Facing Sin: The Healing Power of Redemption

1. "And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water and we loathe this worthless food. Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. And they bit the people. So that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said... For we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he will take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people." [04:06] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "The people had to go down this way because Edom, as you saw there, Edom wouldn't let them pass through. So they kind of had to turn. They had to turn around and go back down. So by this point, the generation that had rebelled and said, we can't go in the land, the generation that had rebelled is dying off. You can see that with Aaron dies. Miriam dies. I'm not saying that they were in the rebellion, but they were part of that whole layer. God said, you're not going. Moses by now has already disobeyed. And God said, you can. Continue to lead, but you won't enter the promised land." [10:10] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "And you can see, uh-oh, something is starting to click. Something is starting to set in. The people are starting to get it. So something good is going to happen here. All right. So let's take a look at what happens. First of all, as we've seen before, Israel starts to lose patience. They lose endurance. It's interesting here that the text says they begin to become impatient. And the Hebrew for that really has the picture short. They got short. They became impatient. They became short, which kind of fits. Because, you know, like we say, I'm sorry I was short with you. You know, got aggressive, got kind of impatient." [11:10] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "And I can understand that. I mean, it's been a long time. It has been this constant provision of manna and water. But, and there's been other things along the way. But it's been a long time. It's been challenging. You're wanting this journey to end. You're like, we're ready to get out of the wilderness. Some of you might be thinking that. By the end of the summer, we are ready to get out of the wilderness. You know, yeah, we get that. And patience is something sometimes that I struggle with." [11:54] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "So in the sinful complaint, it shows us that we have a faulty view of God. When we enter this sinful kind of complaint. We see God as far off, as removed from us, as our taskmaster, as intending harm for us. Why did you bring us? It says, they begin to accuse Moses and the Lord. Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to die? And you're giving us worthless food. God is being portrayed as a taskmaster, as someone who is harsh to them." [15:58] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "They also have a faulty view of themselves. They see themselves as helpless. There's this thing called learned helplessness. That happens when someone is constantly under adverse situations. When they're maybe abused. They begin to learn. They begin to think there's nothing I can do. And it is in this, there's nothing I can do to change things. There's nothing I can do to make things better. And it's in this learned helplessness. That despair, despondency, depression reside." [17:29] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "And I think the Lord was wanting them to see with these serpents. It is the crookedness in your heart that produces the poisonous words and actions that afflict the entire company. You see, the entire congregation was afflicted by these poisonous words and actions that were coming from the people. And so these vipers come in and they have to suffer. One of the things that we learn from this is that when we rebel, we are afflicted. And our sin afflicts others. My rebellion doesn't only afflict me, it afflicts you." [24:46] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "The serpent on the pole brings them face to face with their sinfulness and its consequences. We have to come face to face. We have to acknowledge the sinfulness of our hearts. The poison of our words and actions. We can't just gloss over it. We can't do that whole, well, you know, if you were offended by something I said. That whole thing. No, we have to come face to face with our actions. You know, I wasn't always right. I did some things wrong. We can't just brush over it. Come face to face with it." [28:41] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "For if you look upon him who hangs upon the cross, you see not only what your sinfulness produces, but you see how in the mystery of God's economy, looking at that is also how sin is rendered powerless in your life. The curse of sin is broken. The poison is drawn out. The wound is closed. And you are made whole. And when we look at the Son of God upon the cross, we see God for who he really is. Merciful, faithful, and sparing no cost for our salvation." [34:30] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "We see God who he really is, and we are healed. So how can we keep looking to the cross? And here's when I wrap up. How can we keep looking to the cross? To keep looking to the cross, we must begin to work on awareness. Can you hold on with me for just a few more minutes? I know it's 1158 according to the clock. Hold on with me, okay? Begin to work on our awareness. The 20th century psychologist, Carl Jung, I don't know if he's exactly right, but I like the point he's trying to make. He says, Hurry is not of the devil. Hurry is the devil." [35:57] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)