The Can Do of Belief

Twelve men. Twelve men sat around an evening campfire, having supper. They were kind of hidden away in a little nook of forest with a bubbling spring out of the way of the sight of anybody else. Of course, it was dark, and not too many people out moving about. At that point of time, but twelve men averaged somewhere around age 40. But they were physical. They were men of them and vigor, of energy, of vitality, and also known among their peoples as men of basic fortitude, basic courage, basic wisdom.

They came from among the heads of their tribes. They were men that were held overall in high esteem. And for the past 39 days, they had been doing something that they were doing because they had been held in high esteem, and they had been chosen for this job, this mission. And for the past 39 days, they had had quite an experience. Tomorrow, the next day, was the 40th and last day, and all that was left to do in finishing their mission was to wrap everything up and report in.

The mission was almost accomplished. But as they sat around that campfire, and as they had sat around, campfires those previous nights together, and spending all that time together, a sharp line of demarcation had been forming right through them. Two divergent views. At some point in that previous 39 days, two divergent views, two different philosophies, the two perspectives were shaping up between ten of them and two of them. And even though they actually formed one physical camp as they camped, one camp of 12 men, there were actually two camps of thought represented in that one physical camp.

And shortly, it was going to crystallize and all come to a head. Numbers 13. Numbers 13, beginning in verse 17. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get up into the way southward and go up into the mountain. Now, I want to back up to verses 1 and 2. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, You send men that they may search the land of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel. Notice, Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them.

These 12 men were among the rulers of their people. They were men of esteem, and their average age was around 40. We know the age of two of these men in particular, one from Scripture and one from Josephus. Anyhow, verse 18, See the land, what it is, the people that dwell therein, whether they're strong or they're weak, whether they're few or they're many. What the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, what cities that they dwell in, whether they're intense or in strongholds, because Canaan was a land that had a lot of variety of factors.

And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood, you know, forest therein or not, and be of good courage and bring of the fruit of the land. Now, the time was the time of the first ripe grapes, and we know when the grapes begin to get ripe, don't we? So they went up, they searched the land from the wilderness of Zen to Rehob as men come to Hamath, and they ascended by the south, and they came into Hebron, where a hymen, Sheeshai, Talmai, the children of Anak were. Now, Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt, and they came to the brook of Eshkol, and they cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes.

Now, I've always wondered, was it that the cluster itself was so huge? Were the grapes normal size, what we think of as normal size, but a huge cluster? Or was it a cluster that had grapes that the grapes themselves individually were, you know, gigantic? Either way, the cluster of grapes they took, they put it, they tied it to a pole, to a staff, and then two of them carried it. And they brought it the pomegranates and the figs, and the place was called the brook Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. And they returned from searching of the land after 40 days.

They went all over the land, and those 40 days, they checked it out. And they went, they came to Moses, to Aaron, to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Peran, to Kadesh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and they showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and said, We came into the land where you sent us.

We did what we were supposed to do, and surely it flows with milk and honey. Milk represents livestock. Honey represents agriculture and crops. The land that they searched did not look like it does today. It has been ravaged since those times. Now, Israel has replanted a lot of things. Their place is very green and verdant in Israel with what they've done. But especially Israel before those spots where Israel has today redone. The land, overall, as a wilderness, that's not what it was like then. It was like a miniature United States of America. It was rich. It was bountiful. And these men acknowledged it. It's truly, we have been told the straight of it. It does flow with milk and honey. Here's a sample. Here's the fruit of it. Wow, yes, it's a great land.

We got a problem, though. The people are strong that dwell in the land. Why, the cities are walled, and they're very great. And furthermore, we saw the children of Anac there. Well, that's a great land. But the Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, they dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea over the coast of Jordan. And wherever we went, see, there were folks already there. There's no place we can just move into and start camping.

Now, think about this. I said a sharp line of demarcation began to form as they traveled that land. It didn't form that last night that they were in the land. It was forming in their minds as they traveled and they saw. And again, keep in mind, these were men who were held in high esteem by their tribes. They were considered among the rulership, the leaders. They were men of reputation. And so, verse 30, Caleb stilled the people because it's contagious and there's beginning to be a rising crescendo, an uproar. So, Caleb stills the people before Moses, and he said, let us go up at once and possess it, for we're well able to overcome it. Caleb is 40 years old. That's told later on in Scripture. But the man that went up with him said, we're not able to go up against the people. They're stronger than we. And so, they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched into the children of Israel, saying, the land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof. And all the people that we saw under men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which cometh the giants. And we were in our own sight like grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. Verse 14, verse 1, all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. There was no sleeping. They were so upset. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, now think about this. Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt? Or would God we had died in this wilderness? They've just come through the wilderness. It's not that long a stretch of time from the time they crossed from Egypt until they get to the borders of Canaan.

They've just come through the wilderness. Oh, that we just had died in this wilderness.

And why has the Lord brought us unto this land? Notice there was nothing of issue about the milk and the honey of the land, it being a great land. It's focused on why has God done this to us? Why is God deceitful? Why has God not? Why has He played unfairly with us?

Why has He brought us to this land to fall by the sword? That our wives and our children should be a prey. They'll kill us. They'll keep our wives and our children. Were it not better for us to return to Egypt? And they said one to another, let's make a captain. Let's appoint a captain. Let us return to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation and the children of Israel. Now Joshua, his name comes up. He's one of the 12, of course. And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jafuna, 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 pass 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 flows with milk and honey, only rebel not you against the Lord. Neither fear you the people of the land, for they are bred for us. We'll just eat them up. We'll just eat right through them. Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don't fear them.

But all the congregation, they'd stone them with stones, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. So it crystallized into two divergent views and approaches what I call a can-do versus a can't-do perspective. You know, when in verse 30, when Caleb said, we are well able. We are able. And in verse 8 of chapter 14, that we just read, if the Lord delight in us, then He will. Now, I want you to jot down a scripture. You don't have to turn to it. I'm not going to turn to it. But you will find this in Exodus 23, Exodus 23, verses 27 and 28. One of the things that God said that He could and would do on their behalf was to send hornets.

I could say I don't know about you, but I think I do know about you. If somebody brought in one of those paper hornet nests in here, plugged, and full of hornets, and stomped it all apart right here in the middle of this room, I can speak for myself, I'm out of here until the hornets are gone. How do you fight hornets? I've never been stoned by one of those big black hornets, never want to be. I've been told it's about like getting hit with a 22 bullet or something. I've been stoned by wasp and that's enough. But you think about it, how would you fight if God created a plague of hornets? What army could stand before them? They're under the armor, they're every exposed place or something. I mean, just think about it. That was one of the things that he said that he could do. But anyway, you've got the can do perspective of the two, the can do of belief. And then you've got the can't do, verse 31, we be not able.

Think about it. What do you mean we be not able? One of the 10 said we be not able. And speaking, I mean, that was the sentiment of the 10. Well, the obstacles are too big. There's giants.

It's interesting. How did they get out of Egypt? Well, one day Moses came down and said, hey, just get behind me and Aaron, we're going to lead you right out of here. And so they just walked out of Egypt, right? What did happen? God had to break Egypt. I mean, there was a military that had swords and spears and arrows and whatever else.

Who said, on behalf of the Pharaoh, no, you can't leave. Try it. We'll cut your head off. How did they free themselves from Egypt? They didn't. They were slaves. They were slaves. The Egyptians may not have been giants, but you know, you can face somebody smaller than you. And if you're unarmed and he is armed with a small cannon, who's going to win the shootout? They didn't free themselves from Egypt.

They were in a situation that had giants of a different type. We be not able. The obstacles are too big. The cities are walled. The defenses are great. There's giants that can't do of unbelief because really what you got down to was an issue of belief. And really, what is that other than an issue of faith? Notice with me Hebrews 3. I have come, I'll just say in the last decade, this last decade of my life, this past decade of my life up to this point, I have developed more and more an appreciation for the book of Hebrews. I have seen more and more hats talking to me, hats talking to us, hats talking to the church today because it was written to the veteran congregation, a congregation that had members in it, some of them who had been there at the beginning of the church on the day of Pentecost. And those things that were written in Hebrews carry such parallel lessons in all for us. But it comes down to that issue of can do, can't do, belief, unbelief. It's an issue of faith and it was their unbelief. It was their lack of faith which paralyzed them and shut down their forward movement. Hebrews 3 in verse 19, the writer of Hebrews, who was probably Paul, the Apostle Paul, but says, so we see that they could not enter. It's talking about the land of Canaan, that physical premise land. We see that they could not enter in because of no other reason that they just didn't believe they could.

They did not believe they could. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy. They did not believe they could. It was their unbelief. And with that unbelief, they didn't even want to try.

It gives a very conclusive point. You know Joshua, Caleb, I just someday I look forward to talking to Joshua and Caleb and say, hey, remember when you were spying the land? And as the days went by, I know because I've read in the scripture what happened when y'all got back. But I know that it only simply crystallized and came to a head at that point. It didn't all form at that point.

At what point in your travels and spying out the land did you pick up on and notice that there was a separation beginning to take place between Caleb between you and Joshua, Joshua between you and Caleb and the other ten?

And at what point did you realize we really have a major problem here, a huge issue of faith, which is an issue of faith on your part, Joshua and Caleb, and an issue of a lack of faith on their part to the point that it paralyzed them, the congregation listened to them. I'd like to have that conversation, and someday I'll have that opportunity. Joshua and Caleb were ready to go forward. Their faith empowered them, and you know, I find myself sometimes just kind of sitting and thinking about how people, people, and sometimes God's own called out ones, God's own people, sometimes just don't give credit to certain issues to the degree that maybe they should.

Faith is such a huge deal. I mean, it is such a huge deal, and I don't think that we can ever overestimate the power of it. You know, the faith chapter of the Bible is found in the book of Hebrews, and again, to a veteran church. In Hebrews 11, and as we have pointed out numerous times over the years, verse 6, about without faith it's impossible to please Him. Those 10 could not please God. They didn't, you think about it, they acknowledged. They said, yeah, it's a great land. It's wonderful. It is truly a land of milk and honey, of livestock, of animals, of crops, of flowering things, agricultural. That's how you get the honey. It truly is. But we weren't let in on the fact that it's not attainable. We're allowed to see it and wish we could have it, but to know we can't attain it. Who was being slammed? God. That's who was being slammed. He's not really told us the full story, and He's brought us up here just to disappoint us. Oh, it would have been better if we would have died in Egypt, or even go back into this wilderness and die.

Of course, they got their wish, didn't they?

Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. They didn't have faith. They had the can't-do of unbelief, and they did not please God. And He said, okay, you can go back in the wilderness, and you will remain there until everybody that's 20 and above has died off with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. It says, for He that comes to God, God, don't we start our day as Christians thinking, I've got many things to do today. I've got a lot to accomplish. I've got a lot to tend to. And in all that I do, I want to please God.

I don't want to get to the end of the day and think, oh boy, I've displeased God on most of what I've done. Don't we automatically have the attitude as a Christian that we want to please God? Sure we do. Okay. He that comes to God must believe the can-do of belief. And, of course, as we've stated so many times, you can put it in point A and point B or point 1, point 2, whichever way you want to number it, that He is, that He exists. And, of course, there are any number of people that can acknowledge that God does exist and not take it any further.

Because Romans 1 says that the creation itself proves there's a God. And I've met people who have told me to my face that I know God exists. I know He's there. I don't have any question about God's existence. It's just I don't know what He's doing. I don't know what He's like. I don't know what He's trying to accomplish. I don't know what in the world is going on on this planet except a lot of trouble and evil and all. Oh, I know God's there, but, man, beyond that, I have no idea. But the Christian must know that He is, that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. As was mentioned in the sermonette, I, too, have noticed how that Joseph always seemed to do everything right. He was a very rare individual. He went through a lot of trouble, but I think you would have to say, just like when Potiphar's wife was tempting him, and he said, how can I do this against your master? And how can I commit this? Your master trusts me. And how can I do this sin against God? Joseph fully understood and had the faith of this second part along with the first. Joseph knew God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. He did not think, if you diligently seek God, He will reward you, and He also said to you that you never have any trouble. He didn't think that. He had trouble. Look at the trouble of God. He had trouble. And as he was going through the trouble, he didn't understand why the why-fors and whys until he got to the other side, kind of looking back, and then began to connect all the dots. When he was sold by his brothers, when they were going to kill him, then they put him in the pit, then they sold him. Then he's in Potiphar's house, and then he's scammed, he's set up, he's framed, he's in prison, he's forgotten in prison, so to speak, for a time, etc., etc. He never thought that God rewards you in the absence of all trials, tests, and troubles.

He never thought it strange. He may have thought it strange to some degree, but through all of it, he believed because him doing the right thing and always putting God first, no matter what it cost him, shows that he believed that God is rewarder of them that diligently seek him. He diligently sought God, stayed with God when he was in a very tempting situation with that other man's wife. He never caved. Joseph was a man of belief, and of course, it proved out to be true, so true, to him. And in the example of his life, that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and he eventually sat with nobody in power over him physically but Pharaoh. That was something. Again, sometimes I think we may unconsciously or whatever not think about faith, and we hear a lot of sermons on faith. We've read a lot of articles. There's a lot said in the Bible about it that it's not as big a deal as what it is, but spiritual progress, and we've got to be making spiritual progress, is based on faith. That's the underpinning. That's what underpins our spiritual progress, our true spiritual activity, and without it, the wheels grind to a halt. Here in Hebrews 11, of course, man later on put the chapter breaks in, but if you just back up into chapter 10, Hebrews 10, verses 38 and 39.

Without faith, the wheels grind to a halt. And when they grind to a halt, when Israel crossed the wilderness, did they have any carts? Did they have any wagons? I don't know what all they had. Did they have some chariots? I don't really know what all they had. But did they have any kind of vehicles that had wheels that were turning? They're going forward to Canaan? Whatever wheels they might have had, so to speak, just to use it by way of illustration, they got to the edge of Canaan. Those wheels quit turning, didn't they? And then, in a sense, they went in reverse. Only whatever they might have had that had wheels on it, along with those with animals they rode and those that were walking, they swung those vehicles around, didn't they? And what did they walk back into? They walked back into perdition. The perdition of 40 years of death. The perdition of where everybody that was 20 and above, with those two exceptions, died in the wilderness time, did not come out of it. When they came back up to the land of Canaan, 40 years later, none of those folks were still alive except Joshua and Caleb. So the wheels grind to a halt. Perdition begins to set in. And the writer of Hebrews notates that when he says, verse 38, now the just shall live by faith. The twelve shall live by faith. The can do of it. Ten said no. Two said yes. But if any man draw back, ten drew back. They got the congregation to listen to him. They drew back. My soul shall have no pleasure in him. A true servant of God has no pleasure in somebody that turns back. God himself has no pleasure in somebody that turns back.

That's a different issue than trying to stimulate and work with somebody. But it's not a pleasurable thing to see somebody turn back. And Paul goes on to say, but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition. Now think about something a moment. When Paul is to this point writing this, he writes this part after he has written chapter 3. And in chapter 3, he references those who went that didn't go in because of unbelief. So as he's writing this and says, but if any man draw back, and he says, but we are not of them who draw back into perdition, is it a stretch to think that one of the things in his mind, since he has just written chapter 3 previously, and now he's writing this, that one example that he's holding in his mind is thinking about those ten and the congregation who drew back and who did go back into perdition, into death in the wilderness for 40 years, and he's drawing a spiritual lesson from a physical analogy. I don't think it's a stretch to say that that's part of what was in his mind at the time, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. You know, not all movement is forward. Things can be put in reverse. Stagnation can set in. We can retreat. We can find ourselves slipping backwards. It has happened numerous times with folks over the years.

The can-do of belief, faith, is the basis of spiritual progress and growth. And regarding faith, the die has been cast. The pattern has been set a long time ago. God used Abraham to set the pattern. Abel had faith, didn't he? Sure he did. Enoch had faith, and he lived his faith. Noah had faith, and he lived his faith. But it's Abraham that is used as the prime example of faith to the point that he's called the father of the faithful. Those others had faith. They pleased God, and you can't please God without faith, because without faith you can't do that which God expects of you. So without faith you don't do that which God expects of you, so you don't please him. What he expects of you sometimes requires faith, because you've got to believe that he will reward you for doing what you should, even if the reward doesn't come right then. Because it sure didn't come to Joseph right away, did it? But Joshua and Caleb, they followed in that pattern. And anyone, any of the just, any of those that God calls that want to please him have to follow in that pattern.

Again, verse 38 of chapter 10 of Hebrews, now the just shall live by faith. Anyone who professes a desire toward God has to learn to live that way. Something else. I think they put the natural, I think they, you know, the guy who put the chapter breaks and all in, which I'm glad he did, versus because it makes it a lot easier for us to find things, doesn't it? But it seemed to be a natural break here, although 10 does flow right into 11, and that's natural too. But if you're going to put a chapter break, verse 1, chapter 11, Paul begins to define, to some degree, faith.

And, of course, it's a chapter about faith, so it's the faith chapters we call it. But notice, it's interesting, it says, now faith is the substance of things that are hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the substance. That word there can also be translated ground or confidence. You could say, now faith is the substance, it's the ground, it's what grounds you? It anchors you, it's the confidence of things hoped for. The evidence, see, the faith itself stands for the evidence of things not seen. When the 12 spied the land and came out, they didn't see Israelites in those cities living there. They didn't see Israelites in the fields plowing them and planting. They didn't see Israelites shepherding the herds. They didn't see the land and the aftermath of its attainment. Now, two of them did. Joshua and Caleb, in their mind's eye, they could see themselves in there defeating the armies. They could see themselves populating the cities. They could see themselves out there planting and harvesting crops. They could see it as good as done, even though there was no physical evidence of it. In their mind and their heart, the can do of belief was so strong, it's as good as done, we just got to go through the process of doing it.

That was their evidence. And, of course, it was built on previous evidences, too, of what they had seen God do. The ten couldn't see that. You know, as I stand here before you today, there is a coming kingdom. The day will come. Let me ask you, can you go to Jerusalem today and see the throne of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ sitting on that throne as world ruler? No. It doesn't exist.

Is there any video of any YouTube shot, any whatever of Christ returning? Has Christ returned to this earth? No. Have you seen when the whole plan of salvation is finished and God the Father comes down here in due time with heavenly Jerusalem, the holy city? By the way, have you seen that city? You haven't, have you? I haven't either. All of the things that people of God have been willing to live and die for, there's no physical, tangible evidence of it. But I know for a fact, as I stand here today, that live or die. Be a part of it or not. There is a throne Christ will sit on. There will be a millennial world here with Jesus Christ. There will be the eradication of disease and war and destruction. There will be peace and prosperity. The lion and the lamb will lie down together. There will be resurrections of billions, billions of people into the family of God. Christ is going to return. The holy city someday will be here.

The earth will be someday made permanent and the heavens around it. I haven't physically seen or touched or smelled any of that. This is part of what it means when it says faith is the substance of things hoped for because I hope to be a part of it. But whether I'm a part of it or not, it will be. Faith, the evidence of things not seen. I have my evidence. And there is nothing that can ever convince me that that is not real and not coming.

I know and I know that I know that that is real, although I have not physically, tangibly seen or known any of it. That's why faith and the candour of belief is so important.

And that was extremely strong in Joseph. Faith itself sometimes has to be the evidence. It, faith itself, that deep belief, that conviction that is so deep, itself becomes the tangible. And when you can feel it inside yourself, it is tangible inside you. But you can't substitute it in for somebody else. I know people, people want in general something physical and tangible to latch onto. Notice with me Matthew 12.

People want something they can see, touch, smell, hear. Matthew 12. Verse 38, the Pharisees, they were always seeking a sign. Now, they had plenty of fruits in front of them of Christ being from God. Even Nicodemus acknowledged that, didn't he?

But as to his Messiahship, notice verse 38, then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answer saying, Master, we would see a sign from you. We want to see a sign. Now, it's kind of a little bit of an enigmatic statement from him, what he, how he responds to them, because they asked, they say, Master, we want to see a sign from you. And he knew that they were referencing his Messiahship. He knew what they were referencing. But he knew also that, like Nicodemus said, we know that you are of God because of the fruits which were being done by Christ and through Christ.

But notice how he answers them, and it's kind of enigmatic. But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. Oh, you want to see a sign from me? Well, don't you know that that's what an evil and adulterous generation seeks? In other words, he's basically telling them you're evil and adulterous.

Goes on, I'll come back today. He goes on, says, There shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights, and the whale's belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Okay, you want a sign? Okay. An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign. I'll give you a sign. I'll give you the sign of Jonah. Three days and three nights. I will be dead.

Now, let's go back to that statement. What does he mean, an evil and adulterous generation? Why did he use the word adulterous with him?

What's the commandment against adultery really about? Or that is, what is actually the issue?

What is the core issue entailed in that commandment? It's a commandment of faithfulness. Being faithful to the covenant that you have made before God. It is an issue of faithfulness. We talk about, well, did you know that so and so has been unfaithful to his wife? Or did you know that so and so has been unfaithful to her husband? Faith is the issue.

He's telling them you're a faithless generation. You don't have faith. You're like the 10, not the 2. You don't have the belief. You have the unbelief. I remember when Ross Perot, the little Texas businessman, feisty little fella, when he ran on a third-party ticket in 1992 and 1996. I forget if it was 1992 or 1996 when this particular incident happened. But, you know, the pundits, some of the interviewers, they were trying to get something on Ross on a regular basis. And basically they couldn't. He was really a sharp individual. But I remember one interviewer said to him, said, Mr. Perot, I understand that if you're elected president, that you will not have an adulterer sitting on your cabinet. He didn't miss a lick. He came back just this quick. He said, well, if his own wife can't trust him, how can I? Can you think about that? If his own wife can't trust him, how can I?

You didn't get anything on him. But did they believe? We know what happened. Matthew 27. Did they believe? Did they have the can do of belief or the can't do of unbelief? He told him that you're a faithless, you're an unfaithful generation is what he was basically saying to them. You're unfaithful. You don't believe. Did they believe? Matthew 27, 64. Matthew 27 verse 64. Come in, therefore, that the sepulcher... Oh, back up to verse 63. Actually, back up to verse 62. Now, the next day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests, chief priests and Pharisees came together to pilot, saying, sir, we remember that that deceiver said, well, he was yet alive after three days, I'll rise again. Well, command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure to the third day lest his disciples come by night, steal him away and say to the people, he's risen. He's risen from the dead. So the last error shall be worse than the first. And Pilate said to them, you have a watch. Go your way. Make it as sure as you can. So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. Now, when you set a watch, that was pretty serious business because let's just say you're set to do the watch and a superior comes walking along later, checking on the watch and find you sleeping. If he wanted to pull out his gladius and cut your head off, he won't be prosecuted for anything because you can forfeit your life for going to sleep.

Just kind of like when, you know, a couple of the apostles, Paul one time in jail and the angel freed them and the door's open and the jailer thinks they've escaped and he's about to kill himself because you got to look at it from a practical side. Killing yourself quickly would have been a lot easier than what they would have done to him in killing him because the jailer forfeits his life if he loses the prisoners. And he thought they'd escaped and he knew his days were finished. And then Paul called out, you don't hurt yourself, we're all here and stopped the man from doing away with himself. So, it was very serious business. So, you come over here to chapter 28 in verses 12 through 15. 12 through 15. And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money. Now, you were talking about a pretty good sum of money to the soldiers, bribing them. You say, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept, which was illegal, which carried heavy penalty. But they had to lie to halfway make it seem plausible and notice while we slept and if this come to the governor's ears that you slept, we will persuade him. We'll stand in for you, persuade, we'll secure you.

So, they took the money, they did as they were taught, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Interesting. Now, compare that with Christ's statement, and I'm not going to turn to John 20, 29, but compare that with John 20, verse 29, where he says, blessed are they that have not seen. We're in that category. You and I are in that category. And many others since like us have not seen and yet have believed. Matthew 23, 23.

Matthew 23, 23. Woe to you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and common tiny seeds. I've always pictured just my own graphic and my own mind of a Pharisee sitting in front of a pile of tiny seeds with a set of tweezers. One for you, God, nine for me. One for you, God, nine for me. You know, because they were so exact. Now, whether they actually did it that way or not, I don't know, but I know they were very strict on making sure.

And Christ is, you know, he's emphasizing that approach on their part, and he's not totally condemning it. I mean, they should be tithing, but their exactness, their legalism was so exact and have omitted the weightier matters of the law. I tithe.

It's part of my lifestyle. Hasn't been ever since I was a kid. I tithe. I'll continue to tithe. I'm not going to use or spend what is not mine. That's stealing from God. It's God's.

Christ commended them for tithing. He said, you know, but tithing is not the weightier matter of the law. He says you've omitted the weightier matters of the law. And what are they? Judgment, mercy, and faith. Evil and adulterous are faith in the law. Less generation. You don't have faith. You sure don't have mercy.

And you sure don't exercise ordinarily. You sure don't blend the three together in spiritual maturity. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone.

Very interesting take. It's a weightier matter of the law because it's the conviction.

That if God commands you to do something and you step out to do it, He will back you up.

He will back you up. He will make a way. All my life I've heard where there's a will, there's a way. Where God's will is involved, a way will be made. You think about it, God wanted them to go into the land of Canaan.

It was His will that they go into the land of Canaan.

They didn't have the conviction that a way would be made. We can't do it. We're not able. The ten said. Their unbelief stopped them. Their faithless way of thinking got them buried in the wilderness.

And they never saw except the ten that walked in and saw it firsthand and had whatever number of years of that 40 in the wilderness to woe the day that they balked with unbelief. When God commands us to do something, when He expects us to do something, and when we know there's something we're supposed to do in order to be pleasing to Him, the conviction that He will make a way if we step out. That is so crucial. I'm not going to turn to this particular scripture. You might want to write it down. 2 Thessalonians 1, 11. 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 11. There's a phrase in there, and that phrase that you'll find in that verse in 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 11 is the work of faith. Whether you're speaking of God's work in the individual or in a group, it's always a work of faith. And it's by faith we succeed. It's by faith we stand. 2 Corinthians 1, 24 is a scripture that speaks to something that we have not always experienced in our past, truly understood and properly exercised.

We've not always treated it with spiritual maturity, wisdom, and balance.

2 Corinthians 1, 24. 1 Corinthians 1, 24. Paul said, Not for that we, and when he says we there, he is referencing the ministry.

Not for that we, the ministry, have dominion over your faith. It does not matter how much faith a minister may or may not have, that he could or would do such and such to please God in the face of whatever the challenges might be.

If he has the faith to do such and such, he can't say, well, I've got the faith to do such and such. At this point in my life, and you at this point in your life, you must do that too. You can't legislate faith. You can't put... no individual can take their faith and put, say, well, I've got so much faith, I'll just take a share of my faith and I'll stick it in you so you'll have enough faith. It doesn't work like that. But when it's not properly understood, what happens is sometimes pressure and leverage can be put on somebody to do something that they're not capable yet to do because maybe they've not grown to a certain point that they need to to be able to do that. I mean, I've talked with people that would say, yeah, I know I should do such and such, but I just can't... I can't deal with what it's going to cost me right now.

Well, do you... are you acknowledging that God expects you to do such and such? Yes, I am. But you're saying that you're just not quite up to being able to do that right now in your life? Well, no, I'm just being honest with myself and God that I know it's what I should do, but I just... I can't step out and do that right now. Okay, well, at least you realize it and acknowledge it. Ask God to help you to grow stronger. Apply yourself. Don't stand still. Versus, well, if you don't do such and such and such and such, then I'm going to put all the pressure I can on to try to make you do it. And that has been done sometimes in the past.

I don't operate that way. I don't operate that way at all. If a man said, I know I should keep the Sabbath. And I've talked with people in the past who said, I should keep the Sabbath, but I can't. I've got a family to provide for, and I can't keep the Sabbath because I've got to provide for my family. If I had a man that said to me, look, my company requires I have to go in and work one Sabbath each month. Can I attend services with y'all? Can I fellowship? I say, yeah. I'm not going to say, well, until you just totally, totally, totally quit working, all work on the Sabbath, you cannot even fellowship with it. So I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to try to have dominion over their faith. If they said, well, do you think I'm sinning? I say, yes, you're sinning. Do you think I'm breaking the Sabbath? Yes, you're breaking the Sabbath. What do you think God okay's it? No, He doesn't okay it. What do you think I should do? Well, I think you should grow and develop in faith and conviction with God that time will come to where you quit working on the Sabbath. In the meantime, if you want to attend with us, you're welcome, because I would hope that the fellowship and the teachings and the understandings and the encouragement would be an asset in the process. See?

And I think what I said in that regard is clear enough. People have to be allowed to grow and develop. And, of course, you want to see them growing and developing.

Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy, assisting you in the things that will help to produce your joy. And then it comes to the bottom line. The ten fell. The two stood, because the two had faith and the ten didn't. For by faith, you stand. And the ten who fell, because they didn't have faith to stand on, they had the can do of unbelief, not the can of belief. They, so to speak, psychologically led, as the psychological leaders, you might say, the camp of Israel, into perdition. And forty years later, when the nineteen and youngers, plus those who were born during the wilderness years, came back up to the edge of the land, they were chomping at the bit. They stood in faith. We can do it. Just tell us how you want it done. We're at your command. You know, I've often thought, the ten, here they were, they went throughout that land. They saw the benefits of it.

But think about it. They saw the benefits. Wow, what a good land! But we don't have the means to attain it. And you're dealing with the people who basically may as well just as said, well, God busted Egypt. We just came out of Egypt. We saw what God did to Egypt. God busted Egypt, but He can't bust canon. God put Pharaoh in His place, but He can't contain these Canaanites. Oh, God, He spread the Red Sea. I mean, we walked down on dry ground on this trail between roiling walls of water back in on themselves, and then we watched them come down on the Egyptian army and drowned it. Oh, He spread the Red Sea, but He can't get us across the Jordan.

It really is quite a testimony when you think about it. I'll say this. It's getting harder and harder to live in this society and be a man or woman of God. There are pains and troubles and worries, and they're increasing. And I realize that they may come when I'm told that I've got to do, quote, a marriage ceremony, end of quote, that is not a marriage ceremony or be prosecuted for denying doing it. I don't know what I as a minister may have to face in staying true to God in the future. None of us know as members, but I know that just like we, God looks at us and expects us to hold faith in such a deep conviction that it itself is tangible evidence to us that God looks at our works as His evidence that we have faith. I'll just reference you to these scriptures. You can jot these down, but if you go to the book of James 2 sometime and just look at James 2, verses 17, 19, 20, and 26, but specifically James 2 verses 17, 20, and 26, it makes it plain that God's evidence of our faith are our works because faith produces works. Use what you have, use what you're given, with faith little steps lead to bigger ones, and your spiritual progress will stay and will increase.

Faith is the underpinning of spiritual progress. It's the can-do of belief. And that last statement, if you want a title for the sermon, the can-do of belief.