The NXR Podcast - DAILY TRUTH - Facing At Last, What We Feared At First

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00:00:27.500 As an ordinary principle or pattern, God often, in our sanctification, in our spiritual maturing,

00:00:37.100 God often ordains and allows that we might face last what we feared at first.

00:00:46.420 We fear this particular giant, this particular dragon, this particular enemy.

00:00:52.500 and yet God would have it

00:00:55.840 if we simply trusted him

00:00:58.440 that the thing that we feared at first

00:01:01.500 is the very thing that God allows us to face at last

00:01:06.640 and that God allows us like David

00:01:09.860 to face lions and bears before Goliath

00:01:12.920 that God allows us in his mercy

00:01:16.200 and this is an example of God's mercy

00:01:18.400 to be progressively sanctified

00:01:21.220 progressively sanctified growing each day along the way facing one challenge that often in god's

00:01:31.220 ordinance in his sovereign plant that one particular challenge today is precisely what

00:01:37.640 prepares us for the challenge tomorrow and this is a kindness of the lord to us i've written in

00:01:45.860 your notes this, Israel's fear of the Anakim, that is a tribe of great giants. That's right, giants.

00:01:52.940 It's just giants, guys. A tribe of great giants. Their fear of the Anakim is precisely the fear.

00:02:00.520 This is the specific fear that caused them to refuse to enter the land of Canaan 38 years

00:02:05.500 earlier underneath the leadership of Moses. And yet, when Israel finally did enter into the promised

00:02:13.280 land, they faced the Anakim last. It was only after God had thoroughly trained them in conquest,

00:02:23.500 in war, that he finally caused Israel to wage battle with the Anakim. God is exceedingly gracious

00:02:30.940 in the order in which he arranges the battles of our lives. Too often we convince ourselves that

00:02:37.860 we must fight our biggest giants first

00:02:40.560 when God would have us fight them last.

00:02:46.260 What happens is that Israel,

00:02:49.160 after having left Egypt, they wander.

00:02:51.560 It's 40 years in total,

00:02:53.160 but there's a pivotal moment

00:02:55.940 two years into their wilderness wandering

00:02:58.420 where they come to the border of the land of Canaan

00:03:02.800 and at the particular border

00:03:04.380 where they're at in that moment,

00:03:06.960 And they send out 12 Israelite spies.

00:03:11.100 You remember this account.

00:03:13.040 And they go in and they see the Hannah king.

00:03:16.800 Not just any of the Canaanite tribes,

00:03:18.960 but particularly this tribe, the Hannah king.

00:03:23.400 And two of the spies, Israelite spies,

00:03:26.000 come back and say, we can take them.

00:03:28.400 The land is good and the enemy is formidable,

00:03:33.520 but we have Yahweh.

00:03:35.060 We can take them.

00:03:35.740 That's Joshua and Caleb.

00:03:37.980 But the other 10 Israelite spies,

00:03:40.080 they bring back a bad report.

00:03:41.820 And it's important that we recognize

00:03:43.300 that this bad report is not,

00:03:46.400 the Bible does not say that it is a deceitful

00:03:49.120 or lying or false report.

00:03:52.940 It is merely a bad report.

00:03:56.380 We might illustrate that point by saying that

00:03:59.660 if you, God forbid, go to the doctor

00:04:02.580 and he runs certain tests

00:04:05.020 because he has concerns and you have concerns you haven't been feeling as healthy as you once did

00:04:11.200 and after performing certain tests the doctor sits you down and he gives you a diagnosis

00:04:18.820 that you have cancer that would be a bad report it is not necessarily a lying report

00:04:29.940 but it is bad news.

00:04:33.240 Bad news does not have to be false news.

00:04:36.800 Bad news and fake news are not the same.

00:04:41.020 Not necessarily.

00:04:44.020 And so these 10 Israelite spies bring back not a false report,

00:04:49.520 not fake news, but bad news.

00:04:52.260 A bad report.

00:04:53.860 Instead of focusing on the goodness of the land

00:04:56.680 and implicitly trusting in the power of Yahweh

00:05:00.360 to defeat whatever inhabitants there might be,

00:05:03.140 they focus on the strength and caliber and might of the enemy.

00:05:09.740 And because of that, the Lord determines that Israel,

00:05:13.960 because of their unbelief,

00:05:16.780 their fear is an indictment of their trust in Yahweh.

00:05:21.760 They are essentially saying Yahweh cannot be trusted.

00:05:24.700 And this is the very God of Israel who just performed awesome signs and wonders in Egypt,

00:05:30.480 who literally parted the Red Sea. You think that's enough? All right, there are giants.

00:05:36.960 Yeah, that's a big deal. That's scary. All right, there's some credence there. Giants,

00:05:41.240 that's a big deal. But our God just caused us to walk across a sea on dry land.

00:05:49.920 So I think we can handle giants if the Lord is with us.

00:05:55.040 But instead, they chose to harden their hearts in unbelief.

00:05:59.360 And as a consequence, a just consequence and discipline for that unbelief,

00:06:05.840 Israel's refusal to trust in God who had been with them and faithful thus far,

00:06:10.780 they were forced to wander in the wilderness for 38 more years.

00:06:16.360 now let me give you some of these verses but real quick remember the primary point because i'm going

00:06:23.560 to get into giants but the primary point the primary point is that god is gracious in his

00:06:29.440 presence i've said this before i'll say it again god is gracious in his presence that he speaks to

00:06:35.220 us by the illumination of the holy spirit of the holy word of god god speaks to us in his presence

00:06:41.900 in our time of need. There is grace in every time of need. So God is gracious in at least

00:06:48.680 two ways. One, he is gracious in his presence, that he speaks to us when we cry out to him for

00:06:55.900 help, that he comes to us, he consoles us, he comforts us, he is Emmanuel, God with us. So God

00:07:04.280 is gracious in every time of need through his presence, but also the point that's being made

00:07:10.220 today is in his providence. God's grace in his presence and in his providence. In his presence,

00:07:18.540 that is that the Lord is near to us, near to the one who cries out to him for help. But also God

00:07:25.800 is gracious not only in his presence, in his nearness, in his imminence, but God is gracious

00:07:30.600 in his providence. That God is gracious in the way that he orchestrates and ordains the challenges

00:07:37.780 that each of us face progressively,

00:07:41.800 increasingly, gradually

00:07:43.880 in this lifelong process of sanctification.

00:07:47.340 And so it was with Israel.

00:07:49.120 God would have Israel face at last

00:07:52.640 what they feared at first.

00:07:56.120 That their first fear

00:07:57.700 is they had a king, giants.

00:08:02.240 And yet in terms of the progressive conquest of Canaan,

00:08:05.400 their last enemy,

00:08:07.220 their last adversary that they actually have to engage

00:08:10.780 is the henna king, the giants,

00:08:13.440 only after progressively and gradually being trained

00:08:17.220 by the Lord in war

00:08:19.500 for at least months, if not perhaps longer.

00:08:26.640 This is the kindness and grace of God,

00:08:29.960 both in his presence, he is near to us,

00:08:32.800 he speaks to us, and in his providence.

00:08:37.220 We'll be right back.

The NXR Podcast - September 22, 2023

DAILY TRUTH - Facing At Last, What We Feared At First

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