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00:00Come on, let's read it. It says, do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom. And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship. Deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He is actively cleaning house. Torching all that needs to burn. And he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God hears.
00:31You sound good. You sound good.
00:34Look at Numbers chapter number 13. I'm gonna look at verses 23 through 33. Numbers chapter 13. We'll start at verse number 23. When you're ready to read it, say yeah.
00:46Ooh, it's numbers. If you need some time, say hold up. That's one of those, even if you've got to scroll, it takes you a minute. Where is Numbers in the Old Testament?
00:57Let's set up the text. The children of Israel have come out of slavery and are in the wilderness. They're right on the cusp, right on the edge of the promised land.
01:11And Moses says, let's do our due diligence. I'm gonna send me a spy mission to go check out the land that's already ours. We're jumping right into the middle of their secret mission.
01:26In verse 23, it says, when they reached the valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them along with some pomegranates and figs. Back that thing up. Don't read that too fast.
01:45A cluster of grapes so big, two people had to carry it on a pole. That's some big grapes. Whole Foods ain't got grapes like that.
01:58And that place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. At the end of 40 days, they returned from exploring the land. They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the desert of Tehran.
02:11And there they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account. We went into the land to which you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey. Bam! Here is the fruit.
02:26But the people, but, why is there a but? If there's the fruit, let's go get the land. But, the people who live there are powerful. The cities are fortified and very large. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.
02:42The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country. And the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. And everybody starts going crazy. Shout out to Caleb. His name means dog. Got that dog in him.
02:59And Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, we should go up and take possession of the land for we can certainly do it. But the man who had gone up with him said, well, you can't attack those people. They're stronger than we are.
03:16And they spread among the Israelites a bad report. This is where you ought to look at somebody and ask them, what are you spreading? Are you spreading faith or are you spreading fear?
03:31They spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said the land we explored devours those living in it. Okay, I'm sorry, y'all. Can I just, this is stupid.
03:45You see what fear will do? How does the land devour the people living in it? You complain about the giants that are in it and Amorites and all that. And then you're talking about the land devours them. Well, if the land devours them, that means the inhabitants would be gone.
04:02If the land devours them, but you see how your fear will take you down this crazy path where you're saying stuff that ain't even true. And all the people saw that they were a great size and we saw the Nephilim there.
04:17We seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we look the same to them. Oh, this is so good. I want to preach today for about four and a half hours.
04:28Using this as a title, counting on God, counting on God in this room and that echo before you sit down, look at your neighbor for what might be the last time and say, neighbor, I don't know what you count, but I'm counting on God.
04:47Come on, give God some praise if you believe it. Father, have your way today. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Counting on God. I don't even have no water today. Y'all pray for us today. It's all good.
05:06Counting on God. Social fam, every so often I feel like it is incumbent upon me as your pastor to give you some life updates, life updates. I think you got to have some life updates just so you can gauge the mental health of your pastors.
05:28So I have a life update because as of last week, as of last week, myself and Pastor Taylor, we are not just pastors. We are not just leaders. We are not just parents. But as of last week, y'all, we are now, wait for it, homeschool teachers.
05:50This is not a joke. We are homeschooling our three little humans. Yes, all three of them. We are homeschooling them. Normally I would say pray for us, but right now I'm going to ask you to pray for our kids, okay? Pray for them.
06:04Now, to keep it 100, it's a co-teaching model. So they do go to school some days, but those other days they are at home with us and myself and PT who are homeschooling our three kids.
06:19So last week we had our first day of homeschool with us teaching, and y'all, I can't make this up. I cannot make this up. I'm about to give you live footage of what happened on the first day of school at home with us. Cue that ring camera footage from my living room. Watch this. First day.
06:50A fire broke out and almost burned down my house on the first day. Turns out you really needed those fire drills in school. Let me break down what you saw. Shout out to Miss Simmons Glover who works in our children's department who quickly knew what to do and hit the fire with some Aquafina.
07:14You heard my kids in the kitchen talking about, Daddy, Daddy, I was in the back watching ESPN. Don't laugh. I'm teaching PE, so I had to prepare for the class. I'm telling you, don't pray for me. Pray for my kids. We are homeschooling and co-teaching.
07:33Before we took on this endeavor, I had a great conversation, a critical and crucial conversation with PT. I said, hey, I'm all for this co-teaching model. I'm all for homeschooling, and I'm good to co-teach every single subject except for one.
07:49You said it. Math. I'm good with any subject. I don't do math. They're going to have to get help somewhere else for mathematics because I don't do math. Social fam, I don't dislike math. I hate math. I hate math.
08:11Any math teachers here or at Echo, any math teachers? Stay after service. I need to talk to you. I need to see you. I need to see you. I hate math. I don't like it, y'all. Give me any other subject. Give me a species to dissect. Give me a language to learn. Give me a history to appreciate, but don't give me problems to solve.
08:30Problems to solve. Mind you, that only have one answer. With infinite possibilities, only one answer. That's why math anxiety is real because here you are, perspirating, spending hours on one question, and after that, you just nervously put in 4.2. Only find out, ah, it's 4.3. For real? Round it up. I don't do math. I don't do numbers.
08:54So imagine my shock when I thought I had gone through the valley of the shadow division and I'm done with any type of numbers because I've chosen a vocation where I get to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
09:08Imagine my shock when I run right into the fourth book of the Bible, the book of numbers. Your Bible has a book that is titled Numbers. What an interesting title for a book.
09:26I get Genesis. That's the book of beginnings. I get Exodus. That's the book of exits, of departures. But why in the world would a sovereign God choose to name a book Numbers? Maybe it's because attached to a number is generally a name.
09:45And attached to a name is a person. And maybe God has us count people because people count to God. He doesn't have you count people for your ego, but he'll have you count people because the numbers are attached to a name and that name is attached to a real person.
10:05And sometimes God will have you count people because people count to God. This is how the book of numbers starts. It starts with Moses taking a census of the children of Israel.
10:18Now, before I even get into the book of numbers and why even Moses would take a census, let's understand the history of these people. For 400 years, they have been in slavery. For four centuries, they have been in bondage. For four centuries, they have been demeaned.
10:38For 400 years, they have been in bondage. For 400 years, they have been demoralized. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a group of people who have been through generational trauma.
10:50Been through pain on every single level for 400 years. They have been in slavery calling out for God to deliver them a God that they knew was a deliverer in their mind, but they never experienced the actual deliverance in their actuality.
11:07And as they cried out to a God and when they thought all hope was lost, here comes God, faithful, raising up a deliverer named Moses. Come on, you've seen the movie. And Moses sets them free.
11:19Moses' knees knocking, voice stuttering, still goes up to Pharaoh and says, quit playing. Let my people go. And one night, water splits and they walk out of servitude into sonship, out of slavery into freedom, from singing songs of depression to shouting for joy.
11:41And one night after four centuries, hold on, the math ain't mathing. Because I would think that if you were stuck in something for 400 years, it would take you like 400 years to get up out of that thing.
11:59I would think for as long as you were stuck in slavery, it would take that long for you to get out. But when you are counting on God, it doesn't matter how long you've been in it. Isn't it crazy? After 400 years, one night they get to victory. After 400 years, one moment they walk up out of it.
12:16I don't know who this message is for today. And some of y'all looking at me like you don't know how to shout. But can I tell you, I don't care how long you have been stuck in something. When God wants to get you out, he will get you out. When God wants to set you free, he will set you free.
12:31Somebody in here on Echo can testify. They were stuck in something for years, but all of a sudden had a cataclysmic encounter with the divine power of a God who still delivers. And in one moment, God got them out.
12:46Can we take a little praise break in this series? If God has ever delivered you out of anything, would you give him some praise like you know he has? If he ain't brought you out of nothing, you can sit down and be quiet. But if you know that God has pulled you out of a relationship, pulled you out of an addiction, pulled you out of something you were stuck in and did it.
13:09I feel like preaching. The math don't even make sense. Victory in one night after 400 years. Can you see them walking like they won the Jefferson?
13:31Set them free. Got them out. Was kind enough to drown their enemies in the water behind them and let them walk through on dry ground so they didn't track any of their paths into their future. What an awesome God.
13:49Only issue is setting them free physically was not the challenge. Setting them free physically took a moment. Setting them free psychologically and emotionally.
14:09Y'all, that was a process. Isn't it crazy how physically, boom, they're free. And you look at them on the outside and you're like, oh, look, it ain't no chains on you. You're walking free.
14:23But if you look at their psyche, how they think, how they process their emotions, y'all, they are still stuck in Egypt. Blows my mind how externally you can look free, but internally you still have areas of bondage.
14:39It actually reminds me when I went to, not the promised land, but Disneyland. True story. Went to Disneyland, not this summer, but last summer and took our three little humans to Disneyland. I'll never forget it.
14:52Went on a ride called Space Mountain. Space Mountain. You've been on this ride? And we go to Space Mountain. Now, understand we have three kids. I'm going to jack up their ages. Nine, seven, and six. Nine, eight, and six. Thanks, babe. Thanks, Miss Madu.
15:08Home school teachers. And that's their age gap. Remy is the youngest, but if you see them, she's just as tall as the other two. And so we go to Space Mountain and Remy wants to get on the ride. And we're like, okay, well, let's check it. And sure enough, just like the other three, she can get on the ride. She was free to get on the ride because of her height.
15:33We get on the ride. I'm sitting next to Remy. I will never forget this ride. Y'all, Space Mountain has valleys. Space Mountain is dark. You cannot see anything. And I'll never forget it. Going up and down and feeling my little rim.
15:55Squeeze my arms so tight. Tears are hitting my forearm as we're going up and down. Daddy, make it stop. Daddy, please make it stop. Daddy, please. We get off the ride. The other two are like, let's do it again. Remy's like, I want to go home. I don't want to be here. I hate Disneyland.
16:17Disneyland. This is where Moses is. I got three kids and I'm stressing. He's got 3 million people. Talking about, I want to go home. Why you bring us out here to die? Take us back to Egypt. They start complaining all in Numbers chapter 13. Complaining. Arguing against Moses. Complaining. They complain so much.
16:45Somebody lost. Oh, did I lose a button? Bless the Lord. It's all good. Keep it. My gift to you. Y'all, they complain so much. God got agitated and sent fire just like my living room. Sends fire to consume some in the camp. And Moses is crying out to God. This is where they are as a people.
17:09And they're walking through and Moses is trying to get people free emotionally and psychologically, even though they're free physically. And God tells him, okay, here's what I need you to do. I want you to count the people because people count. Can you imagine trying to count 3 million people?
17:32Interestingly enough, Moses does it in 20 days. How? He separates them in a system of tribes. 12 tribes of Israel. And he had the tribe leaders report how many are in each tribe. This is all in the book of Numbers because some of y'all skip it in your one year Bible reading program. It tells you how many people are in each tribe.
17:57It's interesting. God is so strategic, not just to get the exact number and every name of the person in the tribe. He actually has a system of where he wants them to line up in the camp. If you look at, there's like a, in the middle, there was the presence of God. There was the tabernacle. The Levites were around there, but then God had like a system of where he wanted the tribes to get together.
18:24Can you imagine 3 million people? No, you can't be in that side. I want you on this side. No, you can't be on the North. Actually, I want that tribe on the South. If I'm in the camp, I'm like, for what? Why does this matter? But God had a system.
18:38God had a specific way. He wanted Moses to line them up. And if it was me and I was on the ground level in that tribe, I would be frustrated. I was like, who cares what his name is? I don't care about Shumoa and all these names that look like a diseases. Why are we even taking time to count it? Why are we taking time to even get who cares? Put that job next to that?
19:00No, no, no, no, no. God says, I want it this way. I want it this way. And some of you, have you ever seen the aerial view of what the camp of the Israelites look like? Put up that old school Bible picture. That is the aerial view of what the camp looked like. Does that shape look familiar to you?
19:24So on the ground level, it doesn't make sense for me to be lined up right here. But from the aerial view, it is a picture of what is to come. A cross that is coming. The ultimate sacrifice for my sins is coming. And you don't even know. It looks like you're just getting in line, but you're actually even giving a foreshadowing of what is to come.
19:53Make it plain, preacher. There are some things in your life in the valley that you're going through right now that makes no sense from your vantage point. But God says, give it some time. From my vantage point, you're at the right place at the right time. And there's something I'm doing in you and through you. And when I get done doing it, you're going to give me praise and say, it was good that I went through that valley. It was good that you closed that door. It was good that they walked away.
20:20I'm preaching good. Are y'all recording this? I'm going to watch it later. The aerial shot was the cross. I can't tell you how many times things in my life in the valley made no sense on this view until later God flipped the perspective and said, look, the whole time I had a purpose and a plan. I was never confused. You might have been.
20:47I wouldn't. You might've been scared. I wouldn't. We just sang it. God is in control. That's easy to shout to easy to jump to. It is to live out.
21:02And here they are going through the wilderness. And in our text today, they finally got into the edge. They finally got into the place where the promised land is close enough to smell. You can see it and look at the incredible, competent, brilliant leadership of Moses.
21:27Moses says, I want 12 spies, one from each tribe. I want y'all to go scout out the land before we seize it. I want you to go scout it out. It's a land that we're going to inhabit, but before we inhabit the land, let's get some information.
21:51So I want you 12 of y'all go there and explore the land. Scout it out. Yes, it's the promise land, but just because it's the promise land doesn't mean we can't have a plan.
22:05We're going to seize it. It's ours, but just because it's ours, it doesn't mean that we can't do our due diligence and just go explore it. I want you to help me preach here and echo. Look at the person next to you. Say neighbor scout it out.
22:26Yeah, scout it out. You don't have to do the yeah part, but I appreciate you being laid down. Scout it out. I'm curious today. Hear me. I'm curious if there's a promise God has given you, but you hadn't even taken the time to scout it out.
22:49Just because it's a promise land doesn't mean you can't have a plan. Go scout it out. God has given you a promise. I'm not going to talk about what you're going to have to fight when you actually get to it.
23:03But one of the first steps to me that even shows you believe the promise is to scout it out. God's promised me a husband or a wife. Okay, scout it out and don't be up in the club scouting.
23:25If you're going to fish, fish in clean water, at least come to church. Something like that's why I'm here preacher. Well, hold on.
23:38Scout it out. God's given you a promise that might require you going back to school. Scout it out. I don't know if they do online courses. Have you looked after school?
23:56God's given me a promise. I'm going to be a homeowner. Scout it out. Have you got a real estate agent? Have you checked your credit score? Well, I don't want to look.
24:09I don't want to look. That ain't going to change it. Scout. I'm trying to make this as practical as possible. Scout it out. One of the ways you show you believe God is to scout it.
24:28You can have a promise that requires scouting it out. I got to be careful today. I got like 5 billion illustrations today. Never forget getting a call from a store that I know I did not have a store credit in. I know I did not have a store credit.
24:46You don't know how God wants to bless you sometimes. This store called me and they said, hey, you have a store credit here that has been waiting on you. I said, what's the name? They said, Robert. I said, are you sure?
24:59They said, yes. I was like, I don't know. If you bless me, I need to know who you are. Because I go to this and it's one of them stores that had, you know, a little, you know, the little, you know, little rope. You ever seen one of those stores? Got the rope in front of it, the little bougie rope in front of it. And you walk up to the rope and nobody's in the store, but they look at you and they go, hold on, let me check.
25:21Nobody in the store. Man, if you don't move this thing out the way. I walk up in there and first of all I said, hi, you called? Are you sure? I have a store credit. They said, absolutely, you have a store credit. Ooh, you should have seen me scouting it. I'm going to have to go back because I lost the button, but I'm scouting, scouting out a store that I would not have walked into.
25:48But I got a promise.
25:57The promise required that I leave the comfort of my home, go past the little bougie rope and scout it out. I'm hoping that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you in specificity as I'm speaking in generalities, that there's some things God has promised you that you must first scout out.
26:19So he sends the spies and I love Moses because he is very strategic and what he tells them to look for. Watch this. They're scouting out the land, not to determine if they're going to get it or not. Understand God's reconnaissance mission. We are not scouting out the land to determine if we're able to get it.
26:40It's already ours. We're scouting out to see. Is it as good as God said it was? And here, I love the instructions Moses gives. He gives a couple of instructions. He says, go look and see if the people are strong or weak.
26:58She's doing our due diligence. Go look and see if the walls are fortified or if they're unwalled. He says, go look at the soil. See if it's fertile or if it's plain. He said, go check it all out. Gives him all these instructions. But the best instruction was the last instruction. Last thing he tells him, he says, oh, and if you can try to bring some fruit from the land back.
27:24The last instruction was the best instruction. Moses says, bring some fruit from the land back. Moses goes, I want a souvenir. As you're scouting out this land, bring me back some fruit. And the Bible just so happens to mention that it was the season for grapes.
27:45The season for grapes. So Moses says, go scout out and bring back some fruit if you can. Why does Moses want them to bring back some fruit? Because he had been hearing that this is a land flowing with milk and honey. Why not tell them to bring back some milk and honey?
28:07You realize that is a metaphor. Some of y'all been in church your whole life. It wasn't really flowing with milk and honey. Flowing with milk and honey is a metaphor for abundance. It's a metaphor that the land is fertile. And Moses goes, if you can bring me back some evidence of the abundance. And it just so happened to be the season for what?
28:35Grapes. I got three points in this message. Those of you, the people that watch Netflix shows and you like to go to the end, all of them start with G. So don't leave until you get your three G's.
28:46The first point I want to give you is grapes.
28:54Grapes. God is so good.
29:00He gives you grapes.
29:04What are grapes?
29:06Grapes are the evidence of the abundance.
29:11Grapes is the grace of God that has given you confirmation that everything you've been hoping and believing for in that land, it really is that good.
29:24Grapes, hear me, are when God gives you a preview of the promise.
29:31Here's what I love about God. He doesn't have to give you a preview. He wants you to trust him. He wants you to believe that when he says the land is yours, it's yours. It's already done.
29:42But look at the goodness of God. God says, I'm so good. I'm going to give you evidence of the abundance.
29:50Anytime God gives you the grapes, the grapes are a glimpse and a preview of a coming attraction.
29:56Is there anybody in here that can testify that sometimes God will do you the kind favor of giving you grapes?
30:05You know why I brought these grapes and our aesthetic team was like, are you really going to bring them up there in that bag?
30:10I'm not trying to be extra. You know why I brought these grapes? It's because I opened our refrigerator today.
30:15PT didn't know what I was preaching and I saw these grapes in our refrigerator sitting right there.
30:22I said, I'm bringing them grapes to church because those grapes were a confirmation that this word was for somebody in here today.
30:28God will give you grapes. Grapes are when God gives you a preview of a coming attraction.
30:39Grapes are when God gives you a glimpse of what he's actually going to do in your life.
30:48Elbow the person next to you and say, God will give you grapes. God will give you grapes.
30:52God giving them the grapes is like Costco samples. Isn't it awesome?
31:02You know how you do when you get the little sample. The sample is just a preview. It's just a taste that there's more.
31:08Here's what I love about God that's different than Costco. Costco gives you these little video pieces and it looks at you sideways when you go down the aisle and come back and say, hold on.
31:17What was that again? Don't act like you ain't done it. They make you feel bad for trying it again and they just give you a little bit.
31:28But did you read the passage we read? These grapes were so big two people had to carry it on a pole.
31:41That's how big the cluster of grapes were. Now here's what trips me out. I don't want to get too deep into this.
31:49When Moses gave them the commandment to go spy out the land, he actually told them to stay in the hilltop. Read it when you get to the crib.
31:57He said, stay in the hilltop. But the fact that they got those grapes is proof positive that they disobeyed.
32:03They didn't stay in the hilltop. How you know? Because they got grapes. Because grapes don't grow on the hilltop.
32:14Grapes are in the valley. That means they tried to obey Moses and stayed in the hilltop.
32:23But I think one of them scouts said, are those grapes massive? Oh no, y'all. We got to go down in this valley and get those grapes.
32:33I'm trying to tell you that the fruit that'll come out of your life will never be in the mountaintop moments.
32:39The fruit will always be in the valley. If you don't want your life to be fruitful, then just stay up in high places.
32:47But when God brings you down in a valley, when you go through some stuff, that's when you get the fruit out of your life.
32:56It's not in the mountaintop moments that the fruit comes. It's in the valley where the fruit is.
33:02And stop being jealous of other people's fruit when you don't want to go through their valley.
33:10Yeah, these grapes are big. Do you know how many tears I cried to get these grapes? Do you know what pain I went through to get these grapes?
33:21You jealous of the grapes, but you don't know the valley I was in to get this fruit out of my life.
33:29Josh, come up here. Come up here real quick. Come on. Come real quick. Come real quick. Come real quick.
33:35I gotta give them a visual. I gotta give them a visual. Where's it at? Yeah. Come up here. Come up here real quick.
33:46Hold that sign. Come on. I wish y'all would try to sleep on me when I preach. I'm just gonna make sure.
33:53Can you see them? I can't even imagine grapes so big that two people…
34:04Gotta carry a big old cluster of grapes that we gotta carry on a pole. Let's turn around. You go backwards. Yeah.
34:16That we gotta carry on a pole through the valley. Pause.
34:24What's interesting about the book of Numbers is also in the book of Numbers, we get instruction for how they are to transport holy things.
34:36Coincidentally, they carry the Ark of the Covenant that represented the presence of God was to be carried on a pole.
34:49Why did they carry the Ark of the Covenant on a pole? Because the Ark of the Covenant was the same thing that the grapes were.
34:58It was a preview of what was to come. There was coming an abiding presence of God that would not be in a golden ark.
35:08There was gonna be a residing presence. A God that was gonna come down in human flesh and tabernacle…
35:15Oh, this is too much for Sunday morning. It was a preview of what was to come.
35:24And there they were carrying the grapes. God in his grace will always give you a preview.
35:32That's why I like getting to movies early. I wanna see the previews.
35:40Don't they jack you up when they do an amazing preview? You're like, ooh, I wanna see that. They're like, fall 2030.
35:49For real. Even if it's a long premiere day. Even if it's a far off.
35:58The fact that you show me the preview is proof positive it's already been filmed.
36:06That's why you ought to shout when God gives you a preview. I don't care when the release date is. You ought to shout when he gives you the grapes.
36:17Don't stand over there. Don't leave. Stand over there in the corner because I'm gonna call you back in a moment.
36:24They get the grapes. The grapes are the proof of the promise.
36:32Once they get the grapes, after being gone 40 days, they come back to give the report of the mission.
36:43This is where it gets confusing because it's 12 spies, and when you hear the report, you don't know who's talking.
36:54Because it starts off the way you're supposed to start it off. Yo! Look at the fruit.
37:01It's as good as we thought. I'm telling you, it flows with milk and honey. Look at the fruit.
37:08The next statement should have been, let's go get it.
37:12Says somebody else spoke up and said, but it's big people over there.
37:20Malachites, Amorites, Jebusites, Hittites, Canaanites, Kryptonite, probably termites, saw wood.
37:25Who is talking? Somebody said, look, there's grapes.
37:38Some other folks said, oh, there's giants. Somebody says, look, there's opportunity.
37:47Somebody said, oh, there's obstacles.
37:51Someone says, oh, look, there's fruit.
37:55Someone says, oh, look, it's going to be a fight.
37:59How can people see the same thing?
38:08And have totally different conclusions.
38:12How can people be in the same service?
38:17One's like, man, I feel the presence of God and I know God's doing something in me.
38:23And somebody else going, oh man, can we go to brunch? How?
38:28How can 12 people see the same thing?
38:33But have completely different reports.
38:37Reports.
38:40Later, we will find out that 10 people were focused on the giants.
38:48Only two focused on the grapes.
38:53The Bible doesn't tell us which two.
38:58Sight, it does.
39:01Joshua and Caleb.
39:05It tells us which to believe.
39:09What it doesn't tell us is which two.
39:14We're carrying.
39:18The grapes on the pole.
39:22I got the strange suspicion.
39:25That Joshua.
39:28And Caleb, you with me, Joshua, on the whole way home.
39:32Because they felt the weight of the fruit.
39:37Let's go that way.
39:40They said, I don't care what those giants are.
39:43This fruit is worth the fight.
39:46The other 10 are walking through time.
39:48I don't know. They so big. They so big.
39:50I can't do it. They're walking through the valley thinking about the giants.
39:54I think Joshua and Caleb were walking through the valley thinking about the fruit.
39:57That's why I came to tell somebody, when you're in the valley, watch your focus.
40:02Make sure you're focused on what God said you can have.
40:05And make sure you've got somebody with you that's got some faith.
40:09Somebody that when you say hallelujah.
40:12They say hallelujah.
40:14When you say praise God.
40:16They say the Lord.
40:18When you say I can do all things.
40:20They say through Christ.
40:21The strength is this.
40:31What are you focusing on?
40:34You focused on the grapes?
40:37Or are you focused on the giants?
40:42That's the second G, by the way.
40:46Giants.
40:4810 people.
40:51The majority.
40:53I'm not going to look at the grapes.
40:56I'm going to look at the giants in the land.
41:00I want to ask you.
41:02You more focused on the grapes or the giants?
41:06The giants represent that voice in your head when God tells you a promise.
41:13That voice that gives you all the reasons in a PowerPoint presentation.
41:17Of why it can't happen.
41:20The voice of fear.
41:23That's what the giants are.
41:25It's the voice of fear.
41:28Now I'm going to go where a lot of preachers don't go.
41:31Some preachers tell you, see, you shouldn't be afraid.
41:34Faith over fear.
41:36Hi, let's be real.
41:37They're giants.
41:40Please don't miss this.
41:42They weren't wrong for reporting.
41:44There were giants.
41:48That's facts.
41:50The giants are there.
41:53They weren't even wrong for being afraid.
41:56It's the conclusion they drew from their fear.
42:01They drew the conclusion.
42:03Because they're giants and because I'm afraid I can't go in.
42:08They weren't wrong for reporting the job.
42:11Those were the facts.
42:13See, there's some people that believe that faith is going into the land.
42:16No, there's no giants.
42:18They're not there.
42:20No, I'm not sick as you sneezing over everybody.
42:22Please go home with that.
42:25That's not faith.
42:27Faith is not some blind euphoria.
42:29That's like, oh, no, it's not real.
42:30I don't believe it.
42:32No, the giants are there.
42:33Let's be real.
42:35All them itch were there.
42:36The problem is when you conclude, I can't go in.
42:39That was not a part of the mission.
42:41He already told you the land was yours.
42:52Are you more focused on the fruit, the grapes, or the giants?
43:02They were so preoccupied with the giants.
43:04They were so preoccupied with the giants.
43:07Their fear so seized them that they moved into the one thing that God can't work with.
43:13Unbelief.
43:17Caleb even tried to speak up.
43:19Yo, y'all, hold on.
43:21Because it started spreading just like faith can spread.
43:23Fear starts spreading.
43:24Everybody starts murmuring.
43:26Caleb's like, no, no, no, no, y'all.
43:27Wait a minute.
43:28The fruit.
43:30They're like, no.
43:32The giants.
43:34And watch this.
43:35An entire generation.
43:38Did not enter the land.
43:41Not because it wasn't theirs.
43:43And not because of the giants.
43:46And not even because they were afraid.
43:50It's because they allowed that fear to make them draw the conclusion.
43:54We can't go in.
43:56So they had unbelief.
43:58God can work with everything.
44:02But unbelief.
44:04Can you prove that in the Bible?
44:05Sure can.
44:08In the New Testament.
44:10Jesus only ever marvels at two things.
44:14Anytime I read something that makes Jesus marvel, I marvel at what makes Jesus marvel.
44:19He marveled at people that had great faith.
44:22And he marveled at people who had unbelief.
44:26So much so that in his own hometown, he couldn't do a miracle there because of the unbelief.
44:34And an entire generation.
44:36Didn't go in the promised land.
44:40Because the giants.
44:43Squandered their faith.
44:45And drove them to unbelief.
44:48I came to tell somebody that's facing a giant in the midst of the promise.
44:52Don't let the fear drive you to unbelief.
44:56God told me to tell you.
44:58Have faith to believe.
45:00That what he said is yours.
45:02It's yours.
45:06Oh I wish I had time.
45:12This was crazy y'all.
45:14God told them that they were going to be there anyway.
45:19He told Abraham.
45:21He told Moses.
45:22He let them know.
45:23Hey, all them ites are going to be in the land.
45:27Nowhere in scripture do you see the promise of an unoccupied territory.
45:32He told them they were going to be there.
45:34In other words, the presence of the enemies is not proof that there's no promise.
45:38The presence of the enemies is proof that the promise is coming to pass.
45:47God is like Waze in my car.
45:50I love my Waze.
45:52Some of y'all use maps.
45:53You need to get on Waze.
45:56Cause sister girl doesn't just give me the promise of the destination.
45:59She'll tell me object on road ahead.
46:04And never in my life.
46:06I said, Ooh object.
46:07Oh, I'm going back home.
46:10No, I keep on driving.
46:12Matter of fact, she has me do a little check to confirm.
46:15It's still there.
46:16So the people behind me can know.
46:17Hey, by the way, it's object.
46:19On the road.
46:20But I'm still going to get to the promise land.
46:24Joshua and Caleb were the only two that got to see it.
46:28Cause the other ones got stuck in unbelief.
46:31Did I give you all my G's?
46:34One more G.
46:37Grapes are a preview of the promise.
46:41They're the glimpse of God's goodness.
46:45The giants is the fear that wants to push me to unbelief.
46:50Oh.
46:52The grasshoppers.
46:54Yeah.
46:56What's that thing they said before they.
46:59Ready to stone Moses and Aaron and Joshua and Caleb and say, let's go back to Egypt.
47:03What's that last line?
47:04They said the numbers.
47:05They said, uh, we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.
47:14And we look the same to them.
47:16To them.
47:18We seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes.
47:24So we were to them.
47:27Been in church a long time.
47:29Barrett.
47:30A lot of people preach this text.
47:33And they preach the reality that if you, you see yourself small, other people will see you small.
47:41They preach stuff like, stop having a grasshopper mentality.
47:45And I get that vantage point.
47:50But I wonder.
47:52If we're actually seeing.
47:54Two different views.
47:57We seem like grasshoppers to us and to them.
48:01So you conclude that they see you.
48:03As little bitty.
48:05Okay, maybe.
48:07But later when they actually do get ready to go into the land member, Joshua sends two spies to go check it out.
48:12I love Joshua.
48:13He's like, we're doing 12 this time.
48:17Two of us got it right.
48:18Last time.
48:19I ain't making that mistake again.
48:20Only two.
48:22And remember, they talked to a sister girl.
48:24That was lady of the evening rehab.
48:27And sister girl says, Hey, I'm just trying to let you know.
48:29They're scared of y'all.
48:33It's been rumored what your God can do.
48:36So the whole time they didn't see them as small.
48:40They saw them as mighty.
48:44That ain't the shout part.
48:48Do you know what the name of the Valley is?
48:50They were in where they cut off the big old oversized grapes.
48:54It's called the Valley of Eshkol.
48:57Eshkol does not translate to mean big grapes.
49:01It actually translates to mean Valley of cluster.
49:07Because the beautiful thing about grapes.
49:09The beautiful thing about grapes.
49:13Is they come in a.
49:17So you can look at a grape two ways.
49:20You can look at a grape like this.
49:23Which by the way, you know, you can't buy one grape.
49:26I tried for this message that you can't.
49:30You can look at yourself like this.
49:33I'm just doing great.
49:36I'm just a grasshopper.
49:38Or you can look at yourself.
49:42Connected to a vibe.
49:46As a cluster.
49:48One grasshopper can't do nothing.
49:50But three million grasshoppers on your land.
49:54Will overtake all the land and vegetation.
49:57God says you got the wrong viewpoint.
50:00You just see yourself like this.
50:02You need to see yourself connected to a body of believers.
50:05Who are backed by a big God.
50:07It's the Valley.
50:09Of the cluster.
50:11That's what the enemy is scared of.
50:13He's scared of some grasshoppers getting together.
50:16That says I might be small by myself.
50:18But if we grasshoppers pop up.
50:20And get together.
50:22Oh, come on somebody.
50:24We can overtake any land that we step.
50:30Would you stand to your feet in this room and that echo?
50:32Come on every grasshopper pop up.
50:38How do you see yourself?
50:42You see yourself like this.
50:44I bet you are scared.
50:49You can't buy one grape from the store.
50:52Because one grape doesn't have enough weight.
50:56For them to measure how much it costs.
50:58But when you got a cluster.
51:01When you have a community of believers.
51:04Yeah, I'm a grasshopper.
51:06But let me get with some other grasshoppers.
51:10And let us get together.
51:12This is why the enemy is not afraid of a big church.
51:14He's afraid of a united church.
51:16He's afraid of a single church.
51:18He's afraid of a single church.
51:20He's afraid of a single church.
51:22He's afraid of a single church.
51:24He's afraid of a single church.
51:26He's afraid of a united church.
51:28That believes that every promise that God has given.
51:36Some of you have counted yourself out.
51:39Some of you have counted yourself as a one little grasshopper.
51:43Some of you have counted all the Giants.
51:47But I want to know.
51:49Are you counting on God?
51:52Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit.
51:55fight at the giants. I'm counting on a God who will make up the difference. We can certainly
52:02do it. He didn't say himself. We, that's why if I was the enemy, I would do everything
52:08in my power to disconnect you from the cluster. I'd have you get offended. Stop coming to
52:15church. See what I'm saying? Uh-uh. Yeah. Hypocrites. Mm-mm. I don't do that. It's hypocrites
52:21at the gym. You still go, come on, join all of us. Come on. I'm telling you he'll do whatever
52:30he can to get you disconnected from the cluster. This is the valley of cluster. Our strength
52:38is in being together and being connected to the vine. I'm going to ask every head be bowed
52:44and eyes be closed here and at echo. Father, I thank you that you're teaching us a lesson
52:54that in the valley, we've got to count on you. God, I thank you that you are a promise
53:03fulfilling God. Your promises are yes and amen. Lord, today I'm praying for my brothers
53:12and my sisters who have allowed the fear of the giants to keep them from stepping into
53:20the promise. Holy spirit. I pray today that this message was grapes for somebody, that
53:29it was a glimpse, a preview that you are that good for the person that wants to settle in
53:39a horrible marriage and says, this is the way it's supposed to be. Father, remind them
53:45that's not what you have for them. The person that's about to give up on a child and says,
53:50this is just the way that they are. Father, would you give us our fight back?
53:57Lord, don't let us fight by ourselves. Thank you for the power of a cluster
54:04that in community connected to the vine, we are more than able. Lord, we don't want to be like
54:15that generation that didn't step into the promise. We want to be like Joshua and Caleb that had a
54:21different spirit that stepped into what you had for them. Heads about eyes are closed today,
54:29but if you be so honest in this room, that echo to say, Hey PR, this is for me today.
54:38I truly believe there's some of you who the giants have made you go back and say, ah,
54:43that's not for me today. God wants to infuse you with faith and hope to believe it is for you,
54:50but you're going to have to fight. You have to fight to stay connected.
54:54You have to fight for community. You have to fight. He didn't promise in an unoccupied land,
55:03there's enemies there, but he promised that it's yours. So, with heads bowed and eyes closed,
55:09if you be so honest and say, Hey, this is for me. I've lost my fight. I started counting all
55:14the giants and I stopped counting on God. And today I'm going to count on him again
55:20and again to step into that promise. If that's you, would you lift up your hand high enough and
55:25long enough to where I can see it? Yeah. Even at echo there. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Lord.
55:30I see those hands. Those hands represent promises. Henry, that will come to pass.
55:37Thank you, Lord. Heads still bowed, eyes still closed. If you're here today and you've never
55:41surrendered your life to Jesus, I would love to give you that opportunity today. We're going to
55:46keep these altars open here and at echo if you want personal prayer, but if you've not surrendered
55:50your life to Jesus, today's your day. One moment, he'll set you free. One moment, you can receive
56:00the free gift of salvation. After 400 years, salvation came for the children of Israel in
56:05one moment, one night. I believe that today is somebody's one day. If that's you here and at
56:12echo and you say, PR, I need to give him my life today. Would you lift up your hand high enough and
56:16long enough to where I can see it? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. Yeah. I want us to pray this
56:22prayer as one big family, as one cluster. Can we declare this? Say, Jesus, I need you. I cannot do
56:32life without you. You are my life. Father, thank you for making a way for me. Jesus, I know you
56:45lived the life that I was supposed to live. You died the death that I was supposed to die.
56:53You took my place, so my response is to give you everything. From this moment forward,
57:02I'm walking with you on the mountain, in the valley. I'm counting on God. In Jesus' name,
57:13amen, amen, amen, amen. If you meant what you prayed, give God some praise today.