…to Be Different

Be Strong and of a Good Courage  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  1:02:19
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Introduction

Today in light of our theme ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’, I want to examine some of the instances from the life of Joshua where these words can be applied.
I will say that it’s almost ironic that one of the strongest and courageous men of the Bible is the one who was admonished by both God and man to be ‘Strong and of a Good Courage’.
We see this strength and courageousness on display early in the life of Joshua.
Today we’re going to examine the spying of the land by the 12 spies that God instructed Moses to send into the land of promise. One of these spies was the man we know as Joshua.
(Set the Table)
At this point in the history of the COI, they had just escaped slavery.
They had sojourned to Egypt over 400 years prior. (Think about that! This country has only been in existence for less than 250 years!)
The COI came of their own free will, but before long were kept against their will.
This is a lesson for us all. Egypt is a picture of sin. People often think that they can dabble in sin and it won’t affect them. They ‘have it in control’. But if this tells us anything, it should warn us to the truth that if we think that we can visit the ‘land of sin’ without eventually becoming snared by it, we’re fooling ourselves!
They were enslaved, but God had mercy on them.
God sent Moses down to rescue them from bondage.
(Ill.) You know, I was in bondage one day - but God had mercy on me - and sent a Moses my way to free me as well!
God used Moses to bring them out
He would send plagues down upon the land.
They’d start small - The first was water to blood (Ex. 7). Then the magicians mimicked it, so Pharoah ignored it.
Then they’d continue - the frogs, lice, flies, plague, boils, the hail, the locusts, darkness - but the final act was the death of the firstborn. (Explain)
Once they were out, the Egyptian army followed - until God parted the Red Sea, brought the COI over on dry land and crushed the ensuing army after them.
God brought them to the Wilderness where He’d feed them with Manna from Heaven and water from a rock.
But as I said last week - God wanted them in the land of promise. So we see that after some proving - where Joshua led the battle against the Amalakites, God brings them to this point.
This point would prove to be a pivotal turning point in the lives of everyone involved.
Whether they wanted it to or not - it was a turning point in their life. They surely didn’t wake up thinking ‘The decisions I make today are going to alter the entire course of my life’ - but it did!
Now as we’ve seen, 12 spies went out into the land.
As they came back, we see that they were all in agreement about the land itself: Numbers 13:26–27 “And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.”
But they disagreed on what to do about it.
The People’s response: Numbers 13:28–29 “Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.”
Caleb’s & Joshua’s response: Numbers 13:30 “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” Numbers 14:8 “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.”
The Title of this message is theme based: ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage - to be Different’.
You see, Joshua and Caleb were different. They were in the minority (that’s what makes them different by definition). The majority wanted one thing, they something else.
I think it’s important to understand too that these were not slight differences - but they were contrary. East vs. West, Oil vs. Water, Right, vs. Wrong. There wasn’t room for compromise - as they were completely contrary.
Church I want to point out a few things:
You’ll be Contrary:
For the Christian who puts Christ first, what you’ll find is that you won’t have slight differences with the heathen of this world - your views will be contrary.
You’ll be Minority:
Secondly, you’ll find that - like Joshua and Caleb, you’ll be in the minority.
That being said - the purpose of this message is to try to convey they truth of these two points - and encourage you to Dare to be Different. Don’t cower and capitulate, but be Strong and of a Good Courage!
Strong (def - in this sense) to fasten upon; to seize; - to ‘Lock In’
Courage (def) Bold & steadfast in the face of adversity
That being said, as far as Being Different, we’ll look first at the Form that it Takes

I. The Form it Takes

I think when I speak on the doctrine of being different, many don’t really understand what that means. Many wonder ‘What does this look like?’
So we see that when we’re speaking about being different, it begins with our Sight.
In Our Sight
In other words, we see things differently.
This manifests itself two different ways:
The Manner
The way a Christian views the world is different than the way a heathen does.
Going further - a Christian viewing things LIKE CHRIST sees things differently than worldly Christians
(Ill.) We were blessed with the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon a few years ago. Any one of us can go and see that magnificent canyon. However, views on how the canyon formed vary greatly.
Secular historians look at the canyon and believe that a little water and lot of time carved it.
Creationists look at the canyon and believe that a LOT of water and a little time created it.
They look at the same thing, but the WAY they look at it is different.
In our text, we see that all 12 saw the same thing, but 10 viewed it as impossible, while 2 viewed it as possible. Secondly, because of the direction…
The Direction
As we look in our text, we see notice the difference in direction (Compare):
Numbers 13:31 “But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”
Numbers 14:8 “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.”
We see that 10 were focused on their ‘big problem’, yet 2 were focused on their ‘Big God’
Something like this seems so trivial, doesn’t it? BUT IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD!
Difference takes Form in our Sight
In Our Stance
There will not only be a difference in our Sight, but our Stance.
Ten men were standing for STAYING. Two for GOING.
The point is, it was DIFFERENT
Christians filled with and led by the Spirit will stand for God’s principles, God’s Ways & God’s Word - and that will surely be different than the world.
One thing that I want to point out is that not only was their stance DIFFERENT, but the simple fact that THEY WERE STANDING!
How easy it would have been to just ‘go along to get along’. To just keep their mouths shut! But they didn’t.
Christians, we’re called not only to stand for what’s right, BUT TO STAND! Ephesians 6:10–14 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;”
In the face of adversity - lock in! Stand up!
Quote: It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.
(Ill.) Change in the secular sense has been seen over the last 4 years. Freedom of speech was under dire assault - then a man bought Twitter and things began to change. Elon was a darling of Hollywood, but became a pariah. But he’s affected change (Facebook just changed their policies this past week) because he was willing to take a stand.
If Elon - who knows not Jesus - can take a stand for liberty - WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO TAKE A STAND FOR CHRIST! Elon may have money, but I have Jesus! Tell me who’s better off?!?
Different in our Stance
In Our Spirit
We see that God makes a telling statement in Numbers 14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him…”
Our Spirit should be different than the masses. For multiple reasons:
The Source:
As a Christian, we have the Spirit of God within us.
1 Corinthians 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
We have a new nature. One that the lost cannot tap into. Yet we have the choice to either Let Shine or Suppress the Holy Spirit of God in us.
(Ill.) I am married. And I have a token / symbol of that fact in the ring on my hand. But the truth is, I can either wear my ring proudly and show off the fact that I’m married, or I can hide it in my pocket.
We can do much the same with the Spirit of God
The Strength
This word spirit also conveys their mindset / attitude. Charles Spurgeon referred to it as his ‘heart’. He said: Quote: “He was a man of a healthy and mighty spirit. He did nothing heartlessly. His spirit was not the Laodicean lukewarmness, which is neither hot nor cold, which God spits out of his mouth; it was a spirit of holy heat, of noble daring. If I may not call him lionhearted, never lion had a braver heart than he.”
Our Spirit should be different
In Spite of Stones
After Joshua speaks to try and convince the people: Numbers 14:8–10 “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.”
Do you know what this meant? They were literally getting ready to be killed. The ‘lynch mob’ was coming to get them - why?
Because they were willing to be Different.
They were STRONG and of a GOOD COURAGE
They SAW things Differently
They STOOD for something Different
They had a Different SPIRIT about them.
And the masses wanted to kill them for it.
Listen, it got heated prior to that - yet they didn’t stop! (Num. 13:33-14:1)
Church, NO DOUBT if you live a separated, Spirit-filled life where Jesus is #1 - you’re going to have opposition. People are going to be opposed to you - because you oppose their view.
(Ill.) I have encountered people on several occasions that don’t necessarily KNOW me, but KNOW OF me - and they treat me with contempt. I don’t go out of my way to offend people - but if you stand for God and Godly principles, you will offend.
Paul had a problem with the church in Galatia. The Gospel was perverted by works-based salvation. Paul told them the truth, and we read: Galatians 4:16 “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”
Church - we need to be Strong and of a Good Courage to be Different, IN SPITE of what this world has to say about it!
This is the Form it Takes - This is what it looks like. But that’s not all. Lastly, look at the Fruit it Bears

II. The Fruit it Bears

What are the results of those willing to be different vs. the carnal minded masses.
In their Possessions ( Num. 14:28-30)
We see that their Sight, Stance & Spirit were different - and because of that, what they ended up with was very different as well.
The best the masses would know was the Wilderness. That’s the best that life would ever get for them.
Caleb & Joshua they would know something better. They would know the blessings of possessing God’s best in their lives.
(Ill.) My wife & I were talking the other day and she’d remarked about the truth that we don’t have any savings. And I said, yeah, but… You see - for half my life, and for almost all of my adult life my focus hasn’t been on making money. I’m reasonably knowledgeable & I’m not lazy - if I set my mind to it, I could make a lot more money than I do now. But I said ‘Our focus for 20+ years is building up treasure in Heaven. And I promise you this: I wouldn’t trade my treasures over there for any and all treasures here. Speaking of Elon - I wouldn’t trade what I have over there for what he has here. The difference is, when he dies, his treasure will be left here, whereas when I die - I’m going to unite with my treasure there.
You see, If you are Strong & of a Good Courage to be Different, your possessions will look very different as well.
In their Possessions
On their Plate (Num. 13:23; 21:5)
The masses and Manna, Caleb & Joshua ate Pomegranates, figs, clusters of grapes, etc.
I’m not actually speaking of food here - but rather joy.
The COI said of the manna: Numbers 21:5 “And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.”
The masses got what they wanted, but it still didn’t make them happy.
There’s a multitude of people today that have what this world offers - and they’re not happy!
(Ill.) Yet, I saw a video the other day of a garbage collector being interviewed and he couldn’t stop smiling testifying of the goodness of God on his life!
You see, when you decide to be different - Spirit filled and led - it’ll give you a joy that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
On their plate
On their Progeny (Num. 14:31-34)
The biggest difference was on their children.
You can read in Jg. 1 about Caleb’s daughter who would marry Othniel and we see that when Achsah, Caleb’s daughter asked of her father: Judges 1:15 “And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.”
Not only did she get what she desired, but more so!
The masses, on the other hand - bore the sins of their parents.
LISTEN - DON’T THINK THAT YOUR SIN & HALF-HEARTEDNESS DOESN’T EFFECT YOUR CHILDREN! DON’T BE SO NAIVE TO THINK THAT YOU CAN BE JUST LIKE THE HEATHEN AND YOUR CHILDREN GET THROUGH UNSCATHED!
It doesn’t work like that!
Whether you’re different from the heathen, or just like them - the fruit that your life bears will be be so accordingly.

Conclusion

You must know that being different is not natural. It’s natural for us to want to be part of the club, the crowd. No one typically likes being an outcast.
This is why it’s going to take strength and courage.
Will you Be Strong and of a Good Courage to be Different?
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