When God speaks, it is forever
Dr. Joel Philip ChurchFrancis 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 thingV. 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 visionVII. 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 defeatedVIII. 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 talentsX. 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 waveredNumbers 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!"