Signs of a lack of faith

Exalting the Lord Jesus in Our Lives

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Prominence of God’s Servant

Book of Mark Chapter 9

Prominence means something or someone who stands out above all others.

The problem with humans is, just about every one of us think we are better than anyone else and this is a great sin.

When we compare ourselves to other people, we will always get a false result.

When we compare ourselves to the Lord Jesus, we will find that we always come up short!

We must understand that the Lord Jesus, the true Messiah, is exalted above all others whether they are prophets, priests, preachers, millionaires, billionaires or even angels.

We must exalt the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives in order to be saved!

In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were guilty of exalting themselves above all others including the Lord Jesus Christ.

What were some of the things that they did?

Luk 11:43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
Luk 11:44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

Those that exalt themselves are all hypocrites.

We see it in the government we have today that many of them have exalted themselves above all the common people, and it seems we are content in our roles of deplorables. When Hillary Clinton said this thing, she was referring to our stupidity to allow us to place ourselves in that position.

In other words, we are the contemptible lowlifes who have messed up our nation and our own lives and we need people such as her to take care of us.

I agree on one point only. We have voted for the wrong people to run our government. In this we have been very stupid!

She is no more than some wicked witch!

I was dumb for many years but then I met the Lord Jesus Christ and I am no longer dumb!

We have allowed the hoax of evolution to dictate the rules of science so long, that the common people have not realized that every so-called proof of evolution has been shot down by true science but they will not change what is written in those books.

The Bible is a Book of Faith and if we do not soon push our faith in the truth of God, we may not be able to.

A lack of faith in the Word of God is moving through the Church so fast, that many do not know what to believe anymore and they listen to the secular world for answers and to false preachers who have become millionaires off the pocketbooks of gullible people.

These false preachers will not take a stand on the truth of God and this is what the world wants to hear.

*Mar 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
Mar 9:18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

The Lord Jesus along with Peter, James, and John had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration.

The Lord had shown these disciples how He would appear if He removed His humanity from His being.

We call it a “glorified body”!

Mar 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

Not only did the transfiguration show the disciples how the Lord Jesus appeared without His humanity, but it also showed them what all, we that are saved, will appear like after the Rapture or after our death.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

What will we go through to get this glorified body?

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Praise the Lord, this is the promise God is giving to the true Church.

The true Church are all those who follow in the steps of Jesus Christ!

As the Lord reached the bottom of the mountain, one of those who had been following Jesus and had remained at the bottom of the mount with the other nine disciples of Christ.

These disciples had performed miracles before, especially of healing.

This was not a power they had but a power that the Lord Jesus had allowed in His name.

This man was describing some terrible things his son had been going through all his life.

We know there are many out in the world today that are called deaf and dumb and it appears that this young man was listed as dumb.

Dumb means he could not speak and I believe he could also not hear.

How did this happen? He had a dumb spirit living within him!

Now we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us once we are saved, but we are not complete without the Lord Jesus.

Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

I believe that this is the condition of being saved, but not being Christian.

To be Christian is being like Christ!

It is a terrible situation to be like this young son and not be able to take care of yourself, but also needing someone near all the time to keep him from causing harm to himself.

No matter what we think of this thing and how it began, the one good thing was the fact that because of his condition, he was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Had he not been in this condition, he would have never met Jesus, nor his father and nor could his family see what can happen when we meet Jesus.

This young man was about to be “Born Again” to new life.

None of the disciples of Christ had been able to help this young man.

The first problem I see is, that this father knew Jesus was near and he should have waited on Him before going to His disciples.

He had no faith in the followers of the Lord.

All he needed was a little patience and a lot of faith!

When Jesus came down the mountain, He had seen this great crowd that had gathered, but He had also seen that a group of scribes were questioning His disciples and He knew this was not good.

We would probably call this intimidation and ridicule, and Jesus first delivered His disciples from this intimidation.

Before the scribes answered Jesus, this father came with his great need for his child, his son.

We should understand evil spirits did exist in the time of Christ, and they still exist today and the answer to rid them is to be saved.

This young son seemed to be deaf and dumb, but also had epilepsy and was demon possessed.

It seems that this evil spirit had made these things worse because it was in the presence of Jesus.

How did Doctor Luke see this thing?

Luk 9:38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
Luk 9:39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.

How did the Lord Jesus respond to them all?

*Mar 9:19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
With all the things that the Lord has done for us, “how can we not have faith”.

Without faith we cannot be saved!

Php 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

It is not so much the amount of faith we have, as it is the kind of faith that we have and the fact that we have that faith!

Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

The lack of faith “grieves” the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since we have the Spirit of Christ in us, then it grieves the Holy Spirit.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

When we upset the close connection we have with the Holy Spirit, how can we expect our relationship to the Lord to get closer or get better?

This shows us how affectionate the Holy Spirit is toward us if He can be grieved by our lack of faith.

Our lack of faith shows our lack of love for our Savior!

The job of the Holy Spirit is to keep us upon that path of righteousness, that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus casts out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Without faith, we have no power in our lives!

The lack of faith means that the Church has no power and I believe this is the biggest problem in the modern Church today.

The Church lacks the power to stand up to this world, so the Church compromises with the world which is compromising with the Devil!

There was a multitude that followed Jesus and there was not one among them, that had the power to cast out this dumb spirit, this demon.

Not the father, not the crowd, not the disciples and not the Jewish religionist.

There was a lack of faith in this entire crowd!

The Lord was grieved at the condition of this young boy who was helpless, under the power of this evil spirit.

You see, John 3:16 describes the love Jesus Christ has for us and it is because of this great love that His heart is touched as He witnesses our suffering in this world.

Jesus cared for this father as much as He cared for his son and He knew this father was also suffering for his son, yet this father did not have enough faith that the Lord could heal his son.

Jesus asked this father all these questions to get this father to focus on his dilemma.

To focus upon his need.
To focus upon Jesus who could fill his need.
To focus on Jesus so much, that his faith would increase enough that his son could be healed.

We should ask ourselves these questions every time we put a name on the prayer list.

“Do we have enough faith that Jesus can heal these people”?

So they brought this son to Jesus.

*Mar 9:20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

We must understand that the earnest Love that Christ has for us is also the key to His miracles!

2Co_7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

We must understand that as Christians we are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ!

If we cannot represent the truth of Christ Jesus then, we are not Christians and we do not reflect the truth of God!

It is really that simple!

We do not have the power of Divine healing as an individual!

We do claim the presence of Divine power in the Church!

When the Church has lost the presence of Divine power then mankind will question and despise Christianity, and we see some of this today.

The Holy Spirit has never left the true Church, but we must realize we have grieved the Holy Spirit and we must return to the Lord for Divine power to be restored to the Church.

This is why fasting and prayer is much needed in the Church today!

We must fast and pray until the Divine power of the Lord has been restored to the Church.

As Christians, we must make the world to know that we are not going to give up the raising of our children by our own standards and the standards of this wicked world.

As Christians, we must also not assume so easily that our children are innocent, good, and harmless, as they are under the control of Satan until they are led to the Lord.

Jesus Christ rebuked this entire crowd for a lack of faith just as the Holy Spirit is grieved at the entire Church for a lack of faith today!

How long had this young son been in this condition?

*Mar 9:21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mar 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

Obviously, the Lord Jesus knew the answer to the questions He was asking, but he was asking these questions of the father to inspire hope and confidence in the work of the Lord.

You see, if we have faith as that of a mustard seed, then we will cry out for God’s mercy and God’s compassion.

There is no way that the Lord Jesus will turn away from a cry of mercy and compassion!

These are the traits of God that brought Jesus to us to begin with!

Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

As we see what is going on in our world, we should be grieved to a point that we act and minister just as our Lord Jesus did!

We need to show His compassion.
We need to show His mercy.
We need to show His forgiveness.
We need to show His grace.
We need to show His love.
We need to believe in all these things.

*Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

What does our faith mean? It means we are taking God at His Word!

All things are possible to the Son of God who has all of God’s Power, but we must trust that God has this power!

We have made God to be some small God, when He is truly the God of All Power!

We must believe that this world is full of sinners and we must include ourselves.

We must accept that there is a punishment for our sin!

We must accept that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only remedy for that punishment.

Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

How did this man respond?

*Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

We see humility and faith.

Our hearts will be moved when we understand the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We see His desire to have the blessings which our faith will secure.

We know that because of faith in the work of the Lord, we can flee from the wrath that is to come to this world.

We must seek forgiveness just as this man did.

We must long for the healing of the disease of the soul!

In other words, we must have a desire for salvation!

*Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

The Lord Jesus healed this boy when He saw the crowd running toward them.

We notice that the Lord Jesus had pulled this father and son aside while He led this father to the Lord.

The Lord likes to get one on one with those who doubt Him to teach them the truth.

This crowd had not only followers, but also deceivers and naysayers in the mix.

It was the Words of Christ that healed this boy.
It was the Words of Christ that broke the Devil’s power.

Satan cannot stand before the Word of God!

It is the Word of God and the Divine Power of God that has spoiled the principalities and the powers of evil.

These are the same things we will war with all our days!

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

How will the Lord end the evil in this world when He returns?

Rev_19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev_19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

We see that when the Lord speaks things happen!

There is nothing in all of God’s creation that can disobey the Words of the Lord and get away with it!

It is only us puny humans who have tried to defy the Almighty God, the rest of His creation is in strict obedience!

Isa_40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

We see this evil spirit made one last effort to disrupt and discredit the power of Jesus Christ by trying to kill this boy, but the Lord would not allow his death.

*Mar 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Mar 9:28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

These disciples wanted to know why they had failed, what was the cause?

The Lord Jesus had previously given them the power over evil spirits and they had been successful with it.

As Christians there is only one reason, we do not feel the power of God in our lives!

That reason is, that we are not living close enough to the Lord!

We feel like we can do spiritual things under our own power so, we see the reason the answer that Jesus gave.

They needed to pray more and fast!

These are the ways to get closer to the Lord.

Earlier, Jesus had said that His disciples need not to fast because He was with them.

The difference now was, that they had been sent out two by two and had done some things under the power of God.

They began to feel that they had this power themselves, and they began seeking things such as food before the Lord.

The modern Church is in this same rut today!

The power of the Church is almost non-existent because they have strayed from the foundation of the Church, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fasting and prayer is the only solution to this problem and of course obedience to the Word of God.

God must be so important in our lives that we are willing to give up anything that could sustain our lives and give that to the Lord.

We must place our lives in the Lord’s hands and let Him dictate our life as He wishes.

Deu 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

When our power from being a Christian is waning it is always because our faith is lacking!

*Mar 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

While the Lord Jesus was up on the Mount of Transfiguration, He seem to be too far from some of His disciples who felt they could do things without the presence of the Lord and this is impossible.

It was not that this demon inside this boy was so powerful, it was because the disciples of the Lord were so weak!

It is important to see here how Satan attacks.

He will tear us and cause all sorts of bodily harm.
He will cause us to fall from the “grace” of God.
He will cause changes to our language and filthy language will come out of our mouths or nothing at all.
He will send us wallowing in the foam of our own sin.

Only the Lord Jesus can restore us if our faith in Him remains!

Remember Jesus will do no mighty works if there is no faith!

What is another one of the signs of the end times?

Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk_18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The Church needs to earnestly pray and fast until our faith is restored!

We will not be able to do this until we know i n our minds that the Word of God is the unchanging truth!

Amen

Rebellion and Complaining

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Murmuring of Israel

Book of Numbers Chapters 13 and 14

As Christians we must realize that when put our own personal preferences before our focus on God and the Word of God, we are stepping toward idolatry!

We must learn to follow Jesus even when it seems things are against us! He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us all our days.

Being a Christian will never be easier than it is right now, until we get to the Glory World.

In fact we already know things are going to get worse here on Earth before the Lord returns.

Murmuring and complaining reveal to God just how far we are veering from true faith.

In fact these things can reveal a total lack of faith, a lack of trusting in the Lord.

Grumbling and complaining about the way God does things is dangerous!

Israel began showing their lack of faith when they did not accept that Canaan Land, the Promised Land, would be as God described it.

Lev_20:24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

We must understand that being negative to the truth of God will defeat us and then destroy us!

A negative attitude is always unwilling to face the facts!
A negative attitude will reject the truth of every situation!
A negative attitude will almost always lead to open rebellion!
A negative attitude will cause an unwillingness to listen and follow the truth!
A negative attitude about the Lord Jesus Christ will lead you straight to Hell!

At this time in this new nation of Israel, they had an unbelieving attitude, and it was separating them from our merciful God.

We should understand that Jehovah God will only tolerate such rebellion for a limited amount of time!

God knows our heart and God knows when our heart will never change.

Gen_6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh:

We could say that the striving of the Holy Spirit is not a physical thing but that it is the energy God uses to place the truth into our minds.

It could be called convincing or persuading, all taking place in our mind because of what is taking place in our heart.

The heart is deceitful, and this is the first place that the Holy Spirit chooses to do battle within us.

We call it Holy Ghost Conviction!

God had led these children of Israel to the entrance to Canaan Land and Israel refused to enter even though God had commanded them to and told them He would be with them.

We should understand that negativism and defeatism does not set well with God because cannot be defeated and he will never feel defeat.

The Lord Jesus Christ was not defeated when He went to that cross on Mount Calvary, He was the Victor, Satan was the loser.

Our God cannot be defeated, neither can the Son nor the Holy Spirit!

Instead of just entering the Promised Land as commanded by the Lord, this unruly mob decided they wanted more proof of the truth of God.

How many are out there today who are seeking proof for the existence of God when the sites if God’s Creation is proof enough.

Anyone that believes this world came about by accident are just foolish!

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Jer_17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

God does not need to explain anything to us, we should be able to see the world we live in did not come about by some accident!

Israel chose out twelve men to go into Canaan Land as spies to see if the land was as God described it.

These were not just random men, but men who had leadership qualities and could be trusted, or this was what was intended.

It is at this time that Moses began to push forward a young man named Joshua (God saves).

Remember Moses could lead the Children of Israel to the Promised Land but only Joshua (Yeshua) (Jesus) could lead them into the Promised Land.

Canaan Land would include the lands of Israel today, plus Lebanon, and much of Syria.

The mission was conducted, and the spies left to make an assessment of the Promised Land for forty days.

One of the places they looked at was Hebron and God had already made a promise to Abraham about Hebron.

Gen 13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
Gen 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Gen 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Gen 13:17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Gen 13:18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

God does not ever forget His promises!

These spies returned after a forty-day mission and a report was given to Moses.

Was the Promised Land as God had said?

*Num 13:26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
Num 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

1) The land did flow in milk and honey.

This land was fertile, very productive, and fertile. We may see some typology of our own lands here in America but especially Israel.

The proof was in some of the fruit that these spies brought back with them.

This land could easily provide food for the new nation of Israel.

Their livestock would find plenty of grazing land and water was available.

It was a wonderful land because it was land, that God had chosen for His people.

It was the Promised Land.

What had the Lord told Moses while these children of Israel were still slaves to Egypt?

Exo 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Exo 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Exo 3:9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

Some of the promises of God were ready to be fulfilled, but there are always those who see a dark side to everything.

Reminds me of some of my own family.

*Num 13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
Num 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

Nevertheless, is a word that should never been used in the English language!

Nevertheless is a word that stands in opposition to the truth!

In other words, “even though everything is just like what Jehovah the Almighty God said and even though He will be with us at all times, the same God who destroyed the Egyptian army, which was the mightiest army in the world, those people look to be too strong for Jehovah God”.

To hear ten of these spies those cities were so strong that no one could defeat them.

These men were defeated before they even started!

Putin thought that the Ukrainians would be this type of people and just melt before the Russian Army but that has not happened.

When we look out upon the world, we can see some mighty scary things and the thought of Nuclear War is a scary thing, but when you travel with the Lord there is no obstacle that is so great it can overcome God if we are obedient to Him.

No power on this earth can overcome the power of the Almighty God!

God had already given these children of Israel Canaan Land and He was not going to change His mind.

So what, there were some men that looked like giants.

The Jews are a shorter than average race of people and most every basketball player today would look like giants to them and even today there are a few men and women who are extremely large.

The Amalekites were a wicked people:

1Sa 15:18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

They were also warlike:

1Sa 15:32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
1Sa 15:33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

God commanded the Hittites to be destroyed they were so wicked along with those other nations:

Deu 7:1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

To not enter the Promised Land as commanded by the Lord God, was to reject God!

There were two, Caleb and Joshua, who saw no problem in being obedient to God.

We should understand those ten spies were exaggerating and distorting the truth saying that God had led them to their death.

God will never do such a thing, but even if I die, I will still be with Him in Heaven before this carcass of a body ever drops to the ground.

These men brought an evil report when God was seeking strength and courage like that of Caleb.

The same strength God is seeking from the Church.

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

This wicked distortion of the truth turned the hearts of these people against God.

This is what is happening in our world today! There is a wicked distortion of the truth, or we could say truly little truth from the leaders of nations.

*Num 14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Num 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Num 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Num 14:7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

This wicked report spread through the people like Covid 19, and the words of Joshua and Caleb were not heard at all.

They all put on their mask and waited for this virus to kill them just like this world has done for more than two years.

All they could think of were cities with such strong walls they could not toppled.
Men so strong they did not need weapons.
Even giants that could not be stopped.

No one talked about the “Grace of God”.
No one talked about the miracles they had seen.
No one remembered the angel of death.
No one talked about the “fire of God” or “the cloud” that had led them there.

Fear becomes an overwhelming force, when we allow it to take hold of us and many have during these last two years of Covid 19.

Some people are still so afraid they will still not leave their homes and a new delivery mechanism has been put in place by many retailers.

Nothing brings us into bondage as quickly as fear, but the Lord teaches us how to harness our fear.

2Ti_1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

When we have the Holy Spirit living within us, we have no reason to fear anything in this world!

We do not belong to this world any longer!

Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

All the Israelites were grumbling in unbelief, the whole assembly!

Not a single person beyond Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb were trusting God.

They did not believe God could lead them to take control of the Promised Land.

It is said that no race of people can wail like the people of the East, and I can believe this even today!

The more this people expressed their fear the more they feared.

This people felt they would be better off to just die in the desert and God said “ok” if this is what you want, then this is what you will get.

Joshua and Caleb could not change their thoughts.

*Num 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

These two young men did their absolute best to change the minds of this people but could not.

In the least, to rebel against the God who saved them, would bring dire consequences.

We know that even when we have the truth of God, most people will still fear what this world holds for them.

We will find that the rebellious lost of this world have such a great fear of this world they will want to destroy God’s people and we see this today.

They do not want to hear what God has to say.

God will not tolerate unbelief and rebellion from any person for very long, and remember, they are already sentenced to damnation unless they repent.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

When we fear this world more than we fear God, then one day God will show us why we are wrong, when He shows us why we should have feared Him.

Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

God condemns rebellion:

1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

We should understand that God is serious about the truth versus the lies of this world.

As Christians we have the truth of God!

We do not have to argue or run from the lies of this world!

All we need do is stand upon the truth of God and He will take us home one day to our true home the true Promised Land!

Amen