Note: Based on the book Pilgrims Promise by Bryan Cutshall
On the Edge of the Promise of Land
Theme: Doubt and Fear
Text: Exodus 19, Numbers 13, 14
Getting Rid of Doubt
Exodus 19:1 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.
Introduction
Exodus 19:12 God wanted to meet the people. He told them to get ready. Yet the power and lightening scared them away and they asked Moses to stand in for them. Moses goes to the mountain for 40 days. There he got the 10 commandments from God and met with God. Yet on the mountain the people began to doubt. Doubt Moses coming back. Doubted God and his protection.
How does doubt get into our Spirit?
1. We get our eyes off God and get them on man. (Exodus 32:1)
“We have bad days but it doesn’t mean we have to concede to having a bad life.”
2. We get our eyes on circumstances instead of on God.
3. We get self-centered instead of God-centered.
4. We surround ourselves with doubters.
Aaron was ok as long as he was around Moses. When he got with the other people he began to doubt.
- Doubters are threatened by anyone who has vision and faith.
- Doubters steals our dreams, faith and vision.
Romans 1:17 “The just shall live by faith” not realism.
FAITH VS. DOUBT
Faith is always part of the answer;
Doubt is always part of the problem.
Faith always has a program;
Doubt always has an excuse.
Faith always says, “Let me do it for you”;
Doubt says, “You’re doing it wrong.”
Faith sees and answer of every problem.
Doubt sees a problem for every answer.
Faith sees a green near every trap;
Doubt sees two or three traps near every green.
Walk by faith!
Help us to see God for ourselves.
1. We need to understand how God thinks.
2. We need to communicate with God.
Ecclesiasts 5:1 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. 2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.
3. We need to serve God.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Exodus 33:21, 22 “I will place my hand over you”
Overcoming Fear
Numbers 13:1-3 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, (2) "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, everyone a leader among them." (3) So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
Numbers 13:17-26 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, (18) and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; (19) whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; (20) whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. (21) So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. (22) And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) (23) Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. (24) The place was called the Valley of Eshcol, [16] because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. (25) And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. (26) Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
The Edge of Victory
Miracles or Faith
Many people believe that if God would show them a miracle they would believe. Miracles don’t produce faith, faith produces miracles.
The greatest hindrance to faith is not the absence of God’s power but – fear.
- Faith is the force that activates God’s power in our lives.
- Fear is the force that activates Satan’s power in our lives.
The Grasshopper Syndrome
Chose 12 Spies – Numbers 13:13 – 15
Numbers 13:31-33 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." (32) And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants [17](the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
Joshua and Caleb’s Answer
Numbers 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it."
- Ten came back complaining and two came back conquering.
- Ten came back grumbling and two came back gratified.
- Ten came back chiding and two came back challenged.
- Ten came back horrified and two came back hopeful.
- Ten came back oppressed and two came back overcomers.
The Revelation of Characters
The 18 months in the desert were not to show them who God was; it was to show them who they were. God had to get them thinking like slaves.
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” – John Wooden
The Remedy for Fear – Courage
Courage is resistance to fear and mastery of fear – not absence of fear”
The Battle of Giants – Bigger than size
Numbers 14:6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.' 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them."
Your Problem is not Your Problem
The problem was not what they could see around them or before them but the problem was what was inside them.
Obstacles or Opportunities – Vision is everything.
Joseph went through the dungeon to get to the king’s palace.
David went through the battlefield to get to the throne.
Joshua went through the wilderness to get to Canaan.
Rejecting God (Numbers 14:10)
Numbers 14:10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.
Conclusion
The key to getting into the promised land is faith and trust in God.
