Faith Versus Unbelief
Series: Prove God Stewardship Series, Sermon #2 of 3)
Chuck Sligh
January 19, 2014
A PowerPoint presentation of this sermon is available by emailing a request to me at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Also available is a copy of the 100% Money Back Guarantee commitment referenced in the sermon.
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Numbers 13.
INTRODUCTION
Numbers 13-14 records the story of the Israelites as they finally came to the land of promise. At its border, Moses sent in 12 spies to reconnoiter it and bring back specimens of the country’s agriculture and give a general report of what they were up against. The twelve spies carried out their mission and returned after 40 days.
Let’s pick up the narrative at verses 26-33: And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 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. 29 The Amalekites dwell 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. 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 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 eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 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.” (Numbers 13:26-33)
There’s a popular kids song based on this story with cute hand movements (SING AND SIGN)
Twelve men went to spy in Canaan, Ten were bad and two were good.
What do you think they saw in Canaan, Ten were bad and two were good.
Some saw giants big and tall, Some saw grapes of Eschol fall.
Some saw God was in it all—Ten were bad and two were good.
This story is a symbolic picture of faith versus unbelief. Faith is the most important Christian virtue for a person to possess.
• First of all—it is the entrance to eternal life itself – Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
• But it’s also the key way for a believer to please God – Hebrews 11:6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
So in the Christian life, we need to be a people of faith—and nothing is more important to understand when it comes to giving God a tithe of our income.
We are in week 2 of our Stewardship series, and last week we examined the concept of Christian stewardship of the resources God has given us (sermon title: French Fries and Interior Decorating). We saw that two key reasons Christians fail to be good stewards in giving the tithe is not understanding God’s OWNERSHIP of all we have and not surrendering to God’s LORDSHIP of how His assets are to be allocated.
Today we want to examine the third barrier to obedience in giving the tithe: UNBELIEF. Many believers find it hard to REALLY believe that God will take better care of them if they tithe than if they don’t, despite many verses that promise this in the Bible. When a believer who has tithed for many years stands up and testifies, “God took better care of me on 90% after I started tithing then He ever did when I lived on 100%” some believers scratch their heads in puzzlement and find it really HARD to believe. Their problem is a matter of UNBELIEF in God’s promises.
This morning I would like to look at four characteristics of faith and unbelief in Numbers 13-14 and apply them to the matter of the tithe.
I. FIRST, NOTE THAT FAITH SEES THE VICTORY, UNBELIEF SEES OBSTACLES.
Look at the perspective of Caleb, one of the two good spies in verse 30 – “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
Compare that with the outlook of the ten bad spies:
They began by recognizing some good things: Verse 27: And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.”
Their report started out good, but their vision of the good was quickly clouded by unbelief. – Verses 28-29 – “Nevertheless the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell 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.” (I’m thinking, Did they expect to get UNOCCUPIED land?)
Verse 32 says, “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 eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.”
Illus. – Susan and I started tithing at the most impossible time to even consider it. I had taken a term off from college to take Susan away from Chattanooga on doctor’s orders to recover from Ménière’s Syndrome, an inner ear disease. Though we relied on her income to pay bills, she had to quit due to her illness
When we arrived in Springfield, our bills had piled up for weeks, and I had no job, only enough money for a deposit on an apartment, no prospects of a job, no rich relatives and I still owed some tuition on the previous year’s college bill. And for awhile, it seemed like no matter what we did to get out of our financial hole, we just got deeper and deeper into it.
I hadn’t found a steady job—just odd jobs here and there just to get by, but it wasn’t enough to pay all the bills, so we got further and further behind. Wondering if we were doing something wrong, I went to our pastor, the pastor of Susan’s home church, for financial counsel.
His first question was, “Are you tithing?”
I said, “No, that would be impossible. We couldn’t possibly afford to tithe in our position.”
He said, “Ohhhh. Well, there’s your biggest problem right there. Start tithing immediately, and God will start blessing your life.”
I said, “Shouldn’t we wait until after we get out of debt?”
He said, “No. Obey God in the tithe NOW when it seems impossible to do it on your own, and be a good steward of the other 90%, and God will bless you like you never thought possible.”
I was skeptical, but after discussing it with Susan, we committed ourselves to step out by faith and start tithing on every penny that came in.
Jobs were scarce at that time due to an economic slump, but the next day I got a call from Tappen Stove Company offering a job as an assembly line worker. The Lord knew I would need something to tithe on before I could tithe, so He provided a job IMMEDIATELY after we had made that commitment by faith.
To me, at S-E-E level, all I could SEE with my human eyes were obstacles (our debt, our bills, no job), but God wanted me to trust Him and step out and see coming blessings BY FAITH. Though on paper there was no way to explain it, that year, we were able to pay off my college bill, get current on all our bills, and in addition, God rebuked the devourer and healed Susan so we could return to Chattanooga to finish college.
And we never stopped tithing from that day forward. We have seen God provide for us in many miraculous ways, but only when we stopped seeing the obstacles in unbelief and started seeing victory by faith.
Folks, can I just be honest with you this morning?— As I challenge you to begin tithing to God, there is no doubt that there are obstacles that Satan has or will put in your path, just as there has been in our life.
But I want you to see that God is WAY bigger than those puny little obstacles. I don’t think we have any idea how BIG God is and how BIG He wants to show Himself in your life.
2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”
Brethren, God is looking for people to show Himself POWERFUL to.cWill you step out and trust God’s promises to bless you if you tithe?
Remember: Faith sees the victory, while unbelief sees the obstacles.
II. ALSO, FAITH SAYS, “WE ARE ABLE”; UNBELIEF SAYS, “WE ARE NOT ABLE.”
Look at the contrasting statements in verses 30-31:
Verse 30 – “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
Caleb’s advice was the voice of FAITH! His was the OVERCOMER’S voice.
But look at the voice of UNBELIEF in verse 31 – “But the men that went up with him said, We be not able [this guy was from the hood,…“We are not able…] to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”
You see, UNBELIEF says, “I cannot do it. I am too weak. I am not able”; FAITH confidently echoes the Apostle Paul’s words: “I can do ALL THINGS through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13) UNBELIEF paralyzes us and keeps us from accomplishing great things for God; FAITH shouts expectantly, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37). UNBELIEFE causes us to cower in fear at the obstacles; FAITH emboldens us and causes us to do what we would not dream of doing in our own power.
Tithing is an example of this very thing. UNBELIEF says, “TITHE 10%?—Are you crazy? Why, I can hardly pay our bills with the 100% I have now. How could you get by by giving 10% to God?” But listen to THE VOICE OF FAITH: Malachi 3:10 – “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Millions of Christians have found that their finances go farther on 90% by following God’s commands than on 100% hoarding their money for themselves. But how did those millions ever find that out? One day, BY FAITH, they said, “Lord, you WILL take care of me. I believe it! By faith, I’m trusting YOU. By faith, I’m going to obey you and tithe, and trust you to supply my needs according to your riches in Christ Jesus.”
UNBELIEF says, “We are not able; FAITH says, “We are WELL able.” And when I can’t see how, God will always make a way.
I love that “God will Make a Way.” Let’s sing it now. (LEAD THE CONGREATION IN THE FIRST VERSE.)
Folks, UNBELIEF says, “We are not able”; FAITH says, “God will make a way. We are WELL able.”
III. NOW NOTE MY THIRD POINT: FAITH SEES GOD; UNBELIEF SEES GIANTS.
Look what Joshua, the other good spy, later said over in Numbers 8-9 – “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. 9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.”
When Joshua said, “for they are bread for us” that was the equivalent to us saying today, “We’re gonna’ eat ’em up! They haven’t got a chance!” Why did Joshua have such confidence?—Because he didn’t focus on the giants, He focused on GOD; because when he saw GOD, he hardly noticed the giants!
Look again at verse 8: “If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into the land, and give it us.” Towards the end of verse 9, Joshua said, “the LORD is with us.…”
He saw GOD and how big HE was, not the giants and how big they were!
Though he was well aware of the giants of the land, he focused on God’s power. He thought, “God will make a way where there seems to be no way.”
That’s the opposite of the ten bad spies. Though they were aware of God, they focused on the GIANTS: Verse 33 – “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.”
[ASK SKEPTICALLY:] “They were in our own sights as GRASSHOPPERS”? Now don’t you think that was a little bit of an exaggeration? You see, unbelief makes the giants in your life appear bigger than they really are. Unbelief cause you to have a distorted picture. And it fill you with fear that exaggerates the obstacles and diminishes in your mind the power of God.
Some of you might be a little worried about trusting God in giving the tithe. Don’t be. Listen—if you’ll look to GOD, no matter what giants come your way—praise God, if you’ll keep faithful and keep trusting Him, you’re going to “eat ’em up!” Get your eyes off the GIANTS and focus on GOD! God will do something GREAT in your life if you’ll let Him!
IV. FINALLY, CONSIDER THIS: FAITH TAKES US INTO CANAAN; UNBELIEF SHUTS US OUT – Numbers 14:22-24 – “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”
Look at what was lost because of the unbelief of the ten spies:
• They lost their LAND – Numbers 14:30 – “Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.” – God had the land of promise for them to claim, but they never were not permitted to claim their land because of their fear and unbelief.
1.
• Second, they lost their LIVES – Numbers 14:32 – “But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.”
They didn’t die right then; they experienced something worse than that. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years, never allowed to go into the land God had meant for them to possess. They wasted their lives for forty years! God meant for them to experience the greatness of His power because of their faith in Him, but because they did not trust God to bring them into the promised land, they were vagabonds for the rest of their lives. What a tragedy!
• Third, they robbed their kids of a LEGACY.
Numbers 14:33 – “And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.”
How sad that the unbelief of the fathers affected the lives of their children. Wouldn't it have been great if they had gone in by faith and claimed their land. Imagine the legacy of faith and victory they could have handed to their kids. Instead, all they gave them was forty years of wandering in the wilderness.
Think of a son born the year the spies gave the bad report. He would be FORTY YEARS OLD before he could claim what God meant for his PARENTS to claim. That’s older than just about everyone in this room! Think about being prevented from fulfilling your destiny until you were forty years old because of your parents’ unbelief and disobedience.
Dads, moms, I challenge you to step out by faith and leave a legacy of faith and victory and obedience. What a wonderful thing it would be for your kids to want to live for God and be people of faith and obedience because of your legacy of faith and obedience.
Most of that generation was prevented from going into Canaan, but two men of that generation DID enter Canaan—Joshua and Caleb. They had looked to God by faith on that fateful day of the spies’ report, and God allowed them to outlive their generation to be graciously rewarded by God. You have a choice: DOUBT God’s promises and hold back and don’t act—and miss out on God’s blessings, or BELIEVE God’s promises and step out by faith and receive God’s blessings upon your life.
CONCLUSION
Brethren, let’s go forth by faith; let’s live by faith! Let’s move our quarters down into that little cul-de-sac where God lives. The name of that cul-de-sac is “Impossible Street” where God does the impossible. We normally don’t go down a cul-de-sac unless we live there. Let’s LIVE THERE!!—And there’s only one way to get there—BY FAITH!
So remember…
• FAITH sees the VICTORY; UNBELIEF sees the OBSTACLES. – Get your eyes on the victory God has for us.
• FAITH says, “we are WELL able”; UNBELIEF says, “we are NOT able.” – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
• Faith sees GOD instead of the giants. – Hebrews 12:2 – “Looking unto JESUS the author and finisher of our faith…”
• FAITH takes us INTO Canaan; UNBELIEF shuts us OUT. – Let’s go into Canaan!
How shall we go into our Canaan? There may be many applications, but today I challenge you to take a step of faith and say, “I’m going to tithe to God. I’m going to step out by faith and PROVE Him and see if He will pour out the windows of heaven in my life as He promised in His Word.”
[DISCUSS MONEY BACK GUARANTEE NEXT WEEK.]
