A Gospel response to obstacles
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
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Open your Bibles to Numbers 14
Continuing in our year long series through the Bible, “The Gospel Story,” I’d like for us to look at the nation of Israel at a moment in their history that could have been a time of rejoicing but instead turned into a time of great despair.
How many of you love a challenge? The idea of something being difficult and you solving it or overcoming it to be victorious exilerates you?
How many of you just like things to be easy? No difficulties and you just get to coast?
Anyone here been through life without difficulties?
Trials and tribulations are promised by God and difficulties in life are just apart of it all.
Even when the Lord calls you to do something, it’s not promised to be easy.
In Numbers 14 we encounter the Israelites on the brink of entering the land promised to Abraham, the father of their nation. They send men to spy it out and when they returned…10 of the 12 men had the wrong perspective.
What’s your perspective of the trouble you face in life? Do you blame God? Do you roll over and give up? Do you complain about it expecting others to fix it for you? Or do you press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? Do you desire to run your race and finish well?
Let’s look at what the Israelites did when they were presented with their problems
1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
PRAY
I. God’s Promises are not without problems
I. God’s Promises are not without problems
God had promised the land to Abraham back in Genesis and now the Israelites are ready to go take it.
Yet instead of walking in and proclaiming victory, those chose to live by sight and not by faith.
They made a decision that any tactician would have advised. They chose to scout out the land.
22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
This was the first sin…they doubted God’s Word
This happened to Eve when she doubted God’s word about the fruit
This is spoken against throughout scripture
10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
The Lord has given no reason not to trust Him.
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.
Trusting in the Lord is a basic tenet of Christnaity. It’s hard to say you trust the Lord with your eternal soul and live as though he couldn’t handle a bank account, a relationship, a home issue, or anything else we face.
Israelites doubted God because His promise came with some problems.
They were only problems because they had the wrong perspective.
Notice their response to Moses and the ISraelites when they returned from spying out the land
26 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.
27 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.
28 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.
29 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.
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.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
10 of the men came back saying “the people are to great, the walls are too big, we can’t do it.”
We look back now, those who know the story of Joshua and his conquests of this promised land and think, “How silly. Why would they ever go against what God called them to do? Don’t they know that God will take care of them?”
I agree with you. It’s silly when the Israelites disobey God. Don’t they know they can trust His Word and His promises?
it’s also silly when New Testmaent Christians question God’s Word and promises.
He prmoised the Israelites tthat he would take care of them and give them the land if they went after it.
He promises us an abundant life when we live for Him. When we forgive as He calls us to forgive. When we tell others about Him. When we love Him and our neighbor. When we trust him with our financial choices, when we trust him with our job choices, when we trust him with our relationship choices.
When we trust the Word of God and live by faith we may do things we don’t feel like doing. And I don’t just mean your tired and don’t want to. I mean it goes against your flesh.
Forgiving someone who has wronged you when you don’t want to. Giving to the Lord when you don’t feel you should.
While we are emotional creatures and our feellings should not be ignored, we must adjust our feelings to our beliefs. Which means we may need to adjust our beliefs.
Your perspective of your problems in comparison to God’s promises shoulnd’t be based on how you feel about the problem. It should be based on what you believe about God.
God’s promises are not without problems. However,
II. Your life’s problems are not greater than God’s promises
II. Your life’s problems are not greater than God’s promises
God has made promises to you as a New testament Believer
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Which comes with a problem
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Should the problem prevent you from beliving the promise? No
Should it prevent you from living out the promise? No
God promised
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
The problem is you will have things to fear
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
See how this works?
God makes a promise, God tells you His will either through His Word or through that still small voice, and you decide that you are going to do it.
then the problems come.
Do they stop you?
Do you decide “By faith I’m going to increase my giving by 2%” and then an unexpected bill comes? What do you do?
Do you decide “I’m going to share the gospel or hand out an outreach card today.” and then you get to the window and the person is wearing a rainbow bracelet and your afraid of how they will respond. What do you do?
Do you decide “I’m going to serve in this ministry” and when you do it’s harder than you think. What do you do?
Do you decide “I’m going to forgive this person” and they do something else? What do you do?
See, God’s promises, God’s will is bigger than the problems you face because God knew those problems were coming when he told you His will.
When God told Abraham in Genesis that his people would inherit the land of Canaan, God knew that the walls of Jericho would be there. He knew the Amelekites and the giants would be there. He knew it all.
God knows the troubles you are going to face and yet He still said “If you do, I will”
If you live by faith, I will provide. Will it be easy? Will it be free of problems? Absolutely not.
Should you do it? Absolutely yes.
When we are unwilling to live by the promises of God because of our doubt of him being able to accomplish what He said He would do…we are challenging the Character of God.
Living as a follower of Christ requires faith.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
These Israelites lacked faith in God and what He said He would do.
They then allowed there lack of faith to infect the hearts of those around them. They began complaining about the problems they saw.
27 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.
28 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.
29 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.
They said “it is just like God promised…but there are some obstacles.”
10 of the 12 spies then went on to complain about the problems. That’s all they focused on.
Problems are always there. When you focus on, them that’s all you will see. When you perspective and your feelings are based on what you believe about God not what you believe about the problems, you will see solutions rather than issues.
Paul said it best
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Faith isn’t having all the answers, it’s trusting in the God that does.
This group of spies has come together, like a committee, and 10 of them are trying to spread discouragement in the camp.
Warren Weirsbe said this of committees
Someone has defined a committee as “a group of people who individually can do nothing and collectively decide nothing can be done.”
No matter how many are trying to tell you that what God has called to be done can’t be accomplished, you remain faithful
That’s what Caleb and Joshua did.
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.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
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.
9 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.
Throughout the Bible you will read of men and women doing amazing things in the name of God. What some would call impossible things.
They all started at the same place…A place of faith.
They all had problems…but none of those problems were greater than God’s promises
That’s why you need to understand that
III. Your Faith in God determines your perspective and actions
III. Your Faith in God determines your perspective and actions
What you believe determines how you feel and how you feel determines how you behave.
If you believe that sunshine is bad, you will hate sunshiny days and feel bad on them, resulting in your responding with an action to remove yourself from the uncomfortable situation.
You will go to your house, board yourself up and only come out when it is dark.
Joshua and Caleb had faith in God and were proving it by their willingness to take action.
What do you believe about God?
Do you believe He is all powerful? Do you live like it?
Do you believe He is loving and kind? Do you live like it?
Do you believe He has poured his grace out on your life? Do you extend that grace to others?
What you believe about God determines your actions.
What I believe happens is we believe get taught these things, you hear them preached you hear them taught and then when the time comes to apply them, you find yourself not willing to put up with the problems that are in the way of accomplishing what God has called you to do.
That leads us to complaining about our situation in life.
Ladies and gentlemen when we trust in the Lord with our lives and we are pursuing His will there is no place for complaining.
John Broadus said “An unthankful and complaining spirit is an abiding sin against God, and a cause of almost continual unhappiness; and yet how common such a spirit is. How prone we seem to be to forget the good that life knows, and remember and brood over its evil- to forget its joys, and remember only to complain.”
God has done and given us so much, that to have a complaining spirit is Disrespectful to God.
Warren Weirsbe said
Be Counted 3. Defying God’s Will (Num. 14:1–10)
When the child of God is in the will of God, there is no place for complaining, even if the circumstances are difficult. The will of God will never lead us where the grace of God can’t provide for us or the power of God protect us. If our daily prayer is, “Thy will be done,” and if we walk in obedience to God’s will, then what is there to complain about? A complaining spirit is evidence of an ungrateful heart and an unsurrendered will. By our grumbling, we’re daring to say that we know more than God does about what’s best for His people! “Do everything without complaining or arguing”
Wow…that can hit home.
The Jews that had been brought out of Egypt and witnessed the power of God, who ahd food provided for them, and their needs met were here at the place where the God who did it all for them has brought them to ready to proceed forward with His will and find themselves stopping because there has been a problem arise.
They were walking by sight and not by faith.
By sight we see the problems. By faith we see the provider.
When we find God’s will for our lives we are not to look at it as punishment.
Man, God wants me to give.
Man, God wants me to tell others about Him.
Man, God wants me to give of my time to serve on Sundays part of a ministry team.
Man, God wants me to love others, forgive as He forgave, live a life that glorifies Him.
Sounds awful doesn’t it. Only sounds awful if you look at the problems.
But when you look to the provider the conversation sounds like this.
God, you want me to support and be apart of what you are doing in my community financially? Thank you
God, you want me to share your good news and be apart of the miracle of salvation? Of course. Praise your name!
God, you want me to be in your service in a local church context and be a blessing to others? Thank you!
God, you want a sinner like me, to show others who you are by how I live my life? Of course God. It’s the least I could do for you.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
So, what do you believe about God?
Do you allow your belief about God to determine your feelings about life’s circumstances? or you do you regress back to your fleshly thoughts and not move forward by faith?
Do you believe God’s promises are greater than your problems?
will you choose to live your life based upon what you believe about God or will you be like the Israelites complain?
God forgave and didn’t destroy the Israelites for their complaining and grumbling. But being a just and holy God He punished their sin.
They would now walk aimlessly 40 years in the desert.
Jonah went to a whales belly.
Are you willing to accept God’s forgiveness and chastening for your unfaithfulness? Becuase you can and will recieve both.
Time of Response
Time of Response
Christians, those who have trusted in Jesus as your Savior. What are you being unfaithful to the Lord with right now? What are you not trusting Him wholly with?
Whatever the Holy Spirit just brought to your mind, confess it as sin, repent of it, and move forward by faith.