Join me if you would here in
the book of Numbers. We're going to be referring a little bit
to chapter 13 and most of our message will be out of chapter
14 of the book of Numbers. This gospel according to Numbers
reminds me so much of an illustration that I was given some time ago
about the entire world. Everybody in it, all the activities
of the world, about who's in charge of the world. God is the
director. He is over all things. He has
purposed all things. He is directing all things. He
is in charge. Now we heard this morning in
the Bible class that many, by nature, do not want to have this
one rule over them. But whether we have Him or not,
He's still ruling over the world. Now there is a group of people
that God had favor upon before the foundation of the world.
Now he knew, being all-knowing and having all knowledge, that
if he did not get involved in their redemption, they would
never on their own ever come to Christ. So it wasn't because
he was ornery or mean. It was because he loved people,
his people so much that he purposed to save them before the foundation
of the world. The Bible calls them his flock. The Bible calls him his sheep.
The Bible calls him his elect. And so the elect are the actors.
God has a purpose of finding every one of his lost sheep.
And he does that, as we heard this morning in the Bible class,
by the giving out of the seed. The gospel goes out. And God
has purposed that the preacher of the gospel is going to land
in prepared soil wherever his people are. That prepared soil,
when it comes the gospel landing on it, is going to have fruit,
and it is going to be known by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the faith is given because
of the new birth. Now, what about all the rest?
The Bible calls them all the rest, the rest, All the rest
are props. They're the people who provide
the food for us, the gasoline for us. They provide the heat
for us. They're the people who fly the
airplanes. By and large, we find very few people who know anything
about the gospel that is put into positions. Now, if they
do, hallelujah. But most of them are just servants
of the church of the living God. The Old Testament called them
hewers of wood and drawers of water. That's what they are. Now, we're thankful for them,
but God has purposed, as we read here in the book of Numbers in
particular, he has in untold times, I cannot count the times,
that he told his people that he would get them in the land
and give them the land and that land would be theirs. Now there
were some that understood what he was talking about and said
he will do that. He will do that. And there were
some that did not understand and they said he can't do that. He can't do that. Now we have
witness to that because in chapter 13 of the book of Numbers we
have there was appointed 12 men of honest report. Everybody thought. They were all Jews. They were
related. They were cousins. They had come
out of Egypt. Everyone that was in this group
had come out of Egypt. Everyone that had been down in
Egypt had been in servitude. They were slaves. Everyone had
witnessed the Passover. Everyone had witnessed that night
when God commanded that they leave Egypt. that they get out
of there, and they went with their swords, and they were prepared
to leave. They came up to the Red Sea,
and many of them said, God said, we're going to get through here,
and the rest of them said, I don't think he can, and great fear
came upon them. Well, God spoke to Moses. Moses
spoke to the Red Sea, and the Red Sea opened up, and the interesting
thing about it is that not only did God open up the Red Sea,
he allowed them to pass over on dry ground. Now if you've
ever been around lakeshores or waterways and it's been wet for
a long time, it's muddy. And here we go crossing over
on dry shod, dry land, dry feet. They didn't get bogged down in
the soil, the mud, and they passed over and they went over Every
one of them went over. Not one of them was lost. They
all entered into what we know as the Sinaitic Peninsula. They
were there at the building of the tabernacle. They were there
at the giving of the law. And then we find out that two
years later, after leaving Egypt, building the tabernacle, having
God speak to them, having moving them by a pillar of fire and
a pillar of cloud, they are brought up to the very borders of the
land that God had promised them to inherit. a very short amount of time between
the Red Sea and entering into the Promised Land, even on foot. They get up there and God has,
through Moses, said, select one man out of every tribe to represent
that tribe to go into this land and spy it out. Twelve men are
chosen. They could look at each other
and say, well, Cousin Caleb, you've been chosen. Cousin, you're
going in. That's wonderful. We'll have
a good time over there. We'll spy out the land. They spend
40 days spying out the land. And they come back, and they
are burying grapes, one cluster of grapes on a pole between two
men. Truly it was a land that floweth
with milk and honey. They got back there safely, not
one report of an injury, not one report of anybody getting
hurt, not one report that anybody did anything to them. They got
back and they recount the land and how it is, and then we have
a problem. Ten of those men come back, and
God calls it an evil report. They brought back an evil report. And two came back, and they said,
God is able. God can do this. He's promised
this. We can go in. Well, chapter 13
of the book of Numbers shares with us that there was a problem. Now, chapter 14, If you look
with me here, chapter 14 beginning with verse 1, we just want to
read a little bit of that. Chapter 14 and verse 1, the scripture
says, and all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried
and the people wept that night. They have been discouraged by
the evil report of these 10. Now, you know why those 10 couldn't
come back with a good report? because they did not know God. When God saves His people, He
gives to them the gift of belief, and He gives them the gift of
belief to believe the Word of God. He gives it to him. We don't acquire it on our own,
but He gives us that. And when He gives us that gift
of belief, we believe the Word of God. Now, we've said many
times we may not understand it, but we believe that it not only
is the Word of God, but we believe the Word of God. God has spoken,
and it is the truth. what he has spoken and his Holy
Spirit will give us witness to that very fact. That the truth
will make you free. The truth will quit you wondering
about the Word of God. The truth will make you free
and you will understand this is the Word of God and I will
trust it. Well, we find as we travel down
through here that the people were told You must go back by
the way of the Red Sea. Now that's the word of God. You
must go back. I am not going to let you enter
into the land. This is God speaking to them.
Because you brought back an evil report, I am not going to let
you enter the land. In fact, you will travel till
everyone that came out of Egypt that is above 20 years of age
will die off in the wilderness. And those are the words of God.
And you know what? They were carried out to the
letter. Even though people didn't believe
it, it was carried out to the letter. God's word is going to
be carried out. He shall fulfill every jot and
every tittle of the word. Everything will be fulfilled.
And he has given to the promise to his people, to his church,
to his sheep, to his elect, that this word is a precious word. It is a word that I have given
you. I'll open your heart to understand
it. I'll give a heart to you to believe it. And you will not
falter on this point. Now, when we think we do, God's
still got a hold of us. God has a hold of us. He has
it fixed so well that everyone that he gives the new birth to
will and cannot, they cannot fall away and will in the race. They will without exception.
Travel with me down through here into the book of Numbers chapter
14 and verse 14. It tells us here in chapter 14,
excuse me, chapter 24, verse 24, down to verse 24. But my servant Caleb, because
now this is God's word. This is the only reason that
Caleb came back with a good report. And Joshua is going to be said
to have the same thing. The rest of the people didn't
have this great gift of God. They did not have this great
gift of the spirit. God had not given. And you know,
I've run into people said there was no new birth in the Old Testament.
There either was or were not. Nobody was saved. They were not
saved by sacrifices, they were saved by the grace of God. Those
sacrifices were typed shadows and pictures. It was a declaration
of Christ and him crucified in picture form, but it was not
salvation in that. He said, my servant Caleb, because
he had another spirit with him, him will I bring into the land
where into he went, and his seed shall possess it. Did you know
how he was going to get into the land? He says, I will bring
him. Him will I bring into the land. Caleb came back with a good report
because he had another spirit in him. God had given him the
spirit of God, the spirit of Christ. He had given him an understanding
spirit, a spirit to believe the word. What God said, he will
fulfill. And then, would you turn back
with me, or excuse me, ahead to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy
chapter 29. In Deuteronomy chapter 29, we
have the reason that all the other people couldn't believe
The word couldn't believe God in Deuteronomy chapter 29. And
this is just natural man. This is people who are. Many
of them were religious. They saw the same sacrifices.
They saw everything that the rest of them did. There were
a few that said, now that's speaking about my Savior, but that's not
my salvation. And a whole host of them said,
well, God said we're going to worship. We're going to have
these lambs sacrificed and these oxen. That must be my salvation. That's religion to the core.
I'll put my faith in anything else but God. But when God gives
us clear faith, when he gives us faith in the new birth, we
will see his types and shadows and pictures in the Old Testament.
We will even go to the New Testament as we hope to observe in a few
minutes, the Lord's Supper. Nobody that has been given God-given
faith will look at those elements and say, here's my salvation.
We will say, here's a picture of my Savior. His broken body,
yes, it's a picture of it. His shed blood, yes, it's a picture
of it. But there is no spiritual qualities about this that will
lend us any better or any worse before God. Our whole hope and
our whole faith is based upon the Lord Jesus Christ and his
righteousness. God is a sovereign God and God
rules this world with his sovereign rod. And he has said to us in
the book of Romans, hath not the potter power over the clay? You know, I never have turned
a pot on a potter's wheels. I used to go down to the west
wing of the high school and go in there and see all that mud
all over and see those kids just going away and turning those
things. Sometimes I wish I'd just taken off time and went
into Chuck Cornigie's class and learned how to do it. I never
have. But once you're sitting down,
after you fulfill the requirements of the class there, Chuck Cornigie's
class, after you get to use it, you get to turn out what you
want. Now if it's marred, I've seen kids take that stuff after
they've got it all built up and it's not turning out like they
want, you know what they do with it? Smoosh! Put it into a pile again
and try to work out something good. God said, hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump out of the same human pile. He has chosen to make some vessels
of honor, and He has also chosen to make some vessels to dishonor. Now that's God, and if you don't
like it, you have to argue with Him about it. All right, here
in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 29, verse 1 through 4, These
are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses
to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab beside
the covenant which he made at Horeb. And Moses called upon
all Israel and said of them, ye have seen all that the Lord
did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh. and unto
all his servants and unto all the land, the great temptations
which thine eyes have seen, the signs and the great miracles. My goodness, we cannot count
the things that the Lord did for the children of Israel. Over
and over and over. I have a book in my library that's
sitting right there by my table at home. It's called Haley's
Bible Handbook. Now he says a lot of stuff in
there that is so worthless. But there was one page I was
going through last night. And here we are, we're at the
14th chapter of the book of Numbers, and it talks about the spies
going in and the 10 and the 2. And then before you know it,
we're meeting with Korah and his rebellion. And before you
know it, we're meeting with serpents among the people. And before
you know it, we're meeting with this rebellion and then this
rebellion. And you would think, you would
just honestly think that people would be smarter than that. that
they would finally learn that God has said something and he's
going to bring it to pass. But you know, the natural man
just cannot grasp that. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter what God has to say. They cannot get a hold of that.
In the book of John, it said Jesus speaking to a whole group
of religious people. He said, you cannot hear my words. And I'm sure they were saying,
well, of course I heard you. And that's not what he's talking
about. He's saying you cannot get the spiritual understanding.
And notice verse 4 of this chapter, what God had to say, yet the
Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive. Now there it is,
summed up in a nutshell. Now our prayer is for our friends,
our neighbors, and particularly our family, that God would give
them a heart to perceive, that God would quicken them, that
God would raise them from the spiritual dead, that God would
bring them out of religion and let them see Christ. If it doesn't
happen, God says, ''Hath not given you a heart to perceive,
eyes to see, and ears to hear unto this day.'' After seeing
all of that, after hearing all of that, after having the reports
come back and the punishment, go back if you would to the book
of Numbers. Numbers Chapter 14 for just a moment. In Numbers
Chapter 14, We read in verse 37, this just reminded me so
much of that last verse that was in our Bible class this morning.
Bring those unprofitable, those who said they do not want me
to rule over them. And here, Numbers chapter 14,
verse 37. Now, from what we read here,
the whole host of Israel is around this scene. The whole host of
Israel is observing this. The whole host of Israel that
are crying, they've already said, let's stone Moses and these other
two, and let's go back to Egypt, and let's get back where we once
were. Well, here in the book of Numbers, chapter 14, verse
37, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land. Now, notice what happened to
them. Died by the plague before the
Lord. Now it doesn't tell us how he
handled it, but it was serious for them. They died by the plague. Now this is something new. You
remember stepping back just a little bit in history of Israel, there
were two sons of the high priest. You would think they had, their
father would have taught them better than this. You know, we
can teach and teach and teach and teach. Unless the Lord opened
the heart and revealed Christ to them, they still cannot comprehend. You know what those guys did?
They brought strange fire. Now God is the fire. What he,
what he's saying here, they brought a strange gospel. I appreciated
that this morning. If you take a kernel of wheat
and cut it in half, it will not grow. And most of the religious
world are taking half kernels. Quarter Colonels, to... They're
three-quarter kernels, but it will not grow because it's been
cut into. The gospel, it has to be the
whole gospel, the word of God, the truth of God, that God before
the foundation of the world made a covenant between the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit to save some people from their
sins, and he's about carrying out that covenant. That covenant
is so valuable and so important that when God saves his people,
they say, thank you for the covenant of grace because I would have
never turned in here to see you. The Nadab and Abihu thought they
were doing okay. They come in with these bowls
or plates with strange fire. You know what really is the strange
thing? Is that God provided all the
good fire. He provided it for them. They
didn't have to go making it. He provided them the fire, but
they brought in strange fire. They brought in their own fire.
And the scriptures tell us that instantly God consumed them and
didn't burn up their apparel. You know, over in the New Testament,
we think, well, that's all Old Testament. There was a couple
that were married. Ananias, no. Ananias and Sapphira. And you know they had seen those
people who had trusted God, saying, here's some people over here
that are in need, we're going to help them out. And they, oh,
Barnabas sold what he had and brought for the help of the church
there. And they said, you know, people are getting a lot of kudos
over that. People are getting, people are
patting them on the back. And they said, we'd like some
of that. We'd like that. So they sold
a piece of property and they coveted it among themselves and
said, you know, we'll give 50%. We'll tell everybody it was all
it was, but we'll give 50%. Or 90%, I don't know, it doesn't
tell us. But Peter was caused to understand
that this man that brought in this money said, why have you
come to lie to the Holy Spirit? Carried out dead. Moments later,
wife carried out dead. No, God is a strict God. And he will not allow people,
will not allow people, to go against His Word. Now it may
be at the final judgment that this will be carried out, but
that's going to happen. We also know about a man by the
name of Herod who gave not God the glory. We say, well that
only happens to people that are anti-religious, and he was. And
he was consumed. Now, turn with me here in the
book of Numbers back to verse 25. Back to verse 25. This is the word of the Lord.
You know, as I was looking at this, I do not find one word
of complaint about when God told Moses and the children of Israel
these words in verse 27, or excuse me, verse 25. He says, now the
Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. Tomorrow
turn you and get you into the wilderness by the way of the
Red Sea. That's the command. I do not hear one word of complaint
out of Joshua or Caleb about these new instructions. Even
though they are this close to entering into the promised land,
they do not complain when God says, folks, you're going to
wander in the wilderness 38 more years. Do you know what? God had already
told him, I'm going to give you the land. You're going into the
land. However long it takes, you're
still going to get there. You're not going to die off in
the wilderness. You're going to get to the land. So they just
walked around. The Bible tells us in the Psalms,
let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Now, I've had that so
misrepresented at times. The meaning of that is, let the
redeemed of the Lord say so. That's God's word. It doesn't
matter what's happening to me. So? God's covenant will be carried
out. So it doesn't matter what's happening
to me. So? He has promised me good. So? He has promised me eternal life.
So this little 38 year interval means nothing. in God's time, and he shall fulfill
the promise that he has made to me," is what Joshua and Caleb
could say. The rest of the people said,
well, they're going to be older, hopefully a little wiser. The response of the people, verse
40 of this 14th chapter, the Lord's instructions were, go
back by the way of the Red Sea. What's that mean? Turn around.
Go back, you're going to spend 38 years. How much time short
of that did they spend because of these words? None. God said before these words
that they're going to bring up, you're going to spend 38 years,
total of 40 years wandering in the wilderness. That is my word
upon it. What they had to say here did
not cut down that one day because they're going to cry I'm sorry. That is probably the most overused
word in the English language. I don't know how many times I've
heard said by people, well, I said I'm sorry. Well, my arm has been
cut off. I'm sorry. You know, these folks,
now that the judgment of God is going to fall, said, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Notice here with me
in this verse 42. Verse 40, and they rose up early
in the morning and got them up into the top of the mountain
saying, lo, we be here and we'll go up into the place which the
Lord hath promised, for we have sinned. You know, we have all had that
same issue in our own lives. And you know what it meant? I
got caught. I'm sorry. Now, if I hadn't got
caught, I wouldn't be sorry. But since I got caught, I'm sorry
and I have sinned and I'll make up for it and I'll do better
and I'll turn over a new leaf. Well, the Lord has already said
you're not going into the land. And by the way, turn around and
head out. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you. Verse 42. Go not up, for the
Lord is not among you, that you may be not smitten before your
enemies. The Lord's not among you. You're
doing this on your own. How often is that our motive? Do something because we got caught,
and then we find out the Lord's not in this. You know, the Lord
of glory shows his people, I'm not in this. I am not in this. They seem to believe that they
are sufficient to drive out the inhabitants and take possession.
You know what? Just a short period before this,
omnipotence was going to take them into the land. Omnipotence! All powerful God had promised
them this land. And they come back with an evil
report. Two of them come back with a good report. They understand
omnipotence. All powerful God can do what
he says he will do. And here they decide, we have
sinned. We're sorry for what we did.
We're ready to go in. And by themselves, without God,
they think they can do what they wouldn't do when God said, I'm
with you. Isn't that just normal, natural
man talking about God? God is all powerful to the church. He's not much to most other people. He's a helper in time of trouble. He's a lucky rabbit's foot. I remember a man that was in
World War I. You know, there's none of them
left. They're all gone. And those who fought in World
War II are almost. This man over 55 years ago shared
with me that he was in France during World War I. And you know,
the more I read and study about that, the more perilous that
was. And he was in a foxhole. That meant a bomb burst. He was
hiding. And he told the Lord, if you
ever get out of this, I'll never bother you again. And he told
me, Norm, I've kept my promise. I don't think the Lord ever bothered
him about grace. Well, they go up. No, I'm sorry. No tears are sufficient for our
crimes against God. There is not enough personal
punishment to merit God's presence. Many years ago Nancy and I were
down in Guadalajara, Mexico and Rachel took us over to this building
and they said at certain times of the year they spread out broken
glass for a hundred yards and people crawl on their knees down
to the altar and they think that by this they are atoning for
their sins. No personal punishment will ever
take away one's sin. The only thing that takes away
sin is the blood of Jesus Christ. The only thing that will save
us is Christ and Him crucified. The only thing that will deliver
us is not, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but God be merciful to me, the
sinner, as that publican cried out. And you know what God said
about that publican? He went down to his house justified. God had justified him, and at
the cross, he made it so apparent. He laid down his life, a ransom
for many. The Lord is not with you. What
a perilous thought that God shared with almost all of Israel. The Lord is not with you. You
know, they don't listen. And they go in, and they're defeated. Just as God said they would be. In the book of Galatians chapter
3 verse 1. Would you turn there with me?
Galatians chapter 3 and verse 1. Almost the same thing that we
read about here in the book of Numbers. Galatians chapter 3. Oh foolish Galatians. Who hath
bewitched you? Now notice this, the very next
phrase, that ye should not obey the truth. Galatians chapter
3 verse 1, continuing on, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been evidently set forth, crucified among you. This only would I
learn of you. Received ye the spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith. And in that same book
in chapter 5, in that same book in chapter 5, would you turn
there with me. Galatians chapter 5 and verse
7. Ye did run well. You know, from
the appearance, as these people all gather up at the line, getting
ready to go in, boy, look at those guys. Tall, dark, and handsome. You can't tell the difference
among them. They're all ready to go in there into the promised
land. We're going to sit here for a while, it turns out to
be 40 days, and we cannot wait for them to come back and say
how good the land is. We'll just wait for them. So
they had their campfires. They ate their manna, they ate
their quail, and they waited 40 days. And behold, on that
40th day, someone observed these spies coming back through that
pass, down in among them, and they're all saying, yay! How glorious, they're back. What a blessing from God. They're
all back here now. And so, how'd it go? How'd it
go? Oh man, that land is just wonderful.
Well, how to go? Well, the more we think about
it, we just can't make it. We just can't make it. What God
had to say about it is not the truth. Those giants are just
too much for us. We'll not make it. And two guys
stood up and says, what in the world are you doing? Why are
you saying that? Why are you disheartening the
people the way you are? Well, that's what we believe.
And you know, two believers said, that's not the truth. That's
not the truth. The truth is, God said he would
deliver this land to us and he will deliver it to us. Well,
38 years later, guess what? He did. He did. He kept his promise. He did. He took them in. Now for our
last reading, would you turn with me to the book of Psalms. Psalms. Psalm 44. I have just fell in love with
Psalm 44. I ran into this passage of scripture
and I said, my goodness, this sums it all up. This tells everything. Psalm 44 verse 3, well, verse
3. For they got not the land in
possession by their own sword. When God gave them that land,
it wasn't their sword that got it for them. Outside of Jericho, he met with
Joshua, he says, I've given you the city. Goes on to tell us
here, neither did their arm save them, not by their word and not
by their power. But thy right hand, whose right
hand? God's right hand. By thy right
hand and thine arm and the light of thy countenance, because thou
hast favor on them. What was the whole reason that
God gave them that land? Because I loved them with an
everlasting love. I had them in mind before the
foundation of the world. As it says there, I had favor
on them. And then he said, this is what
I'm going to use. It says there, by my right hand
and my arm and the light of my countenance, you know, the light
of the countenance. I knew when I came home from
school whether mom had a good day or not. Didn't you? Met you
at the door, and if she was, oh, oh, we better go out and
play. Or, guess what? I got donuts made for you. The
light of the countenance. You know, the light of the countenance
of God towards the church is, I'm smiling on you. You are my
children. I purchased you with a price.
You believe my word. I've given you that grace. You
will carry through. You may wander a while at my
appointment, but you will carry through. I'll bring you into
the land. I'll bring you to the possession
that I promised you. I'll bring you to Christ, and
then I'll bring you to glory. That's God's promise to the church.