[0:00] It is good to be with you. I'm looking forward to today. I'm not going to spare any punches because I didn't come here to make friends, although I hope we can be friends, but that's not why I'm here.
[0:21] I'm here to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. And so I intend to say exactly what he put on my heart to say. Today, I trust nothing more, and I also trust nothing less.
[0:32] But with that being said, it's not going to fit into our culture. It's not going to fit into a lot of our ideals, but I pray it will be exactly in accordance with the Word of God.
[0:43] So if you have a problem with today, I trust your problem is with the Word of God, which means we go back to our own life and realize we're the one that needs to change. With that being said, I am excited to have my wife here, too, and I trust you'll get to meet her later.
[0:57] Priyanka, you know, it's funny because for so many years, and if you have met me before, you may have actually heard me say this. I've said for probably about the last seven or eight years that I would get married when I turned 33.
[1:10] And the reason for that is because that's when Christ laid down his life. It's true. I got married at 33.
[1:21] So, anyway, it's a new life. Death to the old life, right? New life. It's not a bad thing. It's a good thing. But anyway, she's such a blessing. Please, please take time to go meet her.
[1:32] In addition, I'm just going to let you know that this book is out there at a table. And it's been on my heart for about ten years to write it.
[1:42] And really, it's for my generation. If you're between the ages of 18 to 35, it's been written for you. And let's just say this. What if Jesus meant what he said is all about exactly what the title is called.
[1:54] Like, if Jesus meant what he said, then he wants everything. He doesn't want to be part of Silas' life. He wants every aspect of his life. Jesus never came to be invited into your heart.
[2:05] He came to hijack your life and absolutely take over. So, if you're trying to accommodate Jesus, do not pick up this book. Because you'll just be uncomfortable, convicted, and then you won't enjoy life as much.
[2:17] So, if you don't plan on following Jesus wholeheartedly, don't even pick up this book. Because it's not going to fit into life. That being said, yeah, there's a price on it.
[2:28] But if you can't afford it, just take one. But if you can't afford it, 100% of anything that ever comes from it goes to a girls' school over in Senegal, West Africa.
[2:39] I never see a penny, so there's not ulterior motives there, just so you know. Also, if you have like a youth group or anything like that, and you want to do it for your whole youth group, it's half off. Whatever price is out there.
[2:49] So, I'm done. I'm not going to talk about that anymore. Kevin, that copy is for you, brother. For all your emceeing duties. Now, to the important stuff.
[3:00] We're done with all announcements for the day. Except you'll probably have more for us. But I'm done with my announcements, Kevin. Well, let's pray. And after you pray, when I say amen, feel free to turn your Bibles to Numbers 13.
[3:13] But don't do it while we're praying. Let's talk to God and let's focus on that. Heavenly Father, we're here because we want to be changed, at least. I don't know what George or Judy are here for, but I know I'm here to be changed. God, I want you to work in my life.
[3:26] I didn't come here to be the same. If your words opened, how can I expect to have an encounter with the Almighty God and just leave here exactly as I came? So, God, please, start by changing me. Change my heart.
[3:37] Mold me more into the image of Christ. And I pray if anybody else here has that same prayer that you would do it in their life as well. And for those that came here intending to just hang out and be at a conference today, God, I pray that you would just hijack their life because clearly they didn't expect it to happen.
[3:53] And, Lord, I want you to have your way in every facet of today. Lord, I do ask that you protect the words which are being spoken. If I say anything which is not guided by you, have mercy on everyone here and just mute whatever I said.
[4:09] Let them forget it. But if what I say is directly from you, God put it so heavy on hearts that we would be irreversibly changed and that it would be impossible for us to leave the same.
[4:21] And, Lord, you're greater than me. You're greater than my words. So if I don't say something that should have been said, say it through your spirit in someone's life. You can do that too. We just give you the whole day because all the glory is to you.
[4:35] And I do ask that as my final prayer that when we leave those doors this afternoon, that any glory that comes from today would go directly to Jesus Christ and him only, and it would result in lives changed and fervently lived out for you.
[4:51] I pray this all in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen. I invite you and encourage you to turn your Bibles to Numbers chapter 13. Numbers 13.
[5:02] And the topic for today gets me really excited because it's all about seeing the world through the eyes of Christ. I'm totally convinced that if we could see the world the way Jesus sees the world, every day would not only be packed with meaning and significance, but we would actually get excited about situations that currently bring us distress.
[5:25] And that will make sense by the end of the day. I'm kind of taking the day in three parts since there's three sessions. And in this first session, I want to focus on seeing life's situations through the eyes of Christ.
[5:37] Seeing life's situations through the eyes of Christ. Now, for those of you that have known me before, you probably have never seen me wearing glasses. This is a new thing.
[5:48] Now, I've got to tell you something about me wearing glasses, all right? I forget to put my glasses on. The reason I forget to put my glasses on is because I don't need them for vision. You say, are you wearing them to be cool?
[5:59] No, hang on. That's not why. In fact, they're very anti-cool. They're not cool. If you're wearing glasses, you and I, we're not cool, okay? Anyway, you're like, that was insulting. No, I put myself in that category, okay? I'm just saying, like, that's not a cool factor either way.
[6:12] Now, I went to Columbia in January. And as I'm preaching one day, this woman who's an optometrist. Yeah, optometrist, not ophthalmologist.
[6:23] She's an optometrist. She's watching me. And afterwards, she comes up. She's like, you have an eye problem. Now, I didn't know I had an eye problem, but apparently I did. And I said, what's the problem?
[6:34] Like, I think I see really well. She said, yeah, maybe, but you blink too much. And she's right. I blink a whole lot. And I said, well, yeah, it's because my eyes get really, really dry.
[6:46] She said, yeah, that's a problem. I want you to come into my office on Saturday morning. So, I went to her office, along with the other dude I was traveling with at the time, a guy named Madison. And they did all kinds of tests on my eye.
[6:59] And these are the exact words of the doctor, exact words. In his broken English, he said, Nathan, you see too much. I see too much.
[7:10] What does that exactly mean? I mean, like, he's like, you have 130 to 150% vision. So, you have phenomenal vision, more than the average human being, more than 20-20. But he said, you do have a problem, and that's that your eyes, like, whatever you want to say, they don't lubricate, they don't moisten.
[7:26] And so, anyway, all that to say is you need glasses to protect them from harmful rays. Well, all right. So, why do I tell you this story? Not to justify wearing glasses. I tell you because I forget to put my glasses on because I don't think I need them.
[7:38] Because I forget because I see everything clearly as far as I'm concerned. But spiritually speaking, I think it's exactly the same way for us. That, you see, there's a set of glasses that God wants us to put on every day.
[7:52] And those are his glasses. He wants us to see things from his perspective. He wants us, ultimately, to see and respond to situations, second session, souls, and finally, third session, storms of life, through his glasses.
[8:10] But, we think we're seeing just fine. So, my glasses stay on the dresser. My glasses stay in the car. My glasses don't end up on my face. Why? Because I think I have things handled just fine.
[8:23] What I want to suggest to you is that many of us are blind to the fact that we don't see clearly. And today, can we just acknowledge before the Lord that we're all in some way blind?
[8:41] That none of us see exactly like we should. I'm speaking to myself. Because if you can acknowledge that right from the beginning, we can go somewhere today. We can actually see the Holy Spirit work in our life.
[8:52] But if you're not willing to be broken, if you're not willing to let God talk to you, you're here in vain. Honestly. Because, what are we just going to, you're not going to be entertained.
[9:04] But I do trust you'll be convicted. So, that's my prayer for myself. And I trust you'll agree in prayer with me on that. Alright. And so, Numbers chapter 13.
[9:16] Let's read this chapter. I know it seems a little bit long, but follow along very carefully, okay? Again, if you know me well, I will find you in the audience if I see your eyes closed, okay?
[9:29] I don't have much mercy in that area of life. I love you. But my mercy is I'm waking you up so you can hear every word of the message. Alright?
[9:41] So, I'm watching all the way to the back row, guys. Follow along. Unless you have the passage memorized, then you can close your eyes and I'll ask you to stand up and quote the rest.
[9:52] Alright, let's go. Numbers chapter 13. We'll begin in verse 1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel.
[10:06] From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, everyone a chief among them. So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord.
[10:17] All of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. And these were their names. From the tribe of Jezus.
[10:54] tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael, from the tribe of Naphtali, Nachbi, the son of Vafzi, from the tribe of Gad, Geel, the son of Maki. These were the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land.
[11:05] And Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua. Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, go up into the Negev and go up into the hill country and see what the land is.
[11:16] And whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, whether the land they dwell in is good or bad, whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds, whether the land is rich or poor, whether there are trees in it or not, be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.
[11:33] Now the time of the season was of the first ripe grapes, so they went up and spy out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebohamath. They went up into the Negev and came to Hebron, Ahman, Shishay, and Talmai.
[11:48] And the descendants of Anak were there. Hebron was built seven years before Zon in Egypt. And they came to the valley of Eshel and cut down there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them.
[12:03] They also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the valley of Eshel because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. Verse 25. At the end of 40 days they returned from spying out the land.
[12:15] And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Puran at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, we came to the land to which you sent us.
[12:28] It flows with milk and honey. And this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
[12:39] The Amalekites dwell in the land of Negev. The Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites dwell in the hill country, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea along the Jordan. But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.
[12:53] Then the men who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, the land through which we have gone to spied out is a land that devours its inhabitants.
[13:09] And all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. And we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers.
[13:20] And so we seemed to them. This is the word of the Lord. And we are thankful for it. Now, this passage is packed, packed with pictures going on here.
[13:33] But to make it simple, we are going to look at three major points. Three points coming out of here. And you will get them in a minute. But let me ask you a question. When you start this passage off, this whole story about 12 men went to spy on Canaan, 10 were bad and 2 were good, as we sing growing up.
[13:49] When you start this out, the first three words of the chapter in the ESV is, the Lord spoke. And then you go down, and it says in verse 3, according to the command of the Lord.
[14:01] Now, based off those two verses, I ask you a question. Was it God's will that they go and spy out the land of Canaan?
[14:13] Now, we know it's God's word, but was it God's will? And I say this very facetiously, because the answer is obvious in Deuteronomy chapter 1.
[14:26] What you're going to notice in Deuteronomy chapter 1 is, God had already said, take the land of Canaan. He already said that the land of Canaan belonged to them.
[14:38] Keep your finger here in Numbers 13, but go to Deuteronomy 1. I want you to see this is crystal clear. This is not an interpretive perspective. We see where this idea comes from.
[14:50] It's not coming from God. God already said it's yours. Take it. He never said, send spies in. God here is repeating the people's will.
[15:01] And look what it says. Verse 21 of Deuteronomy 1. See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you.
[15:14] Crystal clear, right? Do not fear or be dismayed. Verse 22. Then all of you came near me and said, Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us, and bring us word again by the way in which we must go.
[15:31] Verse 23. The thing seemed good to me. And then it goes on. All right, this is so important. And we got, this might be the only lesson you need for the whole day, all right? But this is powerful. Because notice what God does.
[15:43] God gives them their desire. In other words, because they are unwilling to accept God's word intrinsically, organically, just like, God said it, I'm going to do it.
[15:53] What if Jesus meant what he said? Let's just obey. Instead of that perspective, they start to compromise. And look at their reasons good. They say, oh, let's go spy it out just to see which way we should take it.
[16:05] Like, it seems like strategy. But sometimes our strategies are disobedience. Because what we're really doing is we're seeing what are our capabilities.
[16:17] Today, in our world, God has given us clear instructions on not only how we should live, but also the mission on which we're on.
[16:29] It's not ambiguous. There's a lot of things that Christians pray about that they need to stop praying about because God already gave the answer. We just don't like it.
[16:41] And here, God said, the land is yours. Go up and take it. And they say, let's come up with a really good strategy. When God gives them the strategy as they obey. You step out in obedience on the word of God that you already know.
[16:54] And I'm going to make that really practical and clear here in a little bit. But, notice, God gives them what they want. So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, according to the command of the Lord.
[17:06] He's now commanding them to do what they want to do. Sometimes the worst thing that can happen in your life is when God gives you your will. And this is what happens here.
[17:17] Do you know what the result of this is? An entire generation dies. I'm going to make a little side comment on what you said, Kevin. Because, see, here's the thing. It's true.
[17:27] In the church as a whole, and I'm not talking brother and assembly, all right, guys? I preach wherever the doors open to preach, and I find this true all over the world in every circle. A lot of my generation has left the so-called church.
[17:42] But I don't want to say that they've left Jesus Christ because, really, they were just hanging out in a religious environment. And so they left that religion. Now, why do I say it like that?
[17:54] Because here's the thing. When we water down the message of Jesus Christ into just some set of beliefs you adhere to and say out, instead of a life that transforms, that takes over everything, well, obviously, it disillusions an entire generation because it's not being applied.
[18:15] Here we had a generation that said, yeah, Yahweh is God, but when Yahweh speaks, they say, maybe not. What this generation is seeing, oftentimes, is that God, in the Word, has called us into mission.
[18:32] He's called us into a purpose. But when that purpose is being neglected and acted like it's not significant, why should they believe that God is God at all? My generation wants something to live for and something to die for, and the answer is the Lord Jesus Christ.
[18:49] He meant what he said, and he is worth giving everything to. But you might say amen to that until I say the next thing. Did you notice I said worth living for and worth dying for?
[19:01] Jesus Christ said, if any man desires to come after me, he must deny himself. Watch out. Take up your cross and follow me. Guys, if you're taking up your cross, you ain't going on vacation. Are you raising your kids more for marriage or for martyrdom?
[19:15] You know, when I talk about martyrdom, I've had parents in the United States try to turn me into the United States government. They say I'm preaching a dangerous message. I say, well, if Jesus is a dangerous message, then yes, I am.
[19:27] I am praying for a generation that gives their lives for Jesus in life and in death. I'm praying for a generation that fears God more than they fear ISIS or fear their parents.
[19:41] I'm praying for a generation that will hear the words from Jesus' mouth, well done, my good and faithful servant. I believe when Jesus said go into all the world, Josh, he actually meant all the world and not all the convenient world.
[19:54] All the comforted world. But the church doesn't believe that, Josh. They don't. I can tell you that because it's been 2,000 years since Jesus walked on earth and still 40% of our world's never heard the gospel.
[20:05] So don't try to tell me that the church believes it. They don't. God already said go take the land. He already said the gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
[20:15] The Jew first and also for the Greek, Romans chapter 1 verse 6. He already said that. But you see, Saudi Arabia closed off. Somalia, uh-uh. Mauritania, where is that?
[20:28] Bhutan, forget it. You see, we've neglected the call of Christ. Because we're not going in and taking any land. Because we don't have a good strategy for it.
[20:40] Now, you say, man, you're being harsh guys. We just started the day. I'm not even halfway through message number one. It's not going to get easier. I haven't even made the first point. No, I'm serious about this.
[20:52] This entire generation is going to die in the desert because of unbelief, even though they claim to believe that God. I pray that at least us in this room, we will live lives where we take God at his word and say, he meant what he said.
[21:09] Let's do it. So, what's the first thing we see here? It's this, if you're taking notes. Number one, they forgot God's promises. They forgot God's promises.
[21:21] Simply put, they forgot what he said. He said, it's yours. Now, why do I say this? Go a little bit further on. Look in verse 17. Well, 17 is where it starts the context, but 18.
[21:33] Go see, this is what Moses is saying. Go see what the land is. Whether the people are strong or weak. Whether they're few or many. Whether the land is good or bad.
[21:44] Whether the cities are camps or strongholds. Whether the land is rich or poor. And whether there are trees or not. Let's be real. What difference does any of that make?
[21:56] God said, take it. And they're like, okay, okay, okay, got it. You said, take it. But we got to go check to see if there are a lot of trees or not. That has nothing to do with anything.
[22:08] I'll give you a modern day example. He said, go into all the world, right, Josh? Which includes Syria. Let me see.
[22:18] What if there's ISIS or not? Now it's modern day terms. We're not talking trees, right? We're talking ISIS. Oh, oh, um. He, you know, he said, go into Algeria.
[22:30] Well, what if there's electricity or not? What if there's Starbucks or not? Put in whatever you want. When we start putting conditions on the call of God, we no longer have accepted God as Lord.
[22:46] He's just a good teacher that will accommodate when it's convenient. What is it in your life? Are we surrendering to him as Lord or are we acknowledging him as a teacher?
[22:58] Here's the hard part about it all. Nobody can answer that with their mouth. It's your life that tells the story. It's your life that tells the story. And those around you are watching that.
[23:08] One day, every mouth will confess Jesus as Lord. That's at a later date. Question is, who will confess Jesus as Lord now? Now, and so we have that privilege.
[23:20] But they're focused on the wrong, on the wrong, well, they forgot God's promises. And that leads us to the next thing. They focus on the wrong presence. Now, when I say they focus on the wrong presence, this is going to come out clearly, okay?
[23:32] But I want to kind of work chronologically, but I think logically it's working backwards. And you'll see what I mean, all right? They focus on the wrong presence. Everybody, take your eyes and focus in to what Moses says in verse 20.
[23:49] Halfway through it. Be of good courage. Pause. If that was Joshua speaking, what would the second part say? Be strong and of good courage for what?
[24:00] For the Lord thy God is with thee. If you're KJV, which I'm not, wither, so wither, something. You're going to wither, and then you're going to, so as thou goest, something, okay?
[24:12] Wherever you go, God's going to be with you, right? Okay, that's what Joshua would say. That's not what Moses says. Be of good courage.
[24:25] And then look what he said. This is crazy. And bring some of the fruit of the land. Now, you might say, why is that so crazy? Okay, okay. Are you guys ready for like a Jesus moment in Numbers 13?
[24:35] It's coming out. Bring some of the fruit of the land. All right. They're going to bring fruit of the land in the next few verses, right? When they bring the fruit of the land, notice what it says. They are carrying the fruit of the land, how?
[24:47] On a pole, okay? Between two men. All right, pause. I want you to think in your own mind. First of all, Old Testament.
[24:59] What was carried on poles between men in the Old Testament? Ark of the Covenant. What is one of the titles of the Ark? Ark of the, okay, but it starts with a P.
[25:11] Ark of the, and I gave it in the second point. Ark of the Presence. It's called that so often. Ark of the Presence. The Ark represented the presence of God, and it was carried on poles between men.
[25:24] All right, let me phrase this all a little bit differently. In the New Testament, who or what was lifted up between two men? Jesus Christ.
[25:35] The very presence of God. It's interesting that what they're carrying is a vine. John 15. I am the vine.
[25:47] You are the branches. Now think through this very carefully. Moses says, be of good courage, and what? Bring some of the fruit of the land.
[25:59] That doesn't work. Moses never gets into the Promised Land, and ten of those spies never do either, because they're focused on the wrong presence. We're going to see a little later on, they talk about the descendants of Anak, I think three times, let alone when they talk about the Hittites, and the Canaanites, and the Jebusites, and I don't know, are the Amorites in there too?
[26:21] Anyway, all the Ites, right? They're there. But, but, hang on, hang on. From verse three, all the way to the end of the chapter, I want to ask you, what presence is never mentioned?
[26:37] The Lord's presence. There's nothing about the presence of God. It's all about the presence of their enemies. And my friends, I think a lot of times the reason we forget God's promises is because we're focused on the wrong presence.
[26:54] We forget who's actually with us. We forget the power that we have access to. We forget who goes with us in the battle, and, that would be good already if he goes with us in battle, but it's better than that.
[27:06] He fights for us. It's amazing. That's why they're going to take the land. Who cares about Anak? I don't care about Anak. Nor do I care about ISIS or Al-Qaeda or the United States government or Kim Jong-un or nuclear attacks or Russia or whatever.
[27:21] I don't care. I got God. I don't know about you. But I'll tell you this. If you think you got him, if you know you have him, you're going to live differently. That's why I think a lot of followers of Jesus do not believe God's presence accompanies them.
[27:32] They think Anak's there. Are you hanging out with Anak or are you hanging out with the Almighty? Because who you hang out with or who you think you're hanging out with is usually going to determine your actions.
[27:46] Guys, I'm not seeking to be hard on you. I'm preaching to myself. So if your toes are stepped on, that's the Holy Spirit. But look, we see that he focuses on the presence of these vines, of the fruit of the land.
[28:03] Years ago, some of you, my stories, man. Some of you never heard. Others, you're like, I've heard this two times. I'm sorry. I give you the best story for that situation, not always new stories.
[28:14] This is about three years ago. Yeah, 2015 was three years ago, right? Yep. There we go. Three years ago. Exactly 38 months ago, we had one day in my country of Niger where basically every church building in the country was burned down in 24 hours.
[28:33] They did miss a couple churches. By the way, some of the pastors of local churches, they were like, I'm so glad they didn't miss our church. I'm glad we got it burned down. I'm like, why? Why are you glad? Because just think how ashamed we would be if our church wasn't counted worthy to be burned down when all the others were.
[28:48] That's great perspective, right? Anyway, they came to burn down all these churches, and then they also came to burn down a lot of houses. They came to burn down my house as well and my teammates' houses. But when they came to my house, actually some of my Muslim neighbors and one Christian guy, they kind of like stood in front of the gate.
[29:02] They're like, ah, he's not even here right now. Leave his house. They're like, okay, we'll come back later. So that was my house. Another one of our houses, they started the fire, and our Muslim neighbors jumped over the wall and put it out. So that was very kind of them.
[29:13] But the attacks were coming from extremists. Okay, anyway, blah, blah, blah. That was on Saturday. On Tuesday, three days later, I'm walking around the block because I was heading over to a prayer meeting at one of my friend's houses.
[29:26] And as I walked around the block, I walked in front of this house where a little local church met. And when I walked in front of it, I knew it had been burned down as one of the churches that had been burned down.
[29:37] And the whole building was charred. But then I didn't expect to see what I saw on the street. The entire street, when I say it was strewing, that's an understatement, George. I mean, it was just plastered, covered with burned out Bibles and burned out songbooks.
[29:52] There was a marriage pamphlet there. All just charred stuff. Now, if you try to burn Bibles, it takes a lot of work, right, because they're so thick. So a lot of the Bibles were just like burned, Genesis and Revelations gone, right?
[30:06] But you still got like most of the Bible kind of hanging there, the pages around after they fluttered out. So as I'm walking through all this debris of Scripture, I just decide I'm just going to randomly pick up one page of the Bible.
[30:20] One page. And so through these thousands and thousands of pages, Michael, I just reached down and I picked up one page. And as soon as I picked up that page, I saw in the corners in French, I saw in the corner the passage.
[30:35] And I immediately knew what was on that page. Actually, the part that I knew was on the page was actually the part that was burned off that page. But it was Isaiah 43. And I knew what comes in verses 2 and 3 and 5.
[30:50] It's when the Lord says, When, get this, when, not if, right? When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.
[31:02] For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. Verse 5. I will be with you. The Lord does not promise to save us from any of the fires of this world.
[31:14] From any of the floods, as it says earlier in that verse. But what he promises is when we walk through it, his presence accompanies us. You know, when I think about intimacy with God, I sometimes wonder, do we want intimacy with God?
[31:28] Because think about even Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, right? The three men in the fiery furnace. With those three guys, what happens? Where do they experience the intimate presence of God?
[31:39] It's in the fire. It wasn't outside. In fact, do you ever notice that those three men, Okay, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if you prefer calling them that, But those are their pagan names, alright? Like, those three men, they didn't want to come out.
[31:52] They only come out when they're commanded by Nebuchadnezzar, come out. They were enjoying that inferno, that jacuzzi. Like, it was, they're like, yeah, we're hanging out in here.
[32:04] Why? Because we got God's presence. Listen, I don't know about you, because I'm sure many of you in this room have suffered persecution. I don't know. I'm serious when I say this. Christians that suffer persecution, I know very few of them who want to get out of it.
[32:25] Because when they're suffering persecution, they find the presence of Christ so precious. I always say to people, please do not pray for persecution to stop.
[32:37] At least not for us, not for me. Because persecution is a blessing. Persecution indicates the enemy's not happy. Persecution indicates that on the spiritual level, progress is being made.
[32:49] Praise God. And so therefore, why would we want that to stop just so we have an ease for a few more years on earth, when eternity is the destination of every soul, and persecution only reveals what's not seen with earthly eyes.
[33:02] And so, we see here that they're forgetting God's promises. They're focusing on the wrong presence. And now, the third thing is this.
[33:13] They're fearing the wrong power. They're fearing the wrong power. Now, watch how this comes out very clearly here. It says in verse 28, The people who dwell in the land are strong.
[33:27] The cities are fortified and very large. Alright, whatever. Then, it talks about all these different groups, right? The Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Canaanites. And then, look at verse 32.
[33:40] The land through which we have gone to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw were of great height.
[33:52] Now, listen. First of all, they say it's a land that devours its inhabitants, and the people are of great height. But it doesn't say the people. It says all the people. Now, we know good and well that's called an exaggeration.
[34:06] Because I'm... You're like, you can't be positive because you weren't there. Okay, I'm practically positive that everybody was not of great height. I'm sure they were kids. Seriously, like, what are they doing?
[34:19] They're looking at their enemies through the lens of fear. Not through the lens of faith. Because what happens in the very next chapter, when you come down to like chapter 14, maybe verse 8, somewhere around there, what does Joshua...
[34:35] What do Joshua and Caleb say? They say they are like bread to us. The same descendants of Anak that were of great height, and we were like grasshoppers in their eyes, now they're like bread in the next chapter.
[34:50] One is... They're seeing the same situation. But one group saw it through the lens of fear. The other saw it through the lens of faith. There's a... I don't know what you call it.
[35:00] It's not a poem, but whatever you call those little adages that are just like a couple lines that rhyme. Two men looked through prison bars. One saw mud.
[35:11] The other one stars. Perspective, right? Maybe... I remember I went to somebody's house one time, and they had on their table a little plaque that said...
[35:22] Maybe you guys have it at your house, you know, where it says, all guests bring joy to this home. Some when they come. Others when they leave. Perspective, right?
[35:32] Like, same situation. Here we have 12 individuals. They're all seeing the same thing. We're going to talk about this more in the next meeting. They're all seeing the same thing.
[35:43] But... They're not getting the same story. Because the story of fear paints a different story than the story of faith.
[35:57] When you come to a chapter like Hebrews 11, and you see these men and women who invested their lives in the eternal, what does it say about every one of them? By fear, so-and-so.
[36:08] By fear, so-and-so. By fear, so... No. By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice. By faith, Noah built an ark.
[36:20] By faith, Abraham wandered dwelling in tents. By faith, Sarah. By faith, Jacob. By faith, Isaac. By faith, Moses. By faith, Rahab.
[36:32] By faith, Barak. By faith, Samson. By faith, Gideon. By faith, so many. Why? Because the world was not worthy. And my question for us is, if we were writing your story, what you're doing right now, how you're obeying the commands of our God, would your story, Brandon, start out, by faith, Brandon, or would it start out by fear, Brandon?
[36:58] Because honestly, it's one of the two. And listen, I'm not saying this to be judgmental. I'm saying it that the Holy Spirit might convict us. Because you're all still alive.
[37:09] We still have opportunity. We live in a country that desperately needs what you have. And what you have is not a political platform, my friends. What you have is the Word of God.
[37:21] And when we realize our identity, which we're going to talk about in the next session, so if you don't like me going into really touchy things, leave before the next session. Don't worry.
[37:33] I'm so apolitical. I'm just Word of God. That's all. Just Word of God. We're just getting Word of God. That's all we're going to talk about, okay? But it's going to hit every person, regardless of what side you come from, whatever angle you come from. Because the Word of God makes everyone feel uncomfortable when we're living in the flesh.
[37:49] And so, what do we see here, though? There's something else really, really vital. They are fearing the wrong power. But, look at verse 33.
[38:00] It says, And we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them. Okay, so now, they're taking all this fear to a new level. They're like, man, we're like grasshoppers in their eyes.
[38:13] And, you know, when you act like a grasshopper in someone's eyes, they start thinking of you as a grasshopper, too. All right? So, that's the picture. But that's not all. Turn in your Bible. Like, literally turn, because I want you to see it.
[38:23] Turn to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40. I want you to see what God says. This is what they think. But what God says is a very different story.
[38:35] Isaiah 40. Verse 22. It is He, this God, okay? It is God, who sits above the circle of the earth, and what?
[38:49] Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in.
[39:02] Look what just happened. God's like, you are like a grasshopper in my eyes. Like, He's not saying you're insignificant. You're loved with an everlasting love.
[39:13] And we'll talk about that in the next meeting. But, you're tiny. Like, He holds the world in His hand. With His Word, He spoke the world into existence. He upholds all things by His Word.
[39:26] That's my God. That's my Father in Heaven, who I have access to any time. Galatians 4, 6, and 7 says, I'm an heir of God. Joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
[39:37] That's my Father. And in His eyes, I might be like a grasshopper, but I'm a loved grasshopper. Like, He died for me. He died for this grasshopper right here.
[39:49] But now, what are they doing? They said, we're like grasshoppers in our enemy's sight. Please, just pause to say, this is not complicated. It doesn't take any kind of deep thinking to know exactly what's happening here.
[40:00] In what position did they place their enemy? Position of God. They made their enemies God. And I've got to ask this question straight out.
[40:11] Please, please, please, please, be honest with yourself. Who have you allowed to be God in your life? Because whoever you're fearing is God in your life.
[40:25] I didn't say they are God. I said they're God in your life. Remember what it said. Guys, the Word of God just fits together perfectly, doesn't it? It's beautiful. What's the beginning of wisdom? The fear of the Lord.
[40:40] You see, when you start to fear the Lord, not terrified of His wrath when you're in Jesus Christ, but when you fear the Lord, you're not going to fear man. Do you remember what Jesus Christ says in Matthew 10, verse 28?
[40:51] He's sending His disciples out, right? And remind you, some of His disciples, they're not really believing on Him yet, okay? They're His disciples, but they're not like, you know, oh yeah, Jesus is the Son of God.
[41:02] Not yet. That's chapter 16. We're in chapter 10. He sends them out. And what does He say? He says, do not, now this is a command, right? Do not, do not fear man who can destroy your body.
[41:15] In other words, Silas, it is no big deal if somebody can kill you. That's just not a big deal. Why are we even talking about it? That's dumb. We're going to stop talking about that, Silas. Don't fear man who can destroy your body, Seth, but fear God who destroys your body and your soul in hell.
[41:31] You see, when we fear our enemies, A, we're giving them too much credit, and B, we hate them. And now we're disobeying Matthew chapter 5, verses 40 to 42.
[41:43] What? Love your enemies? Do good to them? Pray for them? Bless them? Why? Because we're fearing them. When you fear somebody, you're not loving them. And so it all doesn't work out when we miss this one thing.
[41:57] So they're putting their enemies in the position of God, and I've got to ask, where are we putting our enemies also in the position of God? All right. But, go back a little bit here before I finish all this up, because there's something that I skipped over intentionally, but I skipped over it.
[42:13] You might be wondering, like, okay, when you read that whole chapter, you took quite a bit of time to read the whole chapter. It's because the whole chapter is important. I've talked about pretty much all of it, except for one part, and that was all those names.
[42:26] But I read all those names not because I wanted to give you some cool pronunciation of how to say them. I read them because there's something fascinating in there. Did you notice, in verse 8, from the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea, the son of Nun.
[42:43] And then you go on down, and it says, in verse 16, and Moses called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua. Now, that's very significant because, though Caleb was obviously very instrumental in all of this, and Caleb, when you get to, like, Judges chapter 1, and Judges chapter 3 as well, Caleb is very instrumental in actually taking more of the promised land, him along with his son-in-law, Othniel, and anyway, it's a beautiful story.
[43:12] But, Caleb's the one that's going to take him in, right? Now, Hosea, don't miss this. If you're taking notes, write it down. Hosea means salvation. And that's good because they're going to be saved.
[43:23] But, notice what Moses is saying. He says, yeah, yeah, you're Hosea, you're salvation, and you're going to save your people. And by the way, you know good and well that the name Joshua is the same word as Jesus.
[43:39] Now, hang on. What does Joshua mean? Not salvation. It means Yahweh saves. In other words, salvation is of the Lord like Jonah says in Jonah chapter 2.
[43:52] So now, instead of it being Hosea that takes him in, it's Joshua that takes him in. What is Moses saying? He's saying, you're not going to be saved by the hand of a man.
[44:04] You're being saved by the hand of God. But, if we take this in chronology, when it's talking about salvation in scripture, and it's referring back to the children of Israel, do they talk about salvation as going to the promised land?
[44:15] No. Salvation is being brought out of Egypt, right? That's where the picture is found. And then they get led through the Red Sea, that picture of baptism as well. We have a great illustration of life in Christ.
[44:28] So we could say in a very real way that these ten bad spies as we like to sing are still people that got brought out of Egypt. which is why I suggest we have a lot of ten spies in this room.
[44:40] That sounds like a terrible grammatical sentence, but I think it's accurate. We have a lot of ten spies. But, but, think through this.
[44:51] If they're going in the promised land, picture of life in Christ, how were they saved? Were they saved because Moses was like, oh wow, Moses, you've been pumping iron there at 80 years old.
[45:03] You're a strong man. Let's do it. No. Moses had a staff and he had his brother Aaron and they, they were terrified and when they got to the Red Sea, how did God save them?
[45:16] By his power! But now, they're in the desert. How are they going to go in the promised land? These guys are like, you know what, we're strong, let's go spy out the land, let's see if there are trees or not and then we'll go take it.
[45:27] They forgot their source of power. They started by God's strength and now they want to finish in their own strength? Listen, Galatians 3 verse 3 has a word for all of us.
[45:41] Are you ready for this? This is not me insulting you, this is the word of God speaking to all of us. Are you ready? You can see it, Galatians 3 verse 3, this is how it starts out. Are you so foolish? It's there, it's in that verse.
[45:53] Are you so foolish? Am I so foolish? Are you ready for the second part of the verse? Having begun in the flesh, are you now being made perfect? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
[46:06] Reversed that. Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? How are you saved? I think you were saved by the grace of God. How are you going to continue and obey the commands of the Lord by the grace of God?
[46:20] Have you begun in the spirit and now you're going off the flesh? Maybe you find yourself trapped in sin and you feel disqualified. Maybe you're trapped in sin because you're trying to get out of it.
[46:32] Don't try. Stop trying harder. It's not about trying. It's about a pursuit of God. It's about knowing Him. He's already defeated that sin at Calvary. But if you keep trying to fight it, how can you beat an enemy that's been beaten?
[46:45] You're just going to lose and lose and lose because you're fighting the wrong battle. You see, sin's been conquered and the way that we live victoriously is when we live in the victory of Christ.
[46:56] When we live in what He's done for us and part of living in what He's done for us is walking with Him. Setting our mind on things above, not things on the earth. Letting the mind of Christ control us.
[47:10] A lot of times we use the picture of David and Goliath. Don't we? It just doesn't work. We're like, man, I've got to be like David. I've got to get that sling of mine and I've got to go out and fight my giant Goliath and I've got to slay him so let's get those five stones.
[47:26] You can pick whatever illustration you want whether it's materialism or whether it's pride or whether it's pornography. We'll take pornography as an example. You're like, I'm going to defeat it so accountability I need and I need to be in the Word of God and da-da-da.
[47:39] I've got these five stones. I'm going to go fight it. And what? We go fight it and then we lose again? That's because you're not David in the story. You've got the wrong character.
[47:49] You're a soldier on the back line whimpering and terrified and then your David stepped out not with a sling but with a cross and he annihilated Goliath.
[48:02] If you want to keep trying to fight the descendants of Anak, you'll lose. But if you trust the one that's already won the battle, you'll live in victory and that victory does not happen by sitting home trying not to sin.
[48:17] that battle, let's say, is enjoyed because it's been won. It's enjoyed as you go out and obey what God's called you to do and that's to glorify Him on earth to make disciples of all nations to show the world what Jesus looks like.
[48:34] We are so blessed but we're not on the defensive, guys. We're not there just trying to stop the arrows. The victory is already ours.
[48:44] We get to go out into this world and let them know there's good news. We get to go out in this world and let them know that peace with God can be found. We get to go out and live the life that God has given us in Jesus Christ.
[48:59] But if by fear we live, we will not face our precious friends who desperately need the message that we have.
[49:09] So I close this session by just asking you what about you? Have you forgotten the promises of God? Have you forgotten that He actually won?
[49:21] Have you forgotten that it is finished? Have you forgotten that He's more powerful than any foe outside these walls? Have you forgotten that you're in this battle with Him and He's the one that's conquered?
[49:38] Have you forgotten that you've been given the privilege to minister good news in the middle of hurt? Are you like Moses saying do not fear and bring back some fruit?
[49:49] Or are you like Joshua saying do not fear for the Lord your God is with you? Oh, we are so blessed and privileged to be the Lord's. But may we live like Joshua and Caleb in the midst of a perverse generation.
[50:04] And sometimes that perversity is found even in the church. I know my time is just about up. I actually have like two minutes left so I want to just say one final thing. This is going to lead us into the next message.
[50:15] And this is where I'm closing. Look at verse 3 of chapter 14. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?
[50:28] Do you see that question? This is the children of Israel who are back at the camp and now they've gotten this word. They've gotten the discouragement and they're like why God?
[50:41] Do you know what it says over in Deuteronomy? It says God why do you hate us? Listen, please don't miss this because this is where I'm closing. Have you noticed that a lot of my generation are saying why God?
[50:57] Why do bad things happen to good people? Why? By the way if you have those questions feel free to ask them later. We can talk about those. Those are not difficult questions to answer but you know why they're asking those questions?
[51:10] They're asking those questions because we did not believe the promises of God. They're asking those questions because we have not shown that he's a good God and he's worthy of life and he's worthy of death.
[51:26] My friends, we serve a loving creator but we also serve the God of the universe and even if we don't understand his ways we can take his word and say I'm going to obey because it's never been about you understanding everything about God it's been about you acknowledging he is the way the truth and the life and he's worthy of your life.
[51:52] May he get that from us. Let's pray. Father in heaven these words are not easy to speak nor are they easy to hear but God my prayer is that you would have your perfect way in each one of us.
[52:03] We want to see the world through your eyes and the next time we're together we're going to look at souls but God right now situations I just pray that we would see the situations of this world not as obstacles but as opportunities opportunities through which you want to show your power and you want to use us through which to show your power but so often we're just too terrified to even be used for your glory.
[52:25] So God I pray strengthen strengthen your people today but not like Moses I don't want to say may they be strong and of good courage because you're giving them a lot of fruit but I pray that they be strong and of good courage like Joshua said because the Lord their God is with them wherever they go.
[52:42] May we never forget the true presence we have in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray Amen.