Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, April 14, 2017
1. The people who live in the land are strong.
2. The cities are fortified and very large.
3. We saw the descendants of Anak (giants) there.
One of the results of N.V.T.D. is to live in fear and become mentally disturbed because of what sight says, Deu 28.
Look at the list of all the blessings that are given in verse 3 all the way to verse 14.
Notice that what you see can drive you mad or crazy as stated in verses 34-57.
because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.
In Job 6:21, Job said to his three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; who were judging him, "Indeed, you have now become such, You see a terror and are afraid.
In Isa 11:3 And He will delight in the respect of the Lord, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
The first sin ever committed in the human race was caused by the presumption which comes from judging and evaluating by sight, in Gen 3:6.
Gen 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;
1Sa 17:24 When all the men of Israel saw the man [Goliath], they fled from him and were greatly afraid.
Psa 73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant, as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
You may think the wicked are prospering but prosperity is a condition of the soul and sight....means nothing.
We are told that the children of Israel saw the wonderful works of the Lord for 40 years, yet seeing is useless without doctrinal perception.
Living by sight also causes us to make wrong evaluations toward people.
Eliphaz wrongly evaluated what Job was going through when Job was suffering to glorify God.
Job 4:8 "According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it.
By sight what appeared to be divine discipline was in reality divine blessing.
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
1Sa 16:7b For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Joh 7:24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
Living by sight and appearances is simple the thinking and the viewpoint of the current day Pharisees and self-righteous peasants; Mat 23:27-28.
Pro 14:14 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Some believe that they (Amalek) were descendants of Esau and therefore very angry at Israel who was named after Esau's brother, Jacob.
The Hittites were the remnant of one of the great empires in the ancient world.
The Jebusites were never conquered and that was one of the great disasters that overtook the country.
The Amorites conquered the Jews because of their failure to learn Bible doctrine.
The Canaanites lived by the sea and we a constant problem for the Jews.
The reason is that the majority is the non-thinking part of the group in many cases.
In Exo 14:11-12, the majority complained that Moses had brought them out from Egypt to kill them in the wilderness! (not faith rest).
In Num 13:31 the multitude of spies said, "we are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.", the majority of the spies said this!
In Num 11:30, "Caleb said, we shall by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it."
In Mat 27:20 the majority of the religious crowd "persuaded the majority of the people to ask for Barabbas to be released rather than TLJC."
In Mat 27:22-23, the multitude said, "Let Him be crucified!"
The reason why he had to silence them is because hysteria and operation cry baby was about to begin.
Notice that Caleb speaks emphatically and with confidence.
He knew his mechanics and he had the spiritual strength to believe in the midst of the greatest difficulties.
Caleb not only understands the mechanics of the faith-rest drill but he has the spiritual strength to believe the promises of God.
Caleb looked at the land of Canaan from the divine viewpoint!
This was actually the beginning of the sin unto death for those who brought back a bad report.
2Co 6:8 We commend ourselves as servants of God by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;
Rom 3:8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say), "let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just.
This is because bad news is used by the kingdom of darkness to try and stop the momentum of the people of God.
Jer 49:23 "For they have heard bad news; they are disheartened. There is anxiety by the sea, it cannot be calmed."
Eze 7:26, 'Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision (teaching) from a prophet, but the doctrine will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders.
Caleb not only understands the mechanics of the faith rest drill but he has the spiritual strength to believe the promises of God.
In vs 28 we saw the descendants of Anak there. In vs 31 "we are not able to go up against the people, In vs 32 all the people whom we saw in it are men of {great} size.
In vs 33 "there also we saw the Nephilim And we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
Deu 28:34 "and you shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see.
Deu 28:67 "in the morning you shall say, 'would that it were evening!' and at evening you shall say, 'would that it were morning!'
because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.
Num 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "we should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it."
The fearful believers are obsessed with giants and the emotional complex of sins.
The courageous believers are excited about the victory that TLJC is going to give over the giants in the land.
We have the same exact situation but we have two totally opposite perspectives.
It all has to do with one's perception in life....or how the believer sees things with the spiritual eyes of their soul!
I'm sure you have heard the phrase that "perception is reality" ---- that what a person perceives to be true is true in spite of what others may see.
Sometimes our perceptions (or beliefs about the world) do not match reality.
"things are not always what they seem, Pro 14:12; "what " -- Mar 4:24; "how" Luk 8:18; "appearance" Joh 7:24.
1PE 5:9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.