The Value of Faith Numbers 13:1-30

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something. "HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? HELP!

He yelled for hours, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.

"Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"

"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"

"Yes, but . . . Who are you, and where are you?"

"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."

"The Lord? You mean, GOD?"

"That's Me."

"God, please help me! I promise if You'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life. I’ll even start going to Church on Sunday’s."

"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's just get you down from there; then we can talk. Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully..."

"I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do."

"Okay. Let go of the branch."

"What?"

"I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go."

There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled, "IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?”

William Booth, the Founder of The Salvation Army once said, “Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again -- until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other.”

Today we are going to talk about Faith, turn in your bibles to the book of Numbers. If you are not sure where that is, follow me, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus… Numbers. It’s the 4th book of the old testament. Numbers chapter 13.

We put our faith in many things don’t we. For instance when you walked in to the chapel, you came over to your usual chair and as you sat down, you didn’t give it another thought. You just sat down with the faith that the chair was going to hold you. Now normally when I talk about faith, I love to do what’s called a “trust fall”. Does anyone know what a trust fall is? (Talk about a trust fall)

Now, before we go any further on this topic of Faith, let’s pray...

Now to give you a little background on this chapter, Israel had been given instruction in responsibility on the way to the Promised Land. When they arrived at the borders of Palestine, Moses sent 12 men out in pairs to spy out the land. The 12 were to evaluate the strength of the people, their numbers, and whether the land was rich or poor. God was giving Israel information, so that the dangers might be known and weighed against their confidence in God.

Ten of the 12 spies were overawed by the strength of the enemy and by the fortified towns they found in the land. But two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, encouraged the people to trust in God. “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (13:30). But the fears of the others prevailed. Crying in fright and anguish, the whole congregation was ready to choose other leaders to guide them back to Egypt!

Let me ask you a quick question, have you ever gone on a long car trip with young children? Unless they are kept entertained the entire time, they’re liable to fall into moaning, groaning, fussing, fighting and asking every few minutes that dreaded question, “Are we there yet?” A large part of the book of Numbers is like a long camping trip across the desert with a huge company of whining adults.

The book of Numbers follows the Israelites as they move slowly northward from the southern Sinai Peninsula to Moab. It begins with the Israelites preparing for the journey as they are camped in the southern Sinai Desert. From there, the group travels to Kadesh-Barnea and camps there. Then the Israelites travel to the edge of Moab and stop on the Plains of Moab, along the Jordan River, just across from Jericho. Approaching from the eastern side, this is the doorstep to Canaan, the Promised Land.

There is wisdom in the saying that the journey is just as important as the destination, for it is in the journey that character is proven. The book of Numbers is about the journey and how it built character in the Israelites. God had promised Canaan to the Israelites, and after they had escaped from Egypt, a quick march from the southern Sinai Peninsula to the border of the Promised Land should have only taken them 10 or 11 days. This relaxed trip should have lasted a month or two at the most. This distance is the equivalent of walking from Missoula to the western part of Yellowstone National Park. Instead, because of the people’s rebellion, complaining, unbelief and disobedience, it took them 40 years.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.

Can you imagine the peace that must have come over that young boy after hearing those words from his dad? Daddy, I can’t see you… and the father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.”

Wouldn’t you love to hear those words from your heavenly father?

We are going to focus on one verse today, Numbers 13:30 “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.””

Moses sent twelve men into the land of Canaan to check out the land and bring a report to the people. Ten of the twelve men came back and said the land was too difficult to conquer. Caleb and Joshua, however had a different report. It was the report of Faith. Today we are going to look at three great features of Faith.

Faith Brings Peace

Faith Produces Passion

and Faith gives power.

FAITH BRINGS PEACE

Let’s look at the first part of this verse. “Caleb stilled the people.” Why did the people need to be stilled. Simple, the news that had come from 10 spies was that of unbelief. The land was going to be too difficult to conquer. But you see, Caleb spoke from a position of Faith. Faith has a way of calming the spirit. Just like the little boy in the story earlier, the boy said that he couldn’t see his father but after hearing his fathers voice it was okay because even though the boy couldn’t see the father, the Father could see him.

Faith brings us peace. This reminds me of the story found in Matthew 9:18–22 “While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.”

Could you imagine the peace that must have come over her, just having the faith in Jesus that all she had to do was touch the hem of his garment and she would healed of her sickness, a sickness that she has had for 12 years. All it took was her faith to heal her. Do you have that kind of faith that brings peace this morning?

FAITH PRODUCES PASSION

Now my wife will tell you that I am passionate about many things, my love of the Dodgers, or the Dallas Cowboys, and with that passion comes faith that this will be our year, of course, I have been saying that for many years now but, I have not lost faith in my teams.

Let’s look back at our text, verse 30 says, “We should go up and take possession of the land” When you have faith in something, it will inspire you to prompt action. Caleb’s faith gave him zeal. Do you know what that word is? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, it means, “great enthusiasm or eagerness”. Wouldn’t you love to have people say that you have zeal for something or that you are zealous? How about having Zeal for the Lord. How great would it be if someone said that you have zeal for the Lord. In other words, you have great enthusiasm for the Lord. I wish that every church and christian could have that said about them. Caleb was my kind of guy, because of his zeal, he had no time for procrastination. One version of this verse says “Let us go up at once”. now does that sound like someone that wants to take his time on something? You see, when we have faith, it stirs our heart into action for God.

William Booth once had an audience with King Edward VII of England. His Majesty highly commended General William Booth for his unflagging zeal and wonderful work among the poor. Booth's reply to the King's glowing words! He said, "Your Majesty, some men's passion is for art. Some men's passion is for fame. My passion is for souls." Because of his passion for souls, William Booth and his family began the work of The Salvation Army - first and foremost a church to reach the lost.

Unbelief kills zeal for the Lord. The reason that many of our churches don’t do much for the Lord is because the people in them lack zeal for God’s work. Oh that we would have the zeal for God and His work today. When we have zeal for God and His work, he will give the power we need to do His work.

FAITH GIVES POWER

So Faith brings us peace and Faith produces passion and finally Faith gives power.

Looking at the last part of verse 30 Caleb has such faith that he says, “… for we can certainly do it.” You see, Faith is where the power is. It was going to take great strength and power to conquer Canaan and if the Israelites looked at their won strength and power, they would and did wilt under the difficulties. But here is the main thing, Faith, looks at the greatness of God’s power and sees in Him the ability to conquer every difficulty or task. The best part of faith, is that it gives us the Power to believe in a future. A future that will be spent with God in Heaven. Caleb believed God was on their side and that this would enable them to conquer the land. There is a passage in the bible that I am always reminded of when I am trying to do something, it’s found in the Matthew 19:23–26 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

You see, when you have faith in God, your faith will bring you peace that passes all understanding, a calmness to your spirit. When you have faith in God, your faith will produce passion, an undying zeal or enthusiasm that you will want to share with all that you come in contact with. They will see your passion and want to know what it is that makes you this way. And finally when you have faith in God, it will give you power. Power to step out in faith and do things that you never thought you could. This reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons, does anyone remember Garfield? Big fat cat that loves lasagna? Take a look at this cartoon. (Garfield - Amazing what one can do when one doesn’t know what one can’t do). We have said it a number of times that we are praying that God will fill his church. It’s time that we put our faith into action.

All three points today are relevant to growing our church. We are nervous about talking to people, God will give us peace in our hearts to be able to withstand the naysayers or those that speak against the church. With our Faith in God, he will give us the passion such as that of William Booth, but I’m going to change the quote a little to reflect the Missoula Corps...“some men's passion is for art. Some men's passion is for fame. Our passion is for souls of our city!”

And because of our faith in God, he will give us the power to reach out to those that we come in contact with to share his Grace and love. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to say, God will give you the words, just have faith. Remember, with God ALL things are possible, God is not looking for your ability, he wants your availability and your complete faith in what He can do in and through you… Let’s pray.