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Suffering a Faith Failure

Trust that God will lead you in the best way possible because He loves you unconditionally.

June 29, 2024

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1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying,

2 ``Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers' tribes, every one a leader among them."

3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.

4 These then were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;

9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

11 from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;

12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, ``Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country.

18 ``See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.

19 ``How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?

20 ``How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath.

22 When they had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23 Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs.

24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,

26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 Thus they told him, and said, ``We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

28 ``Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

29 ``Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan."

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ``We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it."

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, ``We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us."

32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ``The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

33 ``There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.

2 All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, ``Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

3 ``Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"

4 So they said to one another, ``Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt."

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.

6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;

7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, ``The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.

8 ``If the LORD is pleased with 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; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."

10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

11 The LORD said to Moses, ``How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?

12 ``I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they."

13 But Moses said to the LORD, ``Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst,

14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

15 ``Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,

16 `Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.'

17 ``But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared,

18 `The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations. '

19 ``Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."

20 So the LORD said, ``I have pardoned them according to your word;

21 but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.

22 ``Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,

23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.

24 ``But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

25 ``Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea."

26 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

27 ``How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me.

28 ``Say to them, `As I live,' says the LORD, `just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you;

29 your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me.

30 `Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

31 `Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey--I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.

32 `But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness.

33 `Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness.

34 `According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition.

35 `I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.'"

36 As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land,

37 even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

39 When Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly.

40 In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, ``Here we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised."

41 But Moses said, ``Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD, when it will not succeed?

42 ``Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you.

43 ``For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following the LORD. And the LORD will not be with you."

44 But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp.

45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah.

Dr. Stanley teaches you how to avoid a faith failure. God is trustworthy to lead you in the best way possible because He loves you unconditionally. Learn how to express your absolute confidence that God knows what to do even when you don’t.

Sermon Outline

Trusting God is essential no matter what situation we’re facing in life, but sometimes that’s easier said than done. In this week’s sermon, Dr. Stanley explains the causes and consequences of faith failures and how we can correct them.

Key Passage: Numbers 13:1-33 | Numbers 14:1-45

Trust in God is the foundation that must always be present in our mind when we come to Him about anything. If we don’t believe the Lord is trustworthy, we risk having a faith failure.

► “A faith failure is the failure to express or exercise our faith when confronted with a challenge, trial, or temptation.”

What are some examples of a faith failure?

We trust God for a moment but then give up.
God challenges us to move ahead in some area, but we back away.
We want to either do something we shouldn’t or walk away from an opportunity, so we put a “but” in our relationship with God.

► “The Israelites were on the brink of blessing, and they had a faith failure.”

A faith failure…

Can happen to all of us.
Is depicted in Numbers 13-14, when Moses sent 12 spies into Canaan. They returned with evidence of God’s promise, but the majority’s fear caused the nation’s defeat.
Results when we know what God has said but refuse to believe Him.

► “Fear is a destroyer. Fear is a cheater. Fear deprives us of the very best that God wants to give us.”

What caused the Israelites’ faith failure?

Fear

They forgot about God and gave in to their fear of defeat.
We may miss blessings because we are afraid of what others might say or of not living up to our own expectations.

Not recalling God’s power in prior experiences

We have examples of God’s work in our past that will help us trust Him today.

Not seeing things from God’s perspective

The more we look at the object of our fear, the larger it becomes. Instead, we should stay mindful of God and look at things the way He does.

► “Rebellion against God is devastating.”

A faith failure’s consequences are that we…

Will suffer disappointment. The Israelites were deeply grieved by the loss they experienced due to their rebellion.
Will develop a distorted view of circumstances. On the brink of entering the Promised Land, the Israelites wanted to turn back. They wouldn’t trust in God’s coming blessings.
Can cause others to suffer. The failure of 10 spies affected the whole nation and caused great misery.

How do we correct a faith failure?

Get into the Word of God.
Remember the awesome things God has done for us.
Keep our focus on Him.

After Watching

Consider these thoughts and questions in response to the sermon:

What has God done that increased your willingness to trust Him? Recall a few events from your past that can help you avoid a faith failure.
According to Dr. Stanley, prayer has an impact on how we view our obstacles. If we focus on who God is and what He can do, we keep our problems in the proper perspective. Might it be better to think differently about something you’re currently facing?

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Suffering a Faith Failure

Sermon Outline

After Watching

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