Standing Between Life And Death | Numbers 16:41-48 | Pastor Chris Lyles

grateful again.

Can we put our hands again together for our pastor in his absence on his birthday?

I was gonna sing happy birthday the way we do it Happy birthday.

Well, we went viral not long ago for singing Frankie Beverly, so I don't know what they're gonna do if we sing Stevie Wonder, so we'll just leave that alone.

Happy birthday, pastor Amen, and happy belated anniversary to he and First Lady Tiffany.

Come on, let's put our hands together and celebrate them.

I am grateful for each and every one of you that are here with us today.

I'm grateful for our choir Amen, y'all, sister Brandy and our music department, these musicians God bless y'all.

Brandon, brandon, marcus and Chris.

Come on, let's let them hear it.

That go-go swing y'all.

Hit was right Boy, that was right.

Amen, amen, amen.

I'm grateful for each and every one of you.

To my queen, I am so grateful for you.

Thank you.

Listen y'all.

She done been pushing for over 20 hours now.

She 20 hours and counting in Almost to 24 hours of being up, so I'm grateful for your labor of love today.

Amen, I'm grateful for all of you.

Well, one o'clock we're going to conclude the matter today.

We started out this morning with the good news is the bad news was wrong.

The bad news was wrong.

We went to 10 o'clock with the cost of complaining, so we're going to finish off one o'clock.

If you can now stand to your feet, we're going to go back to that.

Numbersbers the 16th chapter, actually jump down to verse 47.

We're going to make this one quick.

Verse 47 says Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people.

The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people.

Verse 48, he stood between the dead and the living and the plague stopped.

On your way to your seat, I want you to tell three people.

I'm standing between life and death.

I'm standing between life and death, thank you.

Shout out to our media team.

Thank you all.

I'm throwing y'all stuff at 12 o'clock last night and I'm grateful.

Come on, let's give our media team a shout out.

Amen, I'm grateful for y'all, thank you.

Thank you, as we explored a little bit in the 10 am service, we talked about what happens when we complain against God, what happens when we find ourselves not being grateful for all that God has done, but we are in a perpetual, constant state of just complaining because things aren't turning out the way that we want them to.

And what I'm finding is what is and I don't know if you would agree or not, but what's, deacon Joan, at the root of our complaints, or our consistent complaining is a disconnect in dependency.

In dependency, there is a disconnect that we experience when we don't truly understand how to be completely dependent on God, and there are moments and times that remain in our life where we go through and sometimes you don't know how to figure something out, and it's in those moments when you have gotten so frustrated, when you've gotten so fed up, that the best thing you can do is take your hands off it.

Any witnesses in here that have ever gotten to a place in life where you realize the best place I could have ever been was when I decided to take my hands off it?

What happens is when you take your hands off it, as we talked about earlier, when we lift our hands, it's a place of surrender, but also what it indicates is that, god, to you I have full dependency.

I'm no longer trying to figure it out of my own accord, I'm no longer trying to wrestle with how this thing is going to get worked out and, in fact, even as many of us repented.

Today, god, I'm no longer complaining about a situation I can't control in the first place, so I'm just going to lift my hands and find a way to be dependent on you in everything that I do.

This place of dependency, I believe, is found in the book of Lamentations, if you can get that one up for me.

Lamentations, the third chapter, verse 25,.

It says the Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who searched for him.

So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord, and it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline.

Lastly, verse twenty-eight let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord's demands.

When we understand that there, that God requires total submission to his will and his plan for our life, it makes us getting to the place of promise at least a little easier.

Doesn't mean that you won't have the same frustrations.

It won't mean that you won't have the same challenges of wrestling in your flesh, of wanting what you want when you want it.

But I like where the prophet Jeremiah said in this lamentation.

He said so it is good for them to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord, I don't know about you, but one of the things that I have to contend with most is sometimes not even just my thoughts, but the words that come out of my mouth.

Do you realize that sometimes you can talk your way right out of a blessing, you can talk your way right out of what it is that God was about to do or trying to do in your life?

The moment you start complaining is when you start to now sabotage the things that God was trying to bring you to in the first place.

But because you can't keep quiet and wait for the Lord's salvation.

We see here in scripture, as we have journeyed through numbers 13 to see how they, how this journey began, and we see the uprising that happened in numbers to see how this journey began.

And we see the uprising that happened in Numbers 13 because the promise of God was taken too long, that some of the other leaders felt like the leadership that Moses was giving them wasn't sufficient enough and that they too could hear from God, but only to find out that they were operating in such disorder and they were operating in such a heart of malice that God allowed them to go forth in worship, only to be consumed because of their own disobedience.

The warning that we gave to 10 o'clock was we've got to be careful that we don't lose our life trying to get, uh, what god has promised when we're doing it out of disobedience.

So we find now the conclusion of what is happening.

These people have saw these 250 plus leaders that conspired against Moses and Aaron with their hearts saying we deserve to be in this place that you think that you own, because you think you better than we are.

We deserve to be able to hear from God, and Moses gave them the instruction to go forth and and and perform your worship acts the way you think, uh, that that is going to go down, and what we see was, uh, for some, they lost their life instantaneously.

The ground opened up beneath their feet and swallowed them alive.

What's crazy is that when that happened, it closed right back up.

Can you imagine being a place where God shows you a sign, and in such a way that that that that literally, it causes your mind to go?

My God, I repent.

The Bible says that the ground closed up beneath their feet and the people were petrified at the might of God, but it didn't stop there, because, believe it's somewhere around.

Verse 40 of number 16.

It says the very next morning can y'all pull that up, media team?

I want them to see that.

Make sure I ain't making up nothing.

I think it's verse 40, number 16.

Verse 40, I think it says the very next morning they started to complain again of everything.

Try 39 for me.

If it's not 39, it's 41.

But this would indicate that, despite all that, god, there it is.

But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying you have killed the Lord's people.

We've got to be mindful that our constant complaining doesn't put us at odds with the very God that we seek for deliverance.

We've got to be mindful.

Our constant refute with God because it's not turning out the way that we want it to, puts us in a space that we miss the big picture.

The big picture is it's not just the fact that God wants to bless you with the things that that you need and the things that you even want.

It's not even the fact that that God has desired to take you into another place for you to flourish.

But oftentimes what we the pieces that we miss is that we think that the blessings that God has for us are really only for us.

When you begin to understand and see yourself as a vessel that God is using to bring blessings through you, it will hopefully quiet the places in your heart that really cause us to look at God and say, well, what about me?

So here Israel is having yet another moment where, right after God has done another thing, they found themselves complaining again.

So then we go into this place where I believe God is taking us one, a one, a one PM.

What, what time is this?

I don't see how Pastor Walt do it.

I really don't.

I don't even know what time it is right now.

One PM service oh, here's the place that I believe that God is trying to take us to is to understand that the processes in the order that he set up for our life is really to get us into proper alignment so that when you speak, when you have a desire in your heart, god moves based upon your word and your desire, because it aligns with his purpose and his word that you've already understood and you begin to put into your life.

This is why, when David says that the Lord will give me the desires of my heart, it's because his heart was in tune.

It was aligned with God's will for his life.

So, no matter what he found himself struggling in, because his heart was aligned with the presence of God, he said thou will give me the desires of my heart.

So we find here that Moses and Aaron, yet again, are faced with folk that just don't get it and as a response of their continuous rebellion, rebellion, we see over five times, four times in number 16, that their immediate response to rebellion and contention is for them to fall on their face.

We talked about the power of worship at 10 am, the fact that that should be our immediate response whenever we are confronted with something that is designed, that has been designed by the devil to keep you distracted and to keep you all focused from what it is that God is trying to get you to see and understand.

I want for you to understand that your posture assumes, uh, whether or not you are in alignment with God's will.

What posture do you assume when things go from bad to worse?

What posture do you assume when things go from bad to worse?

If you grew up where I grew up, all it took was a look and based on that look, ain't too many words got to be said we're going to find out, you know, if you're coming high or if you're coming low, but we're going to make sure we have good balance and then we're going to figure out how the end is going to be met.

Then, sometimes our posture is the thing that indicates our willingness to stand in the face of our adversity and, in some cases, be able to hear God despite what we want to do.

That's the problem with most of us today is we've used our natural tendencies to try to fix spiritual problems.

So some things don't require for you to stand and put your guard up.

Some things require your posture to be assumed to understand that the one that's in control can handle it all.

Anything, like me.

You gotta watch your tongue sometimes, but, chris, cause that old tongue.

Woo, jesus.

Can I testify here real quick?

Can I be transparent?

I'm going to be good, but something caught me off balance about a month ago.

I didn't even realize that it was a distraction, but it caught me off guard and I handled it the way Chris wanted to handle it.

And as I handled it the way Chris wanted to handle it, I told my wife about it in full transparency and she looked and went man, I don't even know how you even put some of them words together like, I don't even know how you got to, but I thank God that he's working on you and he's delivering you right now.

You know it's bad when you can, when you can tell another cusser some cuss words, and they go whoo you, hey, you got it, like you, and I had to repent and in my quietness the Lord gave me salvation better than I could have, but I'm grateful.

But how do you respond in the face of adversity, when people turn on you that you didn't expect, when people get bold and disrespectful at the same time, when people lie and they disloyal this is my favorite one when you find them folk that like to smile in your face and stab you in the back and ask you where the blood coming from?

What posture do you assume in the face of your adversity?

We see that Moses and Aaron continuously, consistently, faithfully, their first response to adversity was to fall on their face and worship God.

Why?

Because they understood assignment and order.

And here's the thing that we got to get 1 pm We've got to get a level understanding of God's assignment for our lives and his order for our lives and his order for our lives, even when other folks don't understand it.

You are now held to a different standard because you know that God is holding you responsible for your assignment and for order.

Whether they act like they don't have no sense, when they talk to you sideways and not the side of their mouth and their neck, you understand your assignment and order.

They knew that following God's order here's the part that I love, I'm almost done they knew that following God's order and staying committed to their assignment meant life and death.

See, one of the reasons we are in this space today, where we are so cavalier and we're so casual with the things of God, is because we don't understand that we're actually operating in a space where we have no, no, no, no, no, no, no fear of life and death.

I promise you right now, if we get back to the days of Israel, when God began to call out his wrath, at the moment, at the slightest hint of disobedience and misalignment, many of us will get our act right.

But because we're so desensitized to the things of God, to the holiness of God, to the holiness of God, to the order of God, we come in and act any kind of way, even in the house of God.

We come in and won't lift our hands.

Somebody's got to beg you to tell God thank you.

The same God that woke you up, the same God that provided for you.

The same God that made a way.

The same God that delivered you.

The same God that healed you.

God that made a way, the same God that delivered you.

The same God that healed you.

The same God that brought you out.

Who are we to have to remind you or beg you to give God praise?

The scripture says we enter with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.

We shouldn't have to be pumped and primed to give God praise, but it's an indicator that we don't understand that we're functioning in a space where there is life and death at stake to your order and your assignment.

I'm almost done.

If we don't accept God's order and his will for our lives there's a good one then how can he fulfill his promise?

If we don't accept God's order and will for our lives, how then do we expect him to fulfill his promise?

I'm gonna say that again If we don't accept God's order and his will for our lives, then how do we expect him to fulfill his promise?

Israel wanted milk and honey.

We want clothes, cash and cars, but we're not willing to submit to his order.

We're not willing to submit to his will for our lives.

They wanted the promise of God but didn't want to adhere to the plan of God.

They wanted the promise of God, but they didn't want to adhere to the plan of God.

All of us in here at some point have had some moments of financial struggle and strain, and I'm grateful for our financial team that's taught us over the last month about financial discipline and financial wellness.

In order for us to get to the place of overflow requires a plan, and we had some folk that spent, uh, eight weeks teaching us line by line, each and every week on Wednesday, about how to establish a plan to get from where you are to where God wants you to be, and many of us because the plan is too restrictive, the plan isn't comfortable, the plan isn't as convenient as we want it to be.

Why can't I just play these lotto numbers and let everything work out?

Fine, god, come on, give me what I need so I can be all right, but God says I can't trust you with the dollar.

How am I going to give you a million?

You don't want the plan.

You don't want the plan.

We want the breakthroughs, but not the breakups.

I wonder why I wrote this, elder Mason, we want the breakthroughs but not the breakups.

There's some things that God is trying to do in your life, but there's some people attached to your life that can't go with you, to your life that can't go with you.

There's some people that have been attached to you that can't get to this next place of your assignment and God needs you to be able to.

And if it's not people, it might be even a mentality.

We've got to be willing to have a breakup with the things that's held us where we've been in order to get to the breakthrough of where God is trying to take us, to, where God wants us to be.

Then we see here that here's where a lot of our conflict comes in, elder Pierce, because we say that we want the things of God.

We say even many of us, that, god, I'm willing to do whatever it is that you want me to do.

You say I want to be like Jesus.

Anybody ever fix your mouth to say you want to be like this?

Ok, you can raise your hand if you'd be honest.

Yeah, I want to be like Jesus.

So here's the challenge we have and I'm almost done for real.

Um, here's the test that we have to ask ourselves whether or not we are committed to the order and the alignment of god, because you do know that jesus was committed to the order and the alignment of God, no matter what.

Here's the test.

Do we have a heart of love and compassion for the fallen condition of our world?

That's number one.

That's number one on the list.

Do you have a heart of compassion for the fallen state of our world?

You see, in order for you to be like Jesus, you've got to be able to think about somebody other than yourself.

In order to be like Jesus, you've got to be willing and able to think about those that are less fortunate, those that, that that that have needs, that, those things, those people that sit in a place of dismay and without hope.

You've got to be willing and able to think above and beyond yourself to put someone else's needs ahead of your own.

How do I know?

The Bible says in John 3.16 that, for God so loved the world that he gave a part of himself in order to save it.

He gave a part of himself to save people that he knew would reject him.

Many of us uh, catch an attitude with folks because they don't like your idea and they don't want nothing to do with you, and that's fine.

But the problem is we stop loving them because they've rejected us.

We see here, the response that Moses and Aaron had was at the rejection.

That they knew wasn't.

They didn't take it personally.

They knew that the people were refusing and rebelling against God.

They didn't take it personally.

They knew that the people were refusing and rebelling against God.

They continued to worship and fall on their face because of their compassion that they had for these people.

Do we have love and compassion for the fallen condition of the world?

Secondly, do you still love those who reject you?

Do you still love those who reject you?

Do you still love those who reject you?

And thirdly, here's the one I like, media team, I didn't give you this one Can you pull up Matthew 16, verse 24 and 20, verse 24 through 26.

Matthew 16:24

Here's the question Can you carry someone else's cross?

Pull it down real quick, because I want to make sure.

I want to look in the eyeballs when I ask this question.

One do you have compassion, love for the fallen state of the world, can we do do?

Do you?

Do you still love those that have rejected you?

World, can we do?

Do you?

Do you still love those that have rejected you?

But thirdly, can you carry someone else's cross?

You put it up now for me.

I know they're getting sick of me.

Then Jesus said to his disciples if any of you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way.

Take up your cross and follow me.

Hold right there.

If you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way, deny yourself.

Take up your cross and follow me.

Twenty-five If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it, but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

Twenty-six, and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Is anything worth more than your soul?

I want to go back to that cross analogy that Jesus gave.

He says to his disciples here's where the rubber meets the road.

We're no longer talking about blessings.

If you really want to walk into the promise that I've set up for your life, you, first of all, I need you to be willing to deny yourself.

It's a hard place for us to be when we again are living in such an environment, society and country where we get things instantaneously.

And because we get things instantaneously, it has created a mentality in us like we, we, we are, we are owed something by God.

You gotta move.

Because Facebook opened up real quick, or because I can get news at the touch of my button, I can watch a TV show at the moment's notice.

So, whatever it is God that I want from you, you got to be able to respond instantly.

But God says I don't work that way.

For one, I want you to be able to deny yourself.

There's a word that says for us to not think more highly of ourselves than we are.

Deny yourself.

Then he says to take up your cross.

I thought this was interesting when I realized this I promise, one week from now, to take up your cross.

I thought this was interesting when I realized this.

I promised uh, one week from ago.

Uh, I ain't preaching, lying, you know, preach me, tell me.

I'm about to go in there and preach for another twenty minutes.

No, I know, we're really about to go, uh.

What I found interesting in this excuse me, was that I, when Jesus, says I want you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

He was giving a premonition of what he was about to do.

Right, you agree.

He was giving an idea, a view, a focus, an illustration of what he was about to do in this natural sense.

But watch this the cross that he was taking up wasn't his cross.

The cross that he took up was the cross for you and me.

He didn't take up his cross.

He took up our cross and he buried it on his back as he went to Calvary and was stretched wide, hung wide open and said God, fight for you.

God, I commend my spirit.

He didn't take up his cross.

He took up your cross.

He didn't take up his cross.

He took up your cross.

So what was he telling his disciples?

If you desire to come after me, I need you to be willing to first deny yourself, but then I want you to be willing to first deny yourself, but then I want you to be willing to take up your cross.

Nope, your cross ain't your cross, your brother.

Your cross is your brother's cross.

Your cross is your sister's cross.

Your, your cross is the community's cross.

Take up your cross and follow me.

When I realized this is what blew my mind.

One more, one more media.

I promise I'm done.

I'm going to stop aggravating y'all today.

Jump to Hebrews 8, in verse 5.

I think that's the one he said take up your cross and follow me.

Watch this five.

It says they serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow, of the real one in heaven.

For when Moses was getting ready to build the tabernacle, god gave him this warning Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern that I've shown you here.

Now listen, stop.

You didn't got to show no more.

What Jesus was doing was a copy, a replication of what was already being done in heaven.

This is why, when we pray, when he said, father, let thy will be done as it is on earth, in heaven, as it already is.

So what we realize is that every step of alignment, every step of order that God has us to walk in is a replication of what is already happening in heaven.

So what Jesus was trying to get us to understand is the sacrifices that I'm making for you.

If you truly want your life, you've got to be willing to lose your life.

Lose your life on behalf of those that don't like you.

Lose your life on behalf of those that reject you, lose your life, on behalf of those that talk about you like a dog.

You've got to be willing to carry the cross.

We see that as Jesus carried this cross.

I want you to imagine this in your mind.

Jesus carried this cross up Golgotha's hill and they begin to drive the nails in his hands, the nails in his feet.

The Bible says they lifted him to suspend him in air, while this was the Romans method of torture, while this was the Romans method to crucify and to sacrifice people.

What they didn't know was that they were replicating what was already taking place in heaven.

Here's where we see this now, demonstrated in number 1647 and 48.

You see, aaron didn't know why God told him to take the censors.

And because of the plague that had started, because of people's complaints, god said I'm going to strike them down.

Because here they are yet again, rebelling against my commands and rebelling against my order.

Aaron, I want you to take a censor and put some coals on it, and I want you to run down in the center of those that are dying and those that are living.

I want you to hold the censer as a reminder to me that I'm going to save the people that, even turned against me, I still got to redeem the people that don't even like the ways that I'm giving them.

Aaron, you now have become the sacrifice to stand between the living and the dead.

You want the things of God, you want the promises of God, but how many of you are willing to stand between the living and the dead?

There's some people around you, there's some people in your life, in your family, on your job, that are completely against what you stand for and what you believe.

You can't throw them away.

You've got to be willing to stand in the middle Stand between life and death, because the sacrifice isn't about you, it's about the one that already gave us the middle Stand between life and death, because the sacrifice isn't about you, it's about the one that already gave us the example.

He already gave us the example.

What Aaron and Moses were doing was the Bible called it a shadow of the copy.

They weren't the real thing, but they were replicating what was going to come hundreds of years later.

So because Jesus, now, as he is lifted and suspended up before mankind, I want you to picture this in your mind.

This cross I saw him somewhere, this cross that we see, that we wear, that we adorn in our jewelry.

This cross was more than just a symbol of Romans' idea of what torture looked like, but this was truly the salvation that God had planned all along, because, as Jesus is now suspended with his arms stretched wide open, the picture that we have is that he's now standing between life and death.

As we are preparing to leave today, I pray that this has become a place of conviction, that the place that we stand in, the things that we've been complaining about, the things that we've carried, that we said have been too much for us to bear, is really the place that God is trying to get you to be willing to stand between life and death.

Some of you have been healed from some things that should have taken you out a long time ago.

You're still here because God has given you a chance to stand between life and death.

We're going to get to the promises of God, but we've got to be willing to be in alignment with his purpose and his will for our life to stand in the most uncomfortable, inconvenient, self-sacrificing place that we could ever find ourselves in.

Aaron didn't want to run in the middle of a plague that he could potentially be affected by himself, but he was obedient to the word and the voice of God, and the Bible says that as he took that sensor and ran in between the clock, the crowd, as he's standing in between life and death, that God immediately stopped the plague.

Here's why I want to encourage you one as I get ready to take my seat I want you to be mindful that the things that you're going through have been the thing that God is trying to use to save somebody else's life.

This is why we can't complain.

This is why we've got to count it all joy, because the things that we go through are the things that God is trying to bring somebody else's deliverance.

Here's why, because, if somebody else can see you go through it with your hands lifted, with your arms stretched wide open, then it gives them hope and faith that they can take another step in another day.

We're all standing between life and death.

Come on, somebody, clap your hands and give God some praise.

Come on, standing all over the building we're getting ready to go home.

Need you to understand that, of all the things that we've gone through, we are exactly where God needs us to be, and I know that might not sound good, considering some of us are dealing with some weights and some burdens that are bigger than us, but here's where, as a community, as a people, here's where we become more like Jesus.

The Bible tells us to bear the burdens of one another.

So this cross that I'm carrying ain't just for me.

This cross I'm carrying is for you, my brother, my sister.

What you're going through, you don't have to go through alone.

We're going to carry this cross together, because we know that, as we stand between life and death, we then now become the witness that God can still do it, that God can still deliver, that God can still heal, he can still bring us through.

Come on, every head bowed and every eye closed.

God, we thank you now for this moment.

We thank you, god, for sealing this moment in our hearts and our minds, and we pray now, god, that you have spoken life to lifeless situations.

God, that you've given strength where we've been weak, that you've given us strength when we wanted to throw in the towel.

We pray, god, that everything that you've said in and through this day has been something that we take hold in our heart, to seek you further, to seek your face, for understanding your order and your assignment over our life.

We won't take it for granted, god.

We won't take being chosen by you for granted, god, but we're mindful that you have made us the example to the world of what your mercies, what your faithfulness, looks like.

So we pray, god, that you would give us the strength to carry on to face tomorrow, to face the next day.

We thank you for strength.

We thank you for strength.

We thank you for your love.

In the matchless, mighty name of Jesus, we pray and count it down amen, amen.

Family, we're about to leave.

Pray that you would continue to encourage one another as we leave this place, but never his presence.

Continue to seek God with your whole heart.

One another as we leave this place, but never his presence.

Continue to seek God with your whole heart and know that the things that God has prepared for you he will in no wise keep from you.

Encourage one another.

Amen.

If you have not had an opportunity to give, please do so.

Come on.

Let us be dismissed.

Father, we thank you, god, for everything that you've allowed our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to feel.

We, god, that you would remind us of your word, that the words that you have spoken Holy Spirit to our hearts take root, even the things that we don't fully understand.

We pray now for your revelation and understanding.

In your word we read earlier where you had to open the eyes, you had to open the heart of your disciples so that they could understand.

Help us to understand your will for our life so that as we sojourn through this world, others will know of your goodness and your mercy.

Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior, savior Jesus Christ, and the sweet communion of his Holy Spirit rest, rule and abide with us henceforth, now and forever.

Let us all together say amen, amen, amen.

God bless you.

God bless you, love you, hallelujah.