Introduction: A Nation on the Edge of the Promised Land
The Lord is now leading us into a specific place. That's what this message is all about. It has an unusual title: "Be Sure. Be Very, Very Sure." I believe that God is doing the same thing now that He was doing at the time when the nation of Israel first went into the promised land.
Keep in mind, when they went into the promised land, it was after 40 years in the wilderness — 400 years of captivity followed by 40 years in the wilderness because of an evil report brought to them by 10 spies sent in by Moses, who said, "No, we can't do it. There are giants there. There are walled cities. We don't have the weaponry. We just can't do it." Because of that report, an entire generation — literally, except for the children — died in the wilderness.
The part of the story I'm going to start in today is at the end of that 40-year period, where they are about to go into the promised land. We are about three to four months from Moses' death and Joshua taking the people of Israel into the promised land.
Father, I thank you, Lord, that you're going to give me the ability to convey the thought you put in my heart. We are indeed living in the last days. I ask you, God, that as the last-days church, we would truly bring honor and glory to your name by simply obeying you and doing what you've asked us to do — by being the people you've called us to be. Deliver us, Lord, from self-will. Deliver us, God, from trying to do things our own way. Deliver us, God, from marginalizing our callings, from minimizing your word. Give us an obedient heart, Lord, each one of us today. Give us an obedient heart, for it's in your heart to bless us as your people. It's in your heart to lead us into places where your name is brought to glory because of what you do through our lives.
And it's always involving human need. Always, always, always, without fail, it involves your people reaching out to somebody else who has no helper if we don't go. So give us the grace not to succumb to just the desire for comfort. Give us the grace, my God. Give me the ability to speak this.
Lord, I'm asking again that you would stretch out your hand in this sanctuary and through the internet and do miracles. Let absolute, undebatable miracles happen — prison doors opening, blind eyes seeing, deaf ears hearing. God Almighty, the prisoners being set free. Lord, the poor having the treasure of heaven open to them. Everything you said you came to do, we simply ask you to do that. We don't have to beg you to do what you came to do. We agree with you. We ask for the glory of your name that you would do something so far beyond us that all we can do is stand back and lift our hands and say, "God, only you could have done this." And we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.
Two Tribes and the Temptation of Comfort
Be sure. Be very, very sure.
Numbers 32, beginning at verse 20. Then Moses said to them — now, this is two tribes we're talking about. Two tribes that basically said, "We've been 40 years in the wilderness, Moses." They're in a desert the whole time. And they finally conquered what I call the east side of the Jordan. They're not over the Jordan yet into what was designated to be the promised land. But two of the tribes finally landed in a place where there was grass. Can you imagine? It's like living in New York and finally going to Pennsylvania one day — and there's just suddenly grass. They've got cattle, they want to plant things, grow things, raise their families. It's been 40 years in the desert, 40 years of attending funerals literally every day until a whole generation had died off. And suddenly they just don't want to fight anymore.
I get it. You get it. We all understand that. Some of you have come to Christ and you say, "God, I know you have a call on my life — can we just put that on hold for a little while? I just want to enjoy life. I want to build something here. I want to smell
