From His Heart with Jeff Schreve

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What happens when we start walking by sight and not
by faith. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreeve.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's serious business to rebel against the king of kings
and Lord of lords. It's serious business to tell God, Hey,
we're not going into that land that you've been promising
us since the time of Abraham. There's been hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds of years. That's what they longed for
and live for, was the promised land. We're not going in.
What we're gonna do, God is we're going to point

(00:28):
a leader and go back to Egypt. Can you imagine
Egypt is a picture of the lost condition. They're saying,
we want to go back to where it was when
we were under the thumb of Pharaoh. Such a slap
in the face of God. And listen, when we start
walking by sight, we start to believe lies with real truth.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
If you're to be a bold believer in these wicked
days in which we live, you have to walk by
faith and not by sight. So here's the question for
all of us, are we right now believing God walking
by faith and not by sight, regardless of our circumstances. Now, faith,

(01:23):
in very simple terms, is believing that God is telling
the truth and this is from his heart. With Pastor
Jeff shreed where today the lesson is called Spies, Lies
and Grasshoppers. It's from his new series Bold as a Lion.
In today's lesson, he'll share three truths about faith and
how you can experience the blessings of God in your life,

(01:46):
and it starts with believing that God is telling the truth.
If you miss any of these dynamic lessons, you can
always go online once they've aired and clicked the listen tab.
Right now, though, open your Bible to the Old Testament
Book of Numbers and turn to chapter thirteen and fourteen
and be ready for that as Pastor Jeff Shreeve has

(02:07):
part two of the lesson entitled Spies, Lies and Grasshoppers.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Three truths for today? Are you walking by faith or
walking by sight? Truth number one, God has a promised
land for his people. The promised land is a euphemism
for abundance. Truth number two. God requires us to exercise
faith to enjoy his promises. Now, faith, just in very

(02:36):
simple terms, is believing that God is telling the truth.
It's never focused on the circumstances, and faith doesn't see
a grasshopper faith sees a super conqueror. So God requires
us to exercise faith to enjoy his promises. And then

(02:57):
truth number three, God warns us of the severe consequences
of unbelief numbers chapter fourteen. They give a bad report.
Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried,
and the people wept that night, and all the sons

(03:17):
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? 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

(03:39):
better for us to return to Egypt? So they said
to one another, let us appoint a leader and return
to Egypt. Good night. Then Moses and Aaron I added
the good night. That's just a little aside. Then Moses
and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of
all the assembly of the congregation and the sons of Israel,
they fell on their faces in prayer. That is such

(04:00):
a strong word to leaders today. When the natives get restless,
when things start going off the rails. What do we
need to do? We need to pray. And so they
fell on their faces and prayed. And Joshua the son
of None and Caleb the son of Jeffuna, of those
who had spied out the land, they tore their clothes.
I mean they're in anguish. And they spoke to all
the congregation of the Sons of Israel, saying, the land

(04:22):
which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly
good land. It's the land flowing with milk and honey.
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 honting. Only, do
not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the
people of the land, for they shall be our prey.

(04:44):
You think they're gonna eat us like grasshoppers, They're gonna
be our prey. We're gonna eat them. Anakim is the
breakfast of champions. We're gonna eat those guys, he said.
Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord
is with us. Do not fear them. Oh okay, that
won the day. But all the congregations said to stone

(05:04):
them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared
in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel,
and the Lord said to Moses, how long will this
people spurn me? How long will they not believe in me?
Despite all the signs which I have performed in their
midst I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them,
and I will make you a nation greater and mightier

(05:27):
than they. God warns us in this passage of scripture
of the severe consequences of unbelief. Now, how does unbelief work? First,
you take your eyes off Jesus. You start walking by
sight instead of faith. And when you start focusing in
on the circumstances, take your eyes off the problem solver

(05:48):
and focus in on the problems. Then site turns to doubt.
You start to doubt. We're unable and we're not going
to be deuble to do this. Look how tall these
guys are. They're giants. They're big and fearsome, ferocious, they're
the refaem they're the terrible ones. And you go from
site to doubt to unbelief. The site produces the fear

(06:10):
and fuels the doubt, and then you start to believe
the lies, and then you sink into a place of unbelief. Now,
notice some things about unbelief. First of all, unbelief leads
to grumbling, and it reveals itself through the grumbling. And
all the sons of Israel Verse two grumbled against Moses

(06:31):
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? Underscore that,
because that's going to come back to haunt them. But
they're grumbling. Now, that's not the first time they grumbled
at Moses. You type into a Google search on a

(06:52):
or to a Bible search and type in the word grumble,
and you see what comes up. They grumbled at him
on three other occasion, and it's basically saying, well, this
isn't going to ever work, and who died and made you, God, Moses,
and we're not gonna follow you. You're gonna lead us
off a cliff. And they're grumbling at him. Did you

(07:13):
know it's really sad? But this is what happened in
Exodus fifteen. Exodus fourteen, they crossed the Red Sea. They
see God performed the greatest Old Testament miracle. He parts
the sea, they walk through on dry land, and then
when Pharaoh and his armies come after them, he causes
us the sea to go back and drown them all.
That is the greatest, the biggest Old Testament miracle. It's

(07:35):
referred to over and over and over again in the
Old Testament. And they saw that. And then in Exodus
at fifteen, they're singing and dancing and the horse and
the ride are thrown into the sea, and they are
so excited. Three days later they set out and there's
no water. There's a group of about two million people,

(07:58):
animals and everything, and they there's no water, and so
what do they do? They grumble at Moses, what are
we going to drink? Moses, you're a terrible host. Moses.
There's no water. You didn't nobody got any water for
the trip. And they're grumbling. It's like, did you where

(08:19):
were you three days ago when we were singing about
God delivering us through the red Sea? If God can
do that, don't you think he can handle the water supply?
Don't you think he can do that? But we're just
like that, We get real excited. Hey, this is so great,
I'm gonna worship the Lord till the day I die.
Everything is so wonderful, and then three days later the

(08:40):
bottom drops out, and you're like, where are you? God?
I guess you don't care about me anymore. And when
Moses recounts this in the Book of Deuteronomy, he gives
us more information where the people were saying that the
Lord hates us. He hates us, and that's why he
brought us out of Egypt, so that we would die
by the hand of the ies. So twists it. But

(09:04):
they start grumbling, and they grumble at Moses and Aaron.
But what does the Lord say Verse twenty seven. He says,
how long shall I bear with his evil generation who
are grumbling against me? I have heard the complaints of
the sons of Israel which they are making against me.

(09:27):
Sometimes we think it's okay to grumble against the leader,
to grumble against the pastor you. People would never do that.
But at some other churches I hear about people doing that.
It's this sad tale. But they were grumbling against Moses,
and God says, you're not grumbling against Moses, you are
grumbling against me. Serious business to grumble in the ears

(09:49):
of the Lord. Now nobody likes to hear grumbling. You know,
we have words grumble, murmur, you know in the New Testament,
do all things without grumbling Philippians two fourteen. That's the
Greek word. I've shared it with you before, gong guzmos.
And that's an onomatopeia. That's a word that sounds like

(10:11):
it's meaning long gluzmus. You can just hear the grumbling
in that, do all things without longloims. You know, it's
just it's just somebody that's just like, Oh, gong gluzm gongo.
What'd you think about the music today? Ah that Quinn
gong lose most gongoluz mo. I hear he eats crickets,
gongluz MOUs. You know, you're just upset. A lot of

(10:32):
times in churches are complaining about the music. They complain
about Well, how'd you like Pastor Jeff Sermon longo mo
dong just go always griping a planet about something you
think it's a It's just like your spiritual gift. There's
not a spiritual gift. God hates it. You ever been
on a long trip with your kids? Are we almost there?
She's touching me. I heard Jim Gaffigan say. He said, Uh,

(10:55):
you know, I never understood why when we went on vacation,
my dad was always angry. I took my kids on vacation,
and now I have a lot of respect for my dad.
That's why you were always mad. Well, God doesn't like
his fingernails on a chalkboard. Some of you don't know
what that is, but some of us do. That's a
horrible sound. And that's what grumbling is. To God. He

(11:16):
hates it. And we just think that it's okay to grumble,
it's okay to gripe, it's okay to complain. Heard about
a guy he died, the believer he went to heaven.
Saint Peter was showing him all around. He said, in
heaven everything you're you know, there's perfect happiness, perfect joy.
And the guy noticed that there was a suggestion box
there on the streets of glory, and he said, why

(11:38):
do you have a suggestion box in heaven? I don't understand.
It's supposed to be a place of perfect happiness. And
Peter said, well it is. Some people aren't happy unless
they can complain. And so if you just have all
these complaints, are you like that you ever know so
my dad used to do this. I never understood this.
How are you doing today? Can't complain? What do you
want to complain?

Speaker 3 (11:57):
Or is that?

Speaker 2 (11:58):
I mean, are you complaining that you can't complain? I mean,
why would you say that? Why isn't it going great? Well, No,
can't complain. Ask me tomorrow. I think I can find
something to complain about tomorrow. We just kind of complained
orient and negative orient. Well. Unbelief shows itself in grumbling,
and it leads secondly to rebellion. That's what Joshua said.

(12:24):
He says, if the Lord verse eight 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.
Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not
fear the people that the land, for they shall be
our prey. There are food, their protection has been removed
from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not

(12:45):
fear them. Unbelief leads to rebellion and rebellion. First Samuel
Chapter fifteen is as the sin of witchcraft and divination
serious business to rebel against the King of kings and
Lord of lords. It's serious business to tell God, hey,

(13:06):
we're not going into that land that you've been promising
us since the time of Abraham. There's been hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds of years. That's what they longed for
and live for, was the promised land. We're not going in.
What we're going to do, God is we're going to
point a leader and go back to Egypt. Can you
imagine Egypt is a picture of the lost condition. They're saying,

(13:28):
we want to go back to where it was when
we were under the thumb of Pharaoh. Such a slap
in the face of God. And that's why he said,
how long will this people spurn me? How long will
they not believe in me? Despite all the signs which
I've done and performed in their mythst to rebel against

(13:50):
the Lord that comes out of a heart of unbelief.
And listen, when we start walking by sight, we start
to believe lies. Did you know what they said the
last verse of chapter thirteen, We were like grasshoppers in
our own site, and so we were in their sight.

(14:12):
Let me ask you a question, how would they have
possibly known if they were grasshoppers in the sight of
the heights? Did they interview all the heights yoh, we
think you're grasshoppers. We're giants. No, they just projected that.
They just went with that. They just started to think, well,

(14:32):
that must be like that because that's how we feel,
so they must feel the same way about us. You
know what it says in Joshua chapter two when they
do go into the land under Joshua forty years later,
they meet Rayhab the Harlot and Rayhab the Harlot says,
where have you guys been? We heard about what your
God did when he led you out of Egypt. We

(14:53):
heard how he made a way in the wilderness for you,
and we were wondering when are you coming here? Because
our hearts melted, we had no courage left in us.
The truth of the matter is the heights that lived
in the land were scared to death that God's people
were coming in. But God's people believed a lie, and

(15:15):
many of us believe lies. Truth is not what you think,
it's not what you feel, it's not what you wanted
to be. Truth is what God says. We need to
stand on the truth of God's word. And so when
you rebel it's because you're walking by sight and not

(15:36):
by faith, and you're believing the lies, and you're starting
to doubt, and the fear is coming in. And see
he said to him two times, do not fear them,
only do not fear the people. And they were walking
by fear, by sight and by fear, and their unbelief
led them to rebel against the Lord. And the unbelief

(15:57):
then leads to death, from sight to doubt, to unbelief,
to the grumbling, to the rebellion to the judgment that
comes from God. And the judgment was death looking verse
twenty eight. So here's the picture. So God tells Moses,
I'm going to destroy them all and Moses. Some people

(16:20):
read that and say, well, Moses had to walk God
off the ledge. He had to talk him off the ledge. God,
please don't do that. But it was just a test.
God didn't want to do that. And Moses basically says,
so the Lord, well, Lord, your your reputation is at stake,
your name is at stake, because the Egyptians will hear
that you couldn't bring them in, and then it's going
to reflect poorly on you. So pardon their iniquity. And

(16:41):
the Lord said, all right, I will. But then this
is what he says beginning of verse twenty eight. Moses
say to them, as I live, says the Lord, just
if you have spoken in my hearings, so I'll surely
do to you. Your corpses shall fall in this wilderness.
Even all your numbered men, according to your complete number,
from two twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled

(17:02):
against me. The grumblers were going to die. Surely you
shall not come into the land in which I swore
to settle you, except Caleb, the son of Jeffunah, and
Joshua the son of nun Your children, however, whom you
said would become a prey. I will bring them in,
and they shall know the land which you have rejected.
But as for you, your corpses shall fall in this wilderness,
and your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in

(17:24):
this wilderness, and they shall suffer for your unfaithfulness, until
your corpses lie in the wilderness 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 shall know my opposition. I,
the Lord, have spoken. Surely this I will do to

(17:45):
all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me
in this wilderness, they shall be destroyed, and there they
shall die. 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. Even those men who brought out
the very bad report of the land of the land

(18:06):
died by a plague before the Lord. But Joshua the
son of None and Caleb, the son of Jeffunah remained alive.
Out of those men who went to spy out the land,
their unbelief brought death. You're not going in the land.
The ten spies, faithless spies. They died on the spot.

(18:29):
Plague came from the Lord. They're dead. I mean, God
is putting an exclamation point on this. This is big
time sin and the rest of the people. Okay, you said,
why is the Lord bringing us in here? He must
hate us to bring us in here. We're going to
be killed. Our little ones are going to be killed.
Would that we had died in Egypt, or would that
we had died in the wilderness done? You will die

(18:50):
in the wilderness out of your own mouth. Death and
life are in the power of the tongue, out of
your own mouth. That is what's going to happen to you.
And the judgment fell, and it was severe because of unbelief.
You say, why is unbelief such a terrible, horrible sin,
Because when we refuse to believe God, we are basically

(19:16):
calling God a liar. When you call the God of
the universe, who is holy, holy, holy, a liar, them's
fighting words. God hates that. Truth is not what you think,
it's not what you feel, it's not what you want
it to be. Truth is what God says. And Jesus said,

(19:37):
I am the Way and the truth in thee life.
And no one comes to the Father but through me.
Hebrews three, verse nineteen says they were not able to
enter into the land. Why because of unbelief. Now, listen,
as we close out today, there are one or three places,

(19:59):
everybody under this my voice, you're in one of three places.
You're either in Egypt. You've never been saved, You've never
put your faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone
for your salvation. You're in Egypt. And what is the
word to you. You need to exercise faith and put
your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You
put your faith where God puts your sins, and where
did God put your sins? On the cross of the

(20:21):
Lord Jesus Christ. And you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you shall be saved. Now some of you are
in the wilderness. Sadly, most Christians, this is where we live.
We live in the wilderness where we're walking by sight
and not by faith. And the Lord says, listen, if
you want to get out of eating manna every days.

(20:45):
As wonderful as that was, after a while, it wasn't
so wonderful. It's sustained life, but it wasn't the abundant life.
And the Lord says, how do you get out of this?
You start believing me, you walk by faith and not
by sight, and you can enter in to the land
flowing with melcon honey, to the life flowing with MalCon honey.
Doesn't mean they're not problems in there. Doesn't mean you're

(21:06):
not going to have to fight in there because their
eight's in here and the devil will fight you. But
this is what it does mean. With God and three shillings,
there is nothing you can't do. It means that you
can conquer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can
experience the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faith
on a self control against such things. There is no law.

(21:30):
Where are you're living today? Here's the question? Will you
walk by faith and not by sight? And let God
bless your life?

Speaker 1 (21:44):
This has truly been an urgent call to believers everywhere
to remember and act as if you believe that God
has a promised land for his people, that God requires
us to exercise faith to enjoy his promises, and that
God warns us of the severe consequences of unbelief. Now,
as we said at the beginning, just in very simple terms,

(22:06):
faith is believing that God is telling the truth. We
all need to quit walking by sight and trust the
Lord by faith alone. We hope you can do that today. Sadly,
most Christians walk by sight and not by faith, completely
missing out on the abundant life that God has for them.
Are you believing God and walking by faith regardless of

(22:27):
the circumstances you face? In Pastor Jeff's new six lesson
series called Bold as a Lion, he shares powerful truth
about mountain moving faith and how you can experience the
blessings of God in your life when you walk by
faith and not by sight. And when you do walk
by faith, you definitely will see the hand of God

(22:48):
work in your life and in the lives of many
people around you. You'll see things you previously had ignored.
God is good and you'll see it now. This series
is our special thank you gift for your support from
His Heart this month of any amount, and you can
get this series Bold as a Lion on a USB
flash drive, digital download CDs or DVDs. You pick call

(23:13):
eight six six four zero Bible eat six six four
zero Bible to make your gift of any amount, or
go online from his Heart dot org and request it.
The series will be displayed right there on the homepage.
We'll send it right out to you. May God bless
you in all of his ways and guide your step
as you boldly share His love with others. Thanks so

(23:36):
very much. Well, we're out of time for today. I'm
Larry Nobles. Thank you for joining us, and we trust
the lesson was an encouragement to you for you to
not see yourself as a grasshopper, but as a giant
warrior with God's power in you. For the challenges of
this life and the piece that comes with knowing and
believing Him completely. We want to invite you to be

(23:57):
right back here next time or the next lesson in
the new series Bold is a Lion. That's when Pastor
Jeff Shreve will open up God's word and share real truth,
real love, and real hope from God's Heart here on.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
From his Heart Always, From his Heart.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Is the listener supported broadcast Ministry of Doctor Jeffshreeve, celebrating
twenty years of broadcasting the truth and love to a
lost and a hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God
loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
Find out more when you go to fromisheart dot org