Greg Laurie - It's All How You Look at Things (01/09/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie teaches from Numbers 13 that our view of God shapes everything—our faith, decisions, and response to challenges. The Israelites saw giants and obstacles instead of God's power, leading to fear and 40 years of wandering. Joshua and Caleb saw the same land with faith, urging conquest. Greg urges: focus on the biblical God—big enough to overcome any "giant"—rather than complaints or looking back.
How We View God Shapes Our Lives
Tonight we are in Numbers chapter 13. So grab your Bible and turn over there with me. And if you would like to read ahead, next Thursday night we are going to be in Joshua chapter 6. Joshua chapter 6. So read ahead. And I will tell you what, it will be a lot more meaningful to you if you come prepared ahead of time. And the title of my message tonight is, "It's All How You Look at Things."
I read an interesting article a while back from USA Today. And it was about how people view or see God. And the headline was, "Your View of God Will Predict Your Values and Your Politics." Well, this article was based on a survey that was done by Baylor University. They identified four viewpoints of God, or as they put it, four gods. And Baylor researchers determined that the four gods break down by analyzing questions about God's personality and engagement. And the survey asked people to either agree or disagree with some of the ten descriptions of their personal understanding of what God is like. Such as, Your belief is that God is angered by sins. Or, Your belief is God is removed from worldly affairs. And they could check off sixteen adjectives and they could describe God. They could use words like absolute, wrathful, forgiving, friendly, distant.
So, after all this research was compiled, here are the four gods they came up with, or four viewpoints of God. See which one best describes your view of God. Category number one, the authoritarian God. According to the research on this, those that hold this view believe that God is angry at the sin of humanity. And is engaged in every person's life and world affairs. And He is ready to throw the thunderbolt of judgment down on the unfaithful and the ungodly. That's the authoritarian God. And according to this article, those who call themselves fundamentalists or Evangelicals would be of this view.
Four Common Views of God
Then there is number two, the benevolent God. According to this idea, God still sets absolute ideas or standards from mankind in the Bible. This group draws primarily from mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. They primarily see God as a forgiving God, more like the Father, who embraces the repentant prodigal son in the Bible. They are also more inclined, 68%, to say caring for the sick and needy ranks highest on the list of what it means to be a good person. So that's those who hold the view of the benevolent God.
Then there is the critical God. This God has a judgmental eye on the world, and He is not going to intervene either to punish or to comfort. This group is less likely to go to church, and they are significantly less likely to draw absolute moral lines on hot button issues such as abortion or gay marriage. Finally, there is the distant God. Those that hold this view see God as a cosmic force who set the world into motion, then left it spinning on its own, and He really is not engaged in the affairs of men.
So there are the four gods. The authoritarian God, the benevolent God, the critical God, the distant God. Which one best represents you? Well I don't know about you, but I don't like any of them. I think there are certain aspects of truth in some of the descriptions of how people see God. So I propose a fifth category that was not covered by this extensive survey by Baylor University. And I am going to call him the biblical God.
Yes, he is angry at the sin of humanity, as those who believe in the so-called authoritarian God would say. But he is not ready to throw thunderbolts. Otherwise there would be nobody left alive right now. He is kind and he is full of mercy, as those who believe in the so-called benevolent God would say. And he does care about the sick and the needy. And he is interested in what is happening in this world. And no, he is not merely a cosmic force who is disengaged. The biblical God. That is why in our last message we shared what, well, what God Himself says about Himself. What God is like. Remember? The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and give you peace. And we learned that God loves to bless us. God loves to smile on us. God loves to listen to us, protect us, and give us peace.
Why Our View of God Matters
Now it is important how we view God because that will determine how we view life. Let me take it a step further. Our view of God will dictate how we live life, decisions we make. Our view of God will influence us in the way that we vote. In fact, there is no area of our life that is not impacted by how we view God. For instance, when crisis or problems come your way, how you view God will determine how you will react. For instance, if you have a big God, you are going to have relatively small problems. But if you have big problems, do you have a relatively small God?
See, if you see God in all of His glory, in all of His power, you will see things in their proper perspective. It comes down to this. It is all how you look at things. And that is why I chose that title for this message. Now we are in this series that we are calling The Greatest Stories Ever Told. And we are now in the book of Numbers. And don't let that freak you out. Especially if you struggled with the subject of math in school. Oh no! Numbers! I never did well in math. I don't know about you. But the book of Numbers has a lot to say to us today.
In the book of Numbers we are going to discover why the children of Israel ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Remember, I told you before, God's objective was for them to get from A to B in a relatively short period of time. It is a good journey, but it shouldn't take you more than about a month and a half on foot to get from Egypt to Israel. But it took them 40 years. And of course the reason for that was they went around in circles. And it started when they began to murmur and complain.
Complaining and Looking Back
I heard a story about a man who decided to join a monastery and become a priest. And he was required to take a vow of silence. But he was given two words a year. In other words he was told you can say two words a year. So choose carefully. So after the first year he came to the priest who was in charge. And the priest said, All right, what are your two words? And this young priest said, Beds hard. Another year goes by and he is given his two words. What do you have to say? He said, Food is cold. After his third year of silence he was able to speak again. And he said, I quit. And the priest in charge said, Well it is no wonder all you have done since you got here is complain. That was a joke by the way. But that is how some people are. All they can do is complain. And that is what happened to the Israelites.
I mean these guys were living in bondage. They were the slaves of Pharaoh. They had to get down on their hands and knees and put this brick together that would form these structures the Egyptians would build. And they lived in misery. And they cried out to God every day, Lord send us someone to deliver us. And the Lord answered their prayer. And He sent Moses and Aaron who boldly stood up to the Pharaoh. And ultimately this resulted in the release of the Israelites from slavery. And now they could just make their journey to this new land that God had chosen for them. And they would know how to get there because God had His GPS service ready to go. A fire by night. A cloud by day. And then He would feed them every day with this supernatural substance called manna. It didn't get any better.
Now manna was, as I told you from the Hebrew crispo cremo, it was like Krispy Kreme. That is a joke. Okay. Now manna was a sort of sweet like substance. Almost flake like. That would be on the ground when they woke up in the morning. And so they would gather up the manna. They didn't have to worry about where their next meal was going to come from. It would be there every day. And they would eat it. And they loved it. And I am sure they got Moses book 101 recipes for manna. And after a while they were getting a little tired of it. It is like, okay, what is for breakfast? Manna. Lunch? Manna. Dinner? Again, manna. So they had, you know, manna cotti. And they had manna sandwiches and manna pizza. And you name it, they tried it. But manna splits, I am sure. And they got tired of it. And they started complaining.
They said to Moses, you know what? We are sick and tired of the stinking manna. It is all we ever eat. Then they said, we remember the good old days back in Egypt where we had garlics and leeks and onions. Man, their breath must have stunk. And we wish we were back there again. In fact, what we really miss is meat. These guys clearly were not vegans. We want meat like we used to have. And so Moses goes to the Lord and says, well, Lord, they want meat. What should I do? God says, I will tell you what. You stand back. And I am going to give them exactly what they want. You have heard of the expression, it is raining cats and dogs? Well for them it was raining quail. Birds falling out of the sky. And they were so excited to see these birds drop on the ground. And they grabbed them. And they began to eat them. And the Bible says in Psalm 106:15, "He gave them the request, but sent leanness to their soul."
Lessons from Israel's Wilderness Wanderings
Did you hear that? He gave them the request, but He sent leanness to their soul. You know what happened when they bit into that meat? The Bible says it turned bitter in their mouth. Careful what you asked for. You might get it. You know, sometimes we pray for something with such passion and such fervency. Well, I am so glad God overrules my request at times. Aren't you? Have you ever prayed for something that God said no to and you look back in retrospect and then said, Lord, thank you for not answering my prayer in the affirmative? How many of you have done that? You know what I am talking about?
Here is the thing. We don't always know what is going on. We don't know what is best for us. If my grandkids had their way, they would eat candy all day long. That to them would be the promised land. They don't realize what it would do to them. But you know, you have to provide some oversight and tell them what they can do and what they can't do for their own good. They don't even know what is good for them at times. And in the same way, the Lord at times will overrule our prayers. That is our request. This is why Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer, which is a template for prayer, to pray, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So really what Jesus is saying is when you bring your request before God, you can effectively say this. Allow me a loose paraphrase. Lord, this thing that I have just prayed for is somehow outside of Your will. Please overrule it because You know better than me.
But you can ask God for something and plead with God about something and He just might give it to you. Sometimes to teach you a lesson. They wanted meat. God says, okay, you sure? Yes, we want meat. You're sure? Meat. You're sure? Meat. Okay. There you go. And they are going, okay, this isn't what we were hoping for. He sent leanness to their soul. I have seen this happen many times. Where God will try to put roadblocks in our path to stop us from exercising our free will in the wrong direction.
I think of people who take for granted what God has blessed them with. Here is a wife with a hardworking, loving husband. Okay, he is not perfect. Maybe he is not as handsome as he was when she first met him. And maybe he is not everything she wanted in a man, but he is a good man. He loves her. He loves the kids. But she saw some other guy that looked more appealing to her. So she basically dumped her Christian husband against the counsel of the Bible, against the counsel of her Christian friends, against the counsel of the pastor I should say. And she said, well, God knows my heart, and God loves me just the way that I am, and God accepts me, and so forth. So she went and had her little fling. She knew her husband would probably wait for her anyway. So a year went by. Maybe even two years. Her husband was still wanting her to return, but she was out having her fling. And one day she came to her senses. And all those things that made her so excited, now were making her miserable. Sort of that bitterness, like biting into the meat. And she says, I am going to go back to my husband. Problem was, it was too late. He had moved on. In fact, he had remarried maybe, or no longer wanted to wait for this woman who had been committing adultery for all of this time. And so she got what she wanted, but there was leanness in her soul.
That is not a specific story, by the way. That is a composite story of many that I have heard over the years. So be careful now. Don't take for granted what God has given you. Your husband. Your wife. Your children. Your career. Your health. Your church. Don't say, I am tired of this manna and I want something else. God may give you what you want and you may not like it one bit.
Another way this can happen is when we start looking back on the old life. That is what they were doing. We remember the good old days back in Egypt. It seems like they had forgotten all about the sting of the Egyptian whip. They forgot about the slavery. They forgot about the restrictions. They forgot about the idolatry. In their mind they had taken table scraps and they had been magnified to a royal feast in their imaginations. The devil will do this with us too. After we have been a Christian for a number of years, he will say, hey, remember the good old days? Yeah, yeah. I do. Remember those parties? Remember that one time you were with your buddies and you got really hammered. And they said, yeah, yeah. That is pretty fun. Hey. Remember that one girl? Remember that one guy? Remember that night? Yeah, I remember it. He is a sly one the devil. He doesn't say, hey remember that time you were throwing up everywhere and you got that DUI? No he won't remind you of that. Hey remember that time you actually contemplated suicide? Hey remember that time? No. He will just take a few good times and bring them to your memory and say, wouldn't it be fun to do that just one more time?
You see the first step to going back is looking back. And that is what they were doing. They were saying, oh you know we are tired of this manna. They were taking the blessings of God for granted. Now they are looking back. Oh the old life in Egypt. Oh we missed the old life. And that is why we need to study the book of Numbers. Because it tells us that we as believers who are living in the last days are going to face many of the same temptations and the same challenges. And the scripture warns us that if we go back to those things, oh it will be worse than it ever was. It will turn bitter in your mouth.
2 Peter 2:20 says, "and when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and get tangled up with sin and become a slave again, they are worse off than before. It would have been better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and reject the holy commandments given to them. And they make these proverbs come true. A dog returns to its own vomit and a washed pig returns to the mud." It is true, isn't it? You ever seen a dog return to its own vomit? I have. Dogs are gross. I mean always criticizing cats. I will talk about dogs for a moment. People say dogs have the cleanest mouths, even cleaner than a human. I don't know if I believe that. They eat some pretty funky stuff when they are allowed. And I have seen a dog, sorry, throw up and eat it. Ooh, hot meal. You know. They are like, what is wrong with you? Then he goes and washes it down with toilet water. Right? I love it when it is blue. You know. But dogs are animals. See that is why they do that. That is gross. Right? It is an animal. And then you take a pig. You can take a pig. You can clean them up. I remember I had a friend once who had a pig as a pet. And he says, we take it to the beach. I said, are you serious? Oh yeah. And we put sunscreen on it. I said, no. You are on a beach putting sunscreen on a pig? He says, yeah, you have to really use a lot. Their skin is very sensitive. I said, you are disturbed. That pig doesn't want to be on the beach covered in sunscreen. That pig wants to be hanging out in the slop next to the dog eating his barf. And this is what the Bible is saying. When you go back to that old life, it is the same thing. It is like the dog going back to the vomit. It is like the pig going back to the slop. It is going to be worse than it was before. Don't go there, obviously in person, but don't even go there mentally. Don't look back. Put it behind you.
The Spies' Report in Numbers 13
So now we come to Numbers 13. That was my introduction by the way. And Numbers 13 is talking about how they come to the very brink of the promised land at the point of entry called Kadesh Barnea. And they decide to send in twelve spies to check things out. And so these twelve spies are now exploring the land. And this is the report they bring back. And I am going to read from the New Living Translation. Numbers 13:25 "After exploring the land for forty days the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is a magnificent country, a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit as proof. But the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large." Drop down to verse 30. "But Caleb tried to encourage the people as they stood before Moses. Let's go at once to take the land, he said. We can certainly conquer it." But the other men who would explore the land with them answered, "We can't go up against them. They are stronger than we are." So they spread discouraging reports about the land among the Israelites. "The land we will explore will swallow up any that go there. The people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them. That is what we looked like to them." Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. "We wish we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness," they wailed.
This is incredible, isn't it? I mean here are these people. How quickly they have forgotten all that God has done. They sent in twelve spies. And ten come back with one report, and two come back with another. So we have the majority report, and we have the minority report. Here is the majority report. They did not see God for who He is. They just saw problems. They saw obstacles, challenges, giants, and defeat. The very idea of going into the land terrified them. That is because they had a small God. Thus they had big problems.
Then there was the minority report. This was only Joshua and Caleb. They saw God for who He is. Thus they saw the challenges for what they were. And they saw that God would give them the victory if they would obey Him. It is all how you look at things. Listen, there will always be people who have no vision, no faith, no interest in change. People that want to live in the past. People that don't want to take any step of faith. People that are very small in their thinking.
Examples of Limited Vision
I read about some companies that missed some great opportunities over the years. Back in 1878 there was some new fangled device that was called the telephone. Western Union had an opportunity to develop it, but they had this internal memo that said, quote, "the telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device has no value to us," end quote. Yeah, that telephone worked out pretty well.
In 1936 the New York Times opined authoritatively on this new technology that had something called a rocket. And they said, "the rocket will never leave the earth's atmosphere." Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, said, "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Yeah, there are a few more sold than that. Producer Daryl Zanuck said, "television won't last very long because people will tire of staring at a plywood box every night." How about the executive that worked at Decca Records? And this band came in and auditioned for him and he rejected them. And he said, "this band has no future and besides guitar groups are on their way out." Oh, by the way, the band was called The Beatles.
In 1981 Bill Gates said, "640k ought to be enough for anybody." So you can see that people can be very limited in the way they see what can happen. And that was true here. You see, Joshua and Caleb saw the challenges with eyes of faith. They saw what God can do. Listen, there is always going to be people who will discourage you from what the Lord might be calling you to do.
When I first began preaching, I was told, you're not qualified to preach. Maybe they had a point. I'd only been a Christian for two years and I had no proper theological training, though I had been a Bible student for those two years. And I started a Bible study. I was preaching around Orange County and an opportunity opened up in Riverside and pretty soon this thing turned into a church. And they said, well, you're not qualified to be a pastor. And I remember I took comfort from Paul's words to Timothy when he said, "let no man despise your youth." But they told me, this will never work. You will never succeed as a pastor. You will surely fail.
When we started our crusades, we were told, that won't work. Crusades are over with. Crusades will die with Billy Graham. And by the way, Billy Graham was told Crusades would die with Billy Sunday, the evangelist that preceded him. Oh, people are going to go to some stadium for a crusade type event. That's over with. Well, we went to the Pacific Amphitheater. And the next year we went to Angel Stadium and we saw thousands of people come out. And then people said, well, that's good for California. It won't work anywhere but California.
Then we went to Oregon and Washington State. People said, well, that's a West Coast thing. It won't work anywhere else in the country. So we went to Philadelphia and to New York City and to Madison Square Garden. People said, okay, well, maybe it's a Western thing and it's a Northern thing, but it will never work in the South. Then we went to Georgia and North Carolina and the Lord once again blessed. And then people said, well, it's a USA thing. It won't work outside of the country. Remember when I was in Australia, they said, it won't work here, Greg. The Aussies are skeptical. They are not going to listen to some preacher, call people to Christ. Australians don't get up out of their seat and walk forward in invitations. Well, they did. Lots of them did.
And so maybe it's a God thing. And I think sometimes we want to put God in a box. I remember when we decided to go to L.A. and people said, oh, forget L.A. It will not work in L.A. When we decided to go to Dodger Stadium, a pastor told me afterwards, I was certain you would fail miserably. And when we saw 50,000 people show up the first year and another 50,000 people show up the second year, we see that God has blessed. And then we decided to do this Harvest America thing. And I had people say, it's not going to work. People aren't going to go to churches or theaters or whatever and watch some video thing. Well, 2,500 churches and venues came on board and we ended up having one of the largest evangelistic events in American history.
Now look. Here is why I bring this up. This might sound a little self-serving because, oh, look what great faith I have. No. I am talking about what a great God I have. Here is what I am saying. We all need to take bold steps of faith. What are we so afraid of? I mean, so what if it doesn't work out exactly as you had hoped? So what if everything isn't a complete success? We learn lessons even from those partial failures and even those outright failures.
Bold Faith and Eternal Perspective
I will tell you one thing that just changed my whole life. The most life changing event in my life since my conversion was when the Lord called my son home to heaven. It was the worst day of my life. And I still miss him every single day. And it is still something I struggle with. And I think anyone who is honest, who has lost a child would tell you the same thing. But yet at the same time I have to say that despite this tragedy, God started working on my life in amazing ways. And it gave me a perspective. It just reminded me of how quick life goes. And I thought my son was only 33 years old when God called him home to heaven. And you know, and I am going to be 60 in December. You are looking at an old man up here. Thank you. I will tell you the date, but I don't want presents really.
But you see here is the thing. A lot of my peers that started churches when I started mine, some of them are already starting to kind of go toward retirement. And I feel like I have gotten a second wind. Because here is the way I look at it. What am I going to do? Retire? I don't even know how to play golf. Okay? I am like a poster child for ADD. Okay? So I love what I do. I love to teach the Word. I love to study to teach the Word. I love to preach the Gospel. This is what I am called to do. And when my son was called to heaven, it gave me a greater eternal perspective. And I wanted not just to make every year count. I wanted to make every week count. I even wanted to make every day count. To use my life wisely for the glory of God.
And since then we have taken huge steps of faith. Going to L.A. doing that crusade. Doing Harvest America. But one of the biggest steps of faith we took was to start Harvest Orange County. This right here. And so, look. The Lord has been faithful. And my simple word of encouragement to you is take bold steps of faith. And see what the Lord will do. You want to hear a mind-blowing stat? This year alone, with our crusades, Harvest America, our radio broadcast, The New Beginning, our website, and then our churches and those who have come to faith, this year alone, through our ministries, all together, we have seen 40,000 people make professions of faith to follow Jesus Christ.
So back to our story. Here is the children of Israel on the edge of the promised land. I know things are big. It is Texas sized. Everything is bigger. The people seem bigger. The obstacles are bigger. But check this out. The fruit was bigger. The cluster of grapes was so huge, Caleb and Joshua had to hoist it on their shoulders to bring it back out. In fact, that is the logo for the ministry of tourism in Israel today. Joshua and Caleb with a big giant cluster of grapes. So yeah, I know the giants are big. But check out the size of this grape. It is the biggest grape ever, you know. So come on. Let us go for it.
But the people did not go. Why? Number one, they focus their attention on the obstacles instead of the objective. If you are taking notes, they focus their attention on the obstacles instead of their objective. Chapter 13 verse 28, they say the people there are powerful. The cities and towns are fortified and very large. We saw the descendants of Anak who are living there. When you fix your attention on the obstacles rather than the objective, fear will always eclipse your faith. And that is what happened to them. Obstacles are frightening things when you take your eyes off of the objective. You see, they weren't looking at their problems in the light of God. They were looking at God in the light of their problems.
Number two, when you allow fear to grip you, everything is affected. When you allow fear to grip you, everything is affected. Numbers 14:2 says, "Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. We wish we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness they wailed. Why is the Lord taking us to this country so we will die in battle? Our wives and little ones will be carried off as slaves. Let's get out of here and return to Egypt." What? Return to Egypt? Were they nuts? Now they are saying we wish we had died in Egypt. Fear can so paralyze you that you will wish you were dead. And that is what was happening to them.
Listen, fear and trust cannot coexist. They don't like to hang out with each other. When fear comes in, trust leaves. When trust comes in, fear leaves. So you decide what you want your life filled with. Trust and faith or fear and worry. And now they are ready to retreat. They are ready to go back again. And I think sometimes when some believers face a little discomfort or a little hardship, they want to just bail. But listen, the Christian life is not a cakewalk. It is a conflict. It is not a playground. It is a battleground. And so if you cannot handle that, then you might as well just go now.
It is like when Gideon was putting his army together. And we will talk about this later. But he was getting people on board. He said, if you are fearful and afraid, go home. A literal translation from the original language, go home to mommy. No, that is not true. I made that up. But you get the idea. You know, you are going to cry like a little baby, go home to mommy. But if you want to be a man or a woman of God, put your armor on and let's march.
It comes down to this. Do you have a big God or a small God? Number three, God does not want us to run from our giants but attack them. Now let's understand something. When we say giants on the land, don't think of like, you know, Jack and the Beanstalk, okay? They just meant the guys were big. That is all. It would be like playing basketball against the Lakers or something. Okay, they are bigger than you. Deal with it. But there are advantages to being smaller sometimes. You can run in between their legs. No, but the point is, okay, the guys are big. The opponents are large. But God is with you. And guess what? God is even bigger. And this is the problem. As they were saying, don't be afraid. That is what Joshua and Caleb said in Numbers 14:9. "Don't rebel against the Lord. Don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are helpless prey to us. They have no protection. The Lord is with us. Don't be afraid of them." Listen. One with God is a majority. If God is with you, the Bible asks, who can be against you?
Facing Your Giants with Faith
Now we all have giants that we face in life. And when I say a giant, I mean whatever person, obstacle, opposition that frightens you. For instance, some might be facing a giant, if you will, of fear. Something is frightening you right now. You came in here, gripped with fear. You become paranoid, and worried, and even crippled by this fear. For another, their giant might be some kind of personal sin. There is a certain area of their life that they fall back into over and over again. And they pray and ask God to forgive them. And they feel that they have conquered it, but then they are pulled back in again. It might be pride, or envy, or gluttony, or pornography. The list goes on.
For another, it might be a giant of addiction, if you will. You have tried to overcome this giant, but it just taunts you day in and day out. Or it might be a giant that is sort of a threat against you. Someone is slandering you. Someone is suing you. Someone is threatening your very life. And it is this giant that looms large in your mind every single day. And you wake up in the morning, and there it is. You are standing over your bed saying, I am going to make your life miserable today. And you just feel defeated. And you are paralyzed by fear.
Or it might be a different kind of giant, so to speak. An unsaved husband. A prodigal son or daughter. The giant is anyone or anything that seeks to control your life. To hurt you. To destroy you. To torment you. So what should you do? Answer. Force your giant into the light of day. Let's say you have a giant, so-called, of addiction. Maybe it is alcohol. Or it is drugs. Or it is pornography. Here is what you need to do. Realize you have a problem. Stop rationalizing it. Stop excusing it. And attack that giant. And take no prisoners. You understand what I am saying? Deal with it. A lot of times we will sweep it under the rug. Well a lot of people struggle with this. And I am not the only one. And it is really not that bad. There are some people, you know. Stop rationalizing it. Say, you know, I have a problem. I have a problem where there is this addiction. And I can overcome it on my own. And I have tried. So force it in the light of day.
Now, here is what you do. You attack it. Remember the story of David and Goliath? Here is David. Just a shepherd boy. And here is Goliath, a warrior from his youth. Nine feet, six inches of solid muscle, covered in massive armor, with a big sword and a spear. And David hears this guy taunting the Israelites in the Valley of Elah. No one will face Goliath. Goliath even made a deal. I will tell you what he said. I represent the Philistines. Let us have a battle. You send out your representative to me. If I win, you guys serve us. If I lose, we will serve you. Come on.
Now the obvious candidate would have been King Saul. He was head and shoulders above everybody else. But he was hiding in his tent. So little David comes walking in. And he says, you know, I hear this giant down there. This big Philistine. I want to face him in battle. Oh, really? Yeah. Well, here. Put my armor on. And Saul gives David his armor. And it is so big he can't even move. He is like a little kid, you know, putting on his dad's clothes. I can't even move. Let me just go out there. I have got a weapon here. I have got this little sling I use. I am pretty good with it. I have killed a few bears with it. Even a lion. Give me a shot at him. Okay, son, you go and the Lord be with you. Bye-bye. We will never see him again.
So David goes down in that valley. And he looks at Goliath standing there. Goliath starts laughing. That is like a joke to him. You are sending this little kid to fight me? And David sizes him up. And he says, you know, you come to me with sword and spear. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts. And this is the part I love. David starts running toward him. He doesn't hold his ground. He doesn't retreat. He attacks his giant. Goliath is laughing. David is getting the sling ready. And he lets that stone go that he gathered from a brook. And like a guided missile, it penetrates the forehead of Goliath who falls forward. David goes up and grabs Goliath's sword, cuts off his head, and the Philistines start running.
Now that is the way to face your giant. You attack it. Get your Christian friends together and pray about it. Be accountable. You know, you might say, I have this struggle. So I am going to tell you my Christian friend. And I want you to call me up anytime you want. Say, how are you doing with that? You know, let us say your struggle is with pornography. So you put an Internet filter on your computer. But you say to your friend, I will tell you what, here is my password. Check it out. Come over anytime. Look over whatever I have looked at. I want to be accountable to you. Let us say your problem is drinking. Hey man, I will tell you what. You keep your eye on me. If I disappear for a few hours, you do not know where I am. You call me. You come check it out. I am making myself accountable to you. You are forcing your giant into the light of day. And you are attacking it because you are sick and tired of being defeated by it over and over again.
See, that is why I bring this up. Is that we are believers living in the last days. And there are lessons to learn from the Israelites. 1 Corinthians 10 says, Paul speaking, "I don't want you to forget dear brothers and sisters what happened to our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. God guided them all by sending a cloud that moved ahead of them. And got them all safely through the waters of the sea. But God was not pleased with most of them. And He destroyed them in the wilderness. And these events happened as examples to us. They were written down to warn us who live in a time in the ages coming to a close. So if you think you are standing strong, be careful. For you too may fall into the same sin."
See, if you want to, you can wander in a wilderness. A self-imposed wilderness where you do the same stupid stuff over and over again. And you don't make any progress or you can move forward to the promised land. Now when I say the promised land, I mean to a life as a follower of Jesus where you are getting something done. Doesn't mean you are perfect. Doesn't mean you are flawless. Doesn't mean you are not tempted. But it means that you are walking in a victory that God has given to you. And you are beginning to accomplish things for the kingdom of God. Are you in a wilderness like this right now?
Caleb's Faith at 85
Well let's sort of fast forward for a moment and turn over to Joshua chapter 14. We are going to look at a couple of verses. Because here is what happened. Now these people did not pay attention to the minority report. They listened to the majority. They would not go into the land. So God said okay fine. Here is a point of entry. Kadesh Barnea. You want to go in? No! We miss Egypt. We miss garlics and leeks. Okay. You go wander in a wilderness. And none of you in this adult generation will make it in. Your children will, but you won't. Only two of the original group made it in. Guess who they were? Joshua and Caleb.
But a lot of time has elapsed now. Forty years has elapsed. Joshua 14:7 Here is old Caleb. Eighty-five years old. He says, "I was forty years old when Moses, a servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave from my heart a good report. My brothers who went with me frightened the people and discouraged them from entering the promised land. For my part I wholly followed the Lord my God. Now as you can see the Lord has kept me alive as well. And He has promised for these forty-five years since Moses made this promise while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today, I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as when Moses sent me on that journey. And I can still travel and fight as well as I could then."
We will stop there. I love Caleb. This guy is so cool. Eighty-five years old. And he says, so give me this mountain. All the young bucks are going, where did that old dude come from? Look at him. He couldn't do anything. Oh yeah, he could. He was tough. He was tough like leather. And the fact is, is when Joshua gave him a little portion of the land, he had to drive the inhabitants out. The eighty-five year old Caleb was completely successful. Why? He gives a secret. He wholly followed the Lord his God. What does that mean? It means he gave a hundred percent to God.
You know, the Bible says, be holy as he is holy. Right? Spelled H-O-L-Y. If you want to be holy, live holy. W-H-O-L-L-Y. You want to be a holy person, live a wholly committed life to Christ. Don't give Jesus twenty percent, forty percent, eighty percent. You give him a hundred percent. Caleb never left his first love. And thus he never lost his first strength. He saw God for who he was.
How do you see God right now? If you see God for who he is, you will see this world for what it is. You will see your challenges for what they are. So this is the thing. It is all how you look at things. And if these folks had looked at God and seen him in all of his glory, they would have entered into this promised land.
Remembering Jesus in Communion
So let us close now for a few moments to look at Jesus and think about Jesus. You remember that when he was on his way to the cross, he gathered his disciples together in what is called the upper room. This was for the Passover feast. They looked forward to the Passover. It was a big deal for the Jews to celebrate. But this was to be the final Passover that Christ would have with his boys. They could see that he wasn't himself. They could see something was troubling him. He probably wasn't engaging like he normally did. And then he dropped the bombshell that he was going to be put to death. And then even worse, that one of their own was going to actually betray him. He identifies the betrayer. And then he even tells them that one of their own is going to deny him. And that was Simon Peter. It was devastating, earth-shaking news.
And then he took the bread and he broke it. And he said, Take and eat. And do this in remembrance of me. And then he took the cup and he said, Drink of this and do this in remembrance of me. He told them that bread would be a symbol of his broken body. And that cup would be a symbol of his blood that was to be shed. And this is what we call communion or the Lord's Supper. And we are told in Scripture that we are to do this in remembrance of him till he comes again.
You know, there are things we have in life that jog our memory. You can set an alarm on your phone that will beep when it is time to do something. You can ask someone to remind you of something. You put a ring on your finger to remind you and others that you are a married person. I hope you don't need a ring only. I hope there are other things that remind you of that like someone who has been sleeping in your bed for thirty years or something like that. Oh right. I am married. That is it. But it jogs your memory.
Why do we have communion? It jogs our memory. It helps us refocus. It brings us back to Jesus. And it brings us back to Calvary. The cross. And we remember his death. We remember his suffering. We remember his sacrifice. And we are told, do this in remembrance of him. But here is the thing. Have you ever noticed that Jesus had this Last Supper with his disciples? And that is because this wasn't for the general public. Communion is for believers only. It is for Christians.
And that is why the Bible says in the book of Corinthians that you are not to receive these elements in an unworthy manner. For Scripture says if you receive these elements and not effectively believe in the one that they represent you can eat and drink judgment to yourself. That is kind of a scary thought. Because I think sometimes people think, well I will go ahead and receive communion and a nice little religious ritual may get me a little closer to God. Au contraire. That is friends for, no. To the contrary. It would be the worst thing you could do. Because if you receive these elements without believing in the one they represent it is almost like you are mocking God. Like you are taking his name in vain. And that is why the Scripture says you eat and drink judgment to yourself. Not discerning or appropriating or understanding the Lord's body.
No. When I receive these elements the Scripture says I am to examine myself. To examine myself and ask how am I doing spiritually? Am I where I ought to be? Maybe in the message tonight you relate to the Israelites. Maybe you have been taking the blessings of God for granted. Maybe you have been looking back. Maybe you have been spending a lot of time thinking about the old days. And some of you have even been flirting with some of those old sins. Others maybe you have even gone back and started to do some of those things again. You are on your way backwards. Well you need to repent and say Lord I see that and I want to get right with you right now.
But there might be some of you here that have never even asked Jesus Christ to come into your life. You don't even know what it is to have the certainty that you will go to heaven when you die. Well we want to give you an invitation, an opportunity to get right with God where you could ask Christ into your life and then join us for communion.
Let me just say this. If you are a non-believer and you have no intention of becoming a believer, I encourage you to not receive the elements as they are passed by. Really don't. We won't look down on you for that. In fact I would respect you for seeing things as they are. But even better than that, you can make a commitment to Jesus right now and believe in Him. He will forgive you of your sin and then join us for this family celebration.
Invitation Before Communion
So we are going to pray and I am going to extend this invitation. If you need to get right with God, this will be an invitation to people who do not yet know Jesus as well as an invitation to those who know Him, but maybe have found themselves trapped in some kind of sin. Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your Word to us now. And Lord Jesus, thank You for Your sacrifice on the cross. And tonight we come to remember You as we receive these elements that represent Your broken body and Your shed blood. And Lord, I pray for any here that may not yet know You. They do not have a relationship with You. They do not have the certainty that they will go to heaven when they die. And yet, Jesus, You died for them on the cross two thousand years ago because You loved them and You love them. Help them, Lord, to turn from their sin and believe in You now.
Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, if you have never asked Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you are not sure right now that you would go to heaven when you die, if you are not certain that you are ready for the Lord's return, if you want to believe in Jesus, wherever you are, would you just lift your hand up? Let me pray for you tonight. You want Christ to come into your life. Lift your hand up. I will pray for you. God bless you. Over there in the back. God bless you. Lift your hand up high where I can see it, please. You want Christ to come into your life tonight. I will pray for you. Lift your hand up. God bless you. Anybody else? Lift your hand up wherever you are. God bless you there in the back. God bless you. While our heads are still bowed, maybe some of you would say, you know, I have been trapped in sin. And God has spoken to my heart tonight. And I want to get right with him. I want to repent of this sin and recommit my life to Jesus. As I come to this communion table, I don't want to receive these elements as a hypocrite. Pray for me. I need to make this recommitment to Christ right now. If that's your desire, raise your hand up and let me pray for you. God bless you. Anybody else? Lift your hand up. God bless. Anybody else? God bless you and you. God bless you. One final moment. Raise your hand up if you need to to make this recommitment to Christ. God bless you.
Now you that have raised your hand, if you would please, I want you to stand to your feet and I'm going to lead you in a prayer right now where you're going to ask God to forgive you of your sin. Just stand to your feet. Don't be embarrassed. I don't want people looking around. This is between you and the Lord. I'm going to lead you in this simple prayer. This is sort of taking the next step now. If you don't want to take this step, then maybe you don't really want to do it. But it's a simple step to take to say, I'm serious about I am going to make this commitment right now in this place. Anybody else? Stand up. If you raised your hand, even if you did not, but you want Christ to come into your life, or you want to make this recommitment to Jesus, stand up. God bless you that are standing. Anybody else? Stand now. There might be a few more of you. God bless you. One final moment. If you are going to stand, stand now. God bless you. Anybody else? All right, you that are standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. And this is where you are asking God to forgive you of your sin. Again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me. Pray this now. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I have broken your commandments. I have fallen short of your standards. But you died on the cross for my sin. You shed your blood for me. So I turn from my sin now. I ask you to forgive me, Jesus. I want to start walking with you in the center of your will. Thank you for loving me and calling me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.