The Consequences of a Faith Failure

Dr. Stanley explores the consequences of failing to trust God. Avoid the sorrow and frustration of missing God’s plan by being diligent about growing your faith. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch

As we look to the future, we are excited and prepared to continue sharing Dr. Stanley’s messages with those who haven’t heard them before or who would love to gain a deeper understanding of God’s word by listening to his messages again. 🙏

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Isn’t it strange?
How often times God blesses us and then we don’t respond correctly.
And then we wonder why we go through difficult and hardship. I wonder where God is.
He’s where He’s always been willing to bless us, express his love to us, forgive us of our sin.
Write our name in the lamb’s book of Life and one day take us home to heaven.
Why don’t we get the message early in life? Well, that’s true.
All the way through the word of God. The Israelites have been Egyptian bondage for some 430 years.
God has set him free. He took them down through the desert.
And then finally, at the right time, he took them through the red Sea, open to the desert again, on their way to the promised land canon.
They’d heard about it many, many years that God had a promised land.
He had a, he had a place for them, their country, not Egypt.
And so this scripture begins with their response to God’s awesome blessing in their life.
I want you to listen carefully because this passage of scripture pictures us so many times in our life when we are sometimes on the brink of blessing when we have been blessed and how we respond.
And so when this scripture takes place, that’s exactly what’s happening. They’re on their way to Canon.
They’ve been hearing about it since we’re back on Abraham Jacob.
And so they had longed for, looked for, prayed for, pleaded for the land of Canaan and now they’re there.
So I want you to turn to numbers chapter 13.
And what has happened here is that uh Moses sent the spies into the promised land to check it out.
So they knew they were gonna have to do battle and take it by war.
And um this is their response.
So he sends somebody who meets tribe and um verse 27 they’re giving a report of what they saw.
It certainly does flow with milk and honey and this is the fruit.
And then you have this group of people always in any group.
Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, the cities are fortified, very large.
And moreover, we saw the descendants of Enac.
Now the big guys ale is living in the land of the Hittites, the sites amar rights, all kind of its canons living by the sea.
And there was a head, everybody tabbed then Caleb Qu the people before Moses and said, we, we should, we can take this land.
We can possess this land. Boy, we sure let be overcome by us.
But the man who had gone up with him said we are not able to go up against the people for they are too strong for us.
So they gave out to the sons of Israel, a bad report, bad report of the land which they had spot out saying the land through which we have gone inspiring it out is a land that devours its inhabitants.
All the people whom you saw a men of great size.
They also we saw the Neo, the sons of part of the neo.
And we began, we, we became like grasshoppers in their site. And so we were in their site.
So you’ve always got these two groups of people, you’ve got the nevertheless group and you got the faithful group.
Where do you think you are? Are you in the nevertheless group? You are negative about things.
Well, I know the Bible says, God answers prayer or are you with Caleb?
And you’re seeing what God has provided and you’re looking at it from the perspective that it’s a done deal.
And so what I want you to say, and I’m reading a few more verses.
The 14th chapter begins having listened to this report.
Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried and the people wept that night.
All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation said to them, listen to this, we wish we had died in the land of Egypt or would that we had died in this wilderness?
That is where we are. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?
Our wives and their little Children become plunder? Would it not have been better to return to Egypt?
So they said to one another, listen to this. Let us quickly let us appoint a leader.
There, have Moses and return to Egypt.
Then Moses there and fell on their faces in the presence of the Lord, the congregation, Joshua, the son of nun and Caleb the son of Jeffy and I of those who had spot at the land, tore their clothes and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of the land which we passed through despite is an exceedingly good land.
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 honey.
That was their way of describing it.
Had everything only do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land.
But they will be our pray.
Their protection has been removed from them and the Lord is with us, do not fear them.
But all the congregations said to stone them with stones.
Then the glory of the Lord appeared to us in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
The Lord said to Moses, how long will this people spurn me?
How long will they not believe in me?
Despite all the sounds which I’ve performed in their midst, I will smite them.
Now you say, well, that’s an old Testament passage. I’ve heard that before.
But I want you to think about this, this passage has a theme and the meaning a very, very special, meaning, very, very special part of our lives because all of us are gonna have opportunities in our life.
God in His goodness and love and mercy will give us opportunities.
There are times when there is a deadline on that opportunity and when God says, this is my will for your life, we either say yes Lord or we say what they said, oh no, I don’t think I can quite do that.
Don’t underestimate God’s blessings and what He wants to do in your life.
And many people go through life grumbling and complaining and moaning and groaning about.
Well, here’s what God did for them and they have this, they live there, they drive this all these things.
And the truth is God watch this carefully. He has the best for your life.
It’s not the same he has for somebody else’s life. He has the best for your life.
He had the best for his people. And they described it as a land flowing with milk and honey.
So they listened to watch this, they listened to Moses who had brought them out of Egyptian bondage down through the desert to the Red Sea to face an impossible situation.
The impossibility was their backs were to the Red Sea in front of them were the chariots of Pharaoh.
They were about to be wiped out and God opened up the sea allowed them all to get through.
And when they were finished, he closed it up on the Egyptian soldiers and they were absolutely free.
Not one person had to lift a sword. Nobody wrote it into the chariots.
Moses stood with his rod in one hand and his other hand held up to God while God absolutely freed over two million people.
Now having watched that miracle, think about that, watch the miracle.
Now they’re saying, oh, I don’t know about that.
Those, those fellows are giants over there and they this and they, that, that and the scripture says, and all the congregation lifted up, their voices, cried to the Lord and wept that night.
So what I want us to see in this passage is this a very, very important principle that you and I are confronted with every day in their life or most days in their life in some way or the other.
And that is the, the the consequences of having a faith failure. You trust God about this.
You trust them about that. What causes us to fail in our faith?
A faith failure is a failure to trust God when you’re confronted with a challenge, a trial or a temptation.
Now all of us are going to be tried and tempted at times and we will be tempted to turn back and there are consequences for that.
And so they find themselves saying no to listen, saying no to the promise of Almighty God that had been searched out by two faithful servants.
And now they’re on the brink of it and they’re about to make the biggest mistake of their life because they listen to the wrong voices.
Get that down. Be careful who you listen to. Think about this.
All of us have those points in our life.
Uh Think about times in your life when you’ve been faced with a big decision.
What did you do?
Did you get on your knees and ask God, Lord make this very clear to me.
I, I wanna be obedient to you. I wanna trust you, whatever, whatever the future is. I’m gonna trust you.
Show me what to do or do you say, well, watch this? It’s too good for me.
It’s, it’s too good for me. God gotta, wouldn’t do that for me.
I’ve heard people say that for years.
Well, that may be ok for somebody, but I don’t deserve that has nothing to do with deserving.
They didn’t deserve it. That’s not the issue.
And oftentimes God has his best spiritual blessings and other blessings waiting for us.
If we will walk in his way, follow his time and wait upon him, trust him and move.
When he says move, oh, how many times have you suffered? A faith failure?
That’s the whole issue here. That is a faith failure.
And that can happen to small things as well as large things. So what was there as much? Bitter disappointment?
All the congregation lifted up, their voice cried and the people wept that night.
Listen, here they are standing on the, on the border of the promised land, the land of milk and honey, a land that they dreamed of and prayed for and believe God for, for all these years.
And now because somebody said, watch this carefully.
Nevertheless, the people who are in the land are strong and cities are fortified, the people are large.
Mm mm mm mm Watch out for those people in your life.
But nevertheless, so ask yourself the question in your family. Who’s the nevertheless one in your family?
I hear some of you, you you, you know who they are somehow they just can’t accept the fact that God wants to do it for you.
This has nothing to do with whether you deserve it or not.
Is, is there anybody here who’s sinless? No, watch this.
That’s why you call it grace, grace, not something you deserve grace, the awesome, wonderful love of God.
And so they had a faith failure. They developed a very distorted view of their circumstances.
Well, we know what we know what God has done.
Isn’t it interesting how quickly we can get the answers to prayer?
And this is why I think everybody should have a time in the day or the night at some point every day to come together with the father asking Lord speak to my heart.
In other words, every believer needs a worship period in their life, whether it’s small or long, whether it’s with somebody or by yourself.
Think about the fact you’re planning to wake up tomorrow morning and go to work. Amen.
Suppose you wake up and can’t go to work. Suppose you don’t wake up.
The truth is all of us are dependent upon God for every breath we have and think about this.
You’re sitting right here, one heart beat away and you won’t be here.
We all are dependent upon him.
And so when He wants to bless you and give you guidance and direction in your life, when you back off from God’s blessing, it’s an insult to who He is.
We call him a God of what a God of grace, a God of grace, God of love and goodness and mercy and kindness.
You either trust God, you believe Him for what he says or you don’t.
They could have just as well said, ok, Joshua and Caleb, we, we heard what you all said.
You all seem to have more faith.
We, we going with you all and, and, and have the promised land.
Listen to this 40 long years back in the desert.
Doubt is your enemy don’t underestimate what God wants to do in you, for you through you, to you, whatever it might be.
And this passage of scripture is a part of history, but it’s an awesome testimony of the grace and goodness and love and mercy of God.
And also a testimony of a warning of what happens when people disobey God.
They won’t believe in just on the other side, just on the other side of the line.
Everything you’ve dreamed about all their enemies over that. But God’s hard to take care of them.
He’s already to promise that or you wanna stay on this side.
And I think there are many people who have trusted Jesus as their savior who cannot believe that God would give them spiritual gifts that God would strengthen them, answer their prayer, give them joy and peace and God is direction in their life, they just can’t believe it.
And so they wanna live sort of muddled down and they, well, I, I think I’m saved, but sometimes I, I don’t know whether I’m or not.
And for us to doubt God and to live on a level, that’s less than what he’s planned for us is foolish and unnecessary.
A faith failure. The third thing that you have to look at here is they cause others to suffer the whole nation suffered from their faith failure, all the congregation and you can go from chapter 14 and verses one through 10, all the families and watch this.
Let me just, let me just read this because I think uh this is what we have to see.
This is the choice they made. God is now speaking.
And the verse 20 of this 14 chapter, and I’m gonna read this because I want you to get this in your mind.
So the Lord said, I’ve pardoned them according to your word. But indeed listen, they’re forgiven.
But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
Surely all the men who have seen my glory and they’ve watched it all the men who’ve seen my glory and my signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness bringing them through it.
Yet have put me to the test these 10 times and have not listened to my voice.
Shall by no means see the land which I saw to their fathers.
Nor shall any of those who spurned may see it.
But my servant Caleb because he has had a different spirit and has followed me fully.
I will bring into the land which he entered and his descendants and take possession of it.
They’re their melech and the canon lived in the valley turn to tomorrow set out to the wilderness.
By the way of the Red Sea, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, how long shall I bear with the evil congregation?
Which are grumbling against me. I’ve heard the complaints, the sons of Israel, which they’re making against it.
Say to them as I live says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, I will surely do it to you.
Listen to this. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness.
Even all your numbered men according to your complete number from 20 years of age old upwards who have grumbled against me.
Surely you shall not come into the land in which I sort of settle you except Caleb, the son of Jeff and I and Joshua, the son of nine, your Children, however, whom you said would become a pray, I’ll bring them into the land.
They’ll know the land which you have rejected. But as for you, your corpses will fall in the wilderness.
Your sons shall be shepherds for 40 years in the willingness and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the corpses lie in the wilderness.
And so God says all these Children, I’m taking them into the promised land.
All your parents from 20 owned up. You’ve missed it. Your son shall shepherd for 40 years in the wilderness.
They shall suffer for your unfaithfulness until your corpse has the willingness.
According to the number of days which you spot out the land, how many days were they spying out the land?
Do you get that? How many 40?
Now listen, according to the number of days which you spot out the land 40 days for every day, you shall bear your guilt a year, 40 years and you will know my opposition.
I the Lord have spoken sure of this.
I will do to all this evil congregation who gathered together against me in this wilderness.
They shall be destroyed and there they shall lie. Now, I wanna tell you something.
There are a lot of stories and a lot of events in the world of God.
But this event and the life of Israel from being Egyptian in Egyptian bondage is like our being in sin and having been delivered like our salvation experience being converted, being born again and face and, and facing the promised land, here is an awesome challenge and a warning you cannot live in sin and escape the judgment of God.
And if you’ll think about this, they were 400 years in Egyptian bondage.
God set them free and they’re on one side of the border and the other side is paradise and he is as Joshua and Caleb said we can take it, we can handle it.
It’s just a matter of going.
Oh, I don’t know, you know the things that this ought to be a lesson to every child of God when God offers you something, when he calls you to do something that’s righteous and good and holy and promises you a blessing.
There is a severe penalty oftentimes for not accepting what God has given. Listen, this was such a blessing.
God said, all right, 40 years, 40 days, you said no, 40 years, you’ll die in the wilderness.
You said that sounds rather harsh. No.
According to the number of days which you spot out the land, 40 days for every day, you shall bear your guilt a year, even 40 years.
And you will know my opposition for I the Lord, I’ve spoken this.
I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me in this wilderness, they shall be destroyed and there they will die as the men who Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report.
Even those men who brought out the bad, very bad report of the land died of a plague before the Lord, but Joshua was the son of none and Caleb the son of Jeff and remained alive and of those men who went to spy out the land.
This is, this is a warning.
It is a divine warning to every child of God on the listen, on the other side of your salvation experience.
What are you doing? Are you living a Godly life? God’s provided a Godly life.
He’s provided everything you need. In other words, we sometimes as believers wanna blame God for something going on in our life.
When the truth is, we fail to live up to the promises that He’s made us.
And So therefore, we suffer the consequences.
So what I want you to see here making things worse, but trying to correct our disobedience without the help of God, that’s what happened.
So when listen, when Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly watch this in the morning.
However, having made this decision not to obey God in the morning.
However, after hearing God’s judgment, they rose up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country saying here we are, we have indeed sinned, but we will go to the place which the Lord has promised.
But Moses said to them, why are you transgress in the commandment of the Lord when it will not succeed?
Do not go up or you will be struck down before the enemies because he’s not with you for the melech, the cannons will be there in front of you.
You will fall by the sword.
And as much as you’ve turned back from turning to following the Lord and the Lord will not be with you.
But they went up anyway. See, this is what happens.
Watch this when you deliberately disobey God and then you want to avoid the judgment or avoid the penalty and you decide, well, here’s, here’s what I’m gonna do now.
I know that was wrong, but I’m here’s what I’m gonna do.
Listen, but they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country and needed the arc of the, the Lord of Moses left to count.
Then the melech, the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck them and beat them down as far as harbor.
So there are some decisions in life and I can tell you, I know this is true.
There’s some decisions in life you don’t get but one chance just one, there are some decisions you make.
There is a penalty when you make that decision and you come back and let and say, oh Lord, I’m sorry.
I, I, I forgot no. Some decisions you make are irretrievable.
Once you step across that line and you say, well, name something. No.
If I name something, you’ll say, well, that has never happened to me.
So I’m just gonna lay it out disobeying God oftentimes puts you in a position where you may repent of that sin and ask God to forgive you and tell him how shamed you are and all the rest.
But it doesn’t correct the penalty doesn’t 40 long years back in the wilderness.
And you’ll remember we’ll come to it later when they were bitten by snakes and all the things that and their, their menu by the way was the same thing all the time.
And why did they do it?
Because they were not trusting God, they were not believing God, they were not accepting God’s challenge, two men out of the whole group.
And people oftentimes they wonder why they’re having such hard times.
So let me just say this and you know, I say all this in love because I care.
But because I know it happens when you deliberately willfully disobey God, especially in very, very important decisions in your life.
It does listen, God is a forgiving God, but He he, he can forgive you without removing the penalty.
That’s part we don’t get because I ask him to forgive me and He forgives me will that remove the penalty?
It depends upon the sin. He forgave their sin, but he did not remove the penalty.
That’s why living an obedient life is so absolutely very important.
You say, well, I’ll look back in my life and think of mistakes I made.
And so, well, I’m not saying God doesn’t forgive.
He says, if we confess our sins, I agree with Him about it.
He’s faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But the Bible also says, we’ll what we saw, period.
And it does not say if you confess and repent, we’ll wipe away all the penalty.
Does not say that God forgives, but he does not erase the consequences oftentimes.
So here’s a passage of scripture that isn’t just a bit of history in the Old Testament.
It’s an awesome theme, challenge and perspective and idea and a principle of the word of God that cannot be changed.
And if you think about this also when I look, I look at all this and think about it.
Well, well, how do you correct this? Well, there is a correction.
The first thing you do is get in the word of God and say, Lord speak to my heart, uh speak to my heart about the passage.
Help me to help me to be able to see in your words, something that applies to my heart where, where I am at this point, strengthen my faith, show me how to keep my focus.
And uh when I think about this, I think about the impact this had upon Joshua.
So I’m gonna turn to the book of Joshua for a moment and listen, if you want to turn that to the first chapter to what God said to Joshua, who now has lived through that 40 years in the wilderness when many of them died.
And now a lot of things have happened and the scripture says, and Joshua chapter one came about the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of none, Moses servant saying Moses my servant is dead.
Therefore rise, take this cross, this you and all the people to the land which I’m giving to them to the sons of Israel, every place on which the soul of your foot treads I’ve given it to you just as I spoke to Moses that I would from the wilderness.
And this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the rivers, all the land of the hit, far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.
Listen to this. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.
Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.
I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous.
So you shall give these people possession of the land which I swear to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous.
Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded.
You do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success.
Wherever you go, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that’s written in it, then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.
Did you get that? Now? I only give you one last illustration before I preached my first sermon.
I was standing in my bedroom. My mother walked in.
She said, I wanna give you a verse of scripture before you go preach. And this was it.
Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord, your God is with you.
Wherever you go. And I remember walking into churches one block and I stopped on the other side of the street under a light post.
And I memorized that verse very quickly. And I just said, ok, God, I’m trusting you.
That was my first sermon and it’s still my, probably my most favorite verse because it is true.
Listen to this. Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous?
Why do not tremble or be dismayed? Why about any situation?
Any circumstance for the Lord, your God is with you.
Wherever you go, the Lord you’re God who gave us the word, who gave us the Bible, the Lord your God who is omnipotent omniscient.
The present is with you. Wherever you go, you need to get this in your heart because all of us are gonna face difficult times.
But it’s not the times I face. It’s how I respond. Be strong and courageous.
Don’t tremble, don’t be dismayed. Don’t listen, don’t get discouraged about anything. The Lord your God is with you.
Listen to this. I love this wherever you go.
And I look back at that time when I was about 16 and I can tell you yes, wherever you go, that’s where He’ll be to help you through it.
And I’ve been through some very difficult times.
But you know what I lived on that verse and I can tell you whatever you’re facing that verse is a commitment by a holy God written in this holy book that applies to every one of his Children who’s born again, who looks to him, trust him, waits upon him and obeys him.
You cannot fail. Amen. Father.
We thank you for placing all of these scriptures in you precious word.
And I pray the Holy Spirit will etch this verse in every person’s heart.
But lord, you know, we all go through difficult times and we’ll go through difficult times.
But we have your promise that you’d be with us. You will not forsake us.
We’ll have the strength and the energy and the power and the faith to believe, trust and be victorious in Jesus.
Name. Amen.