Scripture Reading: 1 John 1 | Sabbath: March 15, 2025
Memory Verse: 1 John 1:7
1 John 1:7 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 cleanseth us from all sin.
Weekly Proverb: Proverbs 14:15
Proverbs 14:15 The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.
Introduction: We cannot dismiss “little sins” as insignificant. Let’s find out if they will be judged and if so, how they can be covered.

1. Most people don’t want to be victims of violence; they don’t want their property stolen, and they want their spouses to be faithful. Do most people consider these as big sins? Exodus 20:13, 14. 15.
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
2. Desires cannot harm anyone. There is a natural desire for necessities such as food. There is an unnatural desire for things we should not have. What does the world think of covetousness? Good or bad? Big or little? v 17.
Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
3. While walking the streets, you hear references to Jesus’s name. These are not prayers to Jesus, they are clichés. Are these sins? Why does the world use this name so much? Do they consider this sin big or little? Do they consider it a sin at all? v 7.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. For those that think this is a little sin, does God consider this an “innocent little mistake?” v 7.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
5. Words don’t kill or maim, but they can incite a riot. Words can persuade, leading to any imaginable sin. These stepping stones may seem insignificant to most, but how important are they to the Judge? Would you consider them as evidence? Matthew 12:36, 37.
Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Note: How little is little? We are about to find out. While reading in Numbers chapter 20, try to find what Moses’s real sin was.
6. The children of Israel were thirsty, they and their animals. They took their complaints to Moses, and Moses took their complaints to God. How did God plan to give them water? What did He tell Moses to do? Numbers 20:(1-6), 7, 8.
Numbers 20:7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
7. Moses, God’s faithful servant, certainly takes God’s words to heart. Did Moses do as he was commanded? v 9, 10.
Numbers 20:9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
Numbers 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
8. What else did he do? What was Moses’s sin? v 11.
Numbers 20:11 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.
9. What did the little sin cost Moses and Aaron? v 12.
Numbers 20:12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Note: Was Moses’s little sin that he struck the rock, and yes, struck it twice? Was it that he used the word “we” and thereby did not sanctify God? Was the real sin in his mind and he did not believe? All three? It is not clear exactly what his sin was. How trivial is that?
10. Is there a record of Moses repenting of the little sin?
Conclusion: Yes, we will see Moses in the kingdom. His life was only a type: a type of how sinners can lose their salvation. This little sin kept Moses out of Canaan. Even little sins can keep someone out of the kingdom. Here is how anyone can enter: 1 John 1:7.

1 John 1:7 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 cleanseth us from all sin.