Our text tonight's in Numbers
chapter 14, but if you would first turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 3. Last time we saw how the 12 spies
accurately picture and represent the gospel report of professing
believers, especially those who preach the gospel. Two of the
spies, Joshua and Caleb, brought back a good report. Ten of the
spies are said to have brought an evil report. Now, the passage
of scripture before us tonight describes the results of unbelief,
and they're written in the scriptures for our learning, to teach us
something, to warn us of the deadly effects of unbelief. In our study of Hebrews, we see
how the letter to the Hebrew believers refers to this event,
this particular event. And it tells us what our text
tonight is all about. Look at verse 17 here in Hebrews
chapter three. It says, but with whom was he,
speaking of God, grieved 40 years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom
swear he, being God? that they should not enter into
his rest, but to them that believe not. So we see that they could
not enter in because of unbelief. Now I find these three verses
very, very informative. And we see four important things
right off the bat in just these three verses. First, with whom
was God greed for 40 years? The answer, them that sinned.
Secondly, what happened to them that sinned? The answer, their
carcasses. The word means corpses fell in
the wilderness. In this chapter, I think he refers
to Israel as carcasses three different times. They were still
walking around, but in the eyes of God, they were dead. Third,
to whom in this nation of Israel did God swear would not enter
into his rest? Answer them that believe not.
And fourthly, there is one reason that no man, woman, or sinner
will enter into God's rest. Just one. Just one thing will
keep you out of heaven, keep you out of eternal glory with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is one word, unbelief. Unbelief
will keep you from God's rest. Unbelief will send you to hell.
And our text tonight has to do with unbelief. And it's apparent
that the mass majority of the people of Israel believe the
evil report of the ten spies. Why do people imagine that the
mass majority is always right? We do, don't we? Well, we think
if everybody goes that way or thinks that way, they've got
to be right. But you know, really, when it
comes to scripture, it's just the opposite. The mass majority
has always been wrong when it comes to spiritual matters. Only
two out of the 10 spies believe God, just two. Only eight souls
were saved in the flood of Noah's day. Just eight out of all that
lived upon the face of the earth. And I think about when Joshua
and Israel took Jericho, only Rahab and her family did God
save in the fall of Jericho. Our Lord said, few find the narrow
gate and the way to life, and many, many find the broad way
that leads to destruction. You know, the man who climbs
a mountain sees a whole lot more from the lofty summit of that
mountain than those who dwell in the valley. And that solitary
eagle that soars high in the sky to great heights sees much
more than the cattle on a thousand hills. And the enlightened sinner,
the one whom God has revealed himself to, sees things with
heaven's glory in sight, and they see things much differently
than the lost in this world see. They see things as they really
are. And it's never wise to follow
the opinions of men rather than the word of God. That seems obvious,
doesn't it? But it's not. And it's a sad
evil. I'm telling you it is to forget
the past mercies of God in a present trial. Any of us that have lived
a while now on this earth have experienced some things. It's
through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God.
And we've experienced some things and we've gone through some things.
We look back and we see the Lord's hand in all of it. And we see
how the Lord has graciously delivered us time and time again. And if
he didn't deliver us from what we wanted to be delivered from,
it was for our own good. And we see that now. And then
a new trial comes our way and we just fall all to pieces. Israel did that time and time
again. Israel seemed to constantly and
to continually forget everything that God had done for them. And
we forget easy too. We sure do. We forget real easy. Non-believers believe the report
of ungodly men over the men who believe God. And the report of
the lost provides, it seems, the necessary emotions for a
priceless religion. It feeds men's ego. It gives them good reason to
trust in their work and in their will to try to strive and accomplish
salvation for themselves. It's nothing less than willful
unbelief. Willful unbelief. Man's will
is in bondage to his nature. Because of man's fallen state,
his will is not to come to God. His will is not to worship God.
His will is not to have the Lord Jesus Christ to rule over him.
Man's will not to believe. Men love darkness rather than
light. Why? Because their deeds are
evil. And there are two very good examples
of what I mean by willful unbelief concerning the children of Israel.
Both have their reference to Egypt, the place where Israel
served in bondage for over 430 plus years. The first example
is found in Exodus chapter 32. Look at Exodus chapter 32 with
me. I want to just read the four
verses here, remind you, and show you this example once again
of willful unbelief. Exodus 32 verse 1. We see here
in verse one that when the people saw that Moses delayed to come
down out of the mount, they gathered themselves together unto Aaron.
And they said unto him, up, make us gods, which shall go before
us. For as for this Moses, the man
that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what
has become him. What's going on with him? He's
been gone for a long time and we're progressive people. We
need to do something. And verse two, and Aaron said
unto them, break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears
of your wives, of your sons and your daughters and bring them
unto me. And I don't know about you, but this reads to me as
if Aaron didn't put up much resistance. They said, make us gods. And
he said, break off your earrings and we'll go to work here. And
all the people, verse three, break off the golden earrings,
which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron. And
he received them at their hand. and fashioned it with a graving
tool, after he had made it a molten calf. And they said, these be
thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."
That is just flat, willful unbelief. I don't think that there's any
clearer example of that in all the scripture, even That which
is totally irrational, totally unreasonable will be embraced
if that's what a man or a woman wants to believe. I had a man
tell me one time that if I had any relatives, dead relatives
that have already passed, that were not saved, were not baptized,
that someone in his denomination had to be someone that was approved
and designated, but they could be baptized in their place by
proxy, baptism by proxy, I suppose. And my loved one would be cleansed
from their sin. I don't think so. Men and women
alike will believe almost anything, especially if they can somehow,
some way receive honor and glory themselves. Bottom line is Israel
desired to worship an idol over God Almighty. They molded this
golden calf and they said, this be the God that delivered us
out of Egypt. After all, they suggested it. They gave birth to it with their
gold. They had it made by their own specifications. That's what
people do with the gospel today. No different, really, when you
think about it. They believe that they have a
hand in their salvation. They make their religion to cater
to what they believe. Do you ever stop to think about
why there's so many different denominations? They're not all
according to the scriptures. There's things that men and women
do today, things that they believe, doctrines that they teach, church
laws, whatever, that are nowhere in the scriptures. Well, even
an altar call, something that's been going on all my life and
raising a Southern Baptist church is not found anywhere in the
scriptures, nowhere. In the Bible, you find someone
getting up out of a seat and coming down front and being saved,
not in the scriptures. You know, at one time, men and
women went to hell for eating meat on Friday. Now it's okay
to eat every kind of meat imaginable. Why? More than likely because
somebody high up in that particular denomination got tired of eating
fish. They say that God changed his
mind. No, God didn't change his mind. God doesn't change his mind.
God is not a man that he should lie or a son of man that he should
repent or change his mind. God doesn't change his mind.
He's the Lord that changes not. In Egypt, God had done many things,
many miracles that only God could do. Who but God could turn the
river Nile into blood? Who but God could just snap his
fingers and there'd be frogs and lice everywhere, except in
Goshen where the children of Israel live. Only God could do
these things. Only God could come through the
land of Egypt and take the firstborn of all those who did not have
the blood on the doorpost and lentils of their home. Only God
could do that. And yet Israel attributed their
deliverance to this golden idol formed and fashioned with a gravening
tool by man's hand. I'm telling you, it's willful
unbelief. God divided the Red Sea by which
they passed on dry ground. And again, brought the waters
together, drowning the army of Pharaoh, their enemy. But do
they attribute this miraculous event to the sovereign hand of
God? No, they willfully attribute
their deliverance to an idol that Aaron made with the gold
engraving tool of man's hand. And it's no different today.
No different today, same today. Men do not attribute their salvation
to the sovereign, omnipotent, and almighty hand of God. His
will, His purpose, His choice is not the reason sinners are
saved. They claim to be saved by the work of their own hands,
their own will, and their own choice and decision. On the road
to hell, multitudes of men and women will sing, I have decided
to follow Jesus. Remember that the majority is
never right when it comes to the things of God. God decided
to first love us. That's why we love him. God didn't
love us because we first loved him, no. We love him because
he first loved us. And then the second example of
willful unbelief is found in our text tonight. Here in Numbers
chapter 14, verse one, it says, and all the congregation lifted
up their voice and cried, And the people wept that night. 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. Now I'm sure you
noticed, I emphasize those words all in verses one and two. But
I do want you to know that's not to be understood that every
individual in the congregation of Israel cried and murmured.
This is speaking of the princes and the heads and the elders
of the people that were with Moses and Aaron when the 12 spies
gave their report. And this is a wide array of people. We know for sure that four men
here believed God. Caleb, Joshua, Moses, and Aaron. And no doubt that the report
of the 10 spies traveled fast through the people, and that
the majority of Israel agreed with the report of the 10 spies.
Remember, broad, broad is the way that leads to destruction,
and many, many be which go in there yet. They all murmured
against Moses and Aaron, and this is what they said. Look
at verse three. "'And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto
this land?' Now they're on the brink of going into the land
of Canaan, they're not in the land yet. But he said, "'He 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?' And they said one to another, "'Let us
make a captain and let us return into Egypt.'" willful, willful
unbelief. I do want to point out something
here. Naturally speaking, the report of the 10 spies was true. False religion says a lot of
true things. However, most of the time it's
what religion don't say that makes it evil. You know, they
reported, these 10 spies, they reported that the people in the
land of promise were strong. They were. They were fighting
men. They were men of war. They reported that the cities
were walled. Well, many of them were, just
like Jericho. and there were giants in the
land." And that was true. The sons of Anik were real giants. But it's what they didn't say.
They didn't say that God had already given them the land and
defeated these strong people in these walled cities. They
didn't mention that. Not the 10 spies didn't. They
didn't say that God is bigger than any giant He is. The 10 reported, we can't go
up against them. Naturally speaking, that may
have been so, but there are none that can stay God's hand are
saying to him, what doest thou? Willful unbelief. God can do
anything and God can do everything. Now, what willful unbelief? They didn't want to believe.
They didn't want to believe. And it's the same with folks
today. You know, I believe it would have been much harder to
believe what they believed than to actually believe God. And
again, they forgot everything that God had done for them. Look
at verse four. And they said to one another,
let us make a captain and let us return to Egypt. After all,
if a cold, gold, lifeless calf brought them out of Egypt, certainly
a captain could take them back. And their confession was, it'd
been better for us. Isn't that what it's all about
most of the time? Better for us. What's best for
us? What's best for me? What do I get out of serving
God? It'd be better for us to return unto Egypt. I remind you that this report,
the subject being addressed to these unbelievers was the gospel. That's what it is to enter into
rest. Christ is the believer's rest.
To believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ is what gives a
child of God rest. Rest in Christ is what God secured
for His people in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus.
And this great transaction of redemption and all that it necessitates
is referred to as rest. There's no one that enjoys resting
more than I. The book of Hebrews tells us
that God rested the seventh day from all his works. Why did he rest? You know, we've
looked at it in our study in Hebrews. It's because his work
was finished. The child of God rests only in
the finished work of Christ, the finished work that Christ
has accomplished for him. That's where true rest is, no
other place. resting in what Christ has done
for me. And this is talking about a work
accomplished, a rest that was finished from the foundation
of the world. And it's important to understand
that the book of Hebrews there is speaking of the men and women
of Israel to whom this gospel was first preached. This gospel
was preached to them this day when the two spies, Joshua and
Caleb, gave their good report. It's speaking of what we have
going on right here in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. It's speaking
of Israel, the very ones who cried through the night, the
very ones who did not believe the gospel report, who entered
not in because of unbelief. Now, what was the rest? Well,
again, it was the land that God promised with all its milk and
honey picturing. The milk and honey pictures the
exceeding riches that were secured by God for his people through
the work and righteousness of Christ. It's the rest that he
alone accomplished and perfected forever by the sacrifice of himself. And you know, that's the sad
thing about unbelief. It manifests itself in the face
of unquestioned evidence. The gospel is a clear representation
of what God has already done. Not something that we need to
do. It's the glorious report of the free and sovereign accomplished
salvation that we have in by and through the Lord Jesus. It's
not something that you and I are doing day in and day out. It's
something that Christ has already done for us. All the costs have
been met by the Lord Jesus. All the wages of sin have been
paid by Christ. It'll cost you nothing because
Jesus paid it all. Why would anyone not want to
enter into this glorious rest? Well, there's only one answer
and there's only one possibility and it's called unbelief. God
is not believed. So I want to make just a few
observations. First, unbelief is manifested
in emotion coming from unreasonable and irrational fear, according
to verse one. Now I'm not saying that believers
don't show emotion. They most certainly do. I confess
to you that sometimes when I think about what God has done for me,
the wretched, no good sinner that I am, I can't help but to
be moved. I can't help but to cry. My emotions
are based on the truth of God's word. Paul wrote to Timothy in
1 Timothy 1.15, and he said, it's a faithful saying. It's
worthy of your acceptance, my acceptance, everyone's acceptance,
that Christ Jesus, God the Son, came into the world to save sinners. He really meant that. I'm talking
about real sinners like me. Sometimes, should be all the
time, but to my shame, just every now and then, The thought of
God saving a wretched sinner like me overcomes me with emotion
because it was, first of all, undeserving, but it's the truth
according to God's word. Christ came to save sinners. Now, Israel's emotion here was
based upon their rejection of the truth. It's kind of like
turning off the light and then crying because it's dark. They
willfully didn't believe God. Men and women spend their lives
looking for an experience to prove that they're saved. Something
that will convince them that they are saved is what they're
looking for. And sinners are not saved by
an experience. Don't you wish folks could learn
that? We're saved by the work and righteousness of Christ.
And it's a finished work. It's something already that's
been accomplished. In Israel, they hear of these
strong adversaries, these giants among men, these walled cities,
and they simply will not believe that God has already taken care
of all those things. every single one of them. They
cannot see the truth through their tears of unbelief. Men
and women want to experience some great emotion or do some
great work in order to be saved. You can't do what's already been
done. Can't do it. Secondly, Unbelief
is a dramatic and it's a ridiculous response to God's grace and mercy
in Christ alone. Now, God had already given them
the land. God had already promised to defeat
every enemy. Well, when they passed through
the Red Sea on dry ground and saw Pharaoh's army drowned and
dead on the seashore, do you remember in Exodus chapter 15,
the song that they sung led by Miriam? They sung, the Lord has
triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider has God
thrown into the sea. That's what they sung. They said,
the Lord is my strength and song. And he has become my salvation. He is my God. They, with joy,
raised their voices in harmony, singing, thy right hand, O Lord,
has become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, you've
dashed in pieces the enemy. And now they're sitting there,
ready to enter into the land of promise, and they're crying,
going, oh, woe is me. What are we going to do? It'd
been better off if we'd have just died in Egypt. We need to
raise up some captain to take us back. Oh, I can hear them
in unison singing there on the shores of the Red Sea. Who is
like unto thee among the gods? Who is like thee? Glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. You see, their
song was based solely on what God had done. And now they've
forgotten again all that God had done for them, and they accuse
that same God of betrayal and treason. You tell men and women
that God saves sinners by sovereign grace, they won't hear you. Now
a child of God will, one that God has revealed some things
to here. But you tell sinners that God chose the people before
they ever did any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according
to election, that the purpose of God having the right to do
what he will with his own, according to his electing love. And they'll
tell you now, brother, that kind of preaching will lead people
to live lawlessly. That kind of doctrine would cause
folks not to pray. It would cause folks to be careless
in their spiritual duty. That kind of report would cause
people to have no concern for the lost. You can't preach like
that. What a ridiculous response to
God's mercy and grace in Christ alone. Look at what they dramatically
asked for in verse two. They said, would to God that
we had died in the land of Egypt or in this wilderness than to
have to face such odds as this. We wish that God had never delivered
us. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? We wish that God had never saved
us. We wish God never brought us out of Egypt. In verse 3,
they profess, God brought us here so that we could die by
the swords of our enemies. Why, God brought us here so that
our wives and that our children should be like prey, hunted down
and killed. How dramatic, how ridiculous,
how irrational. They declared that it would be
better for us, better for us. That's what it's all about, isn't
it? Better for us to return to Egypt than to go forward into
this land of promise that God has given us. Willful unbelief. Thirdly, willful unbelief always
desires a captain. Verse four. I'd have you to notice
that those who believe not desire not a captain that would deliver
them into the land of sweet rest. No, they desire a captain that'll
take them back to the land of bondage. No doubt, Egypt is a
type and picture of this world's religion of works and free will,
unbelief, desires, bondage, and it actually fears freedom. Let
us make a captain. Let us return to Egypt. That'd
be better for us. Well, in Christ, who by the way
is the captain of our salvation, one who saves us by his free
and sovereign grace is not one that returns us to the bondage.
No, sir. That's how some men preach him,
but that's not what he does. Unbelief desires a Jesus who
gets you started, one who makes salvation possible, but then
he leaves you to finish the work for yourself. That's nothing
short of returning to Egypt. The Bible is not a self-help
book. It's not. The Bible is not a
book of self-improvement. The Bible is not about how to
live like a Christian. Gospel preaching is about the
accomplished work of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope I sound
like a broken record. The people of Israel was miserable
in Egypt, but to most, knowing something that is familiar is
better than believing in something unknown and invisible. But that's
what faith is. True faith is trusting the invisible
God in the things that are unknown to us. I don't know what God
has planned for me tomorrow, but I'm gonna trust Him. and
I'm gonna believe that whatever it is, it's for my eternal and
spiritual good. That's what faith is. It's believing
a God you can't see to work all things together for your good.
Are you doing that? God help us. I don't do it like
I should. Oh, still so many doubts and
fears assail in this heart of mine. My, my. And then fourthly,
unbelief. always responds to truth the
same way. Look at verse seven. Joshua and
Caleb reported, they preached, this is what they said, the land
which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land. For is this gospel, this glorious
rest in which we preach, is exceedingly good. Exceedingly good. Verse eight, 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 against
the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land, for they
are bred for us. Those 10 spies said the people
in this land, they eat up its inhabitants. Joshua and Caleb
said they're bred to us. Rebel not against the Lord, neither
fear the people of the land. They are bred for us. Their defense
is departed from them." How did that happen? The Lord took their
defense away. He says, and the Lord is with
us. Fear them not. How did the people respond to
this gospel report? Verse 10, but all the congregation
bade stone them with stone. In other words, kill the messenger. kill the messengers. You know,
I know some people who flat don't like me because of the messages,
because of the gospel that I preach. And men and women, you see, they
can't get their hands on God, but they can on his messengers.
And that's why all the apostles, except for John, who was banished
to an island, which was like a prison on an island, met with
such violent death. It was because of the gospel
that they preached. Our Lord did say, if the world
hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you
were of the world, the world would love his own, but because
you're not of the world and I've chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hated you. So this shouldn't be a surprise
to anyone. Remember the word that I said
unto you, Christ said, the servant's not greater than his Lord, If
they've persecuted me, they'll persecute you. And if they've
kept my saying, they'll keep yours also. But all these things
will they do unto you for my name's sake, because of me, because
they know not him that sent me." And there you have it. So what
is the command of the gospel? I want you to think about that. What is God's command to them?
Come to Christ. Come to Christ. God has secured
Emmanuel's land for his people. Glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's
land. God says, I gave it to you. I've already done it. It's already
yours. You just got to take it. You
just got to come. Got to enter. Go thou up and
possess it. Don't be afraid of the giants.
the giant of sin, the giant called Satan, even the giant of self. Don't fear the giant. Don't be
afraid. That which is ours has already
been possessed. Christ possessed it and he made
it ours before the world began. Verses seven and eight, it's
an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then
he'll bring us into this land and give it to us. the land that
flows with milk and honey. Beloved, if you are in Christ,
who is the milk and honey of the soul. In Christ, God delights
in you. If you're in Christ, God delights
in you and he will most certainly bring you. To where? To God. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God."
Isn't that good news? Our message to those who are
yet without Christ is found in verse nine. Only rebel not ye
against the Lord. Oh, don't rebel against the Lord.
Come to Christ. Neither fear ye the people of
the land, for they are bred for us, their defense is departed
from them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not." Now, do you
believe that? By God's grace, I do. I believe
it, but Lord, help thy mind believe. May God cause us not to rebel
against him. May God enable us not to fear
what man can do unto us. Why? The Lord is my helper. Hebrews 13, six. The Lord is
on my side, David said. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. Our Lord said, and fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but
rather fear Him, God, which is able to destroy both body and
soul in hell. We have a much greater reason
to fear God than we do our enemies in this world. I can assure you
of that. Why? Their defense has departed. They
have no defense against our God. What are you going to do against
God? How are you going to fight God? God has taken their defense
away. In verse 10, we see that these
unbelievers in Israel would have stoned Joshua and Caleb and probably
Moses and Aaron too. But the last part of the verse
tells us why they didn't. It says, and the glory of the
Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all
the children of Israel. So next study, the Lord willing,
we'll look at what our Lord said concerning those things. I think
you'll enjoy it. I think it'll be an encouragement
to you. Oh, may God add his blessings to the preaching of his word.