“⁷ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁸ Take the rod, and gather you the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and SPEAK you unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock: so you shall give the congregation and their beasts drink.

⁹ And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he SMOTE the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

¹² And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because you believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”  Numbers 20:7-12

When we, God’s Children, believe God – when we trust Him to be our God and we His people, we sanctify Him in the eyes of others.  Through our faith in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ (the Source) on Calvary’s Cross (the Means), the Holy Spirit is commissioned to do in our lives that which He will not do in the unbeliever’s life – dethrone our sin nature (which we are all born with due to Adam’s fall) which enables us to yield unto God IF we so choose.

Until sinners and Saints are exposed to the Wrath of God and the atoning Blood of Jesus Christ (the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified) to reveal to us WHAT we are, sinners who need a Saviour and Saints who need sanctifying, which both come through the same Gospel message by the way, cleansing and forgiveness are not effected.

“⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us.

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

¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” 1 John 1:6-10.

Our distrust in God’s Redemption plan…maybe it is better said like this – our trust in 12 steps to recovery, 40 days of purpose, harbingers, 21 days of fasting or whatever the latest fad is in the modern church, to overthrow sin does not establish us as God’s Children.  These schemes of man from the vanities of their own minds do not sanctify God in the eyes of others but in fact makes our position in Christ Jesus less secure and brings reproach on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Just to be clear, our position is less secure because we are looking for another way of victory over the world, the flesh and the devil instead of submitting to God’s Way…faith in Jesus and His finished work.

The Believer’s sanctification is manifested every time we submit to God…precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little,  God is sanctified in the eyes of others through our belief in Him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the only way to awaken the church from its apathy and stir them into repentance.  We must understand what we are in order for true conviction to occur.  We, the church, God’s Children…those who are to sanctify Him in the eyes of others, are spiritually weakened by our unbelief in Him and HIS Redemption plan, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, for victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.  Not only do we no longer consider the Hand of God in our lives, many do not believe nor understand the threat of satan – he has them deceived.  We, God’s Children, proudly smote the rock as we believe in the frail arm of our flesh.

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?”  1 Peter 4:17.

-Donna Clark Warren