I Did Not Mean To

Text:

Deuteronomy 19:1-10:

1 When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;

2 Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

3 Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.

4 And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;

5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:

6 Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

8 And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;

9 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:

10 That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

11 But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:

12 Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

13 Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

 

Romans 7:18-22:

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

 

Theme:

I Didn’t Mean To

 

Introduction:

• Most of us can so well remember the days of our youth. These were days of extremes.  We can remember days of carefree fun and play while also potentially being days of lasting pain…both seemingly imposed upon us without our own ability to manage eitherJ.
  • However, there was the middle area that we remember when in the midst of our fun and play we have made mistakes that brought about the other extreme of disappointment and pain. (whoopings and punishmentJ)
  • Sometimes we knew that we did wrong!!
  • Other times we had to be informed of the error of our ways!
    • This last scenario precipitates our theme à Since we did not know of the error prior to committing it, we often as children exclaimed to our guardian, aggressor or oppressor, “I DID’T MEAN TO”!!! J
• Even as adults we sometimes make mistakes that are realized after they are committed. We have entered into a situation without the intention of doing something wrong to only find ourselves under the spotlight of accusation and conviction afterwards.
  • In this situation, we turn to the accusor or victim (if not God, Himself!) and exclaim, “I DID’T MEAN TO”!!
• The Book of Deuteronomy, as the remainder of the Pentateuch, of which Deuteronomy is the 5^th book, is believed by contemporary scholars to have been a writing adopted by Moses, or, simply put, written by someone else other than Moses. However, there are many portions of information that leave the consensus to be that it was written by Moses.
  • The book of Deuteronomy consists chiefly of three discourses delivered to the people of Israel by Moses a short time before his death. They were spoken to all Israel in the plains of Moab, in the eleventh month of the last year of their wanderings.
  • These addresses to the people are followed by what may be called three appendices, namely

(1) a song which God had commanded Moses to write;

(2) the blessings he pronounced on the separate tribes; and

(3) the story of his death and burial, written by some other hand, probably that of Joshua.

• The Book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul during his third visit to the city of Corinth.
  • Romans was written for two primary reasons:
    • 1)to reveal the Gospel that God has no respect of person and is a God for the Gentiles also
    • 2)to correct the legalistic teachings found in the area at the time.
  • The book is written in seven parts spanning from the conviction of all under sin as in Romans 3:23 where it states that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” to the outflow of Christian love shown in Paul’s salutations to the various believers in Chapter 16.
• In this study we will see how God works to protect those who “Did Not Mean To”!

 

Body:

• From our texts we can see that SIN plagues (haunts) the life of the Child of God à Not the sinner but the BELIEVER! However, we can see how God provides for and protects HIS children in these two scenarios!
  • OLD TESTAMENT (by LAW) à Deuteronomy
    • God works it out so that, if someone does something that they do not “mean to”, then they can be separated (another city) from others who may have been effected.
      • Deuteronomy 19:7, “Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.”
    • This will prevent any “crimes of passion” occurring.
      • Deuteronomy 19:10a, “That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance,”
    • Like jail, BUT it is not for punishment but for protection from SIN!
      • Deuteronomy 19:10b, “and so blood (not) be upon thee”
  • NEW TESTAMENT (by GRACE) à Romans
    • Similar situation in the New Testament is the sin that plagues the flesh of the believer in God.
    • The FLESH and the SPIRIT of the man are separated.
      • They coexist, but the Believer is identified in the Spirit where the Sinner is identified in the FLESH.
        • Romans 7:17, “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
      • If sin is committed, it is from the flesh à Romans 7:20, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me”
        • Although the whole man must repent, the spirit of the man is absolved of the sin committed in the flesh BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
          • 1John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Conclusion:

• God understands when “I DID NOT MEAN TO”!!
  • Old Testament à God gave His law!
    • Psalms 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
      • MIGHT not à I might mess up, but YOU KNOW that “I DID NOT MEAN TO”!!!
  • New Testament à God gave Himself through His Son!
    • John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
      • MIGHT be saved à Even if you “did not mean to”, YOU MUST REPENT!!!
        • 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
      • THANK YOU, FATHER, FOR ANOTHER CHANCE!!!

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