WOODBURY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Numbers 13:26-33, Ephesians 3:14-20

January 3-4, 2004

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? In over your head? Too small for the challenges that face you? We all feel that way from time to time. Giant issues come up in our careers or studies, our families, our relationships and spiritual lives. They loom over us. We shake in their shadows. Compared with the obstacles ahead of us, and the risks we might have to take, we feel like insignificant little bugs.

That’s how the people of Israel felt as they stood on the boundary of the Promised Land, waiting to invade it and take it for their own.

You remember the story. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Then God called Moses to go and lead the people out of slavery. God worked miracle after miracle to deliver His people. Then, as they were finally escaping from Egypt, God parted the Red Sea. He made a dry path through the water so His people could pass. Walls of water flanked them on either side. But when their enemies tried to follow them, the sea came crashing back into its place and the Israelites were free.

In a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, God led them through the dessert to Mount Sinai. There His glory blazed on the mountain for 40 days as He gave Moses His law, including the 10 Commandments.

God led them through the dessert, feeding them with manna, the very bread of heaven, along the way. Then they came to the land God had promised to give them. A rich and beautiful land. A land flowing with milk and honey.

Before they went into the land, God told them to send out 12 spies so they could see what the land was like. After exploring the land for 40 days, the spies all agreed that the land was beautiful, rich and fertile. They even brought back a cluster of grapes so big, it took two of the spies to carry it.

However, they also saw giants in the land. Jebusites, Amorites, Canaanites and even Nephalim. Fierce people. Huge people. And ten of the spies lost their nerve. They reported to the rest of the Israelites, “…We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:33)

And that raises a point I want to emphasize. Write this at the top of your sermon notes. “You always feel like a grasshopper on the edge of the Promised Land.”

You always feel like a grasshopper on the edge of the PROMISED LAND.

You see, whenever God calls people to something great, something significant, they always feel unworthy. They always feel like the task is too great for them. Moses told God He wasn’t a public speaker. Jeremiah whined that he was just a youth. Peter said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” And Paul called himself “the least of the apostles.” Whenever God has something really good for you, whenever God is ready to lift you up to the next level, you’re going to feel overwhelmed. You will always feel like a grasshopper on the edge of the Promised Land.

So what should you do when you feel like a grasshopper? How can you rise above your fears and insecurities, and win the victory God has for you? We’re going to talk about 5 steps we take that will help you enter the Promised Land God has for you.

The first step is to discern God’s will.

You see, it isn’t the case that every time you feel overwhelmed God is calling you to something great. When God is taking you to the next level you will feel insignificant, but it doesn’t cut both ways. You may feel like a grasshopper because you’re trying to do something God doesn’t want you to do. You may feel like a grasshopper because you’re about to do something stupid. Like Jeff Foxworthy says, “You may just be a redneck if your last words are, ‘Hey guys, watch this!’”

Now obviously, if something is not God’s will for you, it won’t lead you to the Promised Land. What God Promised for you, God wills for you. That means that if what makes you feel like a grasshopper is not God’s will, you should hop away as fast as you can!

So how do we know the difference? How do we discern God’s will?

Well first, we discern God’s will through reason.

It’s just like your mother told you. God gave you a brain and He intends for you to use it. Do research. Ask questions. Gather information. And think. It’s not unfaithful for a Christian to think. Jesus said,

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? ²⁹For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, ³⁰saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
³¹"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. (Luke 14:28-32)

It’s okay for us to use our brains to try and figure out if, in a particular area of our lives, God is leading us into His Promised Land.

However, we all know that human reason is flawed, don’t we? The great variety of ideas we find in the history of human thought – contradictory ideas – proves to us that smart people can think some pretty stupid things. In fact, you don’t need to be a scholar of intellectual history to know that. Plain conversation teaches us that even smart people can think and say stupid things. For example, many people think this universe, with all its vastness and intricacies, came about by accident. It baffles me that educated people could buy such an idea. But they think you and I are fools because we believe in a wise, creative God.

So, while we should use human reason as we try to figure out God’s will, we don’t dare trust that alone. So we also seek God’s will through Scripture.

II Timothy 3:16 says, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

Psalm 119:105 says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

We discover God’s will through Scripture two ways, specifically and generally.

Specifically we know that if God’s word tells us not to do something, it isn’t His will for us. It’s that simple. For example, if you’re considering selling your body or embezzling money from your company so you can buy a new Jaguar or Proche, you can know that isn’t God leading you into the Promised Land. Or if you’re considering dumping your wife and kids and running off with that cute cocktail waitress, you can be sure that is not God leading you into His Promised Land. You may feel nervous about it. You may feel like a grasshopper, but that’s because you’re about to make a huge mistake. If something goes against the specific teaching of Scripture, you can know rest assured that God is not leading you in that direction.

But we also discern God’s will through Scripture in a general way. Not every decision is as clear as whether or not to sell our bodies. Scripture doesn’t specifically address every detail of life. However, as we spend more and more time in the Scriptures, we come to a deeper understanding of the mind of the Lord. We start to be able to tell whether or not this is the kind of thing God would call us to do. Does it sound like the voice of the Master? The more we listen to His voice, the better we are able to answer that question.

That’s one of the reasons, that’s the main reason I urge you continually to read your Bible every day, take A.C.T.I.O.N. Academy courses and all of that. The better we know the Scriptures, the better we are able to discern God’s will.

But Scripture and reason aren’t the only avenues open to us. We must also seek God’s will through prayer.

James 1:5 makes this wonderful promise: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

God wants to guide you and me down the right paths. God wants to lead us to the place He promised. But He also wants us talk with Him about it. How foolish it is ever to make any significant decision without bathing it in prayer. Ask, and God will guide you.

Further, the only way to enter God’s promise is in God’s presence. And prayer and worship are the primary ways we spend time with God.

I don’t want to say too much more about prayer today because that will be the topic of next weekend’s sermon. But I do want to point out one more thing. Jesus said,

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth… (John 16:13) Jesus promised that God would send the Holy Spirit if we ask Him to do so. It is often when we spend time in prayer that we are filled with God’s Spirit. And the Spirit will guide us into all truth. So if we want to discern God’s will, so that we can enter the Promised Land, we must pray.

The fourth way we seek God’s will is through obedience.

Please read James 1:22-25 out loud with me. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
Do you see these gray wiskers? Do you know what they mean? They mean I get to speak from experience. There was a time in my life when I thought I was a pretty sophisticated interpreter of Scripture. And there were many things that I thought applied to “the old days” but just didn’t hold true today. I understood what the Bible said, I just didn’t think I needed to apply it directly to my life.

Now listen. I’ve also learned that there is a cumulative effect here. The more you put God’s Word into practice, the more sense it makes. The more you understand it. In other words, the more you DO God’s will, the more you are able to understand God’s will.

Now these four resources: reason, Scripture, prayer and obedience don’t function independently. We can’t choose one or the other. We can’t pick three out of four. Rather, the four of them work together to form a matrix of understanding and discernment. We use all four together as we try to discern the will of God.

When you feel like a grasshopper, the first thing to do is to discern the will of God. You may just be standing on the brink of the Promised Land. And if God is calling you to new heights in your relationship with Him, the next thing you will have to do is ignore the nay-sayers.

For nay-sayers always speak with the voice of unbelief.

When the 12 Israelite spies came back from exploring the Promised Land for 40 days, they all agreed that the land was beautiful. But 10 of the 12 were nay-sayers. They saw the benefits, but they focused on the obstacles. They said, “We can’t attack those people. They are stronger than we are.”

Joshua and Caleb said they should obey God. Joshua and Caleb said they should take the Promised Land. But the other 10 spies discouraged the people. And sadly, tragically, the people of Israel listened to the nay-sayers.

The people refused to invade the land. They said “If only we had died in the dessert!” They said, “It would be better for us to go back to Egypt and be slaves again.”

The people listened to the nay-sayers instead of the will of God, and as a result, the Israelites didn’t enter the Promised Land for 40 years! 40 years! In fact, the nay-sayers and those who followed them never entered the land. They died in the dessert. Their children inherited the promise, but they all perished in a parched wasteland.

My friends, whenever God calls you to the next level, whenever God brings you to the brink of the Promised Land, there will always be nay-sayers. The voice of unbelief will always say to you, “You can’t do this. You don’t have the ability. You don’t have the time. Who do you think you are?”

That voice may come from friends or family members, from the people dearest to you. That voice may come from your own psyche, your own self-doubts. The voice of unbelief may even come from Satan himself.

Before He began His ministry, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness. In Matthew 4:2-3 we read: After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, ..."

Before He began His ministry, before Jesus started to do what God called Him to do, even He had to face the nay-sayers. The devil tried to cast the seed of unbelief even in the mind of Jesus. What makes you think you would be any different?

There are those who, for whatever reasons, don’t want you to seize all that God has for you. They may be jealous. They may be threatened. They simply may not understand. But for whatever reasons, they will try to talk you out of receiving what God has for you. They will discourage you from going where God is calling you to go. Don’t listen to them.

The Israelites listened to the nay-sayers, and they died in the dessert. If you want to enter the Promised Land, you’ve got to ignore the nay-sayers.

Discern God’s will, ignore the nay-sayers, and follow God’s timing.

We all know that God’s time table is not our time table. He operates on a completely different schedule. And you and I can find that frustrating.

Sometimes God tells us to wait.

Psalm 27:14 says, Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. I’ll be honest, that isn’t one of my favorite verses. How about you? But God has taught us a great deal about the importance of waiting on Him. Allow His plan to work. Allow His fruit to ripen.

However, God doesn’t always say, “Wait.” Sometimes God says, “NOW!”

II Corinthians 6:2 For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

See, sometimes we procrastinate. Sometimes we’re reluctant to do what God wants us to do when He wants us to do it. So we put it off in the name of patience. We use God’s timing as an excuse.

When the people of Israel returned to the Promised Land after the Exile, they were guilt of exactly that ploy. Listen to Haggai 1:2-4 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.'"
³ Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: ⁴ "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"

The implication is clear. Stop putting it off. Stop making excuses. God’s time is now.

The most dramatic example of that in the whole Bible, maybe in all of history, is precisely this story we’ve been looking at, with the 12 spies and the Israelites on the edge of the Promised Land.

The very day after the Israelites listened to the nay-sayers and refused to invade the land, they changed their minds. The very next day, they attempted an invasion. But God did not go with them. God said “Go today, not tomorrow.” But they chose to go tomorrow, not today. The results were tragic. They got their comeuppance. (You didn’t really think I would say they got their “butts kicked” in church, did you?) It was a terrible defeat.

Now listen. We know what would have happened if the people had taken possession of the land when God told them to. We know because we saw what happened 40 years later when, under Joshua, they did invade the land. They obeyed God’s will, they followed God’s timing and they won victory after victory. The walls of mighty Jericho fell just because the people blew their trumpets and shouted. And that would have happened 40 years earlier if the people had obeyed. Then today we’d be singing, “Moses fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumblin’ down.”

We sing the song “In His Time … He makes all things beautiful in His time.” Usually we think that means we should wait on the Lord. But sometimes it means God wants us to act now. If Go is calling you into the Promised Land, don’t procrastinate! Don’t miss God’s moment.

The fourth step is perhaps the most important. Trust in God’s power, not your own.

Ten of the spies were nay-sayers. They said we can’t attack. We can’t win. But Joshua and Caleb said this. Read Numbers 14:8-9 out loud with me. “If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. ⁹ Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

You see Joshua and Caleb knew something the other spies forgot. They knew the same fact that the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary when he announced to her that she was about to become the mother of the Messiah.

Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God.”

They knew what Paul learned when he suffered greatly with a terrible affliction, and asked the Lord to take it away. II Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

That same Paul later said, Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

And Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church…

My friends make no mistake about this. There are giants in the Promised Land. There are Hittites and Jebusites and Nephalim like you’ve never seen. There are obstacles so insurmountable that you cannot overcome them in your own strength.

As a matter of fact, if what you feel you are called to do is something you can accomplish by your own strength, talent and determination, then you can bet it probably is not of God, and you can be certain that you are not on the edge of the Promised Land.

There are giants in the Promised Land. They go with the territory. And you cannot defeat them. Not on your own. But nothing is impossible with God. And you can do everything through Him who gives you strength. For the power at work within us is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine.

Do you want to enter the Promised Land? Do you want to seize all that God has for you? Then trust in God’s power, not your own. If you are really going to invade the Promised Land, you need to know that if God doesn’t work His miracles, if God doesn’t release His power, you are going to fail miserably. Just like the Israelites.

But you also need to know that if you don’t invade the Promised Land, you will die in the dessert. If you listen to the nay-sayers and shrink back, you will never inherit the Promise God has for you. So the fifth step is simply this. Move forward in courageous faith.

Victory awaits you. A land flowing with milk and honey awaits you. The priceless promises of God for your life await you. Move forward in courageous faith.

Here we are at the beginning of a new year. I believe you are standing on the edge of the Promised Land. And I think you know it. You feel it in your bones. God has something spectacular for you. But when you think about it, you feel like a grasshopper. My sister, my brother, I urge you to move forward in courageous faith.

Where is that area of your life where God is calling you into the Promised Land? Where do you feel like a grass-hopper? What are the nay-sayers trying to talk you out of? Where do you need the power of God released in your life, or you will fail miserably? Write it down under number 6 on your sermon notes.

_______________________________________________.

Maybe it has to do with your job. A promotion. A change. Maybe it has to do with a relationship. You need to set things right with someone. You need to help someone. Maybe you need to go back to school. Break a bad habit or addiction to some substance, or pornography. Maybe it’s in your spiritual life. Maybe you need to rededicate your life to Christ, or open your life to Christ. I know it will cost you. There are giants in the land. But you can trust in God’s power and move forward in courageous faith. My friend, you are standing on the edge of the Promised Land.

You know, if you have heard what the Bible has to say about tithing, but you haven’t yet put it into practice, that’s a place where you’re standing on the edge of the Promised Land. In fact, it’s a perfect example.

Malachi 3:10 says “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

You know God’s will. Scripture makes it clear. You can hear the nay-sayers. “You can’t afford to give 10% of your income to God’s work. There are giants in the land. Mortgage. Credit card. Car payments.” You know God’s time is now, and you need His power to make this work. Move forward in courageous faith.

Where are you standing on the edge of the Promised Land? My dear brother or sister, invade. Charge.

You know, I think I’m going to send a copy of this sermon to Pastor Jeff Linman and Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church. They’re a church about our size, but they’re getting ready to transform the old bowling alley on East Colonial and Rouse Road into a worship center and an outreach center for our community. Oh, there are giants in the land. About 3 million of them to start with. And they know that if God doesn’t work some miracles, they’re going to fail miserably. But they believe God is calling them and that the time is now. So they’re moving forward in courageous faith. We commend them in that and support them with our prayers.

I also think I should send a copy to Pastor David Baxter and Journey Fellowship. They also are a congregation about the size of ours. And they’re getting ready to move into the old UC7 theatre on the corner of Alafaya and University and use it as an outreach post to reach people for Christ. They know there are giants in the land, and if God doesn’t work some miracles, they will fail miserably. But they believe God’s time is now, and they’re moving forward in courageous faith.

And, I’m going to send a copy of this sermon to Pastor Kevin Quinones and the River of Life Assembly of God. They’re a little larger than we are, though they’re less than two years old. And this year they plan to start construction on a 500 seat sanctuary and educational space on the southeast corner of East Colonial and the 408. There are indeed giants in the land. You who were here when we built this building know some of those giants by name. And they know that if God doesn’t release His power they will fail miserably. But they believe God’s time is now, and they are moving forward in courageous faith.

All three of these churches are getting ready to invade the Promised Land. We encourage them. We cheer them on and support them with our prayers.

But you know what? We too are being called to move forward as a church. Not just as individuals, but as a church.

It occurs to me that we are about to spend 40 Days exploring the Promised Land. We’re calling it 40 Days of Purpose. You are going to experience a land flowing with milk and honey. You will experience new levels of closeness with God as you spend time every day in devotional reading and prayer. You will taste the wonderful sweetness of a close Christian community in your small groups. And we will see people’s lives changed in remarkable ways. You will get an up close look at what it is like to live for Christ with all your being. And it will be beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful.

But you will also encounter giants in the land. How will you find the time? What will this mean to your friendships? Will this move you past your comfort level?

But what I want to emphasize is this. These 40 days are not merely an excursion into the Promised Land, a six week vacation in the Kingdom of God. God wants us to invade! God wants us to take up residence in the Promised Land!

Several years ago I was talking with a high school kid who kept getting in trouble with drugs and promiscuity and lots of other things. I knew the kid had been on a marvelous retreat called “Chrysalis,” and that he had an authentic encounter with the Holy Spirit there. So I asked him, “Which is better, being high on drugs, or what you experienced at Chrysalis.” Do you know what he said? He said, “Well, Chrysalis. But that was a one time thing. You can’t expect life to be like that all the time.”

God help him, that’s where he was wrong. That is exactly what God intends for him and for you and for me. All the time. Every day. That’s what it’s like in the Promised Land.

Dear people of God, we are standing on the edge of the Promised Land. Ignore the nay-sayers. Don’t put it off. Follow God’s timing. Trust God’s power, not your own. And let’s move forward in courageous faith. Yes, there are giants in the land. And they make you feel like a grasshopper. But they are no match for the power that is at work in you. For nothing is impossible with God. Let’s move forward. Let’s claim God’s Promised Land.