What Faith Can Seett
"WHAT FAITH CAN SEE!”
NUMBERS 13:17, 18, 26-33
INTRO:The Scripture tells us in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish...". The difference between the believer and the non-believer is that God has given to all who believe a vision, a vision that can only be seen by the eye of faith! “Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.” (Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. p. 68). The only limit to what our vision for God can be is the limit of our faith in Him and His promises! Jesus said in Mark 9:23, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." If we will simply trust God, He will give us a greater vision and we will see greater results because of that vision!
A.Notice the COMMISSION (v2).
1.The LORD commanded Moses to send 12 men into the land of Canaan to search it out.
2.One man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
3.Moses chose leaders out of these tribes. These were to be men of vision. These were to be men of faith. But merely being a head of a tribe does not guarantee faith, as ten of these men evidence.
B.Notice the CANAAN JOURNEY (vvs. 17-23).
1.They saw a fruitful land.
2.They saw a land flowing with milk and honey.
3.They saw giants in the land.
4.They felt like grasshoppers.
C.Notice their COUNTENANCE FELL (v28).
1.Ten of the spies felt they could not conquer the land that God gave them.
2.They only trusted in themselves.
3.They feared obstacles.
D.Notice the COURAGE of Joshua and Caleb (v30).
1.They saw things differently (1 CORINTHIANS 2:14). They were men of faith, men of vision.
2.They saw things differently because of their relationship with God!
3.Saved people today see things differently from the rest of the world because of their relationship with God.
4.Saved people can see things and understand things from a spiritual standpoint of view (Hebrews 11:1).
What The Faithful Can See:
(1) THEY CAN SEE HOPE!
NUMBERS 13:30—“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. “
NUMBERS 14:6-9—“And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: And they spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.”
A. THEY CAN SEE HOPE IN THE FATHER
1.Psalm 38:15—“For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.”
2.In His Godhead. He is God and there is none else (Isaiah
45:22; 46:9). I believe in the Trinity. God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit! God the Father is the Author of
our Salvation, God the Son is the Administrator of our Salvation,
and God the Holy Spirit is the Agent of our Salvation. Because of
the Godhead I have Rope today!
3. In His creation. We see hope in the Father and have assurance
of His reality by merely looking around us. The things we see are
a testimony to His power and presence (Psalm 19:1; Romans
1:18-20).
4. In His Second Coming (Titus 2:11-14). He has promised that
one day His Son is coming for all who have trusted in Him! What
assurance this great promise gives us! What He has promised He
will perform!
B.THEY CAN SEE HOPE IN THEIR FAITH!
1. Hebrews 11:1. We have been given a living hope, not a dead one!
It is only by faith that we can claim and trust in the great promises
of God!
2.Our Faith allows us to have hope in:
a. The Virgin Birth. Our Savior, Jesus Christ was born of a
virgin. If it is not true, then we are yet in our sins! Why is it
such an important doctrine? Because if He was not conceived
by the Holy Ghost he would be just like us conceived in sin,
shapen in iniquity, because of Adam's sin (Romans 5:12).
b. The Bible we believe in. It is God's Word. It is truth. Apart
from it there is no truth! “This Book outlives, outloves, outlifts,
outlasts, outreaches, outruns, and outranks all books. It is
hope-awakening. It is death-destroying. And those who
embrace it find forgiveness of sin." --A.Z. Conrad (Albert M.
Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. p. 14).
c. Our eternal salvation (1 Peter 1:3-5). I praise God for the
assurance today that not only do I have hope of eternal life, but
know for sure that it is mine by faith (1 John 5:11-13). Paul
said, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable." (1 Corinthians 15:19).
C. THEY CAN SEE HOPE IN THEIR FIGHT.
1.1 Timothy 6:12.
2.Joshua 14:11.
a. This mountain was Mt. Hebron.
b. This mountain belonged to the giants; the sons of Anak.
c. We are told that he drove out the 3 sons.
3.Just as Caleb had hope and faith in his fight, we too have that same hope.
4.Our battles are the LORD'S. We just need to quit trying to fight them ourselves.
D. THEY CAN SEE HOPE IN THEIR FUTURE.
1.Many people give up on life because they have no hope in the future. (Teenage suicide is a growing problem in our world today.)
2. Saved people have hope. They have a hope in their future with
the LORD!
3. Joshua and Caleb saw a hope in their future. They saw a land
flowing with milk and honey. That is what Faith can see! Without
faith all looks helpless and hopeless! A man without Christ sees a
hopeless end, but the Christian sees an endless hope!
(2) THEY CAN SEE HAPPINESS
PSALM 146:5—“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the LORD his God.”
A. DURING TIMES OF DESTRUCTION.
1. Many people are faced with times of destruction and
devastation in their lives (Job 14:1).
a. Remember Job and all that he lost and all that he suffered.
b. Job saw hope and happiness in God. He proclaimed,
"though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him..." (Job 13:5).
2. Many people cannot handle destruction and devastation in
life.
a.Many commit suicide.
b.Many blame God.
c.James 1:13
d.Many give up serving God.
3. Saved people see happiness in times of destruction.
a.God's Word tells us that we are able to overcome andwithstand any temptation in our lives (1 Corinthians 10:13).
B. DURING DANGEROUS TIMES.
1. Remember when David went up against Goliath (1 Samuel 17)?
2. Remember when Elijah was up on Mt. Carmel with 450 of the
prophets of Baaland the 400 prophets of the groves (1 Kings
18)?
3. Remember when Paul was on Mars Hill (Acts 17)?
4. Matthew 5:10-12—“Blessedarethey which are persecutedfor
righteousness' sake:fortheirsisthekingdomofheaven. Blessedare
ye,whenmenshallrevileyou,andpersecuteyou,andshallsayall
manner of evilagainstyoufalsely,for my sake. Rejoice,andbe
exceeding glad:forgreatisyourrewardinheaven:forsopersecuted
theytheprophetswhichwerebeforeyou.”
5. God gives His people vision in dangerous times!
C. DURING DEATH TIMES.
1. All people will experience times of death of loved ones and
friends. But even in those times we can see hope (1
Thessalonians 4:13).
2. But God can and will give us comfort, joy, and grace to see
each of us get thru these times (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
3. Remember David when he lost his son (2 Samuel 12:23).
(3) THEY CAN SEE HILLTOPS!
A. When they are in the valley.
1. Psalm 23:4
2. When God's people are at their lowest in life, they can look up
and see a hilltop. Jesus is that hilltop!
3. He is there to pick us up when we fall (Psalm 37:23-24)!
4. He is there to pick us up when we get knocked down. "Crisis
bring us face to face with our inadequacy and our inadequacy in
turn leads us to the inexhaustible sufficiency of God." --Catherine
Marshall (Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary &
Classical. p. 207).
B. When we're surrounded by a vain world.
1. Ecclesiastes 1:2—“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of
vanities; all is vanity.”
2. Remember when Elijah thought he was the only one serving
God (1 Kings 19:13-18)? He thought all the rest of the people were
wicked. But God said that there were 7,000 men who had not yet
bowed their heads to Baal.
3. Sometimes God uses the wickedness of mankind to help make
us see that we can only trust Him.
C. When trapped by the vises of pressure and temptations.
1. We all seem to have times in our life when we are trapped
under the pressures and temptations of this life.
2. People are looking to and for everything to help relieve them of
these problems. Drugs, alcohol, sexual misconduct are some of
the paths they follow, but none of these seem to relieve the
pressures they feel.
3. God has the only way to escape and that is through Him
(Proverbs 3:5-6)!
4. 1 Corinthians 10:13—“There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear
it.”
(4) THEY CAN SEE HOME!
A. The Saved have an INHERITED HOME.
1. Romans 8:17—“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-
heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be
also glorified together.”
2. James 2:5—“Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen
the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he
hath promised to them that love him?”
B. The Saved have an INCORRUPTIBLE HOME.
1. A home not built out of hay or stubble.
2. A home that has a sure foundation.
3. A home that has no sin in it.
- A home that will always last.
C. The Saved have an INCOMPARABLE HOME.
1. John 14:1-3
2. The Saved have a home that is like no other home they have
everseen (1 Corinthians 2:9)!
3. That heavenly home is being built by the LORD. And while here
we are to be longing, looking for the LORD to come to take us to
the beautiful home (Philippians 3:20-21)!
CLOSING: What can Faith see? It can see HOPE, HAPPINESS, HILLTOPS, and
HOME! Joshua and Caleb had the eye of faith. They believed God!
God said, "Go in and possess the land.” They didn't have all the
details, but they depended on God to keep His promise! We all
need that kind of faith!
Faith can see HOPE, HAPPINESS, HILLTOPS, and HOME! Because
faith can see God! Can you by faith see God today? Is He real to
you? If not, you need to come acquaint yourself with Him in a
personal way! He has the answer when there seems to be no
answer!