My text tonight is in Numbers
chapter 13, if you would turn there with me. It was actually one year and
three days ago that I preached a message on this text titled,
There Are Giants in the Land. It's hard for me to believe that's
been over a year, but it has. There's so many spiritual lessons
in this narrative we have before us tonight. And I believe that
the 12 spies that Moses sent out into the land of Canaan paint
a very clear picture of the two types of worshippers that we
have in our day. There's the true worshippers
and the false. How often in the study of the
book of Exodus, and now in the book of Numbers, have we seen
the unbelief of the children of Israel. And in this chapter,
Israel's unbelief prompted Moses to send these spies into the
land of Canaan. God had told them that it was
a good land. God had told them that he himself
had given it to them. He also had promised them that
he himself would drive out their enemies. Why, Israel should have
marched right on into this land of promise with great confidence
and assurance, but instead Moses sends these 12 spies, one from
each tribe, to spy out the land to see if what God had told them
was true, and no doubt this was a test to prove them. Here in
verse one, chapter 13, we read, and the Lord spake unto Moses
saying, send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan,
which I give unto the children of Israel. Of every tribe of
their father shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them.
And here we see again very clearly that this came about by the commandment
of the Lord that these spies were sent, but it was no doubt
because of Israel's fear and apprehension The reason the Lord
did this was to prove them. Let me show you that. Hold your
place here. Turn over to Deuteronomy 8, the
next book after Numbers. Deuteronomy 8. I want you to
look at a couple of verses here, beginning in verse 2. Deuteronomy
8. I want to look at two verses,
verses 2 and 3. It says here, speaking of God's
gracious dealings with Israel, we read in verse two, and thou
shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these
40 years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee,
to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his
commandments or no. Verse three, and he humbled thee,
and he suffered, or he allowed thee to hunger, and fed thee
with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers
know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of the Lord doth man live. And sadly, Israel failed miserably. What a picture they are of us.
That's why no child of God can trust in their personal faithfulness. We are saved by grace through
faith, yes, but that's a gift of God. It's not by our works,
it's not by our doing, it's not by our mustering up faith, no,
it's God given. God give us faith. According
to the commandment of God, Moses chose the 12, and only two, as
you very well know among them, believed God and walked by faith
and not by sight. And again, I'll say our salvation
comes from the Lord being faithful to us, not us being faithful
to him. And as you well know, these two
men that believed God were Caleb and Joshua. So the question that
I ask is what spiritual lesson does this narrative in Numbers
chapter 13 teach us? Well, I think the land of Canaan
here is a very accurate picture of the gospel. It's a picture
of coming to Christ and believing the gospel. The land of Canaan,
the land of promise, that land that God said flowed with milk
and honey, is often preached as a picture and type of heaven,
and it most certainly is, but it's an imperfect picture at
best, several reasons being that there are no Canaanites in heaven,
no unbelievers. Only believers will be in glory
with Christ. There are no sons of Anak. There
are no giants to be driven out. There are no walled cities in
heaven. There are no kings with chariots
of iron as there was in Canaan. However, Canaan, God's land of
promise, is an excellent picture of true religion. It's an excellent
illustration of God commanding His people to come to Christ,
who is the milk and honey of men and women's souls. Now, let
me say this in the beginning, just the same as there is a true
gospel, there is also a false one. And just the same as there
is a Christ of truth, there is another Jesus, which Paul said
is not another. Just the same as there is the
true spirit of God, there is another spirit. And just the
same as there's a true gospel, there's a false one. And the
same as there is true religion, there's also false religion.
Now, the unbelieving of this world never experienced for themselves
what true religion is. They don't search the scriptures.
They don't read the Bible in order to discover whether the
gospel of the Lord Jesus is holy and beautiful. What most men
and women do is they make their decision about religion and about
the gospel, and they form their opinion of religion and the preaching
of the gospel by the actions of those who profess to believe
it. We've all heard men and women
say things like, well, I'm not a churchgoer. And I'm not saying
that I'm perfect, but I am as good and righteous as those hypocrites
that go to church. Men and women form their opinion
on spiritual things based on what they see and what they hear
concerning the actions of those who profess to be believers.
Ungodly men and women don't read the living word of God. They
don't seek God and the truth of his word. They do not come
to Christ by repentance and faith. They do not love or enter into
a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ. If they did, like Caleb
and like Joshua and every true believer, they would soon discover
that God's promised land is a good land that flows with milk and
honey. But instead they sit back in
their armchairs of judgment and they watch the professing Christians
to see what they make of these things. Does coming to Christ
really make a difference in the lives of the ones who come? Does
believing the gospel really and truly succor or assist and support
God's people in times of hardship and distress? Does this coming
to Christ, believing this gospel really put away sin and make
the comers there unto perfect? Is this land of promise a place
where difficulties are great and enjoyments are few? You know,
trusting in Christ was always preached to me when I was in
the other religion as a place where I had to sacrifice everything.
Little did I know that by coming to and trusting in the Lord Jesus,
that He sacrificed everything for me, that I might have life
and heaven more abundantly. It was never told to me that
way. You've got to straighten up. You've got to fly right.
Well, thank God Christ did it all for me because that's something
I can't do. So tonight I want you to consider
with me every professing believer as a spy who has entered into
the good land of the gospel and true religion. Will they, by
their conduct and their conversation, by their way of life, bring an
evil or a good report of what they see and what they experience? Will their report move others
in the world to murmur and despise the gospel of Christ? Or will
it inspire them to long after it? I heard, I believe it was
Tim James say one time that preachers are reporters. We're news reporters. We report the good news. And
that's what Caleb and Joshua did. They brought forth a good
report. Now, let me say, up front with
a word of caution that the unbelieving men and women of the world are
in no way excused from their folly by trusting the mere report
of other people. God is to be believed and God
is to be counted true even before men have proved it. The fact
that it is God that said, I've given you this land. The fact
that it was God Almighty who said, I'll drive out your enemies.
They should have believed God right then without being proved.
The scripture bears witness that God is true, and every man is
a liar. Isaiah summed it up this way,
and I love this verse, I think of it often. The Lord of hosts
has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come
to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Isaiah 14,
24. So there's no reason for any
man, any woman, anybody, anywhere to doubt God. If there's anyone
who is faithful with promise, it's the Lord God of the universe. But men and women test the truth
and the holiness of Christ by the holiness of his people. And
it's just the opposite. Oh, I hope nobody makes a decision
concerning God based on my life. My, my, that's to my shame, no
one else. Because Christ is holy, his people,
by his sacrifice, by his substitution, are made holy. Folks got it backward. And if you're looking to judge
God by the righteous actions of his people, then you've set
yourself up for complete failure. Men and women need to heed for
themselves the advice of the scriptures, which say, taste
and see that the Lord is good. Some of you here tonight have
tasted and you've seen that the Lord is good. By tasting and
seeing for yourself, you'll see that the Lord is good and that
His mercy endureth forever. And that's our hope and that's
our confidence. Now your business and mine and
everyone in this world is to see Christ crucified, not to
take the representation of another man who is no less a sinner than
you are. Your business is to enter into
the good gospel land and pluck its grapes for yourself. Now
look at verse 17. Verses four through 15 or 16
list all the different names and the people of the 12 tribes,
and I'm not gonna try to pronounce them all, and it really doesn't
matter. The two that really matter, of
course, are Caleb and one who's called Oshiah, who God later
changed his name to Joshua, which is the same name as Jesus. As we discussed Sunday, Yahweh
is Savior. Joshua. Verse 17, and Moses sent
them, being the 12 spies, to spy out the land of Canaan. And
he said unto them, get you up this way southward and go up
into the mountain and see the land, what it is. "'and the people
that dwelleth therein, "'whether they be strong or weak, few or
many, "'and what the land is that they dwell in, "'whether
it be good or bad, and what cities they be in, "'and they dwell
in, whether in tents or in stronghold.'" Verse 20, "'And what the land
is, whether it be fat or lean, "'whether there be wood therein
or not, "'and be ye of good courage "'and bring of the fruit of the
land.'" Now the time was the time of the first graves. So
they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin
under Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the south
and came into Hebron where Ahaman and Shishah and Talmai, the children
of Anak were. Now Hebron was built seven years
before Zon in Egypt. And they came unto the brook
of Eshkol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster
of grapes. And they bear it between two
upon a staff." Took two men to carry that cluster of grapes.
And they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs. So here we see
that the 12 spies, as they're called, entered the promised
land and returned with their report. The promise which the
Lord had made proved true by a cluster of grapes brought back
which required two men to carry it. Man, it's like I've said
before, they must have been some grapes. Verse 25, and they returned
from searching of the land after 40 days. And they went and came
to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children
of Israel and to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they
brought back word unto them and to all the congregation and showed
them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said,
we came into the land whither thou sentest us and surely it
floweth with milk and honey. And this is the fruit of it.
Now I kind of was thinking about this. We've got 12 preachers
here, kind of like a Bible conference, a different kind of Bible conference
because we had two true preachers and 10 who are not. But one thing
they agreed upon was that this land surely flowed with milk
and honey because of the grapes that they brought. But look at
verse 28. Nevertheless, nevertheless, but,
but. but there's a problem. Nevertheless,
the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are
walled and very great, and moreover, we saw the children of Anak there,
and the Amalekites, while they dwelled in the land of the south,
and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the
mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast
of Jordan. They brought a bad report. Dear
sinner, what is your report of the gospel land of true religion? God gives us record here of a
true profession of faith and a false profession of faith.
God here gives us a illustration of the true preaching of the
gospel and the false preaching of the gospel. Caleb speaks as
the true believer, one who trusts God and His word. The true child
of God who walks by faith and not by sight. Look at verse 30. Verse 30 enables us to kind of
read between the lines here. We're told, and Caleb stilled
the people before Moses or in Moses' presence. And that word
stilled means calmed, Caleb calmed and he quieted. He hushed the
people. And that kind of tells us something
that we're not told. You can be assured that the people
of Israel were raising hell. The children of Israel were murmuring. They were near mutiny. And no
doubt they were speaking against Moses for bringing them out of
Egypt into such a mess. What a mess you've got us into,
Moses. Here we are now, you say, a land
of promise, a land that flows with milk and honey, and there
are great enemies, formable enemies here, and there are giants in
the land, and they all, every single one of them hate us. They
don't want us here. What have you done? What have
you done? I can just hear them, can't you?
You brought us to a place where the people that dwell in the
land are strong, and the cities are walled, and there are giants
in the land. But friends, when God reveals
the gospel to you in this world and in this life, He does not
usually nor immediately take you out of this world, out of
this life, no. You know, if He did, that would
be a great mercy and grace, wouldn't it? To save you and then just
take you on home. But it doesn't work that way
most times. We're in this world, but we're
not of this world. Sin is in this world and it's
strong and it's prevalent. And our enemies are strong and
they hate our God and they hate us because of our God. Our enemies
live in walled cities with hearts of stone. They're hard to reach.
They're hard to win over. There are many giants in the
land that we constantly face. We must, through much tribulation,
enter the kingdom of God. There are many obstacles in this
gospel land of true religion. Paul said there's trouble on
every side, for everywhere you look, there's trouble. Isn't
that been your experience? Oh, I thank God for his mercy
and grace and all that he provides for us, but this life not without
trouble. There are high walls, there are
mean giants and enemies everywhere you look, whether it be in the
South, In the mountains, or by the sea, or by the coast. That's
what they said. Everywhere we look, there are
enemies out to do us harm. I borrowed the words, if I may,
from an old country song. I believe it was Lynn Anderson
that sung it. And I'll change the words one
or two. But it said, I beg your pardon.
God never promised you a rose garden. And that's true. She sung, along with the sunshine,
there's gotta be a little rain sometime. We can't believe God
only when it's sunny. We can't believe God when life
is going well. Life is not always sunny. There's gotta be a little rain
now and then. But in the rain and in the storms
of life, we trust God. We believe the word of God and
we rest in his promises. And only two out of the 12 did
just that. That's what Caleb and Joshua
did. And Caleb here, he steeled, he hushed and quieted the people.
What was Caleb's profession of faith? It's the same for every
believer. Look again at verse 30. And Caleb
steeled the people before Moses. And he said, here's his profession
of faith. Here's his message of grace.
Let us go up at once. Let us go up and possess the
land for we are well able to overcome it. Now is your report
the same as Caleb's? There are three strong points
here to his profession. First, let us go up at once. What are we waiting on? God said
it's ours, let's go take it. God said he'd deliver us, let's
go. Second, let us possess the land.
God gave it to us, it's ours. We will take the deeds for it.
Thirdly, we're able, well able to overcome every obstacle. We
go up, we come to Christ, we possess that which God gave us
and we're well able to overcome. And it's all because God has
given it to us. Did you hear what I said? It's
not because of us, it's not because of any power or might or ability
in ourselves, God gave it to us. God gave it to us. A child of God knows that it's
the Lord Jesus who fights their battles. And it's He that's won
the war. God had already given them the
land. God had already promised them the victory. God is faithful
that promise. God can do anything. God can
do everything. Caleb believed God. Joshua believed
God. The question is, do we believe
God? Do you believe what God says
in this book? 20 years or so ago, I was talking
to a man about the gospel. He was actually a customer of
mine and somewhat a religious man. He was, well, he referred
to himself as a part-time preacher. I don't know how in the world,
how you do that, I don't know. And to be quite honest with you,
he was quite an arrogant man. My mother worked with him for
years, so I knew him even before this. But after talking with
him a while, he said, he said, I just don't believe the way
you do. And I knew he didn't because of the things that he
said. You know, it doesn't take listening to someone very long
to know whether or not they believe the way you do or not. So I asked
him, I said, if he could provide any scripture that would, would
or could prove me wrong in my way of believing. And he said,
no, not offhand. He said, I just don't believe
the way you do. So then I asked him if he had any scripture that
could back up and prove the way that he believed. And he said,
well, not that I can call to mind, I just don't believe that
way. Now, how men and women believe
don't change the truth. It just doesn't. The truth is
the truth. The final authority on what is
true is found in this book, right? The last words he ever said to
me were this, you have your way of believing and I have mine.
But what he never considered and what he never understood
was the fact that both of us could not be right. He would simply trust his way
of being saved. and I'd trust my way of being
saved. And it didn't matter to him what the Bible said, and
it didn't matter to him what God said, and it didn't matter
that he couldn't, from the scriptures, prove the way, his way of believing. It was simply the way that he
had always believed. I'd had conversations with him
before. It was the way his denomination believed. He was Southern Baptist. And he believed that he had to
make a decision. He believed that he had to lend
God his will to be saved. It was the way his mom and dad
believed. It was the way his grandparents
believed. And that was enough for him. It didn't matter what
anyone else said, even God. One day, very soon, he or I,
one, is going to find out who was right. We can't both be right. but God has given you and I the
proof of His word. And I stand on what God says
in this book. Someone told me one time, said,
well, you know, I don't believe the Bible, it was just written
by man. And I'm like, then I have absolutely no hope. I have no,
nothing that I can show you that would give you any hope or comfort
of being saved. If you don't believe this book,
it's useless. I stand on what God says. That's
what Caleb did. He stood on what God said. He
stood firmly on what God had promised. He knew God had given
them the land. And I know that God's given me
the gospel. How do I know? I just know that
I know. God's spirit bears witness with my spirit. And it's what
God says in this book. Men say, I've chosen God. This
book says that we haven't chosen him, but he's chosen us. Men
say, well, God loves me because I loved him. But this book says
that we love him because he first loved us. What does God say? I know that my religion is true
religion. And I know that I must come to
Christ. You gotta go up into the land. You gotta take it. I know that
my religion is true. religion. I know that I must
come to Christ. I must go to him at once and
possess him. It's God's commandment for me
to do so. It's not simply an invitation. Does the gospel you believe give
God all the glory and the salvation of sinner? If it does, that's
a good sign. Or does the gospel you profess
believe man has to do his part, lend his will, help God out? Does your gospel rightly declare
God to be the author and the finisher of your faith, the first
and the last, concerning this matter of your eternal well-being? If you do, then you have a great
hope. Or do you believe that you have
to let go and let God do something to save you? My point is your
report reveals so much. God commands that sinners repent
and believe the gospel. We're commanded to believe in
and on the Lord Jesus Christ and the promises of the Lord
Jesus Christ are yay and amen in him. What about the other
10 spies? What was their profession in
spite of what God said? They believed this way in spite
of what God had told them. Look at verse 31. But the man
that went up with him, speaking of Caleb, said, oh, we'd be not
able to go up against the people for they're stronger than we.
Well, that may be so, but God said, I've given you the land.
God said, I'm gonna take care of them. Don't you worry about
them. You just go and possess the land.
We're not able, we're not able. Well, they were right about that.
But God's able, Christ is able. Verse 32, and they brought up
an evil report of the land, which they had searched unto the children
of Israel, saying, the land through which we have gone to search
it is a land that "'Why, it eats up the inhabitants thereof, "'and
all the people that we saw in it "'are men of great stature. "'And there we saw the giants,
the sons of Anak, which come.'" of the giants, and we were in
our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. And I mentioned this when we
studied this a year or so ago. Notice they said that we are
grasshoppers in our own sight. That's how they saw themselves
to be. And in and of ourselves, that's
what we are. We're just grasshoppers, we're
nothing. But in Christ, I can do all things
through Him that strengthened me. My, my, we're more than conquerors,
are we not, in the Lord Jesus Christ? My, my. Verse 32 says that the 10 brought
up an evil report. There are many today who are
doing the same. I know a lot of people that hear me preach
think that I pick on religion. I do. because it was religion
that I believe sent a lot of people that I love to hell, lying
on God, not telling the truth about who God is and what God's
done for sinners. They said this land gonna eat
us alive. I've had folks tell me that the
Lord God that I trust sounds more like a devil than he does
a God. They say God loves sinners too
much to send them to hell. They say that my God is their
devil. Well, I wonder if that's why
everyone over the age of 20, with the exception of Caleb and
Joshua, did not enter the land of promise. Is that why they
perished in the wilderness? God loved sinners too much to
send them to hell? No, that's not why they perished.
They perished because of one thing, and it's called unbelief. Unbelief. That's the reason that
all men and women who perish do. So again, I ask you, what
is the report, your report concerning the land of promise? Or I could
ask it this way. What think ye of Christ? Same
question really. Do you believe God or do you
believe man? Do you believe with Caleb and
Joshua or do you believe the evil report of the 10 spies? You can't believe both, you can't. Turn with me and I'll wrap this
up, but turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. You can let your
place go there in numbers. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. I want you to look at one verse
here, verse four. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse
four. It says, for if he that cometh
preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if ye
receive another spirit which ye have not received, or another
gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might bear with him." If someone
comes to you and preaches another Jesus who is a better Savior,
a better Redeemer than the true Christ of the Bible, a Savior
who's better qualified to put your sin away. If they come and
preach to you, one who is more able to save you, one who's more
capable of fulfilling the law than our Lord and Savior was. One who's more willing to satisfy
God's holy justice in your room instead. One you can more safely
trust and depend upon. One you can more confidently
venture your soul upon. One you can more fully and completely,
one who can more fully and completely save sinners. If you can find
such a one, an advocate, a mediator, a substitute, a sacrifice, a
savior, who's more capable, qualified, powerful, perfect, sufficient,
more able and willing to save you, then you have good reason
to trust in that Jesus over the Christ in whom we preach. But to find such a one is utterly
impossible. Why? Because our Savior is God
Himself. Who are you going to find that
can do for you that which God requires of you? The very one
who requires perfection for you is the very one who provides
that perfection for you. Where are you going to find such
a one as that? Acts 14, 12 says, neither is there salvation in
any other. For there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved." Paul said in Ephesians
4, he said, there's one body and there's one spirit, even
as you're called in one hope of your calling, just one. Oh,
this is a very singular gospel that we believe. He said, there's
one Lord, there's one faith, there's one baptism, one God
and father of all, who's above all and through all and in you
all. Speaking to believers. And I remind you again, dear
sinner, that your gospel is very narrow. Narrow is the gate, narrow
is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it.
There's one body, that being the church of Christ, and Him
being the head. There's one Spirit, that being
the Spirit of God. There's only one hope, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. There's only one Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's another Jesus, which
is not another. There's only one faith. What
does that mean? That means there's only one way
of believing. Not two, not three, one. One way of believing. You believe the way you believe
and I believe the way I believe. No, both can't be right. Just one faith, just one. There's
just one baptism under the gospel, just one baptism. John and Christ
were the same, being baptized, being immersed into Christ, baptized
into his death. We died with him. We were buried
with him. We rose with him. That's what
baptism pictured, our death and burial and resurrection. with
the Lord Jesus and then our ascension with Him in heaven. There is
but one God, and He's a sovereign God. He's above all. That's what
Paul said here in Ephesians 4. He's not trying, He's not wanting,
He's doing. What's He doing, David? Whatever
He pleases. Whether it's in earth, in heaven,
in the seas, all deep places. Is this your report? Are you a believing, trusting
spy? Or are you an unbelieving spy? Is your report an evil one of
unbelief? Or is your report the truth according
to God's Word? May God be pleased to cause us
to believe Him in spirit and in truth. You know, that's the
only way a sinner can worship. That's what the Lord told that
woman at the well. The true worshipers worship Him
in spirit and in truth. You cannot worship God under
a false gospel, under a wrong way of believing. Can't do it.
The hour has come and now is when the true worshiper shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh
such to worship Him. And with that, I say, amen.