[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you'll be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Alright, turn to Numbers 13 with me if you would. Numbers 13. And we're going to read two chapters and cover two chapters tonight.
[0:14] We may come back and visit more at a later date. But this is like one of the wildest two chapters in the Bible. I love teaching and preaching in these two chapters. And you have to believe His promises or miss out big time.
[0:28] That's what the story of the chapters are. You have to believe His promises or miss out big time. If you've got your Bible, how many of you have got your Bible open? I want you to mark some things I think you're going to enjoy. Be able to see them later on as you read it.
[0:40] Look at Numbers 13 in verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel.
[0:55] I want to ask you to underline or circle, which I give unto the children of Israel, which I give unto the children of Israel. Now, everything else in the chapter, that's not going to be mentioned a lot in the chapter.
[1:06] But we start the chapter off knowing this. God is going to give them the promised land. It's theirs. They're going to get it. They should have walked into it saying, We're going to get the promised land.
[1:19] He said, Y'all go spy it out. Y'all go check it out. Y'all go look it out and see what's going on. Just skip down to verse 16. So Moses sent to spy out the land. All the guys whose names I just skipped over.
[1:31] And in verse 17, they went to spy out the land. They went up and down the south and the north, never where to look it over. In verse 18, they were to find out if they were strong or weak, few or many. In verse 19, they were to find out about the land that they dwell in.
[1:45] Is it a good land or a bad land? In verse 20, whether it's fat or lean. And I want you to underline in verse 20, Be ye of good courage. Underline in verse 20, Be ye of good courage.
[1:57] In other words, believe me. Believe me. That's what he's saying. He's saying, you can go in there. Don't get scared. I just gave you my promise. Go in there. Be of good courage.
[2:08] Trust me. I'm going to give you the land. Be of good courage. In verse 23, they come out like you heard in Sunday school and vacation Bible school with a branch, a whole branch carrying one cluster of grapes between two guys in verse 23.
[2:23] In verse 25, they searched out the land for 40 days and they brought back word and they brought back fruit. Can you imagine these 12 guys that come back out and they're bringing all this fruit, bringing all this stuff with them, and they say in verse 27, It's everything you promised, God.
[2:41] Look at verse 27. It's everything that you promised. We came to the land where thou sent us. We went where you sent us, and it's true. It flows with milk and honey, and that's the fruit of it.
[2:52] Boy, God, you are good. It's exactly what you said it would be, and we saw it. Verse 28. Here it starts. Circle, nevertheless. It doesn't matter, God.
[3:05] I know what you said. I know what you said. I know you said you was going to give us the land. And I know it's a really good land, just like you said it was. But, God, you need to understand, no matter what you said, verse 28, the people are strong.
[3:21] The cities are walled, and they got giants there. Underline that in verse 28. We saw the children of Anak there. Verse 30.
[3:31] Old Caleb stands up. He's about 40 years old. And he stands up, and he says to them, Let's go in right now and get it. We are well able to overcome.
[3:44] There's no problem with us taking this land. Verse 31. He said, The men that went up with him said, We're not able to go. They're stronger than we are. And so they brought, in verse 32, an evil report.
[3:56] And they claimed that the land would eat up the inhabitants because they were so big. Verse 32. Verse 33. A telling verse. Verse 33. We saw the giants.
[4:08] We were in our own sight. That's what you need to circle. We saw us. In our own sight, we are grasshoppers. We're like little grasshoppers. And that's how they saw us, too.
[4:20] They don't know how they saw them. They didn't ask them. They weren't going around taking a poll. Y'all think we're big guys? We're running a poll here today. We're from one of the TV stations. Want to find out what you think about us.
[4:30] They said, We saw them. They're big. We're small. We know we're little. They know we're little. It's just not going to happen. Verse 14. Chapter 14. Verse 1. So everybody in the congregation, they've heard the report, and they start crying.
[4:43] And they cry all night. Verse 2. The children of Israel murmur, and the whole congregation said unto them, We wish we'd have died in Egypt. It would have been better if we'd have died in Egypt.
[4:54] We wish we'd have died in the wilderness. I can't believe God brought us here. Verse 3. It would be better for us if we could just go back into Egypt. Let us make us a captain. Let's get rid of Moses and Aaron and Miriam, and get rid of everybody that's in charge of us, and let's go back to Egypt.
[5:10] Verse 6. Joshua and Caleb both stand up, and they say some of the greatest truths. They say, verse 7, it's an exceeding good land. In verse 8 they say, underline this, if the Lord delight in us.
[5:25] If God's on our side, if God likes us, if God's pleased with us, he can take us in a land that flows of milk and honey. Verse 9 he says, don't rebel. Underline that.
[5:36] Rebel not against the Lord. He said, guys, God told us to go in there. God said he's going to do it. Let's just do what he said, and go do what God wants us to do, so we can get the job done here. If the Lord's for us, we can get it done.
[5:49] Don't rebel. For they are bread for us. Look at that in verse 9. You won't even need a fork and knife to cut this. They're bread.
[5:59] They're easy eating. We got this taken care of. Their defense is departed. They don't even have any way to protect themselves. The Lord's with us. You need to underline that in verse 9. The Lord's with us.
[6:11] Don't be afraid of them. In verse 10, the glory of the Lord. The congregation bade stone them with stones. Man, everybody in the congregation, they were like, let's kill Joshua and Caleb.
[6:22] And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle. And now God's upset. In verse 11, he said, how long will this people provoke me? How long will it be ere they believe me?
[6:35] I've showed them all kind of signs. I have proven that I am God. I mean, come on. Look at all I've done. And now I tell them I can give them this land. Nope. They don't want it. Okay. He says in verse 12, I will smite them.
[6:48] With pestilence, I will disinherit them. And Moses, I'll make a whole new nation out of you. I'll just get rid of all of them. We'll start all over. But it won't be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It'll just be Moses.
[6:58] I'll start right now. And Moses said in verse 13, God, you can't do that. God, you can't do that. If you do that, the Egyptians will hear about it. And they'll say, you were not able.
[7:10] Verse 16, they'll say, you couldn't do what you said you would. You might've brought down Egypt. You might've got them across the Red Sea. You might've got them out here in the wilderness. But if you don't do what you're supposed to, God, they're going to say, you aren't strong enough to do what you said.
[7:22] And then verse 18, he said, besides that, God, you're so sweet. You can't get that mad. It just goes against you to be that mad. I'll just go ahead and tell you, God, I know you. In verse 18, he said, Lord, you're long suffering.
[7:34] You're a great mercy. You forgive iniquity and transgression. I'm not saying you don't judge sin, but God, me and you both know you ain't that mean. That's a pretty strong verse right there, isn't it? Amen.
[7:45] Verse 19 says, so I'm asking you to forgive them. Pardon them. I beg you. I beseech you. And this is, underline this in the verse. Underline this verse. He said, as you have forgiven them, even from the time we were in Egypt till now, God, you've been forgiving them over every day.
[8:01] I mean, you've been putting up with junk off of these people every day, all the way on this trip. You've been put me and you both know you're a good God and you're a forgiving God. We both know it. So just go ahead and forgive them.
[8:11] Amen. Verse 21. But truly as I live, God said, okay, I'll pardon them. So he said, all right, all right, Moses, you're right. I'm a nice guy. I'll give, I'll have mercy on them, but the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
[8:26] Underline that verse 21. He said, let me just explain something to you. The whole world's going to know how great I am. In verse 22, he said, because they've seen my miracles, they've seen my glory, they know what I can do and they won't listen to me.
[8:38] I'm not going to let them have the promised land. Verse 23. They shall not see the land. Verse 24. But my servant, Caleb, he's got a different spirit in him. Look at verse 24.
[8:49] Circle it. Another spirit. And he has followed me fully. He doesn't play around. He means business. And I am going to make sure he gets in. Go to verse 32. God says, your stinking carcasses will fall in the land.
[9:06] Your carcasses. That is not a nice word. You don't, if you, you know, you don't go to the funeral home and say, oh, they got the carcass of the dead guy in there. That's just not how you talk.
[9:16] You don't use that word. That's a word you use when you kill a deer. That's a word you use. That's a word you use about an animal. And he says, your carcasses will fall in the wilderness. Verse 33.
[9:27] He said, your children shall wander in the wilderness 40 years and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. Verse 38.
[9:38] But I'll take care of Joshua and Caleb. I'll take care of Joshua and Caleb. Verse 40. They rose up early in the morning and they got them up to the top of the mountain saying, all right, Lord, we are sorry for what we did.
[9:51] And we're going to go and take the land like you told us to. And Moses says, won't do any good. God ain't going to go with you. Too late. God won't go with you.
[10:03] Now, those two chapters, you ought to read those a bunch of times. There are tons of lessons for you. Tons of lessons for you. And I'm going to give you some of them tonight. But you do realize you can mess up bad enough that there's not a second chance.
[10:18] Everybody always preaches that God gives second chances. No, he doesn't. He didn't give a second chance here. He does not always give a second chance. And people know that.
[10:28] Maybe you don't know that, but people know that he doesn't always give a second chance. It's easy to see all the details and forget the big promise that started out the whole story. The story started out with, I'm going to give you the land.
[10:41] That's what he said in the very beginning. That's what they should have heard. And when they saw those giants, they should have been thinking, I don't know how God's going to do it, but God's going to do it. If you're a missionary, you're going to the field. You better understand that God is big and strong and powerful.
[10:54] He's going to do big stuff with you. And don't see all the other things. So go with me, if you would, through the chapter, chapter 13 and verse one, number one, God shows them the land he's promised to give them.
[11:04] That's what happens first in the story. God says, I'm going to do it. So I want you to check out what I'm giving you. I'm going to let you look at the gift I'm going to give you. Betty and I, years ago, Betty's dad called and said, I'm going to give y'all a car.
[11:20] And so he just bought us a brand new car. And so we went down to the dealership. We went in the dealership and he, Betty picked out the car she liked and I liked the car. And that was the car we liked.
[11:31] And Mr. Ferguson said, I'm going to buy that car for you guys. We sat in the car. We smell the car. We looked at the car and then we didn't have anything. Well, I was past a little church up in, in, in Cartersville.
[11:42] Things weren't all that good financially. And we saw it all. And he promised it. So when he got ready to deal with the guy, the guy wouldn't come off 150 bucks. The guy was willing to sell him the car for $8,150.
[11:54] And Mr. Ferguson said, Nope, I'm going to give you 8,000. That's all I'll give you. The guy said, No, I'll let you have it for 8,150. I'll give you oil changes. The life of the car. And he gave all that. And Mr. Ferguson said, I said, I'll give you 8,000.
[12:05] Man, I was sitting over there thinking, I could come up with 150 bucks. It's a brand new car. I want the sinking promise. You gave us a promise. He said, Mr. Ferguson said, Nope, you won't come down. I won't buy it. And we walked away.
[12:16] On the way back home in our jalopy, we were driving. All I could think was, baby, we could have got $150. A couple of weeks later, Mr. Ferguson called up, bought a car identical to it for $8,000.
[12:26] Just like he said he would. Well, here's what's happening in the story. God says, I'm going to give you the land. And he's not sending them to figure out how they can get it. Because he's going to give them the land. Amen.
[12:36] It's not like God saying, man, I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I got this piece of land for you. And I don't know how I'm going to pull this off. But if you'll try, maybe we can get this worked out. That's not what's going on. God said, I'm going to give you the land. Go check out the land.
[12:48] So he said in verse two, which I give unto the children of Israel. He says, he's giving them the land. You need to put a star beside that. He simply wants them to go look at it, search it out, see how nice it is.
[13:01] He wants the guys to come back and say, God, man, what a, what a beautiful thing you're doing for us. Man, everybody, we're going to have a party tonight. Great times are coming.
[13:11] This is wonderful. We got the promised land. This is going to be fair. Let's party. That's what they should have done. Instead, they came back like a Baptist. And all they could see was all the problems.
[13:22] And all they could see was all the obstacles. And they couldn't see what God was doing. They couldn't see that. In verse chapter 13 and verse 20, he said, and what, and what the land is. Go check out the land, whether it be fat or lean.
[13:35] But then he said this, and be ye of good church courage, be ye of good courage. Don't get discouraged. That's what that means. Don't get discouraged. I know you're going to see some stuff going to shock you, but you can remember, I took down each of that's the biggest country in the state and world right now.
[13:51] I just got through taking them down. I also opened a sea and let you walk all the way through a dry land and come out on the other side. I've done some great things for you guys. I've shown you my power.
[14:02] I've been doing big stuff for you. I can bring manna from heaven. I can do big stuff. I can bring water out of rocks. I'm God. And I can handle this little situation. But I want you to go in there and I want you to check it out.
[14:14] And don't you get discouraged. No matter what you do, don't you get discouraged. That's what he told him in chapter 13 and verse 20. And by the way, when he said it, he said, and bring some fruit. I don't know if you've ever thought about that, but 12 guys go in and they can bring out a thing of fruit.
[14:29] They must not have been running. There must not have been anybody beating them up. I mean, they're coming walking out and they got a two before with a bunch of grapes on it. I'm a, I'm a grape lover.
[14:39] I love eating grapes. I want you to know if they got a, can you imagine? They must've been the size of cantaloupe. I don't know what size those grapes were, but they bring those things out and they walk out. And I mean, they're bringing the fruit out with them.
[14:50] And that's all the fruit they brought out with them. If you got your Bible open, look over in chapter 13 and verse 27. We came in the land and it flows with milk and honey. And in verse 23, a branch with one cluster of grapes and they bear it between two and they brought pomegranates and figs.
[15:06] I mean, they went to the market. They are bringing market bags. They're coming home from the grocery store and they're coming in there saying, have you ever seen grapes like these grapes?
[15:17] You ever checked out any figs that look like these figs? We got a great place God's going to give us. And can I just stop and say, God's got big promises for you and your family. He's got big promises for you and your ministry.
[15:29] He's got big things he wants to do with you. And the truth is when you read the Bible, instead of seeing God promise, all you ever do is spend your whole life thinking of all the bad stuff going on and why you can't have victory.
[15:39] But the whole chapter starts off with, I'm going to do it. Just go check out what I'm going to do. God likes you to think he's big. Number two, instead of seeing the goodness of God and what he was doing, they saw problems and obstacles.
[15:53] Verse chapter 13, verse 28, you got to circle around. I hope nevertheless, you ought to draw a circle from nevertheless, back up to the promise and say, God, I know you gave you word, but I don't think you're big enough to do what you said you'll do.
[16:04] Because that's basically what they're saying. We know we got your promise, but God, but God, chapter 13 and verse 21, they said, we're not able.
[16:17] We can't do it. They brought an evil report of the land. They weren't supposed to bring an evil report. When Betty and I got home from looking at that car, we didn't sit there and think about, I mean, we talked about the color.
[16:31] We talked about the seats. We talked about the little motor. It was a Dodge Air East K. They don't even make them. I mean, they weren't, but they were, it was like going to be a good car. It didn't make it. But anyway, we got home.
[16:42] We were talking about the new car we're going to have, where all the kids were going to sit. No seatbelt laws yet. No, no car seats. Things were great. Amen. But we were just enjoying all God was going to do for us. We weren't going down there saying, I don't know how we're going to put gas in it.
[16:56] We weren't saying, I wonder how we're going to, I mean, the guy said, I'll give you free oil changes. I wouldn't even, I wasn't worried about oil changes. I'm like, you give me the car. I think I'll figure out how to get the oil changed. I can change oil. Amen.
[17:08] In other words, but these guys saw it and all they see are the problems. All they see are the problems. Men of great stature, giants, a land that eats up the inhabitants. Verse 33, such a strong statement.
[17:20] You got to notice it. They said, in our own sight. And so what they did was they looked at themselves and they didn't look at their God. They saw how big and bad the enemy was.
[17:32] They didn't see how big and bad God was. Can I remind you that it's over 400 years they were slaves? Can I remind you that the people that held them slaves and owned them and rule them and kill their kids, they were able to get out of there.
[17:46] God had more power than them. The greatest nation. But they said, we're not able. They're stronger. They're bigger. We're small. We know we're small. And on the blur, on the very verge of blessings, the people are distraught.
[18:00] Look at chapter 14 and verse one. I mean, they're standing on the edge of the promises and the, all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and they wept that night.
[18:11] They are this close. I mean, it's like the day before you get married. It's like the day before they give you that car. It's like the day before all your dreams come true.
[18:21] And instead of being excited that the God of heaven promised them, they were like, this is terrible. This is terrible. Life is horrible. Life is horrible.
[18:32] We'd rather, we'd rather be dead than run the risk of going in there and getting what God has for us. They wanted to go back to their old lives. They'd rather be slaves.
[18:43] They'd rather have somebody kill their children like they had been doing back in the day. They'd rather be back over in Egypt. They would rather rebel against God and go back. So here's a question for all of us.
[18:53] How many of us stand on the verge of blessings? By the way, for you, Mr. A.J. just real quick, you're going to be in a land and you're going to, if you'll just learn the language, if you'll just make the phone calls, if you'll just do the job, you'll soon preach and see hundreds of people get saved.
[19:08] And God do a ministry in your life. Like you've never dreamed. You're that close. But instead, you're like, it's hard to make phone calls. But God will get you your support. It's hard.
[19:19] And some of you, some of you, right here, you don't trust God with your money. You don't trust God. You wouldn't, you would never honor God by giving him money because you think you can take better care of it.
[19:30] You don't think God could take care of you. You don't believe that God could work in your life. You're asking for problems. Number three, Caleb and Joshua, they stand for truth in the face of their fellow servants.
[19:45] You know, there's a ton of people there. And old Caleb stands up first. And Caleb says, Hey, y'all be quiet. Everybody listen up. Verse 30. Let's go get it now. Let's just go take it.
[19:56] We are more than able to take the land God's promised us. It is such a rebellion going on that in chapter 14, verse five, Moses and Aaron fall on their face.
[20:09] And they're in agony. Like what in the world is going to go on? And Joshua and Caleb are broken hearted. They tear their clothes in chapter 14 and verse six, which is a way that a Jewish person expresses.
[20:22] I can't believe this. This is horrible. I'm in shock. I'm hurting from all the wickedness going on here. And they're like, well, no, y'all don't believe God. Don't believe God.
[20:33] They saw that God was giving them a good and wonderful gift. Chapter 14 and verse seven. They said, it's an exceeding good land. And they knew that God could give them anything he wanted to.
[20:46] They had not one doubt that God was able to meet their need. Chapter 14 and verse eight says, if God delights in us and he does delight in us, he's called us his people. He's brought us out of Egypt.
[20:57] He's crossed the Red Sea. He's been feeding us and giving us a drink. He's brought us right up here to the edge of all these blessings. God's going to do something big. Don't give up. Then they said to the people, please don't get rebellious.
[21:10] Please don't have a bad attitude. Please don't think that God won't work. That's chapter 14 and verse nine. And they flat out tell him, there's no problem here. We have the victory.
[21:21] We have the victory. All we got to do is go in there. How did we cross the Red Sea, boys? All we almost did was hold up his rod. And the sea parted. We walked through them. When the Egyptians came through, God covered them back up.
[21:33] All we got to do is trust God. That's all we got to do. Let's go do it. They said, God, do something big. Be as easy as eating bread. They didn't have any way to defend themselves.
[21:45] God was with them. Then in chapter 14 and verse 10, number four, God's now angry with them for not believing him. God's angry. That's a shocking thing, isn't it?
[21:57] First of all, it's a shocking thing. If anybody will stand, the day may come in our church when two people ought to have to stand up and say, we will trust God. And if nobody else will stand and they want to stone you, stand like men.
[22:11] Stand like men. Stand like men and stand for God. If it means, if it means that everybody hates you, you stand for God. And you know what ends up happening, don't you? Because before it's over, God's going to take care of Caleb and Joshua.
[22:24] And now God's angry. He comes down and appears in the tabernacle in chapter 14 and verse 10. And He's ready to get rid of them.
[22:35] He's ready to kill them. He's ready to destroy them. Can I just say that in the New Testament, Jesus said, I can't do many works here because of your unbelief.
[22:46] Can I remind you that Hebrews 11, 6 says, without faith, it's impossible to believe Him. For they that believe, what did they, throw it, Hebrews 13, 6 right quick. What?
[22:57] 11, 6. What did I say? I hope it's in there. It's in the Bible somewhere. But without faith, it's impossible to please Him. For he that comes to God must believe that He is. Believe that He is, and He's a rewarder than to diligently seek Him.
[23:11] You guys should believe God. That's what he told them. Y'all should believe God. And God's upset because they don't believe Him. And He is a God of grace. He is a God of mercy.
[23:22] And Moses is going to remind Him of that. But can I just say to you, our God's up in heaven like, so you can't trust me with your money? You can't trust me with your children? You can't trust me with your life?
[23:33] You don't ever ask me what to do with your family? I'm just like not a part of you? I'm just like not real to you? That's how you want to treat me? I don't like that.
[23:44] And who else would like it? Nobody would like that. He was angry. And Moses starts praying in verse 5. Some great lessons in prayer. In chapter 14 and verse 13, he says, God, your reputation will be hurt.
[23:59] Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Hallowed be thy name. God, we want to keep your name clean and pure and holy. We want to lift your name high. And Moses says, God, if you don't take care of us now, people are going to talk bad about you.
[24:13] So we've got to work this out. God, somehow we've got to get this thing resolved because I don't want anybody talking bad about you. You're a great God. Could I ask you to be real careful to never throw negative comments about God?
[24:28] Maybe things don't work out the way you want them. Maybe you wish things had happened a little bit different, but you kind of cast a dirty light on God. Don't ever do that. He's God. And if he lets somebody in your family die, if things don't work out the way you want, he knows more than you know.
[24:42] So trust him. Trust him. If things aren't working the way you want them to, trust him. Moses is so right. God, I love you. And I don't want anybody to talk bad about you. And some of us are like, well, I'll be good to God as long as he takes care of me.
[24:55] But the second he doesn't do what I want him to do, I'm going to talk bad about him. Don't you ever play that game with our God. Amen? And then he reminds them in verse 14, 14, 14, what the lost world was going to say.
[25:09] He said, they're going to say you couldn't fulfill your word. Back in Egypt, we said you was going to do it. Now you're not going to do it. God, that won't look good. They're going to think it's because you're not strong enough. And he says, and besides that in verse 17 and 18, God, you're just too good.
[25:23] Well, I wish I could get you to stop there and think a minute about your God. Moses knew something about God that you should know. By the way, we're in the Old Testament. We're in a part of the Bible where everybody says God's a big, bad bully and he hurts people and he's not kind.
[25:39] The people who say that just never read the Bible. Because right here in this verse, here's what Moses said. Now God, let's just be honest. I don't want to hurt your name, but let's just go to the second point here. You ain't going to do it.
[25:50] You're just too nice a guy. You're a good God. You're sweet and loving and kind and long-suffering and patient. That's who you are. Well, you do remember that's exactly what Jonah said, don't you?
[26:01] When Jonah and God are finally talking about Jonah chapter 4 and Jonah's explaining to God why he didn't want to go to Nineveh and preach, he said, I tell you why I didn't want to go there because you said you was going to kill him and I didn't believe it because I know you.
[26:13] You're just too nice. That's not the God of certain Da Vinci Code Bible readers either. Read the verse. The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy.
[26:28] The Lord is long-suffering. That means he puts up with a bunch of junk a long time and he's of great mercy and he forgives iniquity and transgression.
[26:38] It doesn't mean he's easy on sin, but he's awful good. He's a good God. Verse 19, he says, God, you know you've been forgiven all along.
[26:52] Look at that verse. Isn't that a crazy verse? Look at verse 19. Are you reading that verse with me? This is Old Testament. Pardon, I beseech you. That means I forgive them, I beg you.
[27:03] The iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your mercy. God, they've really done wrong and what they've done is really stupid. They shouldn't have done it, but you are great in mercy. Underline that.
[27:14] The greatness of your mercy. And then he says something really strong. He says, and you know, God, you've been forgiving us people ever since we left Egypt. When we got down to the Red Sea, they were griping and whining and complaining.
[27:26] What'd you do? You forgave them. And when they didn't have anything to drink, what'd you do? You said, y'all shouldn't be doubting me, but you forgave them. When they were born in so deep, what'd you do? You forgave them.
[27:36] You're a forgiving God. Can you say amen? Somebody told you God doesn't love you. Somebody told you God's holding heavy, heavy over your head. If you're a born-again believer, he loves you more than you ever dreamed of loving your kid.
[27:48] Sean Bateman hadn't paid one bit of attention to the message, not because he's holding his kid. He usually doesn't. Watch this. And however much love he can have for his kid doesn't even touch what our great God has for us.
[28:03] And we love our children. Amen? And not a one of us blame him. We understand totally. And can you understand this? Take Sean's love for his baby right now and multiply it by a gazillion, a million, and you still won't be close to how our God loves us.
[28:15] Say amen if you believe that's true. That's true. That's true. In verse 20 and 21, God's going to fill the earth with his glory. I love that. That's a missionary verse.
[28:26] You should write that beside that. The whole world's going to know what a good God he is. I read those verses and I hear a promise every time. By the way, if I were you and I wasn't given to missions, I would just on that verse.
[28:38] Because the God of heaven's saying, everybody's going to know I'm big. I'm going to help find that out. He likes that. He likes people to know what a good God he is. Verse 22 is a very sad verse.
[28:51] He's going to forgive. And I just want you to understand something. No matter what you've done, he's going to forgive you. But in verse 22, he said, because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which they did in Egypt and in the wilderness, they have tempted me now these ten times.
[29:09] Would you put a circle around that? Ten times. He said, this ain't the first time they pull this type of shenanigans with me. They keep doing it over and over. They won't listen to me.
[29:20] Verse 22, they will not see the land. Neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. God's going to forgive them.
[29:33] There's consequences. And I'll just tell you this. God will love you. Let's suppose you don't give. It's okay. God will keep loving you. Suppose you don't ever talk to him about your family. You don't trust him.
[29:43] You're not walking with him. And none of this is important to you. He'll just keep loving you. But you will suffer consequences. Because there's great promises that he gives when we do what we ought to do.
[29:56] And those promises just won't be ours. We won't lose our salvation. We're not going to lose our salvation. He's not even going to quit loving us. He's going to keep on loving us.
[30:07] But we're going to miss so many great things that God has for us. And God takes care of those that are faithful. What's really funny is over the next 40 years now the whole nation of Israel 20 years on old and above will die.
[30:24] And every day as they march Joshua and Caleb are waiting on the last one to die. So they can go into the land that God gave them. verse 25 they turn back and they head back towards Egypt.
[30:37] Look at verse 25. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley tomorrow turn you and get you into the wilderness. They're going to go back. Guys are going to go back on God.
[30:50] So God said well I'm going to let you carcasses fall. They're going to let you drop dead. Okay. You don't love me. You don't trust me. I'm just going to let you die. Now by the way he won't quit taking care of them.
[31:01] You know he's not going to quit taking they're going to eat. They're going to drink. Their clothes are never going to wear out. Their shoes are never going to wear out. God is going to be so good to them because he's a good God.
[31:14] They use their children as an excuse like so many of us do about why we don't give why we don't serve why we don't become missionaries why we don't just really surrender to God is we got to take care of our children.
[31:25] Look at what he says in chapter 14 verse 31 Your little ones which you said should be a prey them will I bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised.
[31:36] You understand what he said there? He said you use your kids as an excuse like I wouldn't take care of your children. You said that if you went into the promised land that I'm giving you that your poor little kids would get mistreated.
[31:49] He said that was not what I wanted to hear because I'll take care of your kids. So let me explain what I'm going to do. You can't protect your kids like I can protect your kids. So I'm just going to let you fall dead and when all you're dead I'm going to go ahead and give them what I promised.
[32:01] You don't get it because you despised it because you turned your nose up at my gift. I will take your children in. But can I say this? Your children bear your sin.
[32:16] So it says in chapter 14 and verse 33 Your children shall wander in the wilderness 40 years and underline this in the Bible and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
[32:29] They'll bear your whoredoms. So for 40 years what that means is they didn't trust the God of heaven and when they didn't trust the God of heaven that was like committing adultery. It's like loving another God and trusting another God.
[32:40] And so all the 40 years in the wilderness those children are going to walk along knowing if mom and daddy just trusted God we'd already have our recliner and we'd be watching TV right now.
[32:51] If mom and daddy just said there's a swimming pool over there and grapes the size of cantaloupes but we're going to walk around in the wilderness and eat manna for 40 years. And I don't know how you understand this but you're affecting what happens with your children.
[33:06] So many children don't want to serve God because they live with you. Because they know that you don't really love God. They know you come to church but they never see you read the Bible. They never see you pray. They never see you walk with God and your children are learning from you how to not serve God.
[33:21] They're bearing your whoredoms. Your sin. They're bearing it. They're putting up with it until you die. Wild thing. Can you imagine this?
[33:35] This is how bad it hurt. A 19 year old would be 59 years old before he got the promise just because his daddy wouldn't do right.
[33:46] His daddy was too scared. Well son they might hurt you if we go over there. 40 years later the boy will finally get it. But can I just tell you that the difference in a 19 and a 59 year old is a sizable difference.
[34:00] And the way you feel and how you can enjoy stuff. You are hurting your children when you don't trust God. You're teaching your children the same thing.
[34:12] Be careful. By the way in chapter 14 and 36 they said in 37 the bad witnesses die. Number 6 it's too late to repent. It's too late to repent.
[34:22] Chapter 14 and verse 39 they got up early and they said we'll go do what God wanted us to do. And 41 he says it won't prosper and the Lord won't be with you in verse 43 but they went ahead and went and it didn't work and God let them suffer more consequences.
[34:36] Let me give you this and it's time to quit. Here's some lessons we can learn. Believe God's promises and act on them. Years ago I read Luke 6 38 give and it shall be given.
[34:54] Good measure pressed down running over shall mean given to your bosom the same measure that you met it shall be admitted to you again. The way you give God will give back to you. So I went into Betty and I said the fact is I don't think we had any children yet but I went in and I said to her I just want to see if that works.
[35:11] So here's what we're going to do. We're going to do the craziest thing we've ever done. We're going to give more money than we can afford to give this month. We're going to we're going to send it to a missionary. We're going to put it in the ministry and we're going to and nobody's going to know what we did.
[35:23] And I did that and I told her I said because I want to see what God will do. And God met our need and I came out of that saying well verses work. The verses work.
[35:36] Another time as a young preacher I'd just been foolish in the church and I was rude and hard to the men of the church and the church was in financial trouble and I gave up my salary for two years I lived without a salary.
[35:47] Betty didn't have a job and I didn't have another job and I lived literally begging God for every bite we would eat for two years. And God always met every need. And here's the promise.
[35:58] You can believe God. You can trust God. He is a great God. He is a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God. He won't hurt your children. Are you trusting God with your money?
[36:11] Are you trusting Him with your family? Do you believe God and risk whatever to obey Him? Do you see God as great or your enemies as greater? Problems or promises?
[36:23] Obstacles or opportunities? You can be forgiven but you will still deal with the consequences. You can be forgiven but you'll still deal with the consequences. It's time to stop making excuses about why we do not do the will of God.
[36:40] This is a big one. You don't always get a second chance. You know, all my life I've heard it preached you get a second chance. That's kind of what they thought was going to go on.
[36:51] So when they found out they were in big trouble and they'd really messed up man, they went to God and they said, hey, hey, hey, we're here. We're going to go ahead and do what you want us to do. Sorry. We're a little foolish. We'd like to go ahead and do what you wanted.
[37:01] And Moses said, it won't work. He won't go with you. And he didn't. You can mess up. You won't lose your salvation. Have you ever realized that Ananias and Sapphira didn't get a do-over?
[37:16] They didn't get a new life like a new chance like a video game? I mean, when they went in and they lied about the offering and Peter said, that's it. And boom, he fell dead. You're kind of like, well, God, give him another chance.
[37:27] He'll go home and get the rest of the money. I don't know what happened. God doesn't always give you a second chance. Here's a big lesson. You shouldn't always wait for something really bad to happen before you ever repent.
[37:40] They've 10 times they've disobeyed God. That's what he says. 10 times they've disobeyed God. 10 times they haven't believed God. And now when God finally is angry, they say, okay, okay, okay, okay. Did y'all ever play uncle when you were kids?
[37:53] You know, you grab the other guy's hands and you twist them until you make him cry, uncle. Anybody ever do that? Or is that just a Tennessee hillbilly thing? God had them when they were going, uncle! Is that too late?
[38:04] Some of us wait. It's almost like, God, if something really bad goes wrong, I'll trust you. If I get where I can't trust anybody else, I'll come to you. Sometimes you'll be faced with decisions that will be irreversible.
[38:16] It will absolutely affect your children. You must choose to believe the word of God or all the lies of the devil and the world. Praise God instead of complaining.
[38:29] It's a great chapter. It's a great two chapters. It's a great story. You understand what's going on? God gives a great promise and it's theirs for the taking. But they won't step out and take it.
[38:41] Can I tell you as a church, God wants to do great things with us. He has done great things. He has even greater things for us. We're going to have to step out and believe Him. Can I tell you that you could be used to God to give more money, to pray more, to see people saved.
[38:55] You could be used to build a Sunday school class. You could be used to God to see something great. But you have to step out on faith. Got the promise. Now let's act on the promise. That's what's going on here. So what are we going to take home from tonight?
[39:06] Father in Heaven, I love you. I thank you for the opportunity to share your word with your people. And I pray to your God that somebody tonight might come to a point of stepping out to trust you like they haven't been doing in the past.
[39:18] And I pray that your name will be honored and glorified and magnified in all that happens. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.