Participants:
Series Code: HC
Program Code: HC190013S
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00:49 Hello and welcome once again to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting
00:54 2019 Living Above The Crowd. 00:58 Isn't it wonderful? 01:00 Are you having a good time here? 01:03 If you are, say Hallelujah! 01:04 HALLELUJAH! Whoo! 01:07 We wish that you at home could have joined us 01:09 but we're glad that you're watching on television 01:11 or listening by the Internet. 01:13 It is my pleasure to introduce our featured speaker 01:17 Pastor Doug Batchelor. 01:19 He is the president of Amazing Facts. 01:22 Senior Pastor for the Granite Bay SDA Church in California. 01:27 But I'm going to tell you something y'all don't know. 01:31 Doug... When I first joined the SDA church 01:35 we lived in Coleman, Texas. 01:37 We joined the church that had a membership of 10 people. 01:41 Doug used to pastor that church. 01:44 I think he said there were maybe 8 people. 01:46 I'll let him straighten me out, 01:48 but we both started in Coleman, Texas. 01:51 How amazing! 01:52 Well he has brought us some wonderful messages! 01:56 It has just been... Climbing The Tree of Life. 01:59 Persisting Into His Presence. 02:01 And it won't disappoint today because he is going to talk 02:05 about Resisting Grasshopper Thinking. 02:09 And that's important. But before he does 02:12 Ladye Love Smith, who is just a precious sister in the Lord 02:16 and probably one of my favorite fe... not... 02:19 Yes! Not probably, IS one of my favorite female vocalists... 02:24 is going to sing a song. Ladye Love, come on out. 02:27 She is going to sing God Knows. 02:32 Thank you. 02:47 You think there's no one out there 02:52 who understands or cares. 02:56 And you feel God would not listen 03:00 if you even had a prayer. 03:04 Your faith has been so shaken 03:08 you can't get down on your knees. 03:12 And disappointment is keeping you 03:17 from saying "Father, please. " 03:22 God knows. 03:26 God knows. 03:30 He feels the pain 03:34 you bear. 03:38 God knows. 03:42 God knows. 03:47 God knows 03:50 and God cares. 04:03 He's calling in the silence 04:07 you do not hear a sound. 04:11 He whispers to your spirit 04:16 when answers can't be found 04:20 saying: "Fear not, I am with you 04:24 right where I've always been. 04:28 So cast your cares upon Me; 04:32 I am your dearest Friend. " 04:38 God knows. 04:42 God knows. 04:46 He feels the pain 04:50 you bear. 04:54 God knows. 04:58 God knows. 05:03 God knows 05:07 and God cares. 05:12 God knows. 05:16 God knows. 05:19 He feels the pain 05:24 you bear. 05:28 God knows. 05:32 God knows. 05:37 God knows 05:41 and God cares. 05:46 God knows 05:54 and God 05:57 cares. 06:01 He does! He says: "I'll never leave you or forsake you. " 06:05 God knows every situation in your life 06:08 and He cares. 06:12 God 06:15 cares. 06:20 Amen! 06:24 Amen! Thank you so much, Ladye Love. 06:28 Happy Sabbath! Amen! 06:30 Boy, I tell you it's been a wonderful day. 06:33 It's been exciting. I've done a little crying, 06:34 a little laughing. 06:36 Did a lot of laughing. 06:38 But it's been a joy to be with you. 06:40 It's wonderful to just come around and visit 06:42 and hear the exciting testimonies 06:45 and get to know brothers and sisters in the Lord. 06:49 It's always good to be back here at 3ABN. 06:53 I think it's been twenty-five years or so... 06:56 Well, it's longer than that. It's before... yeah. 06:59 Uh-huh, yeah. I'm looking at Karen 07:02 while I'm doing some math in my head right now. 07:04 And I'm not very good at that. 07:05 But, yeah, it must be twenty-seven years. 07:08 'Cause 3ABN started airing a tape we taped at Carmichael 07:13 it's been over twenty-seven years ago. 07:16 And so yeah, it's been fun just watching the way the Lord has 07:20 blessed the ministry and seeing it grow. 07:24 I remember when I first started coming everything was 07:25 all in one building over there. 07:27 And I'd come in late at night from Sacramento 07:30 and Mitch was here. He just prayed with me. 07:32 He was there waiting. He'd be up all night long 07:35 at master control watching the dials. 07:36 I'd bang on the door and they'd let me go in. 07:38 They had this attic bedroom guest room we'd stay in. 07:42 And it's just been fun to see how God has blessed 07:46 and blossomed. You know, as long as 07:48 you keep the main thing the main thing 07:51 God is going to bless. I'll tell you why. 07:55 Why did Jesus come into the world? 07:58 To seek and to save the lost. 08:00 What are the last words that Jesus said as He 08:02 ascended to heaven? "Go and teach all nations. " 08:08 Jesus wants to see people saved. 08:10 The most important thing to the Lord is that people get saved. 08:14 If you say "Lord, will You send me? 08:16 Use me in reaching others. " He will bless you. 08:19 Even if you don't do everything right, He'd rather you do 08:22 something and maybe make a mistake 08:24 than to do nothing very well. 08:27 And so I think if we make an effort the Lord... 08:29 I might not be perfect but I want You to use me 08:31 in reaching others He will bless you. Amen! 08:34 Didn't the Lord use the apostles 08:36 to go out teaching and preaching? 08:38 And they still had a few things to learn along the way, 08:41 didn't they? So don't wait until you feel like you're perfect 08:44 before God uses you. If you start with a dream 08:46 and a vision to reach others, God will bless you 08:49 and He'll teach you in the process. Take my word for it. 08:52 So it has just been a joy to see how God has blessed 08:56 over the years. We're going to be talking 08:59 in keeping with our theme: Living Above The Crowd 09:02 today the message is To Avoid Grasshopper Thinking. 09:08 And I'd like to begin with just a little story. 09:10 An amazing fact if you will. I love history. 09:13 I'm reading another book right now about Magellan's 09:16 journey around the world, and I'm fascinated by history. 09:19 I keep stopping Karen and telling her: "This is what's 09:21 happening and this is what's happening. It's so incredible! " 09:24 One of the other great adven- tures that I enjoy reading about 09:27 was the Lewis and Clark expedition. 09:30 In fact, I don't know if you've ever fantasized 09:33 that you could go back in time when you would want to go. 09:36 I know there's a lot of places I wouldn't want to go back 09:39 in time. But one place I thought would really be something 09:41 is to be part of that expedition and go across the U.S. 09:45 when it was so pure and it was so grand. 09:48 They waited for a day and a half for one buffalo herd to cross 09:51 a creek. I mean, they saw birds darken the sky 09:56 for six hours flocks of them so big that they just blocked out 09:59 the sun. The wildlife and the natural wonders they saw! 10:03 And for them to see it for the first time! It was so amazing. 10:05 And the reason it all happened is because Napoleon 10:08 ran out of money. 10:11 Napoleon ran out of money and he sent a message 10:14 which went very slowly - they didn't have Internet back then - 10:17 to Jefferson that he was willing to sell 10:20 what we know now as the Louisiana Purchase 10:23 which is a great big swath. It's about one-third of the US. 10:28 And it's like a million dollars. 10:29 I don't know... it wasn't a lot of money. 10:31 No, I think we bought Alaska from the Russians for a million. 10:33 How much did we pay for Greenland? 10:35 I forgot. Oh, that hasn't happened yet. 10:37 I'm sorry... that's another one. 10:41 Anyway, so it may have been a few million dollars 10:44 but it was nothing and he's buying... he's buying 10:48 1/3 of the United States from the French. 10:50 And Jefferson... he had to work on Congress. And they bought it. 10:53 So he gets this expedition together. 10:54 He says: "We bought it but we don't know what it is 10:57 so we've gotta look at it. " So he gets these 43 men 11:00 from 1804 to 1806 and he sends them. 11:03 They start by foot in Pittsburgh 11:05 but the mission really begins in St. Louis. 11:08 And they end up going all the way to the Pacific Ocean. 11:11 They're looking for... First of all they wanted to 11:13 make sure they claimed it before the British and the Spanish did. 11:18 Secondly, they wanted to find out... 11:21 Jefferson... he was a scientist and a farmer. 11:23 He said: "Get the animals and the plants and find out what's 11:26 going on with the country. What kind of wildlife there is 11:29 and make some notes. " And then to establish trade 11:32 with the native tribes along the way. 11:35 They took off on this journey. It was just such an epic 11:38 adventure. And to live with them and see the wonders that 11:41 they saw and the courage... never knowing what was around 11:45 the next bend. Some of the Indians told them, they said: 11:48 "As you go West you're going to see some big bears. " 11:51 They said: "Ah... " You know, they were used to all the black 11:55 bears in Kentucky. You know, little teddy bears. 11:58 And the Indians said: "No, these are BIG bears. " 12:00 And they were very curious. 12:02 Lewis writes: "Very curious to find out what these big bears 12:05 were. " Said: "We've got Kentucky rifles. We're not 12:08 afraid of any big bears. " 12:10 And Merriweather Lewis and one of the hunters were out 12:13 looking for game and they ran into their first grizzly. 12:17 And along the way they had to shoot 2 or 3 grizzlies. 12:20 They got chased by them and they had to unload like 12:22 half of their rifles into one bear. 12:25 And Lewis records: "The curiosity of the men has 12:29 been fully satisfied. " 12:33 So it was a wonderful... it was a wonderful story 12:36 of how they barely... Only one man died: appendicitis 12:39 of all things. It was an incredible journey. 12:41 Eight thousand miles, and they were hoping they'd find 12:46 a waterway across the Northwest Passage 12:49 but they didn't. 12:51 But one of the reasons that Jefferson did that: 12:54 he was thinking about a story in the Bible. 12:59 You know, Jefferson didn't believe all the miracles in the 13:02 Bible but he did believe the Bible was a historical book. 13:06 And he read where the children of Israel were going to take 13:09 possession of a land that God had given them 13:12 but they had not looked at it in generations 13:15 and nobody including Moses had ever been there. 13:18 And he said: "We've gotta send an expedition to find out 13:21 what it is. " We're going to go to that story in the Bible. 13:24 So if you have your Bibles you might want to turn 13:26 to the book of Numbers chapter 13 13:29 and I'll start with verse 1. 13:33 "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying: 13:36 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan 13:39 that I am giving to the children of Israel. 13:42 From each man of the fathers you'll send a man, 13:45 every one a leader among them. ' 13:46 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran 13:50 according to the command of the Lord 13:51 all of them who were heads of the children of Israel. " 13:53 They simply sent one leader - maybe Democraticically chosen - 13:57 from each tribe. And I'm not going to even read 14:00 all the names of the characters that were chosen 14:02 because they sort of evaporated into insignificance 14:06 in history with the exception of two names. 14:09 You had one by the name of Caleb from the tribe of Judah 14:13 and you had Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim. 14:18 And so then you can pick it up here 14:21 in Numbers chapter 13 verse 17. 14:23 "So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan. 14:26 And he said to them: 'Go up this way into the South. 14:29 Go into the mountains; see what the land is like. 14:32 Whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, 14:35 few or many. Whether the land they live in 14:38 is good or bad. Whether the cities they inhabit 14:40 are like camps, villages, or stronghold cities. 14:44 Whether the land is rich or poor. 14:46 Whether there are forests or not. 14:48 Be of good courage. ' " 14:50 Don't be afraid. 14:51 "And bring some of the fruit. " Bring samples back. 14:54 "Now the time was the season of first-ripe grapes. 14:58 So in obedience with their commission they went up 15:00 and they spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin 15:03 as far as Rehob near the entrance of Hamath. 15:06 And they went up through the South and they came to Hebron. 15:09 Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak 15:12 were there. " Now Anak is a king 15:15 who has a bed that's 13 feet long. 15:17 Goliath is only 9-1/2 feet. 15:21 So when they talk later about the Anakum, just be thinking 15:25 a race of giants. 15:27 "Now the Anakim were there. 15:29 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol... " 15:32 I'm in verse 23... 15:34 "and there they cut down a branch 15:35 with one cluster of grapes... " 15:37 The word Eshcol means cluster. 15:40 "that was so big they carried it between two of them on a pole. " 15:45 Can you imagine that? 15:47 You invite somebody over for breakfast, 15:49 say: "You want a grape? " 15:51 Not a grapefruit... a grape! 15:55 These were huge! That's why they called it 15:56 "a land flowing with milk and honey. " 15:59 It literally was a land... It's not just a figure of speech 16:02 or a metaphor. You can read in the Bible 16:05 that when Jonathan was going through the woods 16:07 during a war it says: "Honey dripped from the trees 16:10 and puddled on the ground. " And he stuck his pole in it. 16:13 You remember that? 16:14 And there was so much vegetation greenery and flowers 16:17 that the goats and the cows when they ate 16:19 their udders would squirt milk as they walked. 16:21 It doesn't say that but I'm imagining that because... 16:26 I used to have goats. 16:28 And if you didn't milk them on time 16:30 they'd start without me. 16:33 It's true! 16:34 So... land "flowing with milk and honey. " 16:39 And so it says they cut down a big cluster of grapes 16:42 and they brought some of the pomegranates and the figs 16:46 and the place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the 16:49 grapes that they cut down there. 16:51 "And they returned from spying the land after forty days. 16:55 And they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron 16:57 and all the congregation of Israel 17:00 in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh Barnea. 17:03 They brought back word to them. " Now, 17:05 I've gotta just pause here and tell you that there was a big 17:07 difference between 2 of them and 10 of them. 17:12 Two of the spies, as they crossed over the Jordan River 17:16 and they saw the land around Jericho, 17:19 they said: "Will you look at those springs of water! " 17:22 "Look at the date trees and the palms! " 17:25 "What a beautiful place... it's an oasis! " 17:28 Ten of them said: "Look at the people! 17:31 Look at their fortifications! Look at the walls! 17:33 How could we ever conquer a city with walls that big? " 17:36 And it was that way the whole trip for 40 days. 17:39 You had two people that had a lot of good news 17:43 and ten people that had a lot of bad news. 17:46 Two of them were very positive and believed; 17:49 ten of them only saw the obstacles and the problems. 17:53 They came up to the area of Hebron where the Anakim lived 17:58 and the people... ten of the spies said: 18:01 "Oh, look at this! This is a race of giants! " 18:04 "We're like grasshoppers. How can we conquer people 18:06 like this? They're HUGE! " 18:08 "We've never fought anyone like this. There's no one like 18:10 this in Egypt. " 18:12 And Caleb said: "Wow! Look at the rich soil! 18:15 Look at the springs of water! " 18:18 And the go up into the land of the North: Carmel 18:22 not too far from Eschol 18:25 and they see the Amalekites and the Jebusites 18:30 and the Hittites and the termites 18:31 and they see all these different nations 18:33 and they say: "How could we conquer all of these nations? " 18:40 And that's where they cut down the cluster of grapes. 18:42 And it says two of them carried it. 18:43 Which two do you think are doing it? 18:46 Joshua and Caleb said: "Oh, we've gotta take these back 18:48 to the camp. We've gotta do it before it turns into raisins. " 18:52 So right after they cut the cluster they said: 18:54 "Let's head back now. " Their pockets are bulging. 18:57 Joshua and Caleb. You know, they've got figs and they've got 19:00 pomegranates and pomelos and dates 19:02 and there's probably a cloud of fruit flies following them 19:05 as they head back down towards the children of Israel. 19:08 And they're so excited. Now they're also... they're 19:11 smart and they know: "Look, these guys are just bad news. 19:14 All they see is the problems. " 19:17 And they said: "We'd better get there and set the tone 19:20 before they start talking or they're going to bring everybody 19:22 down. They're just... Every- thing they see is a problem, 19:25 problem, obstacle, problem. " 19:26 And Joshua and Caleb said: "Look, this is the Promised 19:28 Land. It's called the Promised Land because God promised 19:32 to give it to us! 19:33 Why would God promise to give it to us 19:35 if He couldn't give it to us? " 19:39 Now most people agree that Jesus... believers... 19:43 came and died for the sins of the world. 19:46 But even among Christians there are still a lot of people 19:49 that doubt that He's big enough to save them. 19:53 They say: "I hope to be saved. " 19:54 "It might be nice but I'm such a sinner. " 19:57 They have more faith in their sin than God's power to save. 20:00 They think the devil is good at tempting them 20:05 and they know how easy it is to fall into temptation 20:08 but they lack faith that Jesus is able to keep them. 20:12 So in reality their devil is bigger than their Savior. 20:16 So Joshua and Caleb outrun the other ten negative spies. 20:22 They're supposed to be bringing a report of how wonderful 20:25 the Promised Land is, and they're going to tell them 20:26 how inaccessible the Promised Land is. 20:31 God have mercy if any pastors ever do that. 20:34 We're supposed to be messengers that tell people 20:37 "You can make it. " 20:39 So notice what happens. 20:42 "They came back to the children of Israel, to the congregation. 20:45 They showed them the fruit of the land. " I'm in verse 27. 20:47 Numbers 13:27. 20:49 "And they told him and they said: 'We went to the land 20:53 you sent us and truly it flows with milk and honey 20:56 and this is the fruit. ' " And I just can picture that: 20:58 Caleb and Joshua plucking off grapes and saying: 21:00 "Dodge! Heads up! Here comes another one! Heads up! " 21:03 And they're throwing grapes and dates and pomelos and figs 21:06 and things. And everybody's having a food fight! 21:08 And everyone's going: "Oh, oh! Look at all the fruit! 21:10 This is wonderful! " They're rejoicing. 21:12 And then the other ten came dragging in. 21:16 You notice instantly the conversation changes. 21:20 They butt in and say: "Wait, Wait! Don't get too excited. " 21:23 Verse 28: "Nevertheless people who dwell in the land 21:26 are strong and the cities are fortified and very large. " 21:31 They started talking about the walls of Jericho and they said: 21:33 "We'll never be able to knock down those walls. " 21:36 They had no idea that God's got a thousand ways 21:40 to deal with our problems when we can't see one. 21:44 And by the way, God is not always going to give you 21:48 the answer to your problem before you need it. 21:51 You can't move forward with the Lord and say: "I'm not 21:54 going to take a step until I know how it's all going to 21:56 work out. " God very often does not supply what you need 22:00 until the very moment you need it. 22:02 People sometimes ask me: "Pastor Doug, do you think 22:04 you have enough faith to die, be tortured for Christ? " 22:08 I said: "Not now I don't. 22:10 But I'm hoping if, heaven forbid, that ever happens 22:12 I trust that He will then give it to me when I need it. " 22:16 But I'm not going to worry about having it now 22:18 because I'd spend my whole life worried about it. 22:20 Instead I want to believe that God's going to give me 22:23 what I need when I need it. 22:24 Amen! And how many times in your life 22:27 at the last minute God moves the mountain, He parts the water. 22:32 And then you say: "Oh Lord, why did I not believe sooner 22:36 that You could provide for me when the time comes? " 22:41 I remember hearing about a story. 22:43 My father was a pilot in World War II. 22:45 He flew during D-Day in Europe, 22:48 but this is a story from the Pacific. 22:50 And some soldiers ran out of fuel flying - 22:56 some pilots and a crew - 22:58 in Japanese-held territory. And the only place 23:01 they could put down the plane they just sputtered in 23:03 running out of fuel. And they sputtered in, they landed 23:06 on an abandoned field but it was an island. 23:08 The other end of the island was held by the Japanese. 23:10 They know that Japanese spies saw them come in 23:13 and they knew it'd only be matter of a day or so 23:15 before they got from one end of the island to the other 23:18 to arrest them. They had no lifeboats 23:21 or anything to get away and they nearly despaired. 23:24 They were just waiting to either be killed 23:26 or be captured and spend the rest of the war 23:29 in a prisoner of war camp. 23:31 But there was a chaplain in the group. 23:33 Said: "Men, we shouldn't lose hope. " 23:35 They're all saying: "Where're we going to go? 23:36 We're out of fuel... there's nothing we can do. " 23:38 "So let's pray. " And he encou- raged them all to come together 23:41 and they had a prayer meeting. 23:44 And so they prayed and even- tually some of them drifted off 23:47 to sleep. And then the next morning one of the sailors just 23:49 felt impressed to go up and walk along the beach. 23:52 And he went up from the dirt field where they landed. 23:56 Went down to the beach... started walking along. 23:58 And he saw something bobbing in the water. 24:01 And it was a large canister of aviation fuel. 24:08 And he went and hooted... woke up his friends. 24:10 They came and they wrestled this can 24:12 up the shore and up onto the field. 24:14 They somehow pumped it into the wings 24:16 and they had enough runway to take off... barely 24:19 clipping the palm trees, 24:20 and they escaped to friendly territory. 24:24 Before they took off, one of them took a note of the serial 24:28 number and wrote it down of the can. 24:31 And it turns out the can had been jettisoned by another ship 24:35 when they realized they were under... They were carrying fuel 24:37 and a whole bunch of tanks had been jettisoned by another 24:40 American ship when it was under a torpedo attack 24:43 from the Japanese a thousand miles away. 24:47 And none of the other cans was ever recovered, and this can 24:50 somehow drifted 1,000 miles. 24:52 It went by 25 other islands 24:55 and it washed up on the shore 24:58 of the pilots that needed it the morning after they prayed. 25:05 God always gives you what you need at the very minute 25:08 you need it. Amen! 25:10 All things are possible with God. 25:12 "Oh, " they said, 10 of the spies, "we can't do it. " 25:17 "We saw the descendants of Anak there. " Verse 29. 25:20 "Amalekites dwell in the land of the South. 25:22 The Hittites and the Jebusites... " 25:25 How little did they know that one of the most famous 25:27 Israeli soldiers was going to be Uriah the Hittite. 25:31 They thought they were enemies. They even converted 25:32 some of them. "The Jebusites and the Amorites 25:36 dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea 25:38 along the banks of Jordan. " And they were so depressed 25:43 and so discouraged and spent so much time focusing 25:45 on the problems. And all the people are passing along 25:48 the bad news. Pretty soon this cloud of discouragement 25:50 and unbelief swept over the whole congregation. 25:54 Now keep in mind these are the people 25:56 who had just escaped from the mightiest empire in the world. 26:00 Through the power of God they had seen ten plagues 26:04 unlike anything you've ever seen fall on their enemies. 26:06 God had taken them by the hand with a mighty hand. 26:09 With an outstretched arm He brought down plagues 26:13 on their enemies and through the seven last plagues, 26:15 you know there were 10 plagues to fall on Egypt, 26:17 the Israelis experienced the first 3 of the 10 26:20 but He protected them from the last seven plagues. 26:24 How many plagues does Revelation talk about? 26:26 Seven. Are you worried about that tribulation? 26:29 Did God protect them through that tribulation? 26:32 Will He save us through that tribulation? Yes! 26:36 And they said: "We'll never make it! " 26:38 And all the people of Israel began to get discouraged. 26:43 They began to lift up their voices and cry. 26:45 And you read in verse 30: "Caleb quieted the people 26:48 before Moses. " Now why'd he have to quiet them? 26:51 They're all moaning and saying: "Oy vey! " 26:54 "We're never going to make it! Why did God bring us? " 26:56 They forgot all the miracles. They forgot the bread 26:58 from heaven they saw every morning. 27:00 They forgot the glory of God was within sight. 27:06 You know if you listen to the devil for 5 minutes 27:08 you can forget a whole lifetime of victory. 27:11 It's amazing how quickly we can forget all our blessings 27:15 and focus on one little dot of discouragement. 27:19 And he had to quiet the people 27:21 because he could see they were moaning and losing faith. 27:23 And he said: "Let us go up! " Not only let us go up: 27:25 "Let us go up at once and take it. " 27:27 He'd just come back. You'd think he'd want to spend the night. 27:29 He'd just come back from a 40-day expedition. 27:32 He said: "Let us go up at once and take possession 27:34 for we are well able to overcome it. " 27:38 One of the first evangelistic meetings I ever went to was 27:41 in the little town of Covelo. An evangelist named Monty Jones. 27:45 And that's where I first heard the song He's Able. 27:48 And for some of you who grew up in the church you've heard it 27:51 for years. I'd never heard it before. It's a great song! 27:53 He's able; He's able... I KNOW He's able! 27:55 So I started doing it at all our evangelistic meetings. 27:58 If you ever watch Net New York and some of the others 28:01 we always sang He's Able. 28:02 We've gotta remember He IS ABLE. 28:05 "But the men who had gone up with him said: 28:08 'We are not able. ' " 28:11 So you've gotta make up your mind. 28:13 Who are you gonna believe? 28:15 The majority? Or the faithful minority? 28:21 What's our message about? Living Above The Crowd. 28:24 Now wait a second. How many of those spies were church members? 28:28 All! 28:30 No, Pastor... tell me it ain't so. 28:33 That... that they were leaders! 28:37 It says: "They picked every one a leader among them. " 28:40 And they started telling the people: "No you can't do it. " 28:44 "The enemy's too big. " 28:46 And they said: "You know let's just get comfortable 28:47 right here in the desert forever. " 28:49 Or: "Let's go back to Egypt and be slaves! " 28:52 That's what their options were. 28:55 And you know I'm shocked as I go around and I hear people 28:58 say: "Well I know Jesus claims to forgive our sins 29:01 but He doesn't really expect us to like stop sinning. " 29:06 "I mean does He expect us to have like victory over sin? 29:09 Let's not get carried away! 29:11 I mean He's not able to do that! " 29:12 Can the devil tempt us to sin? 29:13 Yeah, of course, the devil: he's really good at what he does. 29:16 But can God save us from sin? "Oh, no... " 29:19 "The Amalekites are too big. " 29:22 "And the Jebusites and the Hittites and all of them: 29:26 they're too big! The Himites and the Herites 29:29 and all of them are too big 29:31 and we can't overcome. " 29:34 So Joshua said: "We are well able. " 29:37 Caleb said: "We are well able. " 29:40 The others said: "We are not able. " 29:43 You and I are faced with who you want to believe today. 29:47 The Bible tells me angel comes to Zechariah. 29:52 He comes to Mary. They said: "How can these things be? " 29:56 Zechariah says: "We're too old. " 29:58 Angel said: "You should have believed. Now you're not going 30:00 to get to say anything until John is born. " 30:04 Mary says: "But I'm not married yet. " 30:06 And the angel says: "With God all things are possible. " Amen! 30:11 All things are possible to God. 30:13 "I can do all things through Christ. " 30:15 You know, I get so exasperated because 30:18 when I came to the Lord you know I was drinking 30:21 and smoking and stealing and cursing. 30:23 And I was just you know... I was a big zero. 30:30 I think it was Martin Luther that said: 30:32 "God creates from nothing so until you become nothing 30:35 He can do nothing with you. " 30:37 And once you realize you've reached the bottom 30:41 and you surrender and you are crucified with Christ 30:43 He can re-create you then and make you a new creature. 30:47 But you must be broken. 30:49 "He that falls on the rock and is broken... " 30:51 There's hope for him. 30:54 And God helped me quit smoking and drinking 30:58 and cursing. And it's not because I don't have the freedom 31:01 to do those things. And you know what? I know what all 31:03 the curse words are. I still remember them. 31:06 I don't say them... I don't think about them 31:08 because I'm a new person now. 31:11 And so when people start telling me and making all these excuses 31:15 for sin I just think: "I don't want to hear that. " 31:18 Don't tell me you can't with Christ. 31:21 That's right. Because... I'll tell you what 31:25 the rest of the story is. 31:27 If you don't believe you can, then you can't. 31:32 Amen! Jesus said: "Be it unto you 31:35 according to your faith. " 31:37 "All things are possible to him that believes. " 31:42 "But the men who had gone up said: 'We are not able. 31:45 The people are stronger than we. ' " 31:46 Well, he was right but that doesn't matter. 31:49 Yeah, they did not have as much military experience. 31:52 They were outnumbered. 31:54 They were under fortified. 31:56 But none of that matters because you and God 31:59 are always a majority. 32:01 The Bible promise is that "one of you will chase a thousand. " 32:06 So the numbers never matter. 32:08 Jonathan and his armor bearer go up against the Philistines 32:11 and Jonathan says to his armor bearer: 32:13 "There is no restraint with the Lord to deliver by few or many. 32:16 And I realize we're terribly outnumbered 32:18 but I think with God we can take on that garrison. " 32:21 So the two of them take on a garrison of Philistines 32:24 and they win. And they both survive and the Philistines fall 32:28 because they believe. 32:30 Don't underestimate what God can do. 32:33 And is there any area in your life 32:36 that you've not conquered the Hittites and the Jebusites 32:41 and you've just gotten comfortable? 32:43 You know, when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land 32:45 God said: "Now don't let up until you've driven them out 32:50 because if you don't drive them out, they will be 32:54 thorns in your side and splinters in your eyes. " 32:58 And you know, after they got comfortable in the land 33:01 they said: "Well, you know, we've kind of whittled them down 33:03 to size. We don't need to drive them completely out. " 33:06 Moses said: "Don't do that because you're going to start 33:08 making alliances with them and your sons are going to marry 33:11 them. They're going to start eroding your faith. 33:13 You don't settle until you've driven them out 33:15 and you are free indeed. " 33:18 You know what's happened to the church is we got comfortable 33:20 with a little bit of the world 33:22 and started compromising with the world. 33:25 Started saying: "Wow! " And you know what? Those nations... 33:29 while they weren't watching those nations began to grow 33:31 again and they started inter- marrying with their children. 33:35 And they started compromising their beliefs. 33:37 And next thing you know they were worshiping their gods. 33:40 And it all happened in the Promised Land 33:42 because they began to settle for too little. 33:47 God said: "I want you to have complete victory. " 33:50 They said: "Oh, we'd better tolerate some enemies 33:54 among us. " Is there any area in your life 33:57 where the devil still has a foothold? 34:01 "If the Son will make you free, you shall be free indeed. " 34:05 You've gotta believe either the 10 spies or the 2. 34:10 You need to live above the crowd. 34:12 Don't... Sometimes you can't always go with the majority 34:15 report. "And they gave the children of Israel a bad report 34:19 of the Promised Land. " Can you imagine that? 34:21 Gospel is good news! 34:24 How do you communicate the gospel to others? 34:27 Do they look at you and think: "I want to be a Christian 34:29 like them 'cause they're so happy. " 34:31 "Because they're joyful. " 34:33 Do you look like Christianity's good news 34:37 when people meet you? When they talk to you? 34:39 Do you talk about the positive side of life? 34:42 Are you always focusing on what's wrong with everybody 34:44 and everything? 34:46 I heard a pastor say once that some Christians look like 34:49 they've been baptized in pickle juice. 34:51 We're supposed to be on our way to a feast not a funeral. 34:57 Right? Amen. 35:00 Spurgeon when he would train ministers 35:02 he'd say: "When you preach 35:04 your face should reflect the subject you're talking about. 35:07 For example, if you're talking about heaven 35:10 and you describe the golden streets, your face should shine! 35:13 If you talk about the pearly gates, your eyes should 35:15 sparkle! " And he said: "And if you're preaching on 35:17 the subject of hell, use your regular everyday expression. " 35:25 The gospel is good news! 35:30 And here you've got one group that says: "Ah, the land through 35:34 which we went it devours the inhabitants. " 35:36 It's like the land... you know, they were going to cross over 35:38 and start getting gobbled up by the plants or something. 35:42 "It's a land that devours the inhabitants. " 35:43 Well Caleb and Joshua said "It's flowing with milk and honey. " 35:46 Which is it? 35:47 "All the people that we saw there were like men of great 35:50 stature. We saw the giants... the descendants of Anak. 35:53 We were like grasshoppers in our own sight. " 35:56 Notice it began with their own sight. 35:58 That was the problem: 36:00 they saw themselves as grasshoppers. Amen! 36:04 And then it says: "And in their sight. " 36:06 Well the reason they looked like grasshoppers in their sight 36:09 is 'cause they saw themselves as grasshoppers. 36:12 You know, I think it was John Wesley - 36:15 kind of turned the Christian world upside down - 36:17 he was like 5'2". 36:21 And some people would comment on his diminutive size. 36:26 And he said: "You know, it doesn't matter 36:28 how big the dog is in the fight. It matters how big the fight is 36:31 in the dog. " Amen! 36:33 And he just turned the Christian world upside down. 36:36 He never let up. Went till he was 87 years old 36:38 preaching and teaching. 36:40 Started a whole movement and a great revival. 36:44 Can't be thinking of yourself that way. 36:46 You know the story of David and Goliath. 36:50 In I Samuel chapter 17 this champion of the Philistines 36:54 comes marching down into the Valley of Elah 36:57 and he begins... You know the Philistines and the Israelites 37:00 they're always facing off against each other. 37:02 Philistines occupied a big swath of land 37:04 between the mountains and the sea. 37:06 Beautiful farm land. 37:08 And the Israelites, especially the people of Judah, 37:11 were up in the mountains above. 37:12 And they were always facing off for battles. 37:14 And they armed themselves on each side of this valley 37:18 kind of waiting to engage and taunting each other. 37:20 They kind of had no man's land in between them. 37:23 And out of the Philistine camp came marching this guy 37:27 that was a virtual redwood tree. 37:31 He came thundering down. 37:33 Now he's around... depending on which cubit you use: 37:37 Egyptian cubit or Hebrew cubit or Babylonian cubit. 37:40 I don't know what cubit they were using but he's at least 37:41 like nine and a half feet tall. 37:44 And he's not like some people who are real tall 37:47 and real spindly. 37:49 He's like Shaquille O'Neal, you know. 37:51 He's symmetrically huge. 37:56 And he comes marching down. He issues a challenge. 37:59 They'd never heard any army do this before. 38:02 They said: "Look, why do we all need to die in battle? 38:04 Let's just have... You send out your best man; 38:06 we'll send out our best man 38:07 and whoever wins that nation will pay tribute 38:11 to the other nation... you become our servants. " 38:13 Well they didn't know what to say. They didn't want to say: 38:15 "No, we don't have anyone that can take on your best man. " 38:18 And so day after day for 40 days 38:20 Goliath comes down and he taunts them 38:22 and he say: "Come on... send me one. Don't you have one 38:24 man who's willing to fight? Is there not one man? " 38:27 I used to wonder: why didn't Saul go fight him? 38:29 The Bible says Saul was a head and shoulders taller 38:31 than everyone else. That would give you an edge. 38:34 Jonathan had faith, but I don't think Saul was going to let 38:37 the crown prince go fight him. 38:39 The Bible tells us that when Samuel went to pick David 38:42 and anoint him, first Samuel put his eyes on 38:45 Eliab, David's older brother, and he was tall also. 38:48 And he said: "Oh surely the Lord's anointed 38:49 is before me. " God said: "Don't look on his height. " 38:53 "Don't look on how big he is on the outside... look at how 38:56 big he is on the inside. " 38:58 And he ends up with David 39:00 who just so happened to be my height. 39:02 Oh... I don't know... 39:07 And so after this goes on for 39 days 39:13 Jesse says: "David, look... your brothers are on the front 39:15 lines. You'd better bring them some provisions. " 39:18 David comes to the front lines and just about the time he's 39:21 handing out provisions to his brothers 39:23 Goliath comes storming down. 39:25 He issues his challenge. Every time he comes 39:27 he's taunting more than ever. 39:30 He's mocking the God of Israel. 39:32 And David hears this and he's looking around. 39:36 He's thinking: "We just going to stand and take this? 39:39 Isn't anybody... " This righteous indignation - 39:42 Spirit inspired - wells up within David 39:45 and he thinks: "Isn't anybody going to speak up for the glory 39:48 of God against these heathens? " 39:53 Nobody. And finally David said: 39:55 "What's the reward for the guy who takes him out? " 39:57 He already had his mind made up: "If no one's going to do it 39:59 I'm going to do it. I just wonder: what's the reward? " 40:02 "Oh, he'll be tax free in Israel. King'll probably 40:04 give him his daughter to marry. " 40:06 That ended up backfiring... but it did work. 40:09 And pretty soon word gets to Saul: 40:12 "There's this whippersnapper from Bethlehem 40:15 who has come out saying he's going to take on the giant. " 40:18 And Saul's thinking: "Is that my musician? " 40:22 "Bring him to me. " 40:24 And David says: "Look, why would you let this giant 40:29 intimidate you? " 40:32 He said: "A bear came and took sheep. " 40:37 Said: "I killed the bear. " 40:39 "A lion came... I killed the lion. " 40:42 And it doesn't say David killed the lion with a sling. 40:46 We always portray it that way. 40:47 Said he took him by the beard. 40:50 The Holy Spirit came on David like it came on Samson. 40:53 You know, Samson never... Show me where it says 40:55 Samson had big muscles. 40:58 Samson actually was 5'9". 41:07 Well we don't know that... It doesn't say that exactly. 41:11 But it does say when the Spirit of the Lord left him 41:13 he was as other men, doesn't it? 41:17 So what made the difference? 41:20 How big the fight is in the dog. 41:22 How big the faith is in the believer - 41:25 Amen - is what makes the difference. 41:27 He said: "I'll go fight this giant. " 41:31 Now Saul is thinking: "Well, if we send out our best man 41:35 and he gets 'beat' we're just going to look bad 41:39 and we'll have to be their slaves. If we send out a kid, 41:41 we may still have to be their slaves but we won't feel bad 41:43 because, you know, at least they're going to feel bad. " 41:46 And he said: "All right... 41:49 I'm inspired by your optimism. You can go. " 41:54 And then Saul tries to put his armor on David. 41:57 And you know, Saul was a head and shoulders taller than 42:01 everyone else. He puts on Saul's armor 42:03 and he's probably peeking out the neck hole like this! 42:05 And it says: "He assayed to go. " 42:07 That means he tried to walk and he's like... you know... 42:09 "I'm not going to fight the giant in this stuff! " 42:11 He says: "I'm dead before I get out in the field! " 42:15 So he takes the 5 smooth stones. See, everyone else 42:18 saw a giant that was 9'6". 42:21 David knew he was only 5 feet 54 inches 42:26 as a matter of perspective. 42:32 And David didn't even know how he was going to do it. 42:37 He knew he was pretty good with a sling. 42:40 You know, the Bible tells us that there were some Benjamites. 42:42 Now David was from Judah, but the Bible does say 42:44 in the book of Judges there were some Benjamites that 42:46 could sling stones left handed at a hair's breath 42:49 and not miss. I had a friend that lived in Alaska. 42:54 Some of the Inuits up there... they would sling stones. 42:57 And they said you could put a stone, if you picked your stone 43:00 carefully, you cut put it through a 1/2" piece of plywood. 43:03 Those things really have pretty good muscle velocity. 43:07 So David carefully picked five smooth stones. 43:11 And I can just see it: Goliath on the other side 43:14 of the mountains and they're all taunting and mocking 43:16 one army's rate against another. 43:18 And David walks down to this creek between the two 43:20 and he starts fishing around in the water 43:23 and he picks out what he knows will be good projectiles. 43:26 And he gets five. Someone said: "If David had so much faith, 43:29 why didn't he just get one? " 43:31 Well, you read on in the Bible you find out Goliath 43:33 had four other relatives that were giants. 43:37 David figured if they showed up he'd be ready for any of them. 43:43 And Goliath comes out and he sees this boy. 43:45 He thinks he's bringing a message. He sees the fight 43:47 in David's eyes and he thinks: "You've gotta be kidding. " 43:50 And David's got his shepherd's staff. 43:53 And Goliath says: "What? No armor? " 43:55 "You won't even send me someone to kill that's got armor on? " 43:58 Said: "What am I? A dog that you come against me with a stick? " 44:01 And Goliath begins to stomp around and stir up the dust. 44:04 And he's shouting and cursing by the Philistine gods. 44:07 "I'm going to take your head off you; I'm going to kill you. 44:10 I'm going to feed you to the buzzards and the skunks 44:11 and... " If you're going to fight a giant, 44:15 don't make him mad first. Right? 44:18 David doesn't... he doesn't back down one bit. 44:21 The courage! The audacity! The boldness! The faith! 44:26 He said: "No, no, no... let me tell you 44:27 how this is going to end. " 44:29 Said: "I'm going to kill you 44:32 and I'm going to take your head from you. " 44:34 "You come against me with a sword and a spear 44:37 and a shield, but I come against you with something much bigger 44:39 than anything you've got. " 44:41 "I come against you in the name of God. " 44:44 Amen! And you and God are always the winning team. 44:48 Amen. 44:50 Now has Goliath ever taunted you? 44:53 Have you ever felt like the devil was too big? 44:57 What does David use to bring down the giant? 45:00 A stone. 45:02 Jesus said: "He that hears these words of mine and does them 45:06 is like a wise man who's building his house on... " 45:08 What? "rock. " 45:10 Christ is that Rock. 45:11 In the story that giant image is brought down 45:15 it is a stone representing Christ, His kingdom, 45:17 His Word! The Ten Command- ments were written on what? 45:21 Stone! 45:22 How do we bring down the enemy? How did Jesus fight the devil? 45:25 "It is written; it is written; it is written! " 45:28 In the Word of God is the weapon. It's the sword 45:31 that we need to defeat the enemy. 45:34 There are promises - exceeding great and precious promises - 45:37 in His Word that you can use to bring down every giant, 45:39 every foreign tribe, that is in your mind and heart. 45:44 God wants you to be free indeed! 45:46 You must believe that He is able. 45:49 Can you say Amen? Amen! 45:51 So... David comes out against Goliath. 45:55 The Bible says the giant "went to meet David. " 45:58 He walked out. 45:59 And this has always fascinated me. 46:01 I think I mentioned it earlier this week. 46:03 David RAN to meet the giant. 46:06 Goliath was so outraged 46:09 at the insults of David. He thought: "Who in the world 46:12 does he think he is? " David's thinking: "Lord, You've 46:14 gotta help me now 'cause I don't know how I'm going to do this. " 46:16 "I don't even have a sword. " 46:17 "What am I going to do? Kick him in the knee? " 46:20 And Goliath takes his helmet and he pushes it back 46:23 and he's thinking: "Oh! " 46:24 And David's: "Ah... bullseye! " 46:27 "Praise the Lord! I was praying for an opening 46:30 and He gave me the opening I needed! " 46:34 And David was so good it says: "as he ran 46:37 he put his hand in his bag. " 46:40 You know, I told you I like reading history 46:43 and I was reading about some of the Indian battles. 46:45 And these were the Native Americans fighting with 46:47 Native Americans. And they were so good 46:49 they would ride a horse, draw arrows and shoot them 46:53 and not miss while they're bouncing on a horse. 46:55 How in the world do you do that? 46:57 These slingers... they could run, load a sling, 47:02 fire it and not miss while they're on the move! 47:05 I'd trip and wrap my feet up; I'd never be able to do that. 47:09 And as David's running he takes that stone. 47:12 He puts it in and he whips it around his head 47:14 and he sends that thing just shooting like a bullet 47:18 right at its mark, and it absolutely knocks Goliath out. 47:23 He hits it... I like reading this in the book Patriarchs 47:26 and Prophets. All of a sudden he's shocked 47:29 and he grabs his forehead and the blood almost instantly 47:32 begins to come out between his finger and he stumbles. 47:35 And you know the expression: "The bigger they are 47:37 the harder they fall. " And he starts to just go over 47:41 and David said: "Timber! " 47:44 He starts to go over and went face down ingloriously 47:50 in the dirt. 47:54 You know, when I get to heaven there's certain videos 47:56 I want to check out. 47:59 I'm going to take my angel in and say: "Where've you got 48:01 this archived? " I'll say: "I want to see this. " 48:04 And I not only want to see what happened, I want to see 48:06 the faces of the Philistines. 48:09 I want to see their faces: "Oh yeah, Goliath... let's go! " 48:18 The disbelief! And then in the Israeli army 48:22 they're all going: "How long do you think 48:24 that son of Jesse's going to last? " 48:27 "I don't know... I think he's got 20 seconds. 48:28 What do you think? " "I'll give him 30 seconds. " 48:30 And they're taking money on it. How long before he's 48:32 snuffed out, you know? 48:34 And then they see Goliath go down! 48:37 And all the Israelite soldiers are going: "Huh? " 48:43 Even his own people! 48:46 And there was probably a long, awkward silence. 48:48 Then... nobody's doing anything. David said: "You guys aren't 48:51 going to help me? " He goes and he takes Goliath's sword. 48:54 He's still kind of moaning. He's not dead yet. 48:57 And he cuts off the giant's head. 48:59 Lifts it up. Finally the people are going 49:03 "I don't think he's getting back up. " 49:08 And the Israelites go: "Yeah! He's ours! We were on his 49:11 side the whole time! " 49:14 "We knew he could do it! " 49:17 "Yeah... that's the king's harpist! " 49:21 "The shepherd boy! " 49:23 And they all go charging down the hill towards the Philistines 49:27 and the Philistines, they threw their weapons in the air 49:29 and they thought: "Man, if this young guy 49:31 can do that to our biggest man, 49:33 what are these guys gonna do to us? " 49:35 And they went running back. 49:38 They got a victory. 49:39 You and God. David said: "You come against me 49:43 with a sword and a spear and a shield 49:44 but I come against you in the name of Jehovah. " 49:49 Amen! So if you are met with temptation 49:53 and you call out to God 49:56 and you say: "Lord save me! " like Peter when he's sinking 50:01 God would sooner empty heaven of every angel 50:04 than let one of His children that trusts in Him 50:07 fail when they believe. 50:09 You might be looking at yourself saying: "Lord, I'm not much. 50:12 How am I going to make it? " 50:14 Romans chapter 4 verse 17 says: "God calls those things that 50:17 are not as though they are. " 50:20 God calls us saints. 50:23 He calls us His children. 50:25 He says: "I've gone to prepare a place for you" 50:28 before anyone's earned that place. 50:31 "All things are possible to them that believe. " 50:34 Now to go back to my story. 50:37 So in the book of Numbers one group said 50:42 "We can make it. " The other group said: "We can't make it. " 50:43 "And all the congregation... " chapter 14... 50:45 "they lift up their voices. " They weep all night. 50:47 They say: "Let's kill Moses and Aaron. " 50:50 "Let's go back to Egypt... we'll go back and be slaves! " 50:54 Believers who would rather be slaves than be free. 50:58 "We don't believe we can make it. " 50:59 "It's too hard to be a Christian. " 51:03 All that... The only thing that's scaring 51:04 them is the devil! 51:07 I tell you, friends: it's a lot easier being saved 51:09 than being lost. 51:11 The devil's got us convinced that it's easier to surrender 51:14 and be a slave. "And Moses and Aaron 51:18 fell on their faces and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh... " 51:21 he said: 'The land through which we passed 51:24 is an exceeding good land. ' " Verse 8: 51:26 "If the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into this land 51:29 and give it to us. It flows with milk and honey. 51:31 Only do not rebel against the Lord! " 51:33 Don't stop believing the Lord! 51:35 Jesus said: "Where is your faith? " 51:37 How many times did He ask the apostles "Where is your faith? " 51:41 So often we focus on what we can't do. 51:45 Couple of quotes I'd like to share with you 51:47 before I run out of time here. 51:49 "Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. 51:53 There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. 51:57 Faith begins where man's power ends. " 52:00 George Mueller. 52:01 "Unbelief puts our circumstances between us and God 52:05 but faith puts God between us and our circumstances. " 52:10 Sometimes we focus on the giant and not the Lord. 52:15 Victor Franco said: 52:17 "A weak faith is weakened by predicaments 52:19 and catastrophes whereas a strong faith 52:21 is strengthened by them. " 52:24 And some anonymous person said: "Faith sees the invisible, 52:28 believes the incredible, 52:29 and receives the impossible. " 52:31 Amen! If you believe, you will receive. 52:36 Even if you've fallen 10 times before, 52:38 a righteous man falls seven times and rises again. 52:42 Don't stop believing that the Lord can finish what He started 52:45 in your life. He is the Author and the Finisher 52:47 of your faith. Amen? "He that has begun a good work 52:50 in you will perform it. " Don't believe the lies out there 52:53 that say: "Ah, nobody's perfect. We can't make it; 52:56 we're all going to fall. " You strive to be like Christ! 52:59 That's what a Christian is, amen? 53:01 We're followers of Jesus. 53:03 Keep our eyes fixed on Him. 53:04 How do we lay aside the sin and the weight? Fixing our eyes. 53:08 Setting our eyes on Jesus. 53:10 We run that race with endurance 53:13 remembering that He was crucified in our behalf. 53:17 So... you go over to the book of Joshua. 53:22 And we need to fast forward 40 years. 53:26 The ones who said: "We're not going to make it" 53:28 you read in chapter 14 guess what happens. 53:31 They didn't make it. 53:32 Those 10 spies that said: "Oh, we're never going to make it" 53:36 God said: "Out of your own mouth I'm going to judge you. " 53:39 That generation that said: "Better off that we had died 53:42 in the wilderness" God said: "Be careful what you ask for. " 53:46 That generation that didn't believe they could make it 53:49 died in the wilderness 53:50 but their kids learned a few lessons. 53:52 They had child-like faith. 53:54 That next generation went in, and the only two 53:57 that were over 60 that made it into the Promised Land 54:01 were the 2 spies that believed they could make it. 54:06 And then after five years of fighting and battling 54:09 in the Promised Land Joshua comes to Caleb. 54:13 And this is chapter 14 of the book of Joshua. 54:15 "Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal 54:18 and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite 54:21 he said to him: 'You know the word that the Lord 54:25 said through Moses, the man of God, concerning you 54:29 and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was 40 years old 54:32 when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me 54:34 from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. 54:37 And I brought back word to him as was in my heart. 54:39 Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me 54:42 they made the heart of the people melt 54:44 but I wholly followed the Lord my God. 54:47 So Moses swore to me on that day saying: 54:50 'Surely the land that your foot has trodden on will be 54:52 an inheritance for you and your children forever 54:55 because you wholly follow the Lord. ' " 54:56 Can I just tell you what that word follow means? 54:59 You wholly believed. 55:02 That's what it's saying. 55:03 Jesus says "follow Me" He says "believe Me. " 55:07 And he says: "And behold, the Lord has kept me alive 55:10 as He said these 45 years. " So now he's how old? 55:13 Eighty-five. "Ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses 55:18 and now here I am this day 85 years old and I am as strong 55:22 this day as I was on that day... " Wouldn't you like to 55:25 have that problem? Amen! "that Moses sent me. 55:28 Just as my strength was then so is my strength now 55:31 both for war, for going out, for coming in. 55:35 Now therefore give me this mountain. " 55:37 Jesus said if you've got faith what can you do? 55:40 "You can say to this mountain 'be plucked up 55:42 and cast into the sea' and it will be done. " 55:45 "Give me this mountain that God promised 55:49 even though the giants are there. " 55:54 And Joshua blessed him 55:56 and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he went with the tribe of Judah. 56:00 They went into the mountains of Hebron, 56:02 later known as the hills of Judea, 56:04 and they took on the giants 56:07 and they trounced them. 56:09 And to this day there's a city in the land of Judah 56:12 called Jerusalem. 56:14 And David, who is a descendant from Judah, 56:18 they all possessed that land because an old man had faith 56:22 that God can do what He's promised. 56:24 Now he had to wait a little while to get the full promise, 56:26 didn't he? He had to wander in the wilderness 56:29 for a little while. But did Caleb get everything 56:32 that God promised him? Amen. 56:34 And sometimes it might feel like our wandering is 56:36 going a little long. But if you believe He is able 56:40 He will finish the work that He's begun in your life. 56:42 God is faithful. Can you say "Amen? " 56:44 Amen! Great is His faithfulness. 56:47 He will not let you down. 56:49 "All things are possible to him that believes. " 56:52 "Without faith it's impossible to please God. 56:55 If you come to God, you must believe that He is 56:57 and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. " 57:01 Daniel was delivered from the lions' den because he believed 57:05 in his God. That's what it says in Daniel chapter 6. 57:08 And so Jesus said: "Where is your faith? " 57:11 Would you like more faith? 57:13 "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. " 57:16 God'll give us faith when we ask Him. 57:19 Would you like to have that kind of saving faith, 57:21 that kind of faith where you can take out the giants? 57:25 Let's ask Him together. 57:26 And I want to invite those who are watching 57:28 as we close with prayer pray for that faith. 57:31 Father in heaven, we just thank you for the abundant 57:34 promises we see in Your Word 57:36 just from Genesis to Revelation 57:38 that all things are possible to those that believe. 57:42 I pray that we'll do what we can, Lord, 57:45 to fortify our minds with the truth of Your Word 57:48 that when those giants show themselves 57:51 through Your promises we might experience... |
Revised 2020-01-02