Our text this morning will be
found in the Old Testament book of Numbers, Numbers chapter 13. And when you find that passage
in Numbers 13, put your marker there and turn with me to Romans
chapter 8. I'll give you a moment to get
there. While you're turning, let me
say that earlier this week, I corresponded with a pastor, friend of mine,
who I believe is now 80 years old. If not, he's fixing to turn
80. And he told me that in all his
years of life and in the ministry, probably 50 years or more now,
he told me that he's never seen a time when people were more
afraid than right now. even professing believers. In
the scriptures, fear is the opposite of faith. And faith and fear
can never, ever occupy the same space. Paul told Timothy, for
God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of
love and of a sound mind. And the Holy Spirit within us
is a powerful thing. And it gives us the ability to
love God and to trust God, which in turn gives us a sound mind
that's able to rest in Christ, no matter the circumstances that
we find ourselves in. David said, the Lord is on my
side. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. And the writer of Hebrews recorded
that Christ said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee so
that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear
what man shall do unto me. And knowing that God is on our
side, we should never fear what anyone or anything can do or
shall do unto us. Why? For our God is out to do
us good. What peace there is in knowing
that whatever God has pleased and purposed to do, it always
comes to pass. Now, here in Romans 8, verse
28, I know most of you could quote this verse. You know the
scripture well. But Paul writes, and we know,
we know, that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are thee called according to His purpose. All things work together for
His people's good because it is He, our Heavenly Father, that's
working all things together. Why shouldn't the child of God
fear anyone or anything? Because God would have never
sent his son into the world. He would have never sent his
son into the world if he had not intended to do his people
good. And that's what God, the Holy
Spirit through the apostle Paul continues to tell us here in
the eighth chapter of Romans. Look at the next verse, verse
29. For whom He, speaking of God,
for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He, speaking of Christ, God's
Son, might be the firstborn among many brethren. Verse 30, moreover,
whom he did predestinate, whom he did predetermine to save,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. I can narrow that down to just
a few words. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, having said that, Paul goes
on to ask two questions that confirm exactly what I'm saying. He asked in verse 31, what shall
we then say to these things? If God chose us, if God called
us, if God saved us, if God's working all things out together
for our good, what should we say to these things? And then
he asked another question that answers that question. He said,
if God be for us, who can be against us? That's a good question. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Or in other words, what should
we be afraid of if God is for us? If God is for us, who can
be against us since everyone and everything is answerable
to him? And if we really believe what
God says, these are reasonable questions to ask ourselves. They're
reasonable considerations for those who trust and believe God. You see, to trust Him is to believe
Him, and to believe Him is to trust Him. They go hand in hand
together. Now in verse 32, Paul adds to
our confidence and our assurance by saying this, Look at it. He said, he that spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all, meaning all God's
elect, not all the world, how shall he not with him? That's
speaking of Christ. How shall he not with Christ
also freely give us all things? And again, let me add that God
is out to do his people good. And again, three more reassuring
questions. First question in verse 33, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justify. Second question in verse 34.
Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather,
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
maketh intercession for us. And the third question is found
in verse 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or
sword? Will any of these things separate
us from the love of God? No, none of them, not one of
them. So let's quickly recap. First,
who can charge us with being guilty and deserving any kind
of condemnation or wrath? It's God that justifies. It's
God who justifies and none can charge us. Secondly, who can
condemn us of anything? It's Christ that died for us.
If Christ died for you, you're as perfect as He is. Thirdly,
who can separate us from the love of God? And the answer is
nothing or no one. And then Paul just drives the
nail of our confidence completely in with just one swift blow of
the hammer. Verse 37. Nay, in all these things
we are more than conquerors. Not just conquerors, more than
conquerors. Through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death. Now look at these things. I'm
persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So
let me ask again, what shall we fear when none of these things
here mentioned, which basically includes everything? That pretty
well covers the whole shooting match, those things he said there
in those three verses. What can separate us from the
love of God that is found in Jesus Christ our Lord? God is
out to do you good, child of God. Absolutely nothing should
cause us to fear. Now, look to Numbers chapter
13 with me. I think most of you know this
story well. After God had powerfully delivered
Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, they encamped at
the foot of Mount Sinai for about a year, the best I can research
it. And during that year, you know
that the Lord gave them the law and he gave them the plans for
the tabernacle and the service of the tabernacle along with
the service of the priest and instructions concerning the sacrifices. These are the things that we've
been studying on Wednesday evening in our study of Exodus. And after
that year, God continued to lead his people onto that land that
he had promised by the pillar of cloud during the day and a
pillar of fire by night. And they were led by God to a
place called Kadesh, Kadesh Barnea. And there they stopped. Kadesh
Barnea was on the edge of the desert. It was right on the border
of that land that God had promised and given them. And I said that
intentionally. He'd already given them that
land. They hadn't possessed it yet, but he had already given
it to them. It was as good as theirs. When God gives you something,
it's as good as yours. And it's that same land that
God had promised Abraham so many hundreds of years before, and
the same land that Moses had told Israel of before they were
ever delivered out of Egypt. And he told them that this land
flowed with milk and honey, that the land that God had given them,
he had already promised them victory over the enemies who
possessed the land. God had promised that He would
give them this land long before they ever got there. So we pick
up the story here in Numbers chapter 13 verse 1. And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search
the land of Canaan. Now look at those next three
words, which I give. which I've given to the children
of Israel of every tribe of their fathers, shall ye send a man,
every one a ruler among them." So God here through Moses sends
12 spies, one from each of the 12 tribes to spy out the land. And they're named in verses four
through 15. I won't read them all, have trouble
pronouncing a lot of them, but I will draw your attention to
verse six. It says, of the tribe of Judah,
Caleb, the son of And in verse eight, he says, of the tribe
of Ephraim, Oshiah, the son of Nun. And then in verse 16, we're
told that Moses called Oshiah, the son of Nun, Jeshurah or Joshua. I point those two out to you
in particular, and you'll see why in a moment. Now, these spies
were to stay in the land of Canaan. They were to spy on this land
for 40 days, according to verse 18. And the purpose was to see
the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth there, whether
they be strong or weak, whether they be few or many. In verse
19, they were to see what the land is that they dwell in, whether
it be good or bad, and what cities they dwell in, whether in tents
or in strongholds. And what the land is, whether
it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein or not. And they
were told here to be of good courage and to bring proof from
the fruit of the land. And it says that it was the time
of the first right grapes. Now, in verse 25, we see that
they returned from searching of the land after 40 days. In
verse 26, they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to
all the congregation of the children of Israel and unto all the congregation
and showed them the fruit of the land. They begin their report
here to Moses in verse 27, saying, we came into the land where the
thou sentest and surely it floweth with milk and honey. And here's
the fruit of it. And I want you to try to imagine
this in your mind. We're told in verse 23, that
they brought out a cluster of grapes that two men could barely
hold up. Verse 23 says that these grapes
were so bountiful and plentiful that they had to bear them between
two men upon a staff in order to carry them. Oh, I would have
loved to have had some of those grapes. And along with that,
they brought pomegranates and figs. What a sight that must
have been. But then the report of 10 of
the spies, it just flat goes south. And it does so by that
word, first word in verse 28, nevertheless. As you know, that
word nevertheless means however, or regardless, or in spite of. They said, oh, it does. This
land is, it does flow with milk and honey, but nevertheless. Oh, may we always remember this. God's word and God's promises
are nevertheless. They're nevertheless, they say,
nevertheless, the people are strong that dwell in the land.
The cities are walled and very great, and there are giants in
the land. We saw the children of Anak there,
giants. Friends, this would be a good
time to remind you this morning that there's a giant in our land
right now. You can look around you this
morning and even see the fear that this giant is causing. And this fear exposes our unbelief. Remember, fear is the opposite
of faith. Fear is the opposite of trust.
And we see a very good picture here of ourselves in these 10
spies. Now in verse 25, we're given
a better understanding of whom and what the 10 spies feared.
Let me quickly give them to you. First, we have the Amalekites. If you remember, the Amalekites
were the descendants of Esau. They were the first nation that
came out against the people of Israel after God had delivered
them out of Egypt. And you remember the story that
as long as Moses' hands were lifted up, Israel prevailed.
And when his hands and his arms grew tired and began to drop,
then the Amalekites prevailed. So they held Moses' hands up.
What a picture that is of our looking to Christ and looking
to Him alone, high and lifted up. When we look to Christ, the
Exalted One, we have the victory. Did you hear what I said? When
we keep our eyes on Christ, high and lifted up, we have the victory. But when we look in fear at the
obstacles and the enemies that we have in this life, we lose. And no doubt the Amalekites here
picture the flesh. Now, as long as we keep our eyes
on Christ, trust in Him, everything's going to be all right. And we're
going to know that. But when we look to our flesh,
our ability, our frailty, our vulnerabilities, we fail. It's just that simple. Secondly,
we have the Hittites here. Now, the word Hittite comes from
the Hebrew verb pronounced hatat. I think I'm saying that right,
hatat or hatat, which means paralyzing fear and terror. It also means
destruction and ruin. The fear of man, the fear of
the flesh, the fear of circumstances, the fear of fear. Men fear what
they have no control over, but what do we have control over?
Huh? What do we really have control
over? Nothing. So why do we fear anything
when God has control over everything? And it's here that we find true
peace and rest. Now, when I was a young boy,
I never worried much about anything. You know why? Because I trusted
my father for everything. He was a great provider. I never
once worried about what I would eat, what I would drink, what
I would wear, where I would sleep, just didn't worry about it. Why? Because I trusted in my father
to provide everything that I needed. I took no thought for those things.
I had no worries. You know, it's a common saying
today, no worries, stop worrying then. In Matthew 6, verse 25,
our Lord Jesus said, take no thought for your life, what you
shall eat, what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you
shall put on, is not the life more than meat and the body more
than raiment? You better believe it is. Behold,
the fowls of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather they into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
If God takes care of the birds, the sparrows, will he not take
care of you? Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit unto his stature?" I'm telling you, if I grew by
worry, I'd be eight foot tall. It won't add one inch to your
stature. Not worry, not fear. He said,
why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed as one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which is today and tomorrow is
cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? O ye
of little faith. Now there's a good title for
us. O ye of little faith. And then thirdly, we have the
Jebusites. Now the word Jebusite means polluted. We pollute the word of God by
our unbelief. Unbelief brings fear, and fear
is the pollution behind our unbelief. And then fourthly, we have the
Amorites. And the word Amorite means boasting. It means prominence or publicity. It means being famous and important. What a picture that is of us
by nature. Men and women by nature think
more of themselves than they do of God. I'm talking about
by nature. It's the epitome of unbelief
and a great factor for fear to think of ourselves too highly
and too lowly of God. Looking to self never provides
faith. It always provides and brings
fear. And then fifthly and lastly,
we have the Canaanites And that word means peddler, picturing
one who buys and sells and makes merchandise of men and women's
souls. And what a picture that is of
salvation by works. Now, I don't want to get sidetracked,
but God has promised victory over all our enemies, all of
them, just as he did Israel over all their enemies in Canaan.
Now look at verse 30. Here we see something of the
man and woman who walks by faith and not by what they see. Verse
30, and Caleb stilled the people before Moses. That word stilled
means calmed. And he calmed them by saying,
let us go up at once and possess it. Talking about the land. For
we are well able to overcome it. There's so much we can learn
here from Caleb. His profession is a good one.
And in spite of all the other tens report, Caleb says, let's
go up right now. What are we waiting for? Why
wait? Why? Terry, let's go at once
and possess what God has already given us. For we are well able
to overcome it. You know how he knew that? Because
he knew God was with him. Was he being presumptuous? I
mean, after all, the 10 other spies had a bad report. That's
much like our news media today. They say things are bad. Oh,
you better stay home. But this thing we're facing is
strong. It's like a walled city that
can't be penetrated. We can't go up against it. It's
stronger than we are. It's a giant in our land. But
Caleb believed God. Do we believe God? He said we're
able to overcome it. And those around him said, we
can't go up against these giants. They're stronger than we are.
But Caleb said, they aren't stronger than our God. And they're not. Do you see what God calls the
profession of the 10 spies in verse 32? Just what I said, Moses
said, and they brought an evil report of the land which they
had searched. Now listen to me. Any report
that questions what God says is an evil report. God said in
verse two, send down men that they may search the land, which
I give. It's a land that flows with milk
and honey. You go and you take it. And you
know, in the book of Joshua, I love the story, I forget now
which particular Hittite or Canaanite or whoever, one of the types
that they were fighting, but God sent hailstorms down and
knocked them off their horses. What do we have to worry about
when God is on our side? God doesn't lie. If God promised
they'd take the land, then they'd take the land. And beloved, are
we going to believe God? I ask you again, are we going
to walk by what we see and by what we're told? Again, verse
32, the 10 spies said, the land through which we have gone to
search, it's a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. And
then they said, all the people that we saw in it are men of
great stature. And there we saw the giants and
the sons of Anak, which come of the giants. And look at this,
verse 33, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. And
so we were in their sight." Did you pay close attention to what
they said there? They said, we were in our own
sight, grasshoppers. They saw themselves that way. They didn't see themselves as
they really were. They didn't see themselves as
God had made them, more than conquerors. No, sir. They were
in their own sight, in their own opinion, weak, helpless,
and free. They saw themselves as defeated.
They had forgotten what God had promised. Why do we do that?
They saw themselves this way, and then they deducted in their
own minds that their enemies saw them that way too, but they
didn't. I can prove that to you. Do you
remember what Rahab said? She lived there in Jericho. And when the two spies came there
and speaking on behalf of all the rest of Jericho, she said,
we know that the Lord has given you this land. We know that the
Lord has given you our land. And we know that your terror
has fallen upon us. We faint because of you. For
we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for
you, and you came out of Egypt. We heard that. We've heard what
you did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the
other side of Jordan. We heard what you did to old
Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we
heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain
any more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God,
He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath." There you
go. They saw themselves as grasshoppers,
but the people of Canaan didn't see them that way because they
saw Israel's God. It's pretty sad when our enemies
have more faith in our God than we do. But with whom was God
grieved 40 years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom
swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them
that believe not. So we see that they could not
enter in, speaking of the land of promise, because of unbelief. That's what God's word says.
Hebrews 3, 17 through 19. After everything that they had
seen, they believe not. I've seen some things. They didn't
enter into God's rest. Why? Because of unbelief. It'll
keep you out every time. God had caused the people of
Israel to, he caused them to wonder another 40 years, a year
for every day that the spies were in Canaan because of their
unbelief. They had seen the 10 plagues
in Egypt and not a fly or a frog or one death was found in Goshen
where Israel dwelt. They had seen the death of the
firstborn of Egypt. And they saw that they themselves
were passed over because the blood was on the door. They had
crossed the Red Sea on dry ground while Pharaoh and his army drowned. They had eaten manna that fell
from heaven, and they had drank from a rock that followed them
around. They had seen 3,000 men die when
Israel made a golden calf and worshiped it. 3,000 men. And they were still being led
by the pillar of a cloud and by the pillar of fire. And now
they're ready to enter into the land of promise. And only two
out of the 12 believed God. I'm not good at math, but I figured
out that 16.67%, not a very high percentage. Wherever you have
unbelief, you have fear. They feared what man could do
to them. They feared what things could
do to them. Wherever there's a high view
of man and wherever there's a high view of the things, there's always
a low view of God. God said, fear not. Anything
we fear becomes in our minds and in our hearts bigger than
God. But God's bigger than anything
and everything and everyone. Oh, there are giants in the land,
but they're not giants to God. Who entered into the land of
promise? Only two who were over the age of 20. Remember who they
were? Joshua and Caleb. Joshua means savior. Joshua means
my help is in Jehovah. And Caleb means dog. Some say
it means faithful dog. That's okay with me. Who is going
to enter into the land of promise? Who's going to enter into heaven's
glory, friend? Those whose help is Jehovah and
those who are faithful dogs to him. That's who's going to enter. Poor old Mephibosheth had a great
fall on both of his feet. Lame. He was a self-confessed
dog, wasn't he? When David fetched him and mercy
and grace, he said, Lord, what is a dead dog like me? What have
I done to deserve your mercy and grace? And he ate at the
king's table continually. And it was that Canaanite woman,
that Syrophoenician woman, who agreed with the Lord that she
was a dog. He said, it's not right to give
the children's bread to dogs. And she said, you're exactly
right. Yay, Lord. Yes, Lord. A dog is what I am. But Lord, even the dogs get the
crumbs from the master's table. And she got them. Her daughter
was healed that very day. Oh, I have so much more I could
show you in Numbers 14, but do look down at verse 23 with me.
These are the words of our Lord here. Numbers 14, verse 23, it
says, Surely they, speaking of those that feared and believed
not, shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither
shall any of them that provoke me see it. Now look at this,
verse 24. This ought to be encouragement
to you. He says, but my servant Caleb, because he had another
spirit with him and hath followed me fully. Him will I bring into
the land where into he went and his seed shall possess it. Caleb
had another spirit within him, but let me tell you something.
It was the spirit that God put in him. And Caleb the dog, he
followed Christ fully. Didn't the Lord Jesus not say,
my sheep follow me? Now listen, when a sheep runs
ahead, they get in trouble. Those who go before the pillar
of the cloud often find themselves in a cloud and cannot see. And
those who go before the pillar of the fire often find themselves
in the fire and perish, but not those that follow. We better
make sure who we're following. A dog follows his master. I gladly
take that name for myself. I'm a dog. Lord, make me a faithful
dog. The Lord said of Caleb the dog,
he followed me and he followed me fully. What is it to follow
the Lord fully? Well, let me show you. Turn to
Joshua chapter 14 and I'll wrap this up. Joshua chapter 14 and
look at verse six. This was such a blessing and
encouragement to me. And it should be to any that
are afraid. Verse six, Joshua 14, it says,
then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb,
the son of Juphenel, the Kenazite, said unto him, thou knowest,
now this is Caleb talking to Joshua, who was the other faithful
one. He said, thou knowest the thing
that the Lord said unto Moses, the man of God concerning me
and you in Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses,
the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to a spy
out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in mine
heart. Nevertheless, my brethren that
went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly
followed the Lord my God. And Moses swear on that day saying,
surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance
and thy children's forever because thou hast wholly followed the
Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath
kept me alive. And he said, These forty and
five years, ever since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while
the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now, lo,
I am this day fourscore and five years old." He's 85 years old,
Gene. And look what he says. As yet,
I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me.
He said, I'm as strong and resilient now at 85 as I was at 40. Now I'll tell you what, not many
can say that. I'm 65 and I'm nowhere near as
resilient as I was at 40. I'm almost 65. Clarify that. Verse 11 is, yet I am as strong
this day as I was the day that Moses sent me. My strength was
then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and
to come in. Now therefore, give me this mountain. Whereof the Lord spake in that
day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anacoms were there
and that the cities were great and fenced. That was the report
of the ten, remember? He says, if so be the Lord will
be with me. Now look at this, that I shall
be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. and Joshua blessed
him and gave unto Caleb, the son of Jephiel, Hebron for an
inheritance." Now look at this, Hebron therefore became the inheritance
of Caleb, the son of Jephiel, the Kenizzite, unto this day
because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. You know,
I was thinking Lot's wife left Sodom, but she looked back. You
see, she left Sodom, but her heart didn't. And the foolish
Galatians were soon removed from him that had called them into
the grace of Christ into another gospel. But old Caleb, now 85
years old, he followed the Lord fully and wholly into the end. Faithful dog, faithful dog. That's what a faithful dog does.
He follows his master into the end. Now turn over a page to,
you may not have to, but Joshua chapter 15, and look at verse
13. And unto Caleb, the son of Jephiel,
he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment
of the Lord to Joshua, even the city of Arba, the father of Anak. You remember that name? which
city is Hebron. And Caleb drove fence the three
sons of Anak." Those giants that those spies had told him about,
Shishiah and Ahimon and Palmiah, the children of Anak. The same
giants that the 10 spies feared, Caleb, God's dog, now 85 years
old, drove them out and slew them. Friends, there's always
going to be giants in our land. But by the grace and mercy of
God and the God-given faith that God gives us, we will always,
always be victorious if we follow the Lord fully. You know, I like
being God's dog. And I'd rather be with my Master
in faith, trusting Him, than to be without Him, living in
fear and unbelief. Why? Because I love Him. And
I know that He loves me, His faithful dog, because in Christ
He's made me the faithful dog that I am. No matter what may
befall me, no matter what may come my way, and even if it would
kill me to live as Christ and to die as Gain, nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors. The dogs we are. more than conquerors
through Him, Christ, that loved us. May God enable us to remember
that.