Sermon Tone Analysis
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A CHALLENGE TO THE COMFORTABLE
*TEXT: Numbers 13:1-3*
*INTRODUCTION: *Whoever created the "snooze button" should win a Nobel Prize!
I love the "snooze button."
I confess...
I sometimes set my alarm and when it goes off, I reach over and hit the snooze alarm to get another few minutes of sleep.
I love that luxurious feeling of semi-conscienceness when you snuggle back under the covers knowing you have at least another ten minutes of blissful comfort.
The challenges and hardships of the day can wait another ten minutes.
The snooze button symbolizes the mentality of so many of us.
We would rather stay in bed than get up and face the day.
We would rather eat anything we want than watch our weight.
We would rather spend our money foolishly than invest it wisely.
We would rather sit on the sofa and watch TV than do all those much-needed chores around the house.
We would rather sit in the pew than get involved in a ministry.
We would rather use our finances selfishly than joyfully give to God's work.
We would rather be comfortable than accept a challenge.
The problem is, God always challenges us.
He can be compared to that alarm clock that buzzes in our ear.
In the same way you make sure your children get up and meet the challenges that lay before them, God is ever poking, prodding and leading us from our comfortable slumber.
Rom.13:11 says, "*It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed*."
God always challenges His people.
As He challenged Moses and the people of Israel so many years ago.
He challenges us today.
As a church, God has set many great challenges before us.
He is calling us to get up, to go to work... not to hit the snooze button.
From this account of God's dealings with Israel, we'll learn three truths about how God challenges His people to accomplish His will.
!
I. OUR CHALLENGE DETERMINES OUR PROVISION (13:1-25)
*/In other words, God never challenges us to do what He will not enable us to do!/*
!! A. God challenged Israel to spy out the Promised Land (vv.1-16).
!!! 1. Through His leader, "*Moses*," God had brought 2 million Israelis out of slavery in Egypt to the edge of the land He had promised to give them.
!!! 2. This was their ancestral home.
The land God had promised to their patriarch Abraham would now belong to his descendants forever.
!!! 3. At this time, the land was occupied by strange people known as Canaanites.
!!! 4. God said that Moses was to "*send men to spy out the land*."
Read v.2 again.
Did you get a significant insight?
Did you catch the most important word?
It's right in the middle of the verse.
God was "*giving*" to His people this land.
He simply wanted them to see it first.
\\ !!! 5. Moses selected "*heads*" or leaders from each of the tribes of Israel.
Their names are listed in vv.4-16.
Among them were two notable figures, "*Caleb*" and "*Oshea*" or "*Joshua*" whose name means "Savior."
!! B. The spies were on a fact-finding mission in the Promised Land (vv.17-20).
!!! 1.
In v.16, the phrase "*spy out*" comes from a Hebrew term that means "secretly search."
They were on a top secret reconnaissance mission!
!!! 2. They were to recon for specific information: the strength and population of the people, the quality of the land, the defenses of the cities, the quality of the resources, soil and timber (cf.
*vv.18-20a)*.
!!! 3. They were also to "bring some of the fruit of the land" because it was the season of "the first ripe grapes."
!! C. The spies found great abundance in the Promised Land (vv.21-25).
!!! 1. V.25 tells us that they traveled on their data-gathering mission for "*forty days*."
They traveled in each region, climbing the mountains, working their way through the valleys.
They saw it all.
They were definitely impressed!
Later they would describe it as a land that "*flows with milk and honey*," a land of amazing abundance (v.27).
!!! 2. As proof of their report, v.23 says they "cut down a branch with one [that's singular, just ONE cluster!] cluster of grapes, they carried it between two of them on a pole."
!!! 3. They also took what must have been amazing "*pomegranates and figs*."
!! D. When God gives us a challenge, He promises to help us meet that challenge!
!!! 1.
He will never challenge us to do something He will not enable us to do!
!!! 2. Look back to v.2.
They were to "*send men to spy out the land of Canaan which I am...* going to let you fight for?
asking you to conquer on your own? asking you to purchase from its inhabitants?"
NO! God told them to spy out the land that He was "*GIVING to the children of Israel*."
!!! 3. Did God promise the challenge would be easy?
No. Did He say the road would be smooth?
No. His simple promise was, "*Go take a look at what I am going to give to you*."
!!! 4. God's challenge was a test of their faith.
He not only wanted them to have a desire for the land, but also a good look at their adversaries.
He wanted them to turn to Him in faith in order to conquer these powerful people.
!!! 5. God challenges us as individual believers.
Maybe God has challenged you with a new ministry, but it seems impossible.
Maybe God has challenged you to do something for your family but it seems impossible.
Maybe God has challenged you to give money, time or resources you don't have.
Rise to that challenge!
God will provide.
!!! 6. God challenges us as corporate believers, as a CHURCH.
As a church, we believe that God has challenged us to ministries and building programs
!
II.
OUR FAITH DETERMINES OUR VISION (13:26-33).
!! A. Together, the spies gave a report on the condition of the land (vv.26-27).
!!! 1.
All 12 spies "came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel" where they were camped at "Kadesh" in the "Wilderness of Paran."
!!! 2. Imagine the anticipation of the people.
In just a little while they would leave the dusty desert and enter into their homeland.
No doubt they talked of the homes they would build, the fields they would farm, the businesses they would start.
They wouldn't have to eat manna.
They would have no Egyptian masters.
Just wait till the spies get back to camp...
!!! 3. Imagine the oos and ahs as the spies "*showed them the fruit of the land*."
As they saw the giant cluster of grapes and the other produce, they could literally see themselves living in such a land forever.
!!! 4. They all hushed when the spies said, "It truly flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit."
!!! 5. The people no doubt roared their approval.
Perhaps there was thunderous ovation, whistles and shouts of triumph.
Their vision was complete.
They said, "*What are we waiting for... let's move in*."
!! B. Ten of the spies gave a fearful report of their enemies (vv.28-29).
!!! 1.
In the NKJV, the first word in v.28 is "Nevertheless."
It could just as easily be translated, "but...." "It truly flows with milk and honey... but..." "It's a great place to live, but..."
!!! 2. The "but" was "*the people who dwell in the land are strong*."
They had a strong military force.
"*The cities are fortified and very large*" In other words, they were pretty much impregnable.
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