Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You're listening to part three of a message titled, The Lord Your God Goes Before Us. It was first preached on april fourteenth.
2024. Why did they not believe the Lord? Here's why. They were totally focused on the obstacle in front of them. They were focused on the obstacle.
And when you're focused, when you're preoccupied with the obstacle in front of you. you will say, I will not trust. Because I can't do this. You ever said that? I can't do this?
Say mm-hmm. Because I know you have. Here's a strong point.
Okay, I want you to learn from this, because this is what Israel is showing us. We can't look at them and say, oh, those crazy people, because we're just like them. We tend to limit God. by what we can do. We tend to limit God.
by what we can do. That's what happens when we become focused on the obstacle. And if that's the case, you know, we're not really trusting God. Here's what we need to learn about God: God is faithful to take us places. where we are required to trust Him.
if we are to move ahead. Required to trust him if we are to move ahead. God takes us to places like that. And you know what? He does it.
in his faithfulness. in his faithfulness. Because he's not his primary concern is not our comfort. His primary concern is what? our character and our trust in him.
Trust is a meaningless word if it's never challenged. Yet, in spite of this word, you did not believe the Lord your God. Verse 32.
So, what does God do? The Lord says okay Have it your way. You don't want to go in the land? I'm not going to let you go in the land. If you're convinced that you can't do it, I'm not going to let you do it.
Have it your way. Verses thirty to thirty-four. And I want you to look at something because we tend to do this too. Look at verse 39, and he says: And as for your little ones, who you said would become prey, and your children who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. What was one of their reasons for not trusting God?
Our kids are going to be hurt by this. That's not trusting God. And you know what? If God puts a hard path in front of you, And you are stubborn enough. Stay with me now.
If God puts a hard path in front of you, He directs you into a hard path. and you are stubborn enough. And you say, no, I don't want to go there. I will not trust you. Do you know what God's going to do?
He's going to step aside and he's going to second the motion. And there's going to be pain involved. And we see Israel now being guilty of what we would call ungodly sorrow. When God said, okay, you don't want to go in the land, you're not going to go in. Verse 41.
Look what they did in verse 41, the beginning of the verse. Then you answered me, We have sinned against the Lord. That's it, that's all it says. We've sinned against the Lord. Let's talk about ungodly sorrow here for a moment.
Ungodly sorrow Is means you're sad for two reasons. One or both, right? What is it or ungodly sorrow? We got caught. God called our bluff.
We got caught. Yep, we didn't trust him. We got cut. Or And We don't like the consequences. We don't like the consequences.
That's ungodly sorrow. Godly sorrow would be, I am deeply hurt in myself because I dishonored God and I was unfaithful. And I did not trust his promises, and I'm hurting other people because of it. That's godly sorrow. Ungodly sorrow says I'm sad I got caught and I don't like the consequences.
MRI machine. And they're un here's here's what's Wow, so relatable to us. Their ungodly sorrow led them to an ungodly ambition. Again, in verse forty-one, look at it with me. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us, and every one of you.
Fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into his nether, thought it easy. God is their rabbit foot. Yeah. They thought it easy to go up in the hill country. And the Lord said to me, Say to them, Do not go up.
Their ungodly ambition was what? Never mind.
Okay, we're sorry that we didn't trust you. We're going to do this. We will do it. Let's go. And it was a rash disobedience compelled by emotion.
That's what ungodly ambition can be: a rash disobedience compelled by emotion. And Moses gives them an admonition from the Lord. Don't do it. Don't do this. Verse 42: Don't do this.
I am not in your midst. God's saying, I'm not in this. This was a form of their control and manipulation, as at the root of this is their ungodly sorrow, which led to ungodly ambition. And now they're guilty of control and manipulation. In other words, what they're saying is: doesn't matter what God has said, we can make this happen.
And disaster results. We say that we see the defeat in verses 44 to 46. And then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seyr as far as Hormah. And ye returned and wept before the Lord. Defeat.
It says they chased you like bees and beat you down. In other words, they were overwhelmed. You ever been chased by a Storm of bees. It's not pleasant.
So they say, I don't know. But they are experiencing defeat and sorrow and a sense of aimlessness now. Their presumptuous disobedience distanced them from God. Look at verse 45. And you returned and wept before the Lord.
Get this, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. Ouch. Do you know why? This is still ungodly sorrow. We're sad we got caught and we're not happy with the consequences.
Because you know what they were doing? They were guilty of trusting their promises instead of trusting God's promises. Stop for a moment right there. They were bent. on making promises to God and keeping their promises to God.
expecting that God would bless them. And they had not trusted God's promises. And they wept before the Lord, and the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. Moses is telling them that their bad decision. Their lack of trust.
And their godless ambition is the reason why we're here 40 years later from the Exodus and still haven't realized God's promise. Their lack of trust and their godless ambition. It's why we're here still in the wilderness 40 years later, and we have not realized God's promise.
Something that becomes very clear as I study scripture, study history, and study today. People are people. We're no different than they are. I think we have an advantage that they did not have, and that comes with the new covenant.
Okay. Because we're looking back at the death of Jesus. They were looking forward to it. But I said, you know, God does lead us through difficult paths. But let me make this.
I need to insert this here, right? Because many of us struggle with adversity.
Some of us might be in it right now. And here's the truth. Right? Much of our adversity comes from bad decisions. I didn't say all of it.
Okay, I didn't say all of it. Stick with me here for a minute, okay? Much of our adversity comes from bad decisions. Sometimes those bad decisions are direct disobedience to God. Direct disobedience to God.
God has made something very clear in His Word. And you're you've just decided That doesn't apply to me. I'm going to have it my way. That will lead to adversity. Or We're not seeking first his kingdom.
I have other priorities. Like my kingdom. You've been listening to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. To hear this message and others, check out www.delightandgrace.com. to discover how to live by grace.
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