessor to the Israelites. He was God's man, he was God's message, or he was the relayer of God's messages to the Israelites, and he was the man that came to God on behalf of those Israelites.

[1:54] Much the same way that Jesus Christ acts on behalf of humanity nowadays. Jesus Christ came, walked us our 33 years, and he died. He was buried and he resurrected, and now since he came and represented God under the people of this world. He now sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for man, making intercession for those who are saved, and those who are born again. And folks that was God's choosing, that was God's plan, that was God's design. The entire time, just as Moses here was God's choosing, he was God, it was God's design. It's not that Moses ever did anything to be chosen. Moses was chosen for this job, I believe before his mother even conceived him in the womb.

[2:46] Moses was set aside, he was sanctified for this job to bring these people up. If you go back to the first chapter or two of the book of Exodus, you'll see Moses' mother and father. After his mother has had Moses, she hangs on to him just as long as she can, but once she can no longer hide him, she put him in an archipelago, Russia's, sent him down by the river where she knew that he would be found. Pharaoh's daughter found him there in the river, floating in that arch, and she took him and he was raised in Pharaoh's own house. A Jewish man or a Jewish boy was raised in the palace of Pharaoh, the folks that was all part of the plan. Since before the beginning of time, I'm persuaded that none of that come God off guard. He knew what would come down the pack. He knew what was going to happen just as he knew what would happen with these people here in this tribe of Korah with the people of Korah. He knew they would come against

[3:51] Moses. He knew why they would come against Moses, but he had a plan already in place. Moses tells them, go get your sensors, put fire on them, and whatever offering the Lord accepts, that's the one that God has chosen for this duty.

[4:09] Folks Korah was never chosen to lead the people. They were never chosen to be in power. They were never chosen for any of these things. Moses was the one that was chosen for that position, but when Korah came against Moses, when Korah came against him, even though Moses gave warning, even though Moses told them, hey, you're not, you're not assumed for this position. You're not assumed for this kind of power. You're not assumed for this kind of duty, even after Moses told them that they still wanted the power. They still wanted the leadership, and they still wanted Moses out of the picture. People nowadays respond in the same way to the Word of God when it's preached and when it's told, when it's presented. People will react in different manners. Some of them will react just as the people of Korah did here. They'll shove it off to the side, pay no attention to it, and still want their own ways. But God has a purpose for that word. When it goes out, the Bible says that when His word goes out, it will not return void.

[5:21] It'll accomplish that which God said it had to do. When the Word of God goes out, and it breaks a sinner's heart, that's precisely what it was meant to do. When it breaks the heart of a lost person, that's what it was meant to do. When it comforts the heart of a sane person, that's what it was meant to do. My God's word is not null, it is not void, it is powerful, it brings God. It's the power of the Gospel that gets people saying it's the power of the Gospel that comforts us, that consoles us, it's the power of the Gospel of God unto salvation. These people here in Korah, these folks in Korah, they couldn't get that. They didn't want to get it.

[6:15] They had their own ideas in their own heads. They knew what they wanted. They wanted power. They wanted the people to look up to them. They wanted the people to come to them instead of going to Moses with the bigger matters within the tribes of Israel. They wanted people to come to them as seeking the answers to the questions that they might have. They wanted the adoration of man basically is what it boils down to. Folks, Moses never asked for that position. In fact, when God was calling Moses to go and to bring his people up out of Egypt, Moses tried his best to get out of that calling. Moses tried his best to talk God out of it. He threw excuse after excuse that God and God says you're going down there and if there's something wrong with your speech, you can take Aaron with you.

[7:07] I'll send Aaron. He can do the speaking but either way, you're going to accomplish this task that I am putting on you. Moses here with this tribal Korah, Moses was doing nothing more than accomplishing the task that God had sent him to do. God had put Moses over those people. God had told Moses to lead those people and I believe Moses was doing the best that he could possibly do.

[7:37] Amen. And praise God. God was with him the whole time. God was right there with him. But here in this scripture, Moses says, hereby he shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works for I have not done them of my own mind and he tells them how they're going to know. Now folks, this should have stirred up some repentance, some repentance of these people of Korah. If these men die the common death of all men or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord has not sent me but if the Lord make a new thing and the earth opened her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain under them and they go down quicker to the pit, then ye shall understand that these men had provoked the Lord. Folks, that was not only what was going to happen, it was also a threat. It was a threat that was given under Korah. That's a threat that God was going to make good on. It's a threat that he was going to make do on with these people. Why? Because they had come against his man. They had come against the intercessor. Folks, when the Gospel of Jesus Christ goes out into this world now, whether it's in the church house, whether it's on the street corner, on the television, or on the radio, when the Gospel of Jesus Christ goes out and he hits the hearts of the lost and the lost hearts are so hardened that the Gospel bounces back off of it, that the Gospel can't penetrate it, that they don't want any part of the Gospel, they don't want any part of God. They are under the same condemnation as these people here in Korah were. Hey, the earth may not open up and swallow up their tents, it may not swallow up their family and all that appertains under them, but I can promise you now, as per the word of God, there is punishment coming for those that reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because rejecting the Gospel is rejecting the word that God Almighty has spoken through his Son. When Jesus Christ came into this world and when he began his ministry, John saw it coming down the riverbank. He said, behold, the Lamb of God which took away the sin of the world. And when Jesus came, heaven needed to be baptized of John. There was a voice that came from the heaven that said, this is my beloved Son and who I am will please. It's a mental transfiguration when they were up there on the mountain with Jesus. There was a voice that came from heaven that said, this is my beloved Son here ye here. Hey, when we reject Jesus Christ, we're rejecting the word of God and condemnation and God's fury, God's wrath and God's anger will abide upon us. Amen. So, the best advice, oh yes, don't don't reject it. The best advice is take heed to it. It came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words at the ground, Cleveland, Sunder, that was under them. Now listen, Moses had done gong at this point and he had told the other people in the congregation of Israel, he said, y'all need to move, y'all need to get out the way. God done showed him something, God done told him what was going to happen. He said, when you get out of the way, when you flee from chorus presence, don't touch anything that belongs to them. Don't touch their animals, don't touch the tabernacles or their tents, you get out of the way because God's about to do something here. God's about to do something and if you

[11:39] touch their things, if you touch their things, if you touch anything that up pertains unto them, you will be consumed in their sin. Folks, there's another story kind of like this over in the book of Joshua. We refer to it a lot of times as Aiken in the Valley of Acor. What happened there? Aiken had sinned, Aiken had gone against the word of God. What had Aiken done? Hey God, God let the Israel lives go into battle, but he told him, he said, don't you take of their garments, don't you take of their treasures, don't you spoil anything, you just go in there, do what I've sent you to do, but what did Aiken do? Aiken brought sand into the can, he took the Babylonian garment, he took that wedge of treasure, he took these things, hit them in the earth in his tent, and what happened? Hey the next battle that they had, when they went up to A.I. 36 of the Israel lives, wound up dead because of one man's sin. Don't you think for one second that your sin doesn't affect your family, doesn't affect your friends? Don't think my sin is only for me, I'll be the only one. Hey there's mommies and dais that come to church every

[12:53] Sunday that are hung over, they've been sleeping all night in the bed with somebody they're not married to, that sin will affect children, that sin will affect mommies, dais, and everyone else that appartains to that individual. Hey man, Aiken sin affected all those Israel lives, they lost a battle and it was an easy battle for them to win, it was a simple battle, but God let them, God let them get whooped in that battle because of one man's sin. What happened though? When they went back, it was discovered, or it was asked I should say, what happened? What's wrong here?

[13:42] We should have had that hands down and it was revealed they were sinning the camp. One man sinned Aiken, Aiken, so Joshua goes to Aiken, says what have you done? What have you got? He said I stole that wedge and I like that Babylonian garment that I saw, so I took it too and I took these things and I put them in my tent and they went and they discovered these things, but folks it wasn't just Aiken that got punished, they brought Aiken, they brought his family, they brought every bit of livestock that he had, they brought his possessions and they brought everything out there into that valley and they stoned it all, they killed everything, they killed Aiken and everything that had to do with Aiken, but they had to get the sin out of the camp and people will say my goodness what God would allow that? It's the same God that would allow that, it's the same God that opened up the ground here and opened, swallowed up the tribe of core, the same God that condemned core and condemned Aiken, it's the same God that promises hillfire for all eternity and torment for all eternity and weariness and screaming and weeping and wailing and gnashing the teeth, it's the same God that opened up the ground here that promises all of those things, don't say God wouldn't do that, my Bible says otherwise and I just read it to you, out of Numbers 16, God is serious about sin, he is serious about sin and it will be punished, the best news though, it's already been punished, Jesus Christ took your sin on a tree of Calvary, he hung on that cross, that was God's punishment for sin, it's already been punished, so we're left with a decision to make, do we allow Jesus Christ to take our punishment for us or do we pay for our own sin for all eternity, folks that's a no-brainer there, they don't take any thought there,

[15:53] I don't even have to pray on that matter, I'll let Jesus Christ take my punishment, it's already been done, he that knew no sin became sin for us, Cursin is every man that hangeth upon a tree, Jesus Christ took my punishment, took everything that I deserved, took the whipping, took the bleeding, took all these things, the humiliation, all for me, I'll take that overpay for my own sin any day, and I'll do it a hundred times over, if you go, I was talking earlier about people who respond in different ways, if you go to the book I actually don't have to turn there, but in Acts chapter 2, everybody here likes that chapter right, I like it, but Acts chapter 2, we know that was Pentecost that happened, we know the Holy Ghost coming that upper room, we know about the tongues of fire, and all these other things that happened there, what happened directly there after? Peter preached, Peter preached, what did he preach?

[17:10] He preached cross crucifix, he preached cross crucifix, and he told those Jews, folks it was the it was the it was the the feast of Pentecost, there was tens upon thousands of Jews within Jerusalem at this point, they were all gathered for this feast of Pentecost, so when we look there towards the end of the chapter and we find that there were 3,000 added to the church, hey as opposed to the thousands of others that were still out there, that wasn't very many, but praise God for those 3,000, hey if we're in a congregation of a thousand people and one of those thousand people ends up saved, then they get eternal life, when God gives it to them, that gives us calls to rejoice, that gives us reason to rejoice, but when Peter when he when he preached Jesus Christ and preached him crucified and he told them Jews, he said this is the very one that you had crucified, this is the very one that you killed, what happened to Peter, he came under ridicule, he wound up in front of a council of scribes and high priests and he preached basically the same message under them, he preached Jesus Christ and him crucified, 3,000 people got saved in Pentecost, when he spoke before that council, they didn't heed the truth that Peter preached to them, you go just a little way from that, I believe that's chapter four, you fast forward to Acts chapter seven, starting Acts chapter six, go seven and eight, you'll see another man named Stephen, he was a man that was filled with the Holy Ghost and he comes after a little bit of controversy there at the beginning of Acts chapter six, they're told to pick you out seven men from among you, that's where we get the idea for deacons from, they says pick them out, pick out men there, filled with the Spirit and let them divide these things up among you, they said that we can devote ourselves to the Word of God and to prayer, that was the preacher saying that, now shortly after that

[19:22] Stephen, he gets a good dose of the Holy Ghost, he starts to preach, they didn't like what they heard, said that he was in the synagogue, he's in the synagogue of several different people, I can't remember what they were all called, but it was a synagogue and they came against Stephen for doing what, they said blasphemy, they thought that he was blaspheming God when all he was doing was preaching the truth, folks, Korah here in number 16, Korah may, may have seen it as blasphemy what Moses was doing, but I doubt it seriously, I think they was just greedy, I think they was greedy for power, they were greedy for man's backpad upon themselves, but Stephen, he gets to preach it and boy he gives them a rundown of Jewish history, he gives them a rundown of Jewish history that you don't find anywhere else in the New Testament and he explains Jesus Christ to them through all these explains what led up to Jesus Christ and he tells them Jesus Christ is the Messiah and what does it say, it says that it pricked them in their hearts and what did they do, hey they closed up their ears, they didn't want to hear anymore and they took up stones and they dragged Stephen out of the gates of the city and they laid their clothes in the arms of a man named Saul and they took those stones and they began to throw him at Stephen and they stoned him to death for doing what, for telling them the truth, folks there are all kinds of different ways to respond to the gospel of Jesus

[21:03] Christ, we have 3,000 people that were pricked in their hearts with the same gospel and they got saved, we've got cheap priests, we've got elders, we've got scrubs that are the same gospel, it is not breaking their hearts and they want nothing else to do with it, we've got others out there that it outright makes them angry to even bring up the name of Jesus and they kill us, they will kill us, don't you think in a second they wouldn't, they want certain things, one of the first and foremost of the spirit of God, the spirit of God holds all those things that bane and listen, these people across this world have been martyred for the cause of Jesus Christ, not just recently either but it goes on in the world, we have not yet suffered under blood here in the United States but it's coming, it's coming, I can promise you that it's coming, where are we going to be, where are we going to be when this happens folks, Korah here in number 16, they were basically introducing a false teaching, a false teaching is what they were introducing, saying Moses was not sent to do this, Moses cannot bear all this on himself, we need to have part in this, that was a false teaching because Moses was the one that was sent by God, folks Jesus Christ was and is the one that was sent by Almighty God and you'll hear all kinds of different stories out there in the world, you'll hear them in churches, you'll hear them from bullfits, you'll hear them from people on the street, maybe co-workers, maybe families and friends say I think that there's a different way, I think that I can go this way and I think that I can go that way, my Bible says

[22:58] Jesus Christ sent himself in John 14, I'm the way, the truth and the life and no man coming from the Father but by me, he is the way and he is the only way, not only to the Father but he is the only way under salvation and God is salvation is he not, he's the only way that there is but we are in a world and we're in a time and it's not something that's new, it's something that's been going on for hundreds of years, false teachings coming in the church houses, false teachings coming across the radio waves of hey we can do this and we can do that and God will be all right with us, that is not what the sayeth, the word of God, the word of God says that if we that if we confess Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved, there is no other way other than compassion believed and to be cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ that is the only way, don't let the world tell you otherwise.

[24:03] We will fall under condemnation like Cora did, Cora not just a man and not just a few of them an entire tribe an entire sub congregation if you will of other or a people in Cora the ground opened and swallowed them, the ground opened and swallowed them and folks what makes that even worse in our human mind it says they went into the pit alive they weren't even killed before it happened they weren't stoned they weren't stuck with a sword they weren't goaded with a spear nothing and you know what it was of their own choosing that that happened it was their own decision that that happened by coming against God by coming against the word of God that Moses had spoken they came against him and Moses said we'll find out well now listen Moses was the intercessor for these people and you find several times in the Old Testament where Moses

[25:20] God would get angry with the Israelites he'd get angry and once again I believe in Texas 32 and Numbers chapter 14 where you find that God was so fed up he was ready to kill them all this is another one of those of these situations here in the same chapter number 16 he was ready to just wipe them all out if you notice though Moses did not intercess for Cora he didn't speak the first word to God asking him to change his mind asking him not to do this he just went to Cora and said what was going to happen and it came to pass folks and I preach to here enough y'all y'all heard me say Jesus says in John 17 I pray not for the world I pray not for the world I pray not for those that are out there lost hey he gave his life for those that are out there lost but he is not making intercession for them now he makes intercession for those that are saved for those that are born again for those for those that have already been reconciled to the to an angry father to God the father he makes intercession for those but he prays not for the world he only prays for those that are his those that the father gave him from the foundation of the world according to the scripture those are the ones that he prays for Moses didn't utter one one sentence not one word of mediation on behalf of Cora in this full set scary scripture but it confirms what

[27:02] Romans chapter one says that we can go on about our way and we can go on in our sin and we can go on thinking that that God must be all right with us we can continue on in that way but the what's the Bible say Romans one says senator later will be handed over to a reprobate mind what is a reprobate mind that means God will just let you go on your way he's finished with you there is a line somewhere out there to be that's to be drawn I have no no idea where that line's at in fact personally I believe it's it's an individual line for every person out there but sooner or later God will have enough and God will say I'm not dealing with them anymore if they want to continue in their sin if they're that in love with their sin I'm finished with them folks that's what it is to be handed over to a reprobate mind and we have reprobates all around us I have a feeling in the world right now that's not to say we don't still go out and preach the gospel and we don't tell them about the good news of Jesus

[28:02] Christ because you have no idea who's reprobate and I don't have any idea either I've heard people plead and I've heard people cry and I've heard people say I think God's done with me I think God's handed me over to a reprobate mind and it scares them folks that tells me they must not have been handed over just yet if there's some concern in them because somebody that's going to reprobate mind that is so in love with their sin they can care less about God care less about salvation care less about going to hell they're not going to be concerned with their salvation and I've talked to people like this just like folks that think that they've blessed him against the Holy Ghost and they ain't but they've been convinced of that oh yeah sometimes by a church congregation sometimes by a preacher sometimes by a demon but I've told y'all what what the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is as the rejection of the work of the Holy Ghost and showing you that you are a sinner that you deserve hell and that Christ is a savior and has made a way into heaven for you that's blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is the utter and total rejection of that the folks here Moses did not a one word not one word of intercession for Korah says in the earth open her mouth and swab them up in their houses and all the men that appertained under Korah and all their goods they and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among where from among the congregation they were right there in the midst of God's chosen people once again Moses earlier in this chapter he went out and told the Israelites he went there he went out and told those that weren't associated with corey said y'all need to get away from them they some bad stuff about to go down y'all get away don't touch anything of theirs I mean he gave warning the folks here in the script he says the earth closed and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation they's coming to separation one day the Bible speaks of all kinds of separations lost people currently are separated from God same people are currently reconciled back to God and praise

[30:33] God for that I'm one of that number but there's a separation that's going to take place in the future Jesus spoke parables about it the parable the wheat and the tarry said that said that there was there was one that came in in the middle night they'd some of this field a week I'm sure it was pretty and it was golden and all was going well with it but it says an enemy came in and when did the enemy come in while they slipped while they slumbered and he sowed tears among the wheat and what was told them they let me grow up together hey if you try and separate them out right now you're going to mess the whole thing up you'll yank up the good with the bad you leave it up to the day of harvest and I'll separate the wheat from the tears hey God God's got a separation that's coming and unfortunately there's going to be a lot of separation that happens within congregations of believers there's going to be the believer or unbelievers that are that are called out in front of everyone unbelievers that are found out in front of everyone there's going to be unbelievers that are left here when Jesus Christ comes and takes his church out of here I have to wonder how many seats will be filled if it happens on a Sunday morning or happens on a Sunday night or a Wednesday night or a Thursday or a winter how many will be left on their pews and in their chairs when that great day of Jesus Christ comes and he takes me out of here to go home to be with him forever Jesus Christ spoke about it in Matthew chapter 25 he said there was going to come a day when the sheep were separated from the goats the goats will be put on the left and the sheep will be put on the right hey I'm glad I'm with a little sheep I know my master's name I know his voice I know when he calls me hallelujah I'm not a goat I'm a sheep I'm gonna be on the right when he calls I'm gonna be on the right and that day I'm gonna be gathered as wheat and that separation takes place what happens to the tears folks tears aren't even fit for fuel they're not even fit to burn they're useless useless I don't want to be useless in the eyes of God I want him to be able to use me and I want him to use me at his will for his will whatever that might be whatever that might be I want to be used of God but tears they wouldn't even use them as fuel because they burned up so quick yeah they just chopped it up and blew threw it out to the wind and let the wind have its way with same thing as chaff over there in the Old Testament you read Psalms chapter one sometime it reads about the chaff it ever it talks about chaff it talks about in other places as well but when you're reading about it in Psalms chapter one it compares the wicked it compares the ungodly it compares the sinners in the world the those that are unsaved that don't know God it compares them to chaff chaff is something that's useless when they used to gather the weed up and they go to the threshing floor and they pork it up and they throw it up in the air the wind would blow the chaff away because it was useless and the useful stuff that was what would fall down to the floor that's what they could grind that's what they could use I want to be useful to my God I don't want to be considered chaff no because what didn't blow away what didn't blow away in the wind it was swept out the door yeah they did not want it mixed in with that which was useful folks Korah was swallowed up from within the congregation yep right there amongst the the rest of the

[34:22] Israelites right there amongst the congregation says they I'm sorry says in their houses and all the men are epitaining the Korah day and all that epitaining them went down alive in the pit the earth closed up upon them they perished from among the congregation that should open our eyes folks just because we think somebody saved don't mean that they necessarily are no I know I'm saved and God knows I'm saved y'all don't know that missy knows if she saved or not and God knows if she saved or not nobody else knows that for 100% certain certain I would hope that you all at least think that I'm saved I know that I am but when it all boils down only myself and God knows that or not and we can we can use scripture when you say well the the Bible says that the Spirit of Bear witness and hey I believe that but folks there's a lot of false spirits out there as well the Bible says to try the spirits to see if they be of God you know what that tells me some of those spirits can make themselves awfully God like sometimes to worry if we had to try them to see if they be of God hey they can they can fake out a lot of Christians and a lot of believers why else would we have to try yeah why else would we have to try there's gonna be people annihilated for lack of better word from among the congregation God is serious about sin and God and God sent the very best that heaven had to offer as punishment for your sin and for mine don't turn that down because that's our only hope yeah that's our only opportunity at salvation

[36:13] I don't I don't and I've used the expression before as far as doing what God wants me to I'll say I don't want to get swallowed by a fish using Jonah as a picture of that I've also said I don't want to get swallowed up by the ground I'm using this very scripture here number 16 folks I want to be useful to God and I certainly don't want to go against the word of God and that is precisely what got Korah in the shape that they were in was going against a spoken word of God that Moses had relayed to them they perished from within the congregation among the congregation all Israel that were round about them fled to cry then for they said less the earth swallow us up also folks the bible says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God and it is a fearful thing