When God speaks, it is forever
Dr.
Joel Philip Church
Francis Asbury - Methodist - early 1800s,
followed the stream of pioneers going west - He knew he was called to bring
Jesus to them where they were.
Despite Indian attacks, cold
winters and the absence of roads, he roamed the American
wilderness for forty years - traveled more than
one-quarter-million miles on foot and horseback - preached some twenty-five
thousand sermons BECAUSE HE KNEW GOD SPOKE.
I. Numbers 13:1
*And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying,
* Moses KNEW the Lord spake
* When you KNOW the Lord has spoken, hold on to it.
II. Numbers 13:2
* Send thou men, that they
may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel:
of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler
among them.
* When God gives you something, NEVER turn loose.
* Story of the turtle: They say the when the turtle bites it does not turn
loose until it thunders.
III. Numbers 13:17-18
* And Moses sent them to
spy out the land of Canaan, and 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:
* Listen to the Word of God for you – Very often your answer will
come through the mouth of the minister.
IV. Numbers 13:23, 27
* And they came unto the
brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of
grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and [they brought] of
the pomegranates, and of the figs.
* 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.
* The thing God gave them was a good thing
V. Numbers 13:30
* 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 KNEW what God spoke
* Circumstances said "no!," but Caleb said, "yes!."
VI. Numbers 13:32
* 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.
* There are those who are always ready to speak the evil report.
* Don't allow anyone to speak negative words over your vision
VII. Numbers 13:33
* 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.
* They exaggerated their size
* The enemy will always exaggerate problems
* Analyze the problem (grasshoper 1" - if we consider man 70" = that
makes man 70 times taller than the grasshopper. If they were as grasshoppers
that means the giants were 420 ft tall.
* When the problem is analyzed, it is seldom as great as it first
looks.
* They began to speak defeat
* If you speak defeat, you are defeated
VIII. Numbers 14:1
* And all the congregation
lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
* When trials and tribulations come, sometimes we like to lay down
and cry instead of taking the Word of God as our tower of strength.
IX. Numbers 14:2
* And all the children
of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation
said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would
God we had died in this wilderness!
* The problem is still growing in their minds because they are speaking
the negative.
* Now, they are sure they are not only going to miss what God promised,
but they are going to die in the process.
(Flat tire and no jack story: Man had a flat
on a dark night on a rural road. Saw a light in a window far ahead. His
intention was to borrow a jack. As he walked he became more doubtful. "Maybe
he doesn't have a jack.," "Maybe he will have a jack but won't loan it
to me." Then as he knocks and the man opens the door the stranded motorist
yells, "Well!! Just keep your jack!!)
* By refusing the good things God was trying to give them, they refused
him. THEY NEVER GOT A SECOND CHANCE.
* If you keep refusing what God has for you, you may never have the
chance again.
* Use your gifts and talents
X. Numbers 14:3-4
* And wherefore hath the
LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and
our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into
Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us
return into Egypt.
* They started finding their own solution to the problem.
* Often when God begins to move, we decide to jump in front and help
Him.
XI. Numbers 14:6
* And Joshua the
son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched
the land, rent their clothes:
(Move forward 45 years)
XII. Joshua 14:10
* And now, behold,
the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even
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.
* 85 years old (45 years since God had spoken) and still expecting
the promise.
* Wait a few days or maybe a few weeks then we begin to speak the
negative.
XIII. Numbers 14:11
* As yet I am as
strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength
was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come
in.
* His faith or health had not wavered
Numbers 14:12
* Now therefore give
me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest
in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great
and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to
drive them out, as the LORD said.
* Today, it is time to say
"Give me the mountain!" and keep saying it.
*
If you are sick - "Give me the mountain!"
*
If you have financial problems - "Give me the mountain!"
*
If you have unsaved loved ones - "Give me the mountain!"
*
If you have family problems - "Give me the mountain!"
*
Whatever your tribulations - "Give me the mountain!"
