Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 11 of 16

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2000-07-30

Synopsis: In this sermon, John Weaver continues an expositional series on Psalm 106, focusing on verses 24-27. He examines the sins of despising God's provision, disbelieving His word, and disobeying His voice, as exemplified by Israel's refusal to enter Canaan. Weaver emphasizes that these sins are interconnected and still manifest in believers today. He provides applications regarding the nature of unbelief, the wickedness of the flesh, the necessity of grace for faith, and the importance of prompt obedience. The sermon concludes with a warning that God's judgment extends to future generations who follow in the same sins, urging repentance and holy living.

[John Weaver] And we are dealing with the topic, the hallelujah confession. We're trying to deal with it expositionally. And we are today down to verse 24 through 27. This is actually message number 11. So let's look in Psalm 106 and let's read verse 24. Yea, they despise the pleasant land. They believe not his word. but murmured in their tents and harkened not into the voice of the Lord. Therefore, he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them in the wilderness, to overthrow their seed also among the nations and to scatter them in the lands. You remember, I told you the word hallelujah, of course, means praise the Lord. And this is the first song that introduces itself with praise you, the Lord or hallelujah. And the song deals with confession of sin. And of course, the first Five verses gives us four reasons why the psalmist invites us to praise the Lord. And verse six gives a general confession when he says we have sinned with our fathers, we've committed iniquity, we've done wickedly. I told you that we've sinned in our fathers seminally, we've sinned in them imputatively, we've sinned in them representatively, we've sinned in them nationally, and we've sinned in them actually.

[John Weaver] And then when you come down to verse seven, you have the first two of the specific sins. That is, ignorance and ingratitude. Skipping down to verse 13, you have the next two specific sins, faithfulness and impatience. And then verse 16, the next two specific sins, envy and insurrection. And then verse 19, the next two specific sins, idolatry and insolence.

[John Weaver] Now, last week, We actually began with verse 24, Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word. And I only dealt with the phrase, Yea, they despised the pleasant land. May I remind you that the whole point of this series is to demonstrate that the sins of the fathers are still with us today. We sin in principle in exactly the same way that our fathers have sinned. The circumstances may have changed. The situation may have changed, but the principles certainly have not. I dealt with the word despised in verse 24, and it literally means to spurn or to treat contemptuously or to loathe or to absolutely hate. And of course, God Ask the people in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 6.

[John Weaver] Do you thus requite the Lord? Oh, you foolish people. In other words, everything that God had done for them, they then turn around and literally despised him.

[John Weaver] Now, last time we met, I gave you four ways in which we despise God and his gracious provision. The first way was going back to Numbers 13, and that was looking at circumstances instead of Christ, because we took the historical account of Psalm 106, verses 24 through 27, and that historical account was Numbers 13 and 14, and I dealt with looking at circumstances instead of Christ, because there the spies saw the Amalekites, and they saw the giants, and they saw the walled cities, And, of course, I pointed out how scripture teaches Christ was indeed in the Old Testament and saw in 1 Corinthians 10 says the rock that followed them was Christ. And then secondly, I pointed out that they were guilty and despised not only by looking at circumstances, but by looking at the multitudes instead of God's mercy. Numbers 13 verse 39.

[John Weaver] Boy, they begin to name the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and all these multitudes that were against them. And I pointed out the fact over and over in Scripture, God says that we're not to fear the multitudes. We're not to fear the greatness of the enemy. And of course, the Word of God says in Proverbs 29 and verse 25, that the fear of man bringeth a snare. And then the third, The way that we despise the way they did is listening to wickedness instead of the word.

[John Weaver] What did the people do? They listened to the evil report of the wicked spies rather than the word of God. And then, of course, lastly, I pointed out, we look through the eyes of fear instead of through the eyes of faith. And, of course, the people finally says are not the children or the sons of Anak. They are not they the giants. And of course, the people were desperately afraid. And Scripture says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

[John Weaver] And then I made some applications. So here is despisement and four ways they despised and exactly four ways that we despise. Now, let's begin today. with verse 24 and take up the second point. Yea, they despise the pleasant land. They believe not his word. So the second sin mentioned here is disbelief. So you have despisement and disbelief. However, there is a third sin mentioned in verse 25, which I'll deal with in just a moment, but murmured in their tents and hearken not to the voice of the Lord. Hearken not, that is, they were disobedient. So you have despisement You have disbelief and you have disobedience. Now, may I point out the fact that despisement always leads to disbelief and disobedience.

[John Weaver] When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, You're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together. So he who despises God will certainly disbelieve God, and he who disbelieves God will certainly disobey God. So let's go back to verse 24 and take this second point. Yea, they despise the pleasant land. They believed not his word.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to take you through the Scriptures very quickly and show you concisely how over and over this sin is charged against the people. Let's begin by going back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. That is the historical account of this passage in Psalm 106. And let's begin reading there with verse 20. Numbers chapter 14 and verse 20. Numbers 14 and look if you would please at verse 20 the Word of God says and the Lord said I have pardoned according to thy word But as I truly live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord now look what God says Because all those men who have

[John Weaver] seen my glory and my miracles Which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearken unto my voice Surely they shall not see the land which I swear to their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has another spirit with him, that followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess it.

[John Weaver] Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. Tomorrow I turn you and get you into the wilderness, and by the Red Sea And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, that they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.

[John Weaver] And all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless you shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jebanon, Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. For as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which you search the land, even 40 days each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities even 40 years, and you shall know my breach of promise.

[John Weaver] I, the Lord, have said it. I will surely do it unto all this congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness. They shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men which Moses said to search the land, returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land. Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land died by the plague of the Lord.

[John Weaver] So here then was the whole historical account of how the people despised and disbelieved God. Now if you'll turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 1, Very quickly, let me show you several of the passages, Deuteronomy chapter 1 and begin there with verse 29. Deuteronomy 1 verse 29, and we'll read through verse 32. Deuteronomy 1 verse 29. Then I said unto you, dread not, neither be afraid of them.

[John Weaver] The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall He shall fight for you according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness where thou hast seen how the Lord by God bare thee as a man doth bare his son in all the way that you went until you came into this place. Yet in this thing you did not believe the Lord your God. What is God saying?

[John Weaver] I brought you out, I did everything that I said I was going to do. Yet in this thing, in this instance, you did not believe the Lord your God. If you would turn over to Psalm 78, look in verse 22. Over and over, Scripture records that here were a people of no faith. And Psalm 72 or Psalm 78 it is, and verse 22, the Word of God says this, because they believed not God and trusted not in his salvation.

[John Weaver] And then one last passage, Hebrews chapter 3, because even the New Testament writes concerning this ungodly act of the children of Israel. In the book of Hebrews chapter 3, note if you would please, Beginning there with verse 18. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 18. And to whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest look carefully, but to them that believed not. And then in chapter 4 and verse 2. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, note, but the word preached did not profit them. Why?

[John Weaver] Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. In other words, once again, here's a way of saying they did not believe.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to try to picture this. God has sovereignly, powerfully, providentially brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. They have seen their enemies destroyed. They've seen the Red Sea open. They've seen His marvelous provision. They've already fought Sihon and Og. They've defeated them totally. They've conquered all their lands. And here they are now in sight of what God promised them. Look at that. They would not believe.

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you something, folks. I understand that it's difficult at times to walk by faith because we're creatures of sight. It is difficult to walk by faith at times, but may I point out the fact that this particular instance, these people were not even walking by faith. They were walking by sight. It was there in front of them. They saw the fruition and yet they did not believe. Now let me tell you something. When people see the plain fulfillment of God's word and the clear evidence of his promise and still refuse to believe, it just demonstrates the wickedness and the depravity of the human heart.

[John Weaver] They have seen the fruits of Canaan. They had heard the reports of the faithful spies. They had the promises of God. They even knew the promises that God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In light of all this, they still refused to believe. Instead, they preferred to believe the lies, the untruths, and the misrepresentations given them by the unfaithful spies.

[John Weaver] Now, before I go any further, I want to make some applications because scripture says they disbelieved. They did not believe God. What kind of applications can we make for our lives in this day and time? Well, first of all, let me put it like this. To disbelieve that God is true. And to disbelieve that God cannot lie. is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God. I want you to turn in your Bibles and look at Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 18. Hebrews 6 and verse 18. Note, if you would please, Scripture says that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. One of the immutable, that is, unalterable, unchangeable truths is it is impossible for God to lie. Do you realize Scripture calls God a God of truth and without iniquity? But when you and I disbelieve God, and choose to believe sight, feelings, the reports of others, in actuality, we're saying that God is untrue, that God is a liar.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you another passage because this might throw some light on it. Look in Revelation 21, if you would, and verse 8. Revelation 21 and verse 8. The Bible here describes those individuals who will perish in the lake of fire and brimstone, and here the word of God says, but the fearful and the unbelieving, the abominable and the murderers and the whoremongers and the sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now, what about this phrase, and all liars?

[John Weaver] Well, it is true that lying is a sin if you owe someone the truth. But when the Bible says, and all liars, I believe the context primarily refers to those who make God a liar. And God says, you are the liar, for you are lying against me. You refuse to believe me. You refuse to believe my word. And therefore, you shall be punished for your brashness and your wickedness in making me a liar. You see, folks, to disbelieve God is to say that he's not a God of truth. It is in essence to call God a liar. It is indeed a serious sin and a dishonoring provocation to God when we refuse to believe the word of God.

[John Weaver] The second application is this. I want you to see the exceeding wickedness of the flesh. I want you to understand something about the evil nature or the flesh. That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory. What did they bring back? They brought back the fruits of Canaan. They brought back grapes. They were so large and so delicious and so heavy, they had to carry it on a pole between two men. The two faithful spies gave a good report.

[John Weaver] It's the lamb that flows with milk and honey. There were other fruits there. And I want you to understand what the flesh did. The flesh allowed those people to see the fruits. They had it within their grasp. It was there. But it stopped them. from getting the victory. We're not going to fight for it. We're not going to work for it. It's too much trouble. You see, that's exactly what our flesh does.

[John Weaver] Some of us lay back at night and dream of losing 20 pounds. Oh, we want to lose 20 pounds, and we determine to lose 20 pounds until that ice cream and cake is put in front of us. And then all of a sudden, my dream is shattered because my flesh likes the ice cream too much. You follow what I'm saying? That's flesh. Let me tell you, do you realize if I were to say, alright men, we're going to get up in the morning at 4 o'clock and we're going on a deep sea fishing trip because Tom knows the place where we can load the boat down, but we've got to leave at 4 o'clock in order to get there and catch the fish. I guarantee you, every man in this room that likes to fish and would like to catch fish or would like to go fishing, they'd be up at 4 o'clock. They'd be ready to go at 4 o'clock.

[John Weaver] In fact, the truth of the matter is, you'd probably wake up at 1, 2, 3, because you'd be so excited you couldn't sleep. But if I say, all right, men, we're going to meet here in the morning at four o'clock and pray until six o'clock. Isn't it strange that you just can't seem to get up?

[John Weaver] Now, you see what I'm saying? Your flesh is going to cooperate with you as long as it's not holy and spiritual and right. I want you to turn, I didn't quote it, but I want you to see it. Look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. You know, this is a truth that we need to have pounded into our minds. Look in Romans 8 verse 7. In fact, let's begin reading verse 6.

[John Weaver] God says to be carnally minded or fleshly minded is death. but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Now watch. Because the carnal mind or the fleshly mind is enmity against God. And the word enmity is a strong word for hatred. Let me read it like that. Because the fleshly mind is hatred against God, it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Man by nature, in and of himself, cannot do one thing to please God. And when God saves you, the truth of the matter is the principle of your flesh does not change. It is true you're a new man. It is true now you are to have power over your flesh through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. But the evil principle is still there in one sense of the word, that is, in the flesh.

[John Weaver] That's why I turn right over to Romans chapter 13 and verse 14. Look what the Scripture says. Romans 13, verse 14. But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ. and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof." What's he saying? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.

[John Weaver] Now, it's very simple, folks. What is true in the physical realm is true in the spiritual realm. If I want to lose weight, my wife better not be bringing home donuts and ice cream from the store. Because just as surely she sets them in front of me, inevitably, invariably, I'm going to sneak, well, I'm going to just take one. And you know what just taking one is going to do? It's going to lead to a second, it's going to lead to a third one, etc. You see, what you say, well, I'm going to sin just a little. I'm going to satisfy my flesh just a little.

[John Weaver] It always leads to more and more and more. That's why I said put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians chapter 3 and look at verse 5. Then we're going to turn back to the book of Galatians. But Colossians chapter 3. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 3. Notice if you would please verse 5. Look what God says.

[John Weaver] Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Tornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. What in the world does the word mortify mean? Kill or make dead. That's where we get the word mortician from. He works with dead folks. Literally what God is saying is these fleshly desires are to be killed. You say, well how in the world are they to be killed?

[John Weaver] Look back in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 5. at verses 6 and 7. Galatians 5, I'm sorry, it's verse 16 and 17. Galatians 5 verse 16. This I say, says the Apostle Paul, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now look for the flesh lusted against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. Isn't that interesting? He says, if you really want to subdue your flesh, you learn to walk in the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit means that you obey the Word of God. Help me out with this one. As great as the Apostle Paul was, he still had troubles. And what did he say in 1 Corinthians? I die how often? Daily. I wish that I could die once and for all to my flesh and it would be over with. But the truth of the matter is, I have to mortify and I have to die daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes for a few minutes, if I'm going to walk in the Spirit and have victory in that sense of the word.

[John Weaver] So our flesh is always willing to let us see the fruits of victory. But it'll stop us from getting the true victory if we give in to it. Here's the third one. I want you to see the exceeding, and it should be exceedingly evident by now, that men will not believe except by supernatural work of grace. No amount of evidence is going to make a man believe.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something. If evidence was going to make somebody believe and have faith in God, what do you think the destruction of Pharaoh and his army should have done? What do you think the parting of the Red Sea should have done? What do you think the defeat of Sihon and Olam should have done? What do you think the gracious provision of God would have done? They had evidence aplenty. And let me tell you something, when you try to convert someone by convincing them by a preponderance of evidence that Christianity is true, you're wasting your time. Christianity is true, but people are not converted by evidence, they're converted by the grace of God.

[John Weaver] What did he say in Ephesians 2.89? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, if faith is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So it's not evidence that converts people, it's grace. I want you to turn in your Bibles because I want you to see this in Luke chapter 16. You know the story that our Lord told about the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man died and went to hell.

[John Weaver] And lifted up his eyes to Abraham being in torments. And he said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus and may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame. So Lazarus went to hell and not Lazarus, but the rich man went to hell and Lazarus went into Abraham's bosom. Now, that's not the point that I want to deal with, but look, if you would please, And verse 25 and Abraham said, Son, remember that down by a lifetime received by good things and likewise ladders, evil things.

[John Weaver] But now he is comforted in our torment. And besides all this, there's a great between us and you. There's a great gulf fix. So they which cannot so that they which would pass from his to you cannot. Neither can they pass to us that would come from this. Then he said, look what he says. I pray thee, therefore, Father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come to this place of torment."

[John Weaver] Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." What is Abraham saying? They have the Word of God. The Word of God is being preached. Let them hear the Word of God. He responds in verse 30, and he says, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. In other words, if they see a supernatural miracle, surely they'll repent. And he, Abraham, said, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and look how many still disbelieve.

[John Weaver] It's not evidence that people need. It's grace and mercy.

[John Weaver] Fourthly, I want you to understand and see the propensity of natural men, of unsaved men, to believe anything and anyone over and above the Word of God. Here were two faithful spies, ten unfaithful spies. The multitudes had the Word of God. They had the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had the report of the two faithful spies. And in light of all the evidence, They chose to believe the lies of men more than the Word of God.

[John Weaver] I'm going to tell you something, folks. If I'm preaching the Word of God here, and next door there's a noted atheist giving a lecture, men will believe him far quicker than they'll believe me. Because of the evilness and the wickedness of their heart. Let me tell you something, folks. People do not want to acknowledge God. Why? To acknowledge God means that you must acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you're responsible, that you're accountable, that you will be judged. Who wants to be judged? Who wants to be condemned? So what humans do is they'd rather deny God and believe a lie rather than the truth of God. And so God says they despised, and their despisement was followed by disbelief.

[John Weaver] Now, go back to Psalm 106. Look at verse 25, because here's the third sin mentioned, and that's disobedience. It says, But they murmured in their tents and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, it should be evident by now that anyone who despises God and disbelieves God, the next step is disobedience. In fact, let me go ahead and say this. Despisement and disbelief and disobedience are sins in and of themselves. Why? 1 John 3 and verse 23 says this, and this is His commandment. that we believe on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is His commandment. So when people disbelieve, they're automatically sinning and despising, and disobedience is the next step. Now, I want you to look at verse 25. Here's a very important word, and I want to develop it. "...but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord." You see, one of our problems today is that when we hear a word, we put a modern-day interpretation upon it. If I were to say, hark, or did you harken to that call? You would think I'm asking you, did you hear me?

[John Weaver] But the word hearken means far more than an audible reception of vibrations that go forth from my mouth. Let me show you. The word hearken is the word shema. It literally means to hear intelligently, to obey, to be obedient.

[John Weaver] Now go back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. Let me show you the classic passage. 1 Samuel 15. Everyone should know this story. This is where God sends King Saul on a journey, on a mission, to kill all the Amalekites. God says, kill them all, men, women, boys, girls, children, suckling, ox, ass, God said kill everything. But you know the story how Saul and the people spared Agag the king and the best of the sheep and the best of the oxen And would not utterly destroy them. But everything that was vile and refused that, they destroyed. So Samuel starts coming to Saul, Samuel the prophet. And when Saul sees him, he says, Blessed be thou, the Lord. I have performed all the commandments of the Lord.

[John Weaver] And about that time, something went bad. And Samuel asked, What then meaneth the blading of the sheep, and the lowering of the oxen in my ear?" Saul, if you'd obey God, I shouldn't be hearing anything. Everything should be dead. And Saul responded, look if you would please, in verse 21, 1 Samuel 15. Saul responded, but the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, that sheep of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. So he says, the people now, they spared him and the only reason they spared him, we were going to sacrifice them unto God. Now look what Samuel says to Saul in verse 22. And Samuel said, have the Lord his great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Now watch, behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fad of rants. Then he explains why.

[John Weaver] For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, What was the penalty for witchcraft in the Bible? Death. For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is its iniquity and idolatry. What was the penalty for idolatry? Death. So he says, rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is its iniquity and idolatry. Because I was rejected the word of the Lord, he had also rejected me from being king.

[John Weaver] Now, let's go back to verse 22. And Samuel said, have the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now what he's saying is this, what God wants is obedience. Now watch the latter part of this verse. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.

[John Weaver] Now here's the same Hebrew word, Shema, and to hearken is better than that of Rams. Now, all of us understand this first point. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. So let's say here are five bullets and here you stand. Had God rather have your obedience or the sacrifice of those five bullets? Someone answer that. Your obedience, that's plain enough. But what does it mean when he says, and the hearken is better than the fad of rams? You see, the fad of rams was the chiefest part of the sacrifice, and the fad of rams was always consumed and offered to God in the burnt offerings. What does that mean? That means to obey and to hearken are synonymous. They're one in the same thing. When he says to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the cheap part of sacrifice, to hear intelligently and to obey, he is saying, is the best thing that you can give God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me put it like this. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he heeds the Word of God. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God. Augustine, one of the early church fathers, said it like this. He said, I heard the Gospel all my life, and then one day I heard it. What does he mean? He obeyed Him. He really, genuinely heard it.

[John Weaver] Now, let me very quickly take you and show you some negative passages where this word hearken is used. And then I'm going to show you some positive passages, because I want to demonstrate that to hearken means to obey. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of Exodus, chapter 4. Here are negative passages with the same Hebrew word, just so you can see that what it means in a negative sense is to disobey. It's not just a refusal to hear, it is a refusal to obey. Exodus chapter 4 verse 1, And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice. That is, obey my voice.

[John Weaver] For they will say, The Lord has not appeared unto thee. So he's giving some objections to God, saying the people won't obey me. They don't know who I am. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 8. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the voice of the latter sign. Look, if you would, in verse 9. And it shall come to pass that they will not believe also in these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that is, obey thy voice.

[John Weaver] Then thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land." So he said, if they won't hearken, that is, obey the first signs, here's another sign. So the word hearken has to mean obey. Look in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 4. Exodus 7 verse 4. In fact, read verse 3 just so you can see the context. God said, And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgment. What's he saying? But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you. Did Pharaoh listen audibly to Moses? Yes. Moses stood in front of him and told him every plague that God was going to send. But did Pharaoh obey? No. The word hearken means to obey.

[John Weaver] Look in Leviticus 26. Here it is used now in connection with the law of God. Leviticus 26, beginning there with verse 14. Look what God says. Leviticus 26, verse 14. But if you will not hearken unto me and will not do all these commandments. Did you hear what I just read? But if you will not hearken unto me and do all these commandments. Look in verse 18. And if you will not yet for all this hearken unto me, that is, obey me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. Verse 21. And if you walk contrary unto me and will not hearken, that is, will not obey me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. Look in verse 27. And if you will not for all this hearken unto me, but will walk contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you also in fury. So God says, The word Harkin means to obey now very quickly.

[John Weaver] Go back to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Let me just show you the same word used positively. We won't take too much time here, but look at it. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Beginning there with verse 1. Here's the same word used positively speaking. Deuteronomy 4 verse 1 God says now therefore Harkin O Israel, under the statutes and of the judgments which I teach you, for what? To do them, that you may live and go on to possess the land which the Lord your God, God of your fathers, giveth you. Now God said, I want you to hear intelligently. Why? That you may do them. So you don't really hearken, you don't really hear intelligently until you obey. Look in Deuteronomy 7 and verse 12. Deuteronomy 7 verse 12. Deuteronomy 7 verse 12. Wherefore, it shall come to pass, if you hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy of which ye swear unto thy fathers. So hearing intelligently, is equal to obedience. Look in Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13.

[John Weaver] Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13. Deuteronomy 11, verse 13.

[John Weaver] And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments, which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Did you hear that? It shall come to pass, if you hear intelligently and obey, says God, then I'm going to do this and this for you. Look in Deuteronomy 15 and verse 5. Deuteronomy 15 and verse 5. Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord by God to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day." Isn't that amazing? If thou carefully hearken.

[John Weaver] Let me show you this one. Look in Deuteronomy 18. This one should be extremely interesting to you. Deuteronomy 18, verse 15. is a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 18 verse 50, look what Moses says, the Lord by God will raise up a prophet unto thee, like unto me, out of the midst of thee, by brethren, like unto me, unto him you shall hearken. Now Moses says God's going to raise up a prophet out of your brethren, unto him You shall hearken according to all that thou desires of the Lord by God and more of in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord, my God, neither let me

[John Weaver] see that great fire anymore that I die not. God said you requested a mediator. I won't give you one. And the Lord said unto me, They have spoken, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. Watch, and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require of him." What's God saying? God said, I'm going to put my words in the mouth of my prophet, that is, Jesus Christ. And the people that will not hear Him intelligently and obey Him, I'm going to require them, I'm going to judge them. What did our Lord Himself say in Luke 6 and verse 46? Why called ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say unto you? In other words, to hear the Word of God is indeed to obey the Word of God.

[John Weaver] I'm not going to keep going, but all you've got to do is read Deuteronomy 28, where God gives the blessings and the curses. He uses the word hearken over and over.

[John Weaver] Now, look back, if you would please, to Psalm 106. I hope I've established this one principle, that to hear the Word of God means that you obey the Word of God. Let me put it to you black and white. Simple as I can. If you sit here and tell me that you have heard the Word of God. And you walk out these doors and do not obey the Word of God. You've just demonstrated that you've never heard the Word of God.

[John Weaver] You see, here's what so many people do. They come. They sit. They listen. They get up. They walk out. And what they have heard never changes their lives. Never affects them. They never bring their life into conformity to the Word of God. They just go on the way they always have. Have they heard the Word of God? No. No. I don't care what sin is being dealt with. I don't care what truth is being dealt with. God expects you. That's not the word I should use. God demands that you make application of that truth to your life and bring your life into conformity to the Word of God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you something. Look back in your Bible to Psalm 106 and verse 25. They despised, they disbelieved, they disobeyed. What was one of the evidences that they disobeyed? Not just simply the fact that they would not go into Canaan land as they were directed to go, but look in verse 25, but murmured in their tents and hearken not to the voice of the Lord instead of obeying God.

[John Weaver] They sat around and believed and complained and murdered. Look in your Bibles, go back to Numbers chapter 14, because that is the historical account from Psalm 106. Look in Numbers chapter 14, verse 2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said of them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, would God that we had died in this wilderness. By the way, that should lead us to believe we better be careful as to how we complain against God.

[John Weaver] He might just give us what we are complaining about. Look in verse 27. You'll see it again. Numbers 14, verse 27. God asks, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I've heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Verse 29, Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upwards, which have murmured against me.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a very important point. We try to stress this to our children. And we never think about it in relationship to our Heavenly Father. But have not we all taught our children, and if we haven't, we should have, this simple principle. That delayed obedience is disobedience. What were those Israelites supposed to have been doing? They were supposed to have been marching into that land and conquering it.

[John Weaver] But yet, instead of that, they were delaying and sitting there and complaining and murmuring and belly aching and saying, wish we were back in Egypt. Now a little bit later when God rebuked them and told them he's going to kill every one of them because of that, oh yeah, some of them got their swords and said, well, we're going to go right now. We're going to go take the victory. Moses said, you better not go because you're going to be defeated because God's not with you. Delayed obedience is disobedience. What I mean, when you hear the truth from the Word of God and you say, I know God's Word is right, I know things are wrong in my life, I know things ought to be corrected, I know things ought to be made right, but...

[John Weaver] I'll deal with that next week. That's disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. You see, what God demands of each of us is an active, willing, prompt obedience. He does not expect or demand from us a sulky, complaining, murmuring disobedience. This is not a message on murmuring, but have you ever thought about why we murmur? Why we complain? I'll give you three quick answers, certainly this does not exhaust the list, but one of them is because we do not have what other people have.

[John Weaver] Well, I don't have as much as Dr. Holmes. I don't have as much as Al. I can't do what Doc does. I can't do what Roy does. See? A second reason is because sometimes we endure what we think is more afflictions than others. And therefore we charge God with inequality and dealing unfairly with us. I got news for you folks. I don't care how badly you're suffering. And I don't care how much you're afflicted.

[John Weaver] If you will look around, inevitably you will always find someone worse than you are. And you will learn to be thankful that God has not dealt with you according to your sins nor according to your iniquities. That's one of the reasons we complain. And a third reason is because things don't go the way we planned them. They don't go the way we desire them to go. And we can't do what we want to do. And so we complain and murmur against the providence of God. We fail to consider that God is absolutely sovereign.

[John Weaver] And He does in our lives that which is for our good and for His glory. I want you to turn to Matthew 20. I can quote this passage, but I want you to see it. In Matthew chapter 20, the Lord gives a parable about the man who went out and hired some workers at the beginning of the day and agreed with them for a penny a day. Nine o'clock he went out and found others standing idle in the marketplace.

[John Weaver] He said, you go to work and I'll pay you that which is right. Twelve o'clock he found more. He said to me, you go to work and I'll pay you that which is right. 3 o'clock, he found more. He sent them in. 5 o'clock, one hour before quitting time, he found some more. He sent them in. He said, whatever is right, this one will pay you.

[John Weaver] Now, look if you would. Matthew 20, beginning there with verse 8. So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, Call the laborers and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And they that came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. So the man that went to work at five o'clock got as much money as the man who had been working since six o'clock that morning. But when the first came, look now, they supposed that they should have received more. And they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us who have borne the burden in the heat of the day. And he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

[John Weaver] Take that thine is, and go thy way. I will give unto this last even as of thee.

[John Weaver] Now look what he says. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is not I evil because I am good? Suppose I had a thousand bucks in my pocket today. I don't, but suppose I did. And I gave 500 to Don. Gave 300 to George. 200 down.

[John Weaver] I didn't owe him any money now, I just gave it to him. Is Al going to get mad at me and say that? Dirty low-down rascal. He gave Don 500, he only gave me 200. He gave George 3, he only gave me 2. Is George going to get upset and say, well, bless God, at least I got more now, but he didn't give me as much as he gave Don. I don't owe any one of them anything. The fact that I gave them anything is grace.

[John Weaver] You see what I'm saying? Why cannot they be thankful for what they did get rather than complain for what they haven't gotten? That's what our Lord is saying. I can give to whomever I want to give. I can do with what I will with mine own. You have money. You don't want anybody telling you how to spend your money. Well, don't get upset if God doesn't consult you on how He gives out His gifts and His graces and His providence. That's entirely up to Him.

[John Weaver] And if we understand that, it'll cut down on our murmuring. Now, I want to show you one last thing. I want you to look back to Psalm 106. Because here's an important principle that needs to be exercised and understood. I want you to watch this. The people have despised God. They disbelieved God. They disobeyed God. and they sat there and murdered. Meliach complained. What was God's response to this? Look in verse 26.

[John Weaver] Therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them in the wilderness. To overthrow their seed also among the nations and to scatter them in the land. Now, it's very interesting. He lifted up his hand against them. What in the world does that mean? Does that mean instantaneous judgment? Not necessarily. In fact, if you'll go back in your Bibles very quickly to Genesis chapter 14, you'll see what the lifting up of the hand means. Genesis 14. Genesis 14, and notice if you would please verse 22. We'll compare this with Exodus chapter 6. Genesis 14 verse 22, and Abraham said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, the Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to the shoe latchet of that And I will not take anything that is thine, lest

[John Weaver] thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich. Now look what he said, I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord. The lifting up of the hand means that he is swearing unto the Lord. He's taking an oath. Now, look in Exodus chapter 6 and verse 8. Exodus chapter 6, verse 8. Look what God says,"...and I will bring you into the land concerning which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for an heritage, I am the Lord." God lifted up His hand to Abraham and said, I'm going to give you a land. He swore to Abraham. Did you know the Bible says in the book of Hebrews,"...and because God could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself same." You remember those two immutable things in Hebrews chapter 6? One of them was that God cannot lie. The other is that once God swears, He does not change. Now, when you go back to Psalm 106, when God lifts up His hand, He is now swearing that He will destroy them.

[John Weaver] Did He destroy them instantly? No. Some He did, but it took 40 years for their carcasses to fall in the wilderness.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you something that you may have overlooked. If you look back to verse 26, verse 25 says it like this, Therefore He lifted up His hand against them to overthrow whom? To overthrow whom? What's the next word? Them. That is, those existing people. Those who were alive right then and there, right? He said, I'm swearing against you right now. I'm going to overthrow you in this wilderness. Then look at verse 26. Or verse 27. To overthrow whom?

[John Weaver] So God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps, who likewise will despise, disbelieve, and disobey the Word of God. He said, and I will scatter them in the lands and overthrow their seed. among the nations, which he did to Judah and Israel. Not only does the curse of God come upon this generation, but also the future generations of those who despise and disbelieve and disobey. What does the Bible say that God does? He punishes the iniquity unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate him.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. Very simple answer. You don't even have to turn in your scriptures. Here's my question. Does God change? No. Immutability is an attribute of God. Malachi 3.6, I, the Lord, change not. Well, if God does not change, here is my question. Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes. God will not only curse us, but our children, and our children's children, and our children's children's children, for our despisement, our disbelief, and our disobedience. Which means this, If we want to help our nation, if we want to help our families, each of us need to learn to be as obedient and as holy and as godly as we can be by the grace of God. For He said in 1 Samuel 2 in verse 30, them that honor Me will I honor, saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] But those that despise me shall be likely astained." God says, you don't think much of me? I won't think too much of you. I don't know about you, but I'd rather honor Him and obey Him. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful today for Jesus Christ, for the truth of Scripture. Lord, how we Have committed these same sins. We despise thee because we murmured and complained that your providence. We disbelieved your promise. We disobeyed your word. But father, we ask for repentance. We ask for faith. And we ask Lord that you make us obedient, but Lord, that you also make us instantly obedient. That we learn the truth that delayed obedience is disobedience. Enable us, Father, to serve Thee effectively with reverence and godly fear. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen and Amen.

[John Weaver] This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, You may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 ABRCORN, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N STREET, suite 705, PMB 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-925-7000.

[John Weaver] You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 11 of 16

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	11709150157
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession
Genre	Sermon
Date	2000-07-30
Dictation Name
Book	Book 053: The Hallelujah of Confession — Chapter 11
Source Timed Segments	92

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver introduces the passage (Psalm 106:24-27) and reviews previous points: the psalm is a hallelujah confession, and the specific sins covered so far include ignorance, ingratitude, unfaithfulness, impatience, envy, insurrection, idolatry, and insolence. He recaps last week's focus on despising the pleasant land.

And we are dealing with the topic, the hallelujah confession. We're trying to deal with it expositionally. And we are today down to verse 24 through 27. This is actually message number 11. So let's look in Psalm 106 and let's read verse 24.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 106:24-27

"Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands."

You remember, I told you the word hallelujah, of course, means praise the Lord. And this is the first song that introduces itself with "praise ye the Lord" or hallelujah. And the song deals with confession of sin. And of course, the first five verses give us four reasons why the psalmist invites us to praise the Lord. And verse six gives a general confession when he says, "We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly." I told you that we've sinned in our fathers seminally, we've sinned in them imputatively, we've sinned in them representatively, we've sinned in them nationally, and we've sinned in them actually.

And then when you come down to verse seven, you have the first two of the specific sins. That is, ignorance and ingratitude. Skipping down to verse 13, you have the next two specific sins, unfaithfulness and impatience. And then verse 16, the next two specific sins, envy and insurrection. And then verse 19, the next two specific sins, idolatry and insolence.

Now, last week, we actually began with verse 24, "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word." And I only dealt with the phrase, "Yea, they despised the pleasant land." May I remind you that the whole point of this series is to demonstrate that the sins of the fathers are still with us today. We sin in principle in exactly the same way that our fathers have sinned. The circumstances may have changed. The situation may have changed, but the principles certainly have not. I dealt with the word "despised" in verse 24, and it literally means to spurn or to treat contemptuously or to loathe or to absolutely hate. And of course, God asked the people in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 6. "Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise?" In other words, everything that God had done for them, they then turn around and literally despised him.

Four Ways We Despise God's Provision

Weaver reviews four ways Israel despised God: looking at circumstances instead of Christ, looking at multitudes instead of God's mercy, listening to wickedness instead of the Word, and looking through eyes of fear instead of faith.

Now, last time we met, I gave you four ways in which we despise God and his gracious provision. The first way was going back to Numbers 13, and that was looking at circumstances instead of Christ, because we took the historical account of Psalm 106, verses 24 through 27, and that historical account was Numbers 13 and 14, and I dealt with looking at circumstances instead of Christ, because there the spies saw the Amalekites, and they saw the giants, and they saw the walled cities. And, of course, I pointed out how Scripture teaches Christ was indeed in the Old Testament and saw in 1 Corinthians 10 says the rock that followed them was Christ. And then secondly, I pointed out that they were guilty and despised not only by looking at circumstances, but by looking at the multitudes instead of God's mercy. Numbers 13 verse 39.

Boy, they begin to name the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and all these multitudes that were against them. And I pointed out the fact over and over in Scripture, God says that we're not to fear the multitudes. We're not to fear the greatness of the enemy. And of course, the Word of God says in Proverbs 29 and verse 25, that

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 29:25

"the fear of man bringeth a snare."

And then the third way that we despise the way they did is listening to wickedness instead of the word. What did the people do? They listened to the evil report of the wicked spies rather than the word of God. And then, of course, lastly, I pointed out, we look through the eyes of fear instead of through the eyes of faith. And, of course, the people finally says, "Are not the children or the sons of Anak? Are they not the giants?" And of course, the people were desperately afraid. And Scripture says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

And then I made some applications. So here is despisement and four ways they despised and exactly four ways that we despise. Now, let's begin today with verse 24 and take up the second point. "Yea, they despised the pleasant land. They believed not his word." So the second sin mentioned here is disbelief. So you have despisement and disbelief. However, there is a third sin mentioned in verse 25, which I'll deal with in just a moment, "but murmured in their tents and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord." Hearkened not, that is, they were disobedient. So you have despisement, you have disbelief, and you have disobedience. Now, may I point out the fact that despisement always leads to disbelief and disobedience.

The Sin of Disbelief

Weaver introduces the second sin in verse 24: 'they believed not his word.' He shows from Numbers 14, Deuteronomy 1, Psalm 78, and Hebrews 3-4 that Israel's unbelief was a persistent sin despite clear evidence of God's faithfulness.

When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, you're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together. So he who despises God will certainly disbelieve God, and he who disbelieves God will certainly disobey God. So let's go back to verse 24 and take this second point. "Yea, they despised the pleasant land. They believed not his word."

Now, I want to take you through the Scriptures very quickly and show you concisely how over and over this sin is charged against the people. Let's begin by going back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. That is the historical account of this passage in Psalm 106. And let's begin reading there with verse 20. Numbers chapter 14 and verse 20. Numbers 14 and look if you would please at verse 20. The Word of God says, "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Now look what God says, "Because all those men which have

seen my glory, and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened unto my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it."

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:20-37

"Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcases shall fall in this wilderness." "And all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise." "I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord."

So here then was the whole historical account of how the people despised and disbelieved God. Now if you'll turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 1. Very quickly, let me show you several of the passages, Deuteronomy chapter 1 and begin there with verse 29. Deuteronomy 1 verse 29, and we'll read through verse 32. Deuteronomy 1 verse 29. "Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them."

"The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God." What is God saying? I brought you out, I did everything that I said I was going to do. Yet in this thing, in this instance, you did not believe the Lord your God. If you would turn over to Psalm 78, look in verse 22. Over and over, Scripture records that here were a people of no faith. And Psalm 78 it is, and verse 22, the Word of God says this, "Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation."

And then one last passage, Hebrews chapter 3, because even the New Testament writes concerning this ungodly act of the children of Israel. In the book of Hebrews chapter 3, note if you would please, beginning there with verse 18. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 18. "And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?" And then in chapter 4 and verse 2. "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." In other words, once again, here's a way of saying they did not believe. Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. In other words, once again, here's a way of saying they did not believe.

Now, I want you to try to picture this. God has sovereignly, powerfully, providentially brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. They have seen their enemies destroyed. They've seen the Red Sea open. They've seen His marvelous provision. They've already fought Sihon and Og. They've defeated them totally. They've conquered all their lands. And here they are now in sight of what God promised them. Look at that. They would not believe.

Applications of Disbelief

Weaver draws four applications: (1) disbelief makes God a liar; (2) the flesh allows us to see victory's fruit but stops us from gaining it; (3) men will not believe except by grace; (4) natural men prefer lies over God's Word.

Now, before I go any further, I want to make some applications because Scripture says they disbelieved. They did not believe God. What kind of applications can we make for our lives in this day and time? Well, first of all, let me put it like this. To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God. I want you to turn in your Bibles and look at Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 18. Hebrews 6 and verse 18. Note, if you would please, Scripture says that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie. One of the immutable, that is, unalterable, unchangeable truths is it is impossible for God to lie. Do you realize Scripture calls God a God of truth and without iniquity? But when you and I disbelieve God, and choose to believe sight, feelings, the reports of others, in actuality, we're saying that God is untrue, that God is a liar.

Now let me show you another passage because this might throw some light on it. Look in Revelation 21, if you would, and verse 8. Revelation 21 and verse 8. The Bible here describes those individuals who will perish in the lake of fire and brimstone, and here the word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 21:8

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Now, what about this phrase, "and all liars"? Well, it is true that lying is a sin if you owe someone the truth. But when the Bible says, "and all liars," I believe the context primarily refers to those who make God a liar. And God says, you are the liar, for you are lying against me. You refuse to believe me. You refuse to believe my word. And therefore, you shall be punished for your brashness and your wickedness in making me a liar. You see, folks, to disbelieve God is to say that he's not a God of truth. It is in essence to call God a liar. It is indeed a serious sin and a dishonoring provocation to God when we refuse to believe the word of God.

The second application is this. I want you to see the exceeding wickedness of the flesh. I want you to understand something about the evil nature or the flesh. That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory. What did they bring back? They brought back the fruits of Canaan. They brought back grapes. They were so large and so delicious and so heavy, they had to carry it on a pole between two men. The two faithful spies gave a good report.

It's the land that flows with milk and honey. There were other fruits there. And I want you to understand what the flesh did. The flesh allowed those people to see the fruits. They had it within their grasp. It was there. But it stopped them from getting the victory. We're not going to fight for it. We're not going to work for it. It's too much trouble. You see, that's exactly what our flesh does.

Some of us lay back at night and dream of losing 20 pounds. Oh, we want to lose 20 pounds, and we determine to lose 20 pounds until that ice cream and cake is put in front of us. And then all of a sudden, my dream is shattered because my flesh likes the ice cream too much. You follow what I'm saying? That's flesh. Let me tell you, do you realize if I were to say, "Alright men, we're going to get up in the morning at 4 o'clock and we're going on a deep sea fishing trip because Tom knows the place where we can load the boat down, but we've got to leave at 4 o'clock in order to get there and catch the fish." I guarantee you, every man in this room that likes to fish and would like to catch fish or would like to go fishing, they'd be up at 4 o'clock. They'd be ready to go at 4 o'clock.

In fact, the truth of the matter is, you'd probably wake up at 1, 2, 3, because you'd be so excited you couldn't sleep. But if I say, "All right, men, we're going to meet here in the morning at four o'clock and pray until six o'clock." Isn't it strange that you just can't seem to get up? Now, you see what I'm saying? Your flesh is going to cooperate with you as long as it's not holy and spiritual and right. I want you to turn, I didn't quote it, but I want you to see it. Look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. You know, this is a truth that we need to have pounded into our minds. Look in Romans 8 verse 7. In fact, let's begin reading verse 6.

God says, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Now watch. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." And the word enmity is a strong word for hatred. Let me read it like that. Because the fleshly mind is hatred against God, it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Man by nature, in and of himself, cannot do one thing to please God. And when God saves you, the truth of the matter is the principle of your flesh does not change. It is true you're a new man. It is true now you are to have power over your flesh through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. But the evil principle is still there in one sense of the word, that is, in the flesh.

That's why I turn right over to Romans chapter 13 and verse 14. Look what the Scripture says. Romans 13, verse 14.

Scripture Reading — Romans 13:14

"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

What's he saying? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Now, it's very simple, folks. What is true in the physical realm is true in the spiritual realm. If I want to lose weight, my wife better not be bringing home donuts and ice cream from the store. Because just as surely she sets them in front of me, inevitably, invariably, I'm going to sneak, well, I'm going to just take one. And you know what just taking one is going to do? It's going to lead to a second, it's going to lead to a third one, etc. You see, what you say, "Well, I'm going to sin just a little. I'm going to satisfy my flesh just a little."

It always leads to more and more and more. That's why I said put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians chapter 3 and look at verse 5. Then we're going to turn back to the book of Galatians. But Colossians chapter 3. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 3. Notice if you would please verse 5. Look what God says.

"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." What in the world does the word mortify mean? Kill or make dead. That's where we get the word mortician from. He works with dead folks. Literally what God is saying is these fleshly desires are to be killed. You say, "Well how in the world are they to be killed?" Look back in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 5 at verses 16 and 17. Galatians 5 verse 16.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 5:16-17

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

Isn't that interesting? He says, if you really want to subdue your flesh, you learn to walk in the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit means that you obey the Word of God. Help me out with this one. As great as the Apostle Paul was, he still had troubles. And what did he say in 1 Corinthians? "I die daily.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 5:16-17

" I wish that I could die once and for all to my flesh and it would be over with. But the truth of the matter is, I have to mortify and I have to die daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes for a few minutes, if I'm going to walk in the Spirit and have victory in that sense of the word.

So our flesh is always willing to let us see the fruits of victory. But it'll stop us from getting the true victory if we give in to it. Here's the third one. I want you to see the exceeding, and it should be exceedingly evident by now, that men will not believe except by supernatural work of grace. No amount of evidence is going to make a man believe. Let me tell you something. If evidence was going to make somebody believe and have faith in God, what do you think the destruction of Pharaoh and his army should have done? What do you think the parting of the Red Sea should have done? What do you think the defeat of Sihon and Og should have done? What do you think the gracious provision of God would have done? They had evidence aplenty. And let me tell you something, when you try to convert someone by convincing them by a preponderance of evidence that Christianity is true, you're wasting your time. Christianity is true, but people are not converted by evidence, they're converted by the grace of God.

What did he say in Ephesians 2:8-9?

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 2:8-9

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

So it's not evidence that converts people, it's grace. I want you to turn in your Bibles because I want you to see this in Luke chapter 16. You know the story that our Lord told about the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man died and went to hell. And lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." So the rich man went to hell and Lazarus went into Abraham's bosom. Now, that's not the point that I want to deal with, but look, if you would please, in verse 25. "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented."

"And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." What is Abraham saying? They have the Word of God. The Word of God is being preached. Let them hear the Word of God. He responds in verse 30, and he says, "Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." In other words, if they see a supernatural miracle, surely they'll repent. And he said unto him, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and look how many still disbelieve.

It's not evidence that people need. It's grace and mercy. Fourthly, I want you to understand and see the propensity of natural men, of unsaved men, to believe anything and anyone over and above the Word of God. Here were two faithful spies, ten unfaithful spies. The multitudes had the Word of God. They had the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had the report of the two faithful spies. And in light of all the evidence, they chose to believe the lies of men more than the Word of God.

I'm going to tell you something, folks. If I'm preaching the Word of God here, and next door there's a noted atheist giving a lecture, men will believe him far quicker than they'll believe me. Because of the evilness and the wickedness of their heart. Let me tell you something, folks. People do not want to acknowledge God. Why? To acknowledge God means that you must acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you're responsible, that you're accountable, that you will be judged. Who wants to be judged? Who wants to be condemned? So what humans do is they'd rather deny God and believe a lie rather than the truth of God. And so God says they despised, and their despisement was followed by disbelief.

The Sin of Disobedience

Weaver explains that 'hearkened not' in verse 25 means disobedience, not mere failure to hear. He demonstrates from 1 Samuel 15 and other passages that the Hebrew word 'shema' implies intelligent hearing that results in obedience.

Now, go back to Psalm 106. Look at verse 25, because here's the third sin mentioned, and that's disobedience. It says, "But they murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord." Now, it should be evident by now that anyone who despises God and disbelieves God, the next step is disobedience. In fact, let me go ahead and say this. Despisement and disbelief and disobedience are sins in and of themselves. Why? 1 John 3 and verse 23 says this,

Scripture Reading — 1 John 3:23

"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ."

This is His commandment. So when people disbelieve, they're automatically sinning and despising, and disobedience is the next step. Now, I want you to look at verse 25. Here's a very important word, and I want to develop it. "...but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord." You see, one of our problems today is that when we hear a word, we put a modern-day interpretation upon it. If I were to say, "Hark," or "Did you hearken to that call?" you would think I'm asking you, "Did you hear me?"

But the word hearken means far more than an audible reception of vibrations that go forth from my mouth. Let me show you. The word hearken is the word shema. It literally means to hear intelligently, to obey, to be obedient.

Now go back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. Let me show you the classic passage. 1 Samuel 15. Everyone should know this story. This is where God sends King Saul on a journey, on a mission, to kill all the Amalekites. God says, "Kill them all, men, women, boys, girls, children, suckling, ox, ass." God said kill everything. But you know the story how Saul and the people spared Agag the king and the best of the sheep and the best of the oxen, and would not utterly destroy them. But everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed. So Samuel starts coming to Saul, Samuel the prophet. And when Saul sees him, he says, "Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord."

And about that time, something went bad. And Samuel asked,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:1-23

"What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

Saul, if you'd obeyed God, I shouldn't be hearing anything. Everything should be dead. And Saul responded, look if you would please, in verse 21, 1 Samuel 15. Saul responded,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:1-23

"But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal."

So he says, "The people now, they spared them and the only reason they spared them, we were going to sacrifice them unto God." Now look what Samuel says to Saul in verse 22.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:1-23

"And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

Then he explains why.

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." What was the penalty for witchcraft in the Bible? Death. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." What was the penalty for idolatry? Death. So he says, "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."

Now, let's go back to verse 22. "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" Now what he's saying is this, what God wants is obedience. Now watch the latter part of this verse. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice."

Now here's the same Hebrew word, Shema, "and to hearken than the fat of rams." Now, all of us understand this first point. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." So let's say here are five bullets and here you stand. Had God rather have your obedience or the sacrifice of those five bullets? Someone answer that. Your obedience, that's plain enough. But what does it mean when he says, "and to hearken than the fat of rams"? You see, the fat of rams was the chiefest part of the sacrifice, and the fat of rams was always consumed and offered to God in the burnt offerings. What does that mean? That means to obey and to hearken are synonymous. They're one and the same thing. When he says to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the chief part of sacrifice, to hear intelligently and to obey, he is saying, is the best thing that you can give God.

Now, let me put it like this. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he heeds the Word of God. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God. Augustine, one of the early church fathers, said it like this. He said, "I heard the Gospel all my life, and then one day I heard it." What does he mean? He obeyed Him. He really, genuinely heard it.

Now, let me very quickly take you and show you some negative passages where this word hearken is used. And then I'm going to show you some positive passages, because I want to demonstrate that to hearken means to obey. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of Exodus, chapter 4. Here are negative passages with the same Hebrew word, just so you can see that what it means in a negative sense is to disobey. It's not just a refusal to hear, it is a refusal to obey. Exodus chapter 4 verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice."

That is, obey my voice.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"For they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee."

So he's giving some objections to God, saying the people won't obey me. They don't know who I am. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 8.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign."

Look, if you would, in verse 9.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice,"

that is, obey thy voice. "That thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land." So he said, if they won't hearken, that is, obey the first signs, here's another sign. So the word hearken has to mean obey. Look in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 4. Exodus 7 verse 4. In fact, read verse 3 just so you can see the context. God said, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments." What's he saying? "But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you." Did Pharaoh listen audibly to Moses? Yes. Moses stood in front of him and told him every plague that God was going to send. But did Pharaoh obey? No. The word hearken means to obey.

Look in Leviticus 26. Here it is used now in connection with the law of God. Leviticus 26, beginning there with verse 14. Look what God says. Leviticus 26, verse 14.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments."

Did you hear what I just read?

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"But if ye will not hearken unto me, and do all these commandments."

Look in verse 18.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me,"

that is, obey me, "then I will punish you seven times more for your sins." Verse 21.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me,"

that is, will not obey me, "I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins." Look in verse 27.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury."

So God says, the word hearken means to obey. Now very quickly.

Go back to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Let me just show you the same word used positively. We won't take too much time here, but look at it. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Beginning there with verse 1. Here's the same word used positively speaking. Deuteronomy 4 verse 1. God says, "Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you." Now God said, I want you to hear intelligently. Why? That you may do them. So you don't really hearken, you don't really hear intelligently until you obey. Look in Deuteronomy 7 and verse 12. Deuteronomy 7 verse 12. "Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers." So hearing intelligently is equal to obedience. Look in Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13.

Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13. Deuteronomy 11, verse 13.

"And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." Did you hear that? "It shall come to pass, if ye hear intelligently and obey," says God, "then I'm going to do this and this for you." Look in Deuteronomy 15 and verse 5. Deuteronomy 15 and verse 5. "Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day." Isn't that amazing? "If thou carefully hearken." Let me show you this one. Look in Deuteronomy 18. This one should be extremely interesting to you. Deuteronomy 18, verse 15. This is a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 18 verse 15, look what Moses says, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." Now Moses says God's going to raise up a prophet out of your brethren, "unto him ye shall hearken." According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, "Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me

see this great fire any more, that I die not." God said you requested a mediator. I will give you one. "And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." What's God saying? God said, I'm going to put my words in the mouth of my prophet, that is, Jesus Christ. And the people that will not hear Him intelligently and obey Him, I'm going to require them, I'm going to judge them. What did our Lord Himself say in Luke 6 and verse 46? "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" In other words, to hear the Word of God is indeed to obey the Word of God.

I'm not going to keep going, but all you've got to do is read Deuteronomy 28, where God gives the blessings and the curses. He uses the word hearken over and over. Now, look back, if you would please, to Psalm 106. I hope I've established this one principle, that to hear the Word of God means that you obey the Word of God. Let me put it to you black and white. Simple as I can. If you sit here and tell me that you have heard the Word of God, and you walk out these doors and do not obey the Word of God, you've just demonstrated that you've never heard the Word of God.

Murmuring as Evidence of Disobedience

Weaver highlights that Israel murmured in their tents instead of obeying. He discusses reasons for murmuring: envy of others, perceived unfair afflictions, and thwarted plans. He uses Matthew 20 to illustrate God's sovereign right to distribute gifts.

You see, here's what so many people do. They come. They sit. They listen. They get up. They walk out. And what they have heard never changes their lives. Never affects them. They never bring their life into conformity to the Word of God. They just go on the way they always have. Have they heard the Word of God? No. No. I don't care what sin is being dealt with. I don't care what truth is being dealt with. God expects you—that's not the word I should use—God demands that you make application of that truth to your life and bring your life into conformity to the Word of God.

Now, let me show you something. Look back in your Bible to Psalm 106 and verse 25. They despised, they disbelieved, they disobeyed. What was one of the evidences that they disobeyed? Not just simply the fact that they would not go into Canaan land as they were directed to go, but look in verse 25, "but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord." Instead of obeying God. They sat around and murmured and complained. Look in your Bibles, go back to Numbers chapter 14, because that is the historical account from Psalm 106. Look in Numbers chapter 14, verse 2. "And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!" By the way, that should lead us to believe we better be careful as to how we complain against God.

He might just give us what we are complaining about. Look in verse 27. You'll see it again. Numbers 14, verse 27. God asks, "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me." Verse 29, "Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me."

Now, let me make a very important point. We try to stress this to our children. And we never think about it in relationship to our Heavenly Father. But have not we all taught our children, and if we haven't, we should have, this simple principle: that delayed obedience is disobedience. What were those Israelites supposed to have been doing? They were supposed to have been marching into that land and conquering it.

But yet, instead of that, they were delaying and sitting there and complaining and murmuring and belly aching and saying, "Wish we were back in Egypt." Now a little bit later when God rebuked them and told them he's going to kill every one of them because of that, oh yeah, some of them got their swords and said, "Well, we're going to go right now. We're going to go take the victory." Moses said, "You better not go because you're going to be defeated because God's not with you." Delayed obedience is disobedience. What I mean, when you hear the truth from the Word of God and you say, "I know God's Word is right, I know things are wrong in my life, I know things ought to be corrected, I know things ought to be made right, but..."

"I'll deal with that next week." That's disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. You see, what God demands of each of us is an active, willing, prompt obedience. He does not expect or demand from us a sulky, complaining, murmuring disobedience. This is not a message on murmuring, but have you ever thought about why we murmur? Why we complain? I'll give you three quick answers, certainly this does not exhaust the list, but one of them is because we do not have what other people have.

"Well, I don't have as much as Dr. Holmes. I don't have as much as Al. I can't do what Doc does. I can't do what Roy does." See? A second reason is because sometimes we endure what we think is more afflictions than others. And therefore we charge God with inequality and dealing unfairly with us. I got news for you folks. I don't care how badly you're suffering. And I don't care how much you're afflicted.

If you will look around, inevitably you will always find someone worse than you are. And you will learn to be thankful that God has not dealt with you according to your sins nor according to your iniquities. That's one of the reasons we complain. And a third reason is because things don't go the way we planned them. They don't go the way we desire them to go. And we can't do what we want to do. And so we complain and murmur against the providence of God. We fail to consider that God is absolutely sovereign.

And He does in our lives that which is for our good and for His glory. I want you to turn to Matthew 20. I can quote this passage, but I want you to see it. In Matthew chapter 20, the Lord gives a parable about the man who went out and hired some workers at the beginning of the day and agreed with them for a penny a day. Nine o'clock he went out and found others standing idle in the marketplace. He said, "You go to work and I'll pay you that which is right." Twelve o'clock he found more. He said to them, "You go to work and I'll pay you that which is right." Three o'clock, he found more. He sent them in. Five o'clock, one hour before quitting time, he found some more. He sent them in. He said, "Whatever is right, I will pay you."

Now, look if you would. Matthew 20, beginning there with verse 8. "So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?"

"Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee." Now look what he says. "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" Suppose I had a thousand bucks in my pocket today. I don't, but suppose I did. And I gave 500 to Don. Gave 300 to George. 200 to Al.

I didn't owe him any money now, I just gave it to him. Is Al going to get mad at me and say, "That dirty low-down rascal. He gave Don 500, he only gave me 200. He gave George 300, he only gave me 200." Is George going to get upset and say, "Well, bless God, at least I got more than Al, but he didn't give me as much as he gave Don." I don't owe any one of them anything. The fact that I gave them anything is grace. You see what I'm saying? Why cannot they be thankful for what they did get rather than complain for what they haven't gotten? That's what our Lord is saying. I can give to whomever I want to give. I can do what I will with mine own. You have money. You don't want anybody telling you how to spend your money. Well, don't get upset if God doesn't consult you on how He gives out His gifts and His graces and His providence. That's entirely up to Him.

God's Response: Lifting Up His Hand

Weaver explains that 'he lifted up his hand' means God swore an oath to overthrow Israel. He notes that judgment was not always immediate but extended to future generations, as seen in the scattering of Israel and Judah.

And if we understand that, it'll cut down on our murmuring. Now, I want to show you one last thing. I want you to look back to Psalm 106. Because here's an important principle that needs to be exercised and understood. I want you to watch this. The people have despised God. They disbelieved God. They disobeyed God. And they sat there and murmured and complained. What was God's response to this? Look in verse 26.

"Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands." Now, it's very interesting. He lifted up his hand against them. What in the world does that mean? Does that mean instantaneous judgment? Not necessarily. In fact, if you'll go back in your Bibles very quickly to Genesis chapter 14, you'll see what the lifting up of the hand means. Genesis 14. Genesis 14, and notice if you would please verse 22. We'll compare this with Exodus chapter 6. Genesis 14 verse 22, "And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest

thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich." Now look what he said, "I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord." The lifting up of the hand means that he is swearing unto the Lord. He's taking an oath. Now, look in Exodus chapter 6 and verse 8. Exodus chapter 6, verse 8. Look what God says, "And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord." God lifted up His hand to Abraham and said, "I'm going to give you a land." He swore to Abraham. Did you know the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, "And because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself"? You remember those two immutable things in Hebrews chapter 6? One of them was that God cannot lie. The other is that once God swears, He does not change. Now, when you go back to Psalm 106, when God lifts up His hand, He is now swearing that He will destroy them.

Did He destroy them instantly? No. Some He did, but it took 40 years for their carcases to fall in the wilderness. Now, let me show you something that you may have overlooked. If you look back to verse 26, verse 26 says it like this, "Therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow whom?" To overthrow whom? What's the next word? "Them." That is, those existing people. Those who were alive right then and there, right? He said, "I'm swearing against you right now. I'm going to overthrow you in this wilderness." Then look at verse 27. "To overthrow whom?"

So God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps, who likewise will despise, disbelieve, and disobey the Word of God. He said, "and I will scatter them in the lands and overthrow their seed among the nations," which he did to Judah and Israel. Not only does the curse of God come upon this generation, but also the future generations of those who despise and disbelieve and disobey. What does the Bible say that God does? He punishes the iniquity unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate him.

Application to Today and Conclusion

Weaver argues that because God does not change, He punishes the same sins today across generations. He urges believers to pursue holiness and prompt obedience, citing 1 Samuel 2:30, and closes with a prayer for repentance and instant obedience.

Now, let me ask you a question. Very simple answer. You don't even have to turn in your scriptures. Here's my question. Does God change? No. Immutability is an attribute of God. Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, I change not." Well, if God does not change, here is my question. Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes. God will not only curse us, but our children, and our children's children, and our children's children's children, for our despisement, our disbelief, and our disobedience. Which means this, if we want to help our nation, if we want to help our families, each of us need to learn to be as obedient and as holy and as godly as we can be by the grace of God. For He said in 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30, "Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lord."

"But they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." God says, you don't think much of me? I won't think too much of you. I don't know about you, but I'd rather honour Him and obey Him. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful today for Jesus Christ, for the truth of Scripture. Lord, how we have committed these same sins. We despise thee because we murmured and complained at thy providence. We disbelieved thy promise. We disobeyed thy word. But Father, we ask for repentance. We ask for faith. And we ask, Lord, that you make us obedient, but Lord, that you also make us instantly obedient. That we learn the truth that delayed obedience is disobedience. Enable us, Father, to serve Thee effectively with reverence and godly fear. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen and Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Interconnectedness of Sin

Summary: Despisement, disbelief, and disobedience are linked; one inevitably leads to the others.

Evidence: When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, you're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together.

The Wickedness of Unbelief

Summary: Unbelief is a serious sin that dishonors God by making Him a liar, and it stems from a depraved heart.

Evidence: To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God.

The Flesh Opposes Spiritual Victory

Summary: The flesh allows a person to see the fruits of victory but prevents them from actually obtaining it, requiring daily mortification.

Evidence: That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory.

Salvation by Grace, Not Evidence

Summary: People are not converted by evidence but by the supernatural work of God's grace.

Evidence: No amount of evidence is going to make a man believe... people are not converted by evidence, they're converted by the grace of God.

True Hearing is Obedience

Summary: The biblical concept of 'hearkening' means hearing intelligently with the intent to obey; without obedience, one has not truly heard.

Evidence: No one ever really hears the Word of God until he heeds the Word of God. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.

Delayed Obedience is Disobedience

Summary: God demands prompt, willing obedience; putting off obedience is itself disobedience.

Evidence: Delayed obedience is disobedience. What I mean, when you hear the truth from the Word of God and you say, 'I know God's Word is right... but... I'll deal with that next week.' That's disobedience.

Generational Consequences of Sin

Summary: God's judgment for sin can extend to future generations who follow in the same sins.

Evidence: God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps... He punishes the iniquity unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate him.

The Immutability of God

Summary: Because God does not change, He punishes the same sins today as He did in the past.

Evidence: Does God change? No. Immutability is an attribute of God... Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes.

Key Arguments

Despisement leads to disbelief and disobedience

Summary: The three sins are a package; despising God's provision inevitably results in not believing His word and not obeying His voice.

Evidence: Despisement always leads to disbelief and disobedience. When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, you're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together.

Unbelief makes God a liar

Summary: To disbelieve God is to call Him a liar, which is a grave sin provoking His judgment.

Evidence: To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God.

The flesh hinders spiritual progress

Summary: The flesh allows a person to see the benefits of obedience but prevents them from doing what is necessary to obtain them.

Evidence: That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory.

Faith is a gift of grace, not a result of evidence

Summary: No amount of miraculous evidence can produce saving faith; only God's grace can convert a sinner.

Evidence: If evidence was going to make somebody believe and have faith in God, what do you think the destruction of Pharaoh and his army should have done?... people are not converted by evidence, they're converted by the grace of God.

Biblical hearing implies obedience

Summary: The Hebrew word 'shema' means to hear intelligently with the purpose of obeying; thus, hearing without obedience is not true hearing.

Evidence: The word hearken is the word shema. It literally means to hear intelligently, to obey, to be obedient.

Delayed obedience is disobedience

Summary: Putting off obedience to God's Word is itself an act of disobedience, not a neutral delay.

God's judgment extends to future generations

Summary: God's oath to overthrow Israel included not only the current generation but also their descendants who would follow in the same sins.

Evidence: God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps, who likewise will despise, disbelieve, and disobey the Word of God.

God's character demands consistent judgment

Summary: Because God is immutable, He judges the same sins today in the same way, including generational consequences.

Evidence: If God does not change, here is my question. Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes.

Scripture References

Psalm 106:24-27

Context: The primary text of the sermon, describing Israel's despising of the land, unbelief, murmuring, and God's judgment.

Deuteronomy 32:6

Context: Quoted to show Israel's foolish requital of God's goodness.

Numbers 13-14

Context: The historical account behind Psalm 106:24-27, including the spies' report and the people's rebellion.

Proverbs 29:25

Context: Cited to warn against the fear of man.

Numbers 14:20-37

Context: Read extensively to show God's pardon and judgment on the unbelieving generation.

Deuteronomy 1:29-32

Context: Moses recounts Israel's unbelief despite God's past faithfulness.

Psalm 78:22

Context: Cited as another record of Israel's unbelief.

Hebrews 3:18-4:2

Context: New Testament commentary on Israel's unbelief and failure to enter God's rest.

Hebrews 6:18

Context: Used to establish that it is impossible for God to lie.

Revelation 21:8

Context: Cited to show that the 'fearful and unbelieving' and 'all liars' face the second death; interpreted as those who make God a liar.

Romans 8:6-8

Context: Explains the enmity of the carnal mind against God.

Romans 13:14

Context: Exhortation to make no provision for the flesh.

Colossians 3:5

Context: Command to mortify fleshly desires.

Galatians 5:16-17

Context: The conflict between the Spirit and the flesh, and the call to walk in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Context: Salvation by grace through faith, not of works.

Luke 16:19-31

Context: The rich man and Lazarus; used to argue that even a resurrection would not persuade those who reject Scripture.

1 John 3:23

Context: Command to believe on Jesus Christ, showing that unbelief is sin.

1 Samuel 15:1-23

Context: Saul's disobedience; used to define 'hearken' as obedience and to show that rebellion is as witchcraft.

Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

Context: Examples of 'hearken' used negatively to mean disobey.

Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

Context: Warnings of punishment for not hearkening (obeying) God's commandments.

Historical References

Israel's exodus and wilderness wanderings

Context: The historical backdrop of Psalm 106, including the Red Sea crossing, defeat of Sihon and Og, and the spies' report.

The twelve spies in Numbers 13-14

Context: Ten spies gave an evil report, causing the people to rebel; two faithful spies (Caleb and Joshua) gave a good report.

Destruction of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea

Context: Cited as evidence that should have produced faith but did not.

Augustine's conversion

Context: Quoted as saying, 'I heard the Gospel all my life, and then one day I heard it,' illustrating true hearing as obedience.

Scattering of Israel and Judah

Context: Fulfillment of God's oath to overthrow their seed among the nations.

Important Quotes

When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, you're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together.

Significance: Establishes the interconnected nature of despisement, disbelief, and disobedience.

To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God.

Significance: Highlights the gravity of unbelief as an affront to God's character.

That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory.

Significance: Illustrates how the flesh deceives believers into complacency.

No one ever really hears the Word of God until he heeds the Word of God. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.

Significance: Defines true biblical hearing as obedience.

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Significance: A concise principle emphasizing the urgency of obedience.

God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps, who likewise will despise, disbelieve, and disobey the Word of God.

Significance: Warns of generational consequences for sin.

If God does not change, here is my question. Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes.

Significance: Applies the immutability of God to contemporary judgment for sin.

Discussion Questions

How are despisement, disbelief, and disobedience connected in our own lives? Can you identify a time when one led to the others?

Context: Based on the sermon's point that these three sins stand or fall together.

In what ways do we 'make God a liar' by our unbelief, even as believers?

Context: From the application that disbelief is calling God untrue.

What are some 'fruits of victory' that your flesh allows you to see but prevents you from actually obtaining?

Context: Relating to the illustration of the flesh stopping short of victory.

Why is it tempting to rely on evidence or arguments to convince others of the faith, and how does this sermon challenge that approach?

Context: From the point that people are converted by grace, not evidence.

What does it mean to 'hearken' to God's Word in practical terms? How can we move from mere listening to obedient hearing?

Context: Based on the definition of shema as intelligent, obedient hearing.

Can you share an example of when delayed obedience was actually disobedience in your life? What were the consequences?

Context: From the principle that delayed obedience is disobedience.

How should the reality of generational consequences for sin affect our parenting and personal holiness?

Context: From the warning that God overthrows the seed of those who despise Him.

In what areas are you most prone to murmur against God's providence, and how can the parable of the laborers (Matthew 20) reshape your perspective?

Context: From the discussion on murmuring and God's sovereign generosity.

Applications

Repent of making God a liar through unbelief

Summary: Recognize that when we disbelieve God's promises or character, we are calling Him a liar, and we must repent of this serious sin.

Evidence: To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God.

Mortify the flesh daily

Summary: Actively put to death fleshly desires that hinder spiritual obedience, making no provision for the flesh.

Evidence: Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth... make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Rely on grace, not evidence, for faith

Summary: Understand that saving faith is a gift of God, not produced by intellectual arguments, and pray for grace for yourself and others.

Evidence: People are not converted by evidence, they're converted by the grace of God.

Practice prompt obedience

Summary: When you hear God's Word, obey it immediately; delayed obedience is disobedience.

Cease murmuring by trusting God's sovereignty

Summary: Instead of complaining about your circumstances or comparing with others, trust that God's distribution of gifts and providence is right and good.

Evidence: Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

Pursue holiness for the sake of future generations

Summary: Live obediently and honor God, knowing that your sin can bring judgment on your descendants, but your faithfulness can bring blessing.

Evidence: God will not only curse us, but our children, and our children's children... Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lord.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T01:40:11Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T15:32:32Z

Clean Transcript

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 11 of 16

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

And we are dealing with the topic, the hallelujah confession. We're trying to deal with it expositionally. And we are today down to verse 24 through 27. This is actually message number 11. So let's look in Psalm 106 and let's read verse 24. "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands." You remember, I told you the word hallelujah, of course, means praise the Lord. And this is the first song that introduces itself with "praise ye the Lord" or hallelujah. And the song deals with confession of sin. And of course, the first five verses give us four reasons why the psalmist invites us to praise the Lord. And verse six gives a general confession when he says, "We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly." I told you that we've sinned in our fathers seminally, we've sinned in them imputatively, we've sinned in them representatively, we've sinned in them nationally, and we've sinned in them actually.
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And then when you come down to verse seven, you have the first two of the specific sins. That is, ignorance and ingratitude. Skipping down to verse 13, you have the next two specific sins, unfaithfulness and impatience. And then verse 16, the next two specific sins, envy and insurrection. And then verse 19, the next two specific sins, idolatry and insolence.
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Now, last week, we actually began with verse 24, "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word." And I only dealt with the phrase, "Yea, they despised the pleasant land." May I remind you that the whole point of this series is to demonstrate that the sins of the fathers are still with us today. We sin in principle in exactly the same way that our fathers have sinned. The circumstances may have changed. The situation may have changed, but the principles certainly have not. I dealt with the word "despised" in verse 24, and it literally means to spurn or to treat contemptuously or to loathe or to absolutely hate. And of course, God asked the people in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 6.
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"Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise?" In other words, everything that God had done for them, they then turn around and literally despised him.
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Now, last time we met, I gave you four ways in which we despise God and his gracious provision. The first way was going back to Numbers 13, and that was looking at circumstances instead of Christ, because we took the historical account of Psalm 106, verses 24 through 27, and that historical account was Numbers 13 and 14, and I dealt with looking at circumstances instead of Christ, because there the spies saw the Amalekites, and they saw the giants, and they saw the walled cities. And, of course, I pointed out how Scripture teaches Christ was indeed in the Old Testament and saw in 1 Corinthians 10 says the rock that followed them was Christ. And then secondly, I pointed out that they were guilty and despised not only by looking at circumstances, but by looking at the multitudes instead of God's mercy. Numbers 13 verse 39.
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Boy, they begin to name the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and all these multitudes that were against them. And I pointed out the fact over and over in Scripture, God says that we're not to fear the multitudes. We're not to fear the greatness of the enemy. And of course, the Word of God says in Proverbs 29 and verse 25, that "the fear of man bringeth a snare." And then the third way that we despise the way they did is listening to wickedness instead of the word.
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What did the people do? They listened to the evil report of the wicked spies rather than the word of God. And then, of course, lastly, I pointed out, we look through the eyes of fear instead of through the eyes of faith. And, of course, the people finally says, "Are not the children or the sons of Anak? Are they not the giants?" And of course, the people were desperately afraid. And Scripture says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
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And then I made some applications. So here is despisement and four ways they despised and exactly four ways that we despise. Now, let's begin today with verse 24 and take up the second point. "Yea, they despised the pleasant land. They believed not his word." So the second sin mentioned here is disbelief. So you have despisement and disbelief. However, there is a third sin mentioned in verse 25, which I'll deal with in just a moment, "but murmured in their tents and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord." Hearkened not, that is, they were disobedient. So you have despisement, you have disbelief, and you have disobedience. Now, may I point out the fact that despisement always leads to disbelief and disobedience.
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When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, you're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together. So he who despises God will certainly disbelieve God, and he who disbelieves God will certainly disobey God. So let's go back to verse 24 and take this second point. "Yea, they despised the pleasant land. They believed not his word."
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Now, I want to take you through the Scriptures very quickly and show you concisely how over and over this sin is charged against the people. Let's begin by going back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. That is the historical account of this passage in Psalm 106. And let's begin reading there with verse 20. Numbers chapter 14 and verse 20. Numbers 14 and look if you would please at verse 20. The Word of God says, "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Now look what God says, "Because all those men which have
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seen my glory, and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened unto my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it."
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"Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcases shall fall in this wilderness."
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"And all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise."
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"I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord."
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So here then was the whole historical account of how the people despised and disbelieved God. Now if you'll turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 1. Very quickly, let me show you several of the passages, Deuteronomy chapter 1 and begin there with verse 29. Deuteronomy 1 verse 29, and we'll read through verse 32. Deuteronomy 1 verse 29. "Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them."
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"The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God." What is God saying?
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I brought you out, I did everything that I said I was going to do. Yet in this thing, in this instance, you did not believe the Lord your God. If you would turn over to Psalm 78, look in verse 22. Over and over, Scripture records that here were a people of no faith. And Psalm 78 it is, and verse 22, the Word of God says this, "Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation."
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And then one last passage, Hebrews chapter 3, because even the New Testament writes concerning this ungodly act of the children of Israel. In the book of Hebrews chapter 3, note if you would please, beginning there with verse 18. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 18. "And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?" And then in chapter 4 and verse 2. "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." In other words, once again, here's a way of saying they did not believe.
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Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. In other words, once again, here's a way of saying they did not believe.
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Now, I want you to try to picture this. God has sovereignly, powerfully, providentially brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. They have seen their enemies destroyed. They've seen the Red Sea open. They've seen His marvelous provision. They've already fought Sihon and Og. They've defeated them totally. They've conquered all their lands. And here they are now in sight of what God promised them. Look at that. They would not believe.
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Now let me tell you something, folks. I understand that it's difficult at times to walk by faith because we're creatures of sight. It is difficult to walk by faith at times, but may I point out the fact that in this particular instance, these people were not even walking by faith. They were walking by sight. It was there in front of them. They saw the fruition and yet they did not believe. Now let me tell you something. When people see the plain fulfillment of God's word and the clear evidence of his promise and still refuse to believe, it just demonstrates the wickedness and the depravity of the human heart.
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They have seen the fruits of Canaan. They had heard the reports of the faithful spies. They had the promises of God. They even knew the promises that God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In light of all this, they still refused to believe. Instead, they preferred to believe the lies, the untruths, and the misrepresentations given them by the unfaithful spies.
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Now, before I go any further, I want to make some applications because Scripture says they disbelieved. They did not believe God. What kind of applications can we make for our lives in this day and time? Well, first of all, let me put it like this. To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God. I want you to turn in your Bibles and look at Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 18. Hebrews 6 and verse 18. Note, if you would please, Scripture says that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie. One of the immutable, that is, unalterable, unchangeable truths is it is impossible for God to lie. Do you realize Scripture calls God a God of truth and without iniquity? But when you and I disbelieve God, and choose to believe sight, feelings, the reports of others, in actuality, we're saying that God is untrue, that God is a liar.
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Now let me show you another passage because this might throw some light on it. Look in Revelation 21, if you would, and verse 8. Revelation 21 and verse 8. The Bible here describes those individuals who will perish in the lake of fire and brimstone, and here the word of God says, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Now, what about this phrase, "and all liars"?
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Well, it is true that lying is a sin if you owe someone the truth. But when the Bible says, "and all liars," I believe the context primarily refers to those who make God a liar. And God says, you are the liar, for you are lying against me. You refuse to believe me. You refuse to believe my word. And therefore, you shall be punished for your brashness and your wickedness in making me a liar. You see, folks, to disbelieve God is to say that he's not a God of truth. It is in essence to call God a liar. It is indeed a serious sin and a dishonoring provocation to God when we refuse to believe the word of God.
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The second application is this. I want you to see the exceeding wickedness of the flesh. I want you to understand something about the evil nature or the flesh. That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory. What did they bring back? They brought back the fruits of Canaan. They brought back grapes. They were so large and so delicious and so heavy, they had to carry it on a pole between two men. The two faithful spies gave a good report.
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It's the land that flows with milk and honey. There were other fruits there. And I want you to understand what the flesh did. The flesh allowed those people to see the fruits. They had it within their grasp. It was there. But it stopped them from getting the victory. We're not going to fight for it. We're not going to work for it. It's too much trouble. You see, that's exactly what our flesh does.
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Some of us lay back at night and dream of losing 20 pounds. Oh, we want to lose 20 pounds, and we determine to lose 20 pounds until that ice cream and cake is put in front of us. And then all of a sudden, my dream is shattered because my flesh likes the ice cream too much. You follow what I'm saying? That's flesh. Let me tell you, do you realize if I were to say, "Alright men, we're going to get up in the morning at 4 o'clock and we're going on a deep sea fishing trip because Tom knows the place where we can load the boat down, but we've got to leave at 4 o'clock in order to get there and catch the fish." I guarantee you, every man in this room that likes to fish and would like to catch fish or would like to go fishing, they'd be up at 4 o'clock. They'd be ready to go at 4 o'clock.
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In fact, the truth of the matter is, you'd probably wake up at 1, 2, 3, because you'd be so excited you couldn't sleep. But if I say, "All right, men, we're going to meet here in the morning at four o'clock and pray until six o'clock." Isn't it strange that you just can't seem to get up?
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Now, you see what I'm saying? Your flesh is going to cooperate with you as long as it's not holy and spiritual and right. I want you to turn, I didn't quote it, but I want you to see it. Look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. You know, this is a truth that we need to have pounded into our minds. Look in Romans 8 verse 7. In fact, let's begin reading verse 6.
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God says, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Now watch. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." And the word enmity is a strong word for hatred. Let me read it like that. Because the fleshly mind is hatred against God, it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Man by nature, in and of himself, cannot do one thing to please God. And when God saves you, the truth of the matter is the principle of your flesh does not change. It is true you're a new man. It is true now you are to have power over your flesh through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. But the evil principle is still there in one sense of the word, that is, in the flesh.
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That's why I turn right over to Romans chapter 13 and verse 14. Look what the Scripture says. Romans 13, verse 14. "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." What's he saying? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.
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Now, it's very simple, folks. What is true in the physical realm is true in the spiritual realm. If I want to lose weight, my wife better not be bringing home donuts and ice cream from the store. Because just as surely she sets them in front of me, inevitably, invariably, I'm going to sneak, well, I'm going to just take one. And you know what just taking one is going to do? It's going to lead to a second, it's going to lead to a third one, etc. You see, what you say, "Well, I'm going to sin just a little. I'm going to satisfy my flesh just a little."
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It always leads to more and more and more. That's why I said put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians chapter 3 and look at verse 5. Then we're going to turn back to the book of Galatians. But Colossians chapter 3. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 3. Notice if you would please verse 5. Look what God says.
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"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." What in the world does the word mortify mean? Kill or make dead. That's where we get the word mortician from. He works with dead folks. Literally what God is saying is these fleshly desires are to be killed. You say, "Well how in the world are they to be killed?"
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Look back in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 5 at verses 16 and 17. Galatians 5 verse 16. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Isn't that interesting? He says, if you really want to subdue your flesh, you learn to walk in the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit means that you obey the Word of God. Help me out with this one. As great as the Apostle Paul was, he still had troubles. And what did he say in 1 Corinthians? "I die daily." I wish that I could die once and for all to my flesh and it would be over with. But the truth of the matter is, I have to mortify and I have to die daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes for a few minutes, if I'm going to walk in the Spirit and have victory in that sense of the word.
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So our flesh is always willing to let us see the fruits of victory. But it'll stop us from getting the true victory if we give in to it. Here's the third one. I want you to see the exceeding, and it should be exceedingly evident by now, that men will not believe except by supernatural work of grace. No amount of evidence is going to make a man believe.
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Let me tell you something. If evidence was going to make somebody believe and have faith in God, what do you think the destruction of Pharaoh and his army should have done? What do you think the parting of the Red Sea should have done? What do you think the defeat of Sihon and Og should have done? What do you think the gracious provision of God would have done? They had evidence aplenty. And let me tell you something, when you try to convert someone by convincing them by a preponderance of evidence that Christianity is true, you're wasting your time. Christianity is true, but people are not converted by evidence, they're converted by the grace of God.
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What did he say in Ephesians 2:8-9? "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." So it's not evidence that converts people, it's grace. I want you to turn in your Bibles because I want you to see this in Luke chapter 16. You know the story that our Lord told about the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man died and went to hell.
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And lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." So the rich man went to hell and Lazarus went into Abraham's bosom. Now, that's not the point that I want to deal with, but look, if you would please, in verse 25. "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented."
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"And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment."
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"Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." What is Abraham saying? They have the Word of God. The Word of God is being preached. Let them hear the Word of God. He responds in verse 30, and he says, "Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." In other words, if they see a supernatural miracle, surely they'll repent. And he said unto him, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and look how many still disbelieve.
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It's not evidence that people need. It's grace and mercy.
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Fourthly, I want you to understand and see the propensity of natural men, of unsaved men, to believe anything and anyone over and above the Word of God. Here were two faithful spies, ten unfaithful spies. The multitudes had the Word of God. They had the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had the report of the two faithful spies. And in light of all the evidence, they chose to believe the lies of men more than the Word of God.
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I'm going to tell you something, folks. If I'm preaching the Word of God here, and next door there's a noted atheist giving a lecture, men will believe him far quicker than they'll believe me. Because of the evilness and the wickedness of their heart. Let me tell you something, folks. People do not want to acknowledge God. Why? To acknowledge God means that you must acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you're responsible, that you're accountable, that you will be judged. Who wants to be judged? Who wants to be condemned? So what humans do is they'd rather deny God and believe a lie rather than the truth of God. And so God says they despised, and their despisement was followed by disbelief.
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Now, go back to Psalm 106. Look at verse 25, because here's the third sin mentioned, and that's disobedience. It says, "But they murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord."
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Now, it should be evident by now that anyone who despises God and disbelieves God, the next step is disobedience. In fact, let me go ahead and say this. Despisement and disbelief and disobedience are sins in and of themselves. Why? 1 John 3 and verse 23 says this, "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ." This is His commandment. So when people disbelieve, they're automatically sinning and despising, and disobedience is the next step. Now, I want you to look at verse 25. Here's a very important word, and I want to develop it. "...but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord." You see, one of our problems today is that when we hear a word, we put a modern-day interpretation upon it. If I were to say, "Hark," or "Did you hearken to that call?" you would think I'm asking you, "Did you hear me?"
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But the word hearken means far more than an audible reception of vibrations that go forth from my mouth. Let me show you. The word hearken is the word shema. It literally means to hear intelligently, to obey, to be obedient.
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Now go back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. Let me show you the classic passage. 1 Samuel 15. Everyone should know this story. This is where God sends King Saul on a journey, on a mission, to kill all the Amalekites. God says, "Kill them all, men, women, boys, girls, children, suckling, ox, ass." God said kill everything. But you know the story how Saul and the people spared Agag the king and the best of the sheep and the best of the oxen, and would not utterly destroy them. But everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed. So Samuel starts coming to Saul, Samuel the prophet. And when Saul sees him, he says, "Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord."
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And about that time, something went bad. And Samuel asked, "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" Saul, if you'd obeyed God, I shouldn't be hearing anything. Everything should be dead. And Saul responded, look if you would please, in verse 21, 1 Samuel 15. Saul responded, "But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal." So he says, "The people now, they spared them and the only reason they spared them, we were going to sacrifice them unto God." Now look what Samuel says to Saul in verse 22. "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Then he explains why.
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"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." What was the penalty for witchcraft in the Bible? Death. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." What was the penalty for idolatry? Death. So he says, "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."
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Now, let's go back to verse 22. "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?"
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Now what he's saying is this, what God wants is obedience. Now watch the latter part of this verse. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice."
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Now here's the same Hebrew word, Shema, "and to hearken than the fat of rams." Now, all of us understand this first point. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." So let's say here are five bullets and here you stand. Had God rather have your obedience or the sacrifice of those five bullets? Someone answer that. Your obedience, that's plain enough. But what does it mean when he says, "and to hearken than the fat of rams"? You see, the fat of rams was the chiefest part of the sacrifice, and the fat of rams was always consumed and offered to God in the burnt offerings. What does that mean? That means to obey and to hearken are synonymous. They're one and the same thing. When he says to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the chief part of sacrifice, to hear intelligently and to obey, he is saying, is the best thing that you can give God.
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Now, let me put it like this. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he heeds the Word of God. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God. Augustine, one of the early church fathers, said it like this. He said, "I heard the Gospel all my life, and then one day I heard it." What does he mean? He obeyed Him. He really, genuinely heard it.
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Now, let me very quickly take you and show you some negative passages where this word hearken is used. And then I'm going to show you some positive passages, because I want to demonstrate that to hearken means to obey. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of Exodus, chapter 4. Here are negative passages with the same Hebrew word, just so you can see that what it means in a negative sense is to disobey. It's not just a refusal to hear, it is a refusal to obey. Exodus chapter 4 verse 1, "And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice." That is, obey my voice.
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"For they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee." So he's giving some objections to God, saying the people won't obey me. They don't know who I am. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 8. "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign." Look, if you would, in verse 9. "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice," that is, obey thy voice.
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"That thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land." So he said, if they won't hearken, that is, obey the first signs, here's another sign. So the word hearken has to mean obey. Look in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 4. Exodus 7 verse 4. In fact, read verse 3 just so you can see the context. God said, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments." What's he saying? "But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you." Did Pharaoh listen audibly to Moses? Yes. Moses stood in front of him and told him every plague that God was going to send. But did Pharaoh obey? No. The word hearken means to obey.
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Look in Leviticus 26. Here it is used now in connection with the law of God. Leviticus 26, beginning there with verse 14. Look what God says. Leviticus 26, verse 14. "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments." Did you hear what I just read? "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and do all these commandments." Look in verse 18. "And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me," that is, obey me, "then I will punish you seven times more for your sins." Verse 21. "And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me," that is, will not obey me, "I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins." Look in verse 27. "And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury." So God says, the word hearken means to obey. Now very quickly.
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Go back to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Let me just show you the same word used positively. We won't take too much time here, but look at it. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Beginning there with verse 1. Here's the same word used positively speaking. Deuteronomy 4 verse 1. God says, "Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you." Now God said, I want you to hear intelligently. Why? That you may do them. So you don't really hearken, you don't really hear intelligently until you obey. Look in Deuteronomy 7 and verse 12. Deuteronomy 7 verse 12. "Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers." So hearing intelligently is equal to obedience. Look in Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13.
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Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13. Deuteronomy 11, verse 13.
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"And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." Did you hear that? "It shall come to pass, if ye hear intelligently and obey," says God, "then I'm going to do this and this for you." Look in Deuteronomy 15 and verse 5. Deuteronomy 15 and verse 5. "Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day." Isn't that amazing? "If thou carefully hearken."
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Let me show you this one. Look in Deuteronomy 18. This one should be extremely interesting to you. Deuteronomy 18, verse 15. This is a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 18 verse 15, look what Moses says, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." Now Moses says God's going to raise up a prophet out of your brethren, "unto him ye shall hearken." According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, "Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me
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see this great fire any more, that I die not." God said you requested a mediator. I will give you one. "And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." What's God saying? God said, I'm going to put my words in the mouth of my prophet, that is, Jesus Christ. And the people that will not hear Him intelligently and obey Him, I'm going to require them, I'm going to judge them. What did our Lord Himself say in Luke 6 and verse 46? "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" In other words, to hear the Word of God is indeed to obey the Word of God.
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I'm not going to keep going, but all you've got to do is read Deuteronomy 28, where God gives the blessings and the curses. He uses the word hearken over and over.
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Now, look back, if you would please, to Psalm 106. I hope I've established this one principle, that to hear the Word of God means that you obey the Word of God. Let me put it to you black and white. Simple as I can. If you sit here and tell me that you have heard the Word of God, and you walk out these doors and do not obey the Word of God, you've just demonstrated that you've never heard the Word of God.
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You see, here's what so many people do. They come. They sit. They listen. They get up. They walk out. And what they have heard never changes their lives. Never affects them. They never bring their life into conformity to the Word of God. They just go on the way they always have. Have they heard the Word of God? No. No. I don't care what sin is being dealt with. I don't care what truth is being dealt with. God expects you—that's not the word I should use—God demands that you make application of that truth to your life and bring your life into conformity to the Word of God.
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Now, let me show you something. Look back in your Bible to Psalm 106 and verse 25. They despised, they disbelieved, they disobeyed. What was one of the evidences that they disobeyed? Not just simply the fact that they would not go into Canaan land as they were directed to go, but look in verse 25, "but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord." Instead of obeying God.
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They sat around and murmured and complained. Look in your Bibles, go back to Numbers chapter 14, because that is the historical account from Psalm 106. Look in Numbers chapter 14, verse 2. "And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!" By the way, that should lead us to believe we better be careful as to how we complain against God.
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He might just give us what we are complaining about. Look in verse 27. You'll see it again. Numbers 14, verse 27. God asks, "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me." Verse 29, "Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me."
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Now, let me make a very important point. We try to stress this to our children. And we never think about it in relationship to our Heavenly Father. But have not we all taught our children, and if we haven't, we should have, this simple principle: that delayed obedience is disobedience. What were those Israelites supposed to have been doing? They were supposed to have been marching into that land and conquering it.
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But yet, instead of that, they were delaying and sitting there and complaining and murmuring and belly aching and saying, "Wish we were back in Egypt." Now a little bit later when God rebuked them and told them he's going to kill every one of them because of that, oh yeah, some of them got their swords and said, "Well, we're going to go right now. We're going to go take the victory." Moses said, "You better not go because you're going to be defeated because God's not with you." Delayed obedience is disobedience. What I mean, when you hear the truth from the Word of God and you say, "I know God's Word is right, I know things are wrong in my life, I know things ought to be corrected, I know things ought to be made right, but..."
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"I'll deal with that next week." That's disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. You see, what God demands of each of us is an active, willing, prompt obedience. He does not expect or demand from us a sulky, complaining, murmuring disobedience. This is not a message on murmuring, but have you ever thought about why we murmur? Why we complain? I'll give you three quick answers, certainly this does not exhaust the list, but one of them is because we do not have what other people have.
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"Well, I don't have as much as Dr. Holmes. I don't have as much as Al. I can't do what Doc does. I can't do what Roy does." See? A second reason is because sometimes we endure what we think is more afflictions than others. And therefore we charge God with inequality and dealing unfairly with us. I got news for you folks. I don't care how badly you're suffering. And I don't care how much you're afflicted.
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If you will look around, inevitably you will always find someone worse than you are. And you will learn to be thankful that God has not dealt with you according to your sins nor according to your iniquities. That's one of the reasons we complain. And a third reason is because things don't go the way we planned them. They don't go the way we desire them to go. And we can't do what we want to do. And so we complain and murmur against the providence of God. We fail to consider that God is absolutely sovereign.
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And He does in our lives that which is for our good and for His glory. I want you to turn to Matthew 20. I can quote this passage, but I want you to see it. In Matthew chapter 20, the Lord gives a parable about the man who went out and hired some workers at the beginning of the day and agreed with them for a penny a day. Nine o'clock he went out and found others standing idle in the marketplace.
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He said, "You go to work and I'll pay you that which is right." Twelve o'clock he found more. He said to them, "You go to work and I'll pay you that which is right." Three o'clock, he found more. He sent them in. Five o'clock, one hour before quitting time, he found some more. He sent them in. He said, "Whatever is right, I will pay you."
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Now, look if you would. Matthew 20, beginning there with verse 8. "So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?"
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"Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee."
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Now look what he says. "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" Suppose I had a thousand bucks in my pocket today. I don't, but suppose I did. And I gave 500 to Don. Gave 300 to George. 200 to Al.
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I didn't owe him any money now, I just gave it to him. Is Al going to get mad at me and say, "That dirty low-down rascal. He gave Don 500, he only gave me 200. He gave George 300, he only gave me 200." Is George going to get upset and say, "Well, bless God, at least I got more than Al, but he didn't give me as much as he gave Don." I don't owe any one of them anything. The fact that I gave them anything is grace.
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You see what I'm saying? Why cannot they be thankful for what they did get rather than complain for what they haven't gotten? That's what our Lord is saying. I can give to whomever I want to give. I can do what I will with mine own. You have money. You don't want anybody telling you how to spend your money. Well, don't get upset if God doesn't consult you on how He gives out His gifts and His graces and His providence. That's entirely up to Him.
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And if we understand that, it'll cut down on our murmuring. Now, I want to show you one last thing. I want you to look back to Psalm 106. Because here's an important principle that needs to be exercised and understood. I want you to watch this. The people have despised God. They disbelieved God. They disobeyed God. And they sat there and murmured and complained. What was God's response to this? Look in verse 26.
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"Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands." Now, it's very interesting. He lifted up his hand against them. What in the world does that mean? Does that mean instantaneous judgment? Not necessarily. In fact, if you'll go back in your Bibles very quickly to Genesis chapter 14, you'll see what the lifting up of the hand means. Genesis 14. Genesis 14, and notice if you would please verse 22. We'll compare this with Exodus chapter 6. Genesis 14 verse 22, "And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest
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thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich." Now look what he said, "I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord." The lifting up of the hand means that he is swearing unto the Lord. He's taking an oath. Now, look in Exodus chapter 6 and verse 8. Exodus chapter 6, verse 8. Look what God says, "And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord." God lifted up His hand to Abraham and said, "I'm going to give you a land." He swore to Abraham. Did you know the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, "And because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself"? You remember those two immutable things in Hebrews chapter 6? One of them was that God cannot lie. The other is that once God swears, He does not change. Now, when you go back to Psalm 106, when God lifts up His hand, He is now swearing that He will destroy them.
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Did He destroy them instantly? No. Some He did, but it took 40 years for their carcases to fall in the wilderness.
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Now, let me show you something that you may have overlooked. If you look back to verse 26, verse 26 says it like this, "Therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow whom?" To overthrow whom? What's the next word? "Them." That is, those existing people. Those who were alive right then and there, right? He said, "I'm swearing against you right now. I'm going to overthrow you in this wilderness." Then look at verse 27. "To overthrow whom?"
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So God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps, who likewise will despise, disbelieve, and disobey the Word of God. He said, "and I will scatter them in the lands and overthrow their seed among the nations," which he did to Judah and Israel. Not only does the curse of God come upon this generation, but also the future generations of those who despise and disbelieve and disobey. What does the Bible say that God does? He punishes the iniquity unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate him.
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Now, let me ask you a question. Very simple answer. You don't even have to turn in your scriptures. Here's my question. Does God change? No. Immutability is an attribute of God. Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, I change not." Well, if God does not change, here is my question. Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes. God will not only curse us, but our children, and our children's children, and our children's children's children, for our despisement, our disbelief, and our disobedience. Which means this, if we want to help our nation, if we want to help our families, each of us need to learn to be as obedient and as holy and as godly as we can be by the grace of God. For He said in 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30, "Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lord."
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"But they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." God says, you don't think much of me? I won't think too much of you. I don't know about you, but I'd rather honour Him and obey Him. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful today for Jesus Christ, for the truth of Scripture. Lord, how we have committed these same sins. We despise thee because we murmured and complained at thy providence. We disbelieved thy promise. We disobeyed thy word. But Father, we ask for repentance. We ask for faith. And we ask, Lord, that you make us obedient, but Lord, that you also make us instantly obedient. That we learn the truth that delayed obedience is disobedience. Enable us, Father, to serve Thee effectively with reverence and godly fear. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen and Amen.
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This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, you may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn Street, Suite 705, PMB 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-925-7000.
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You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T01:40:11Z

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 11 of 16

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, John Weaver continues an expositional series on Psalm 106, focusing on verses 24-27. He examines the sins of despising God's provision, disbelieving His word, and disobeying His voice, as exemplified by Israel's refusal to enter Canaan. Weaver emphasizes that these sins are interconnected and still manifest in believers today. He provides applications regarding the nature of unbelief, the wickedness of the flesh, the necessity of grace for faith, and the importance of prompt obedience. The sermon concludes with a warning that God's judgment extends to future generations who follow in the same sins, urging repentance and holy living.

Introduction and Review

Scripture Reading — Psalm 106:24-27

"Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands."

Four Ways We Despise God's Provision

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 29:25

"the fear of man bringeth a snare."

The Sin of Disbelief

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:20-37

"Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcases shall fall in this wilderness." "And all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise." "I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord."

Applications of Disbelief

Scripture Reading — Revelation 21:8

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

That's why I turn right over to Romans chapter 13 and verse 14. Look what the Scripture says. Romans 13, verse 14.

Scripture Reading — Romans 13:14

"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

What's he saying? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 5:16-17

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

Scripture Reading — Galatians 5:16-17

" I wish that I could die once and for all to my flesh and it would be over with. But the truth of the matter is, I have to mortify and I have to die daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes for a few minutes, if I'm going to walk in the Spirit and have victory in that sense of the word.

What did he say in Ephesians 2:8-9?

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 2:8-9

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

The Sin of Disobedience

Scripture Reading — 1 John 3:23

"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ."

And about that time, something went bad. And Samuel asked,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:1-23

"What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

Saul, if you'd obeyed God, I shouldn't be hearing anything. Everything should be dead. And Saul responded, look if you would please, in verse 21, 1 Samuel 15. Saul responded,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:1-23

"But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal."

So he says, "The people now, they spared them and the only reason they spared them, we were going to sacrifice them unto God." Now look what Samuel says to Saul in verse 22.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:1-23

"And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

Then he explains why.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice."

That is, obey my voice.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"For they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee."

So he's giving some objections to God, saying the people won't obey me. They don't know who I am. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 8.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign."

Look, if you would, in verse 9.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4

"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice,"

Look in Leviticus 26. Here it is used now in connection with the law of God. Leviticus 26, beginning there with verse 14. Look what God says. Leviticus 26, verse 14.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments."

Did you hear what I just read?

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"But if ye will not hearken unto me, and do all these commandments."

Look in verse 18.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me,"

that is, obey me, "then I will punish you seven times more for your sins." Verse 21.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me,"

that is, will not obey me, "I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins." Look in verse 27.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27

"And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury."

So God says, the word hearken means to obey. Now very quickly.

Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13. Deuteronomy 11, verse 13.

Murmuring as Evidence of Disobedience

God's Response: Lifting Up His Hand

Application to Today and Conclusion

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 11 of 16

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	11709150157
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession
Genre	Sermon
Date	2000-07-30
Dictation Name
Book	Book 053: The Hallelujah of Confession — Chapter 11
Source Timed Segments	92

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver introduces the passage (Psalm 106:24-27) and reviews previous points: the psalm is a hallelujah confession, and the specific sins covered so far include ignorance, ingratitude, unfaithfulness, impatience, envy, insurrection, idolatry, and insolence. He recaps last week's focus on despising the pleasant land.
Four Ways We Despise God's Provision: Weaver reviews four ways Israel despised God: looking at circumstances instead of Christ, looking at multitudes instead of God's mercy, listening to wickedness instead of the Word, and looking through eyes of fear instead of faith.
The Sin of Disbelief: Weaver introduces the second sin in verse 24: 'they believed not his word.' He shows from Numbers 14, Deuteronomy 1, Psalm 78, and Hebrews 3-4 that Israel's unbelief was a persistent sin despite clear evidence of God's faithfulness.
Applications of Disbelief: Weaver draws four applications: (1) disbelief makes God a liar; (2) the flesh allows us to see victory's fruit but stops us from gaining it; (3) men will not believe except by grace; (4) natural men prefer lies over God's Word.
The Sin of Disobedience: Weaver explains that 'hearkened not' in verse 25 means disobedience, not mere failure to hear. He demonstrates from 1 Samuel 15 and other passages that the Hebrew word 'shema' implies intelligent hearing that results in obedience.
Murmuring as Evidence of Disobedience: Weaver highlights that Israel murmured in their tents instead of obeying. He discusses reasons for murmuring: envy of others, perceived unfair afflictions, and thwarted plans. He uses Matthew 20 to illustrate God's sovereign right to distribute gifts.
God's Response: Lifting Up His Hand: Weaver explains that 'he lifted up his hand' means God swore an oath to overthrow Israel. He notes that judgment was not always immediate but extended to future generations, as seen in the scattering of Israel and Judah.
Application to Today and Conclusion: Weaver argues that because God does not change, He punishes the same sins today across generations. He urges believers to pursue holiness and prompt obedience, citing 1 Samuel 2:30, and closes with a prayer for repentance and instant obedience.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Despisement leads to disbelief and disobedience

The three sins are a package; despising God's provision inevitably results in not believing His word and not obeying His voice.

Despisement always leads to disbelief and disobedience. When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, you're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together.

Unbelief makes God a liar

To disbelieve God is to call Him a liar, which is a grave sin provoking His judgment.

To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God.

The flesh hinders spiritual progress

The flesh allows a person to see the benefits of obedience but prevents them from doing what is necessary to obtain them.

That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory.

Faith is a gift of grace, not a result of evidence

No amount of miraculous evidence can produce saving faith; only God's grace can convert a sinner.

If evidence was going to make somebody believe and have faith in God, what do you think the destruction of Pharaoh and his army should have done?... people are not converted by evidence, they're converted by the grace of God.

Biblical hearing implies obedience

The Hebrew word 'shema' means to hear intelligently with the purpose of obeying; thus, hearing without obedience is not true hearing.

The word hearken is the word shema. It literally means to hear intelligently, to obey, to be obedient.

Delayed obedience is disobedience

Putting off obedience to God's Word is itself an act of disobedience, not a neutral delay.

Delayed obedience is disobedience. What I mean, when you hear the truth from the Word of God and you say, 'I know God's Word is right... but... I'll deal with that next week.' That's disobedience.

God's judgment extends to future generations

God's oath to overthrow Israel included not only the current generation but also their descendants who would follow in the same sins.

God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps, who likewise will despise, disbelieve, and disobey the Word of God.

God's character demands consistent judgment

Because God is immutable, He judges the same sins today in the same way, including generational consequences.

If God does not change, here is my question. Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes.

Scripture References

Psalm 106:24-27: The primary text of the sermon, describing Israel's despising of the land, unbelief, murmuring, and God's judgment.
Deuteronomy 32:6: Quoted to show Israel's foolish requital of God's goodness.
Numbers 13-14: The historical account behind Psalm 106:24-27, including the spies' report and the people's rebellion.
Proverbs 29:25: Cited to warn against the fear of man.
Numbers 14:20-37: Read extensively to show God's pardon and judgment on the unbelieving generation.
Deuteronomy 1:29-32: Moses recounts Israel's unbelief despite God's past faithfulness.
Psalm 78:22: Cited as another record of Israel's unbelief.
Hebrews 3:18-4:2: New Testament commentary on Israel's unbelief and failure to enter God's rest.
Hebrews 6:18: Used to establish that it is impossible for God to lie.
Revelation 21:8: Cited to show that the 'fearful and unbelieving' and 'all liars' face the second death; interpreted as those who make God a liar.
Romans 8:6-8: Explains the enmity of the carnal mind against God.
Romans 13:14: Exhortation to make no provision for the flesh.
Colossians 3:5: Command to mortify fleshly desires.
Galatians 5:16-17: The conflict between the Spirit and the flesh, and the call to walk in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:8-9: Salvation by grace through faith, not of works.
Luke 16:19-31: The rich man and Lazarus; used to argue that even a resurrection would not persuade those who reject Scripture.
1 John 3:23: Command to believe on Jesus Christ, showing that unbelief is sin.
1 Samuel 15:1-23: Saul's disobedience; used to define 'hearken' as obedience and to show that rebellion is as witchcraft.
Exodus 4:1,8-9; 7:3-4: Examples of 'hearken' used negatively to mean disobey.
Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27: Warnings of punishment for not hearkening (obeying) God's commandments.

Historical References

Israel's exodus and wilderness wanderings: The historical backdrop of Psalm 106, including the Red Sea crossing, defeat of Sihon and Og, and the spies' report.
The twelve spies in Numbers 13-14: Ten spies gave an evil report, causing the people to rebel; two faithful spies (Caleb and Joshua) gave a good report.
Destruction of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea: Cited as evidence that should have produced faith but did not.
Augustine's conversion: Quoted as saying, 'I heard the Gospel all my life, and then one day I heard it,' illustrating true hearing as obedience.
Scattering of Israel and Judah: Fulfillment of God's oath to overthrow their seed among the nations.

Important Quotes

When you're guilty of one of these three sins, eventually and inevitably, you're going to be guilty of all three of these sins because they stand or fall together.

Establishes the interconnected nature of despisement, disbelief, and disobedience.

To disbelieve that God is true and to disbelieve that God cannot lie is to make God a liar. It is extremely dishonoring and is a provocation unto God.

Highlights the gravity of unbelief as an affront to God's character.

That flesh will allow you to see the fruits of victory. But it will stop you from gaining the victory.

Illustrates how the flesh deceives believers into complacency.

No one ever really hears the Word of God until he heeds the Word of God. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.

Defines true biblical hearing as obedience.

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

A concise principle emphasizing the urgency of obedience.

God is not just declaring war against the ones who are then living, but also their seed who will follow in their father's footsteps, who likewise will despise, disbelieve, and disobey the Word of God.

Warns of generational consequences for sin.

If God does not change, here is my question. Would God punish the same sins today? And would He punish them in the same way? And the answer is yes.

Applies the immutability of God to contemporary judgment for sin.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How are despisement, disbelief, and disobedience connected in our own lives? Can you identify a time when one led to the others?

[Context]

Based on the sermon's point that these three sins stand or fall together.

[Question]

In what ways do we 'make God a liar' by our unbelief, even as believers?

[Context]

From the application that disbelief is calling God untrue.

[Question]

What are some 'fruits of victory' that your flesh allows you to see but prevents you from actually obtaining?

[Context]

Relating to the illustration of the flesh stopping short of victory.

[Question]

Why is it tempting to rely on evidence or arguments to convince others of the faith, and how does this sermon challenge that approach?

[Context]

From the point that people are converted by grace, not evidence.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'hearken' to God's Word in practical terms? How can we move from mere listening to obedient hearing?

[Context]

Based on the definition of shema as intelligent, obedient hearing.

[Question]

Can you share an example of when delayed obedience was actually disobedience in your life? What were the consequences?

[Context]

From the principle that delayed obedience is disobedience.

[Question]

How should the reality of generational consequences for sin affect our parenting and personal holiness?

[Context]

From the warning that God overthrows the seed of those who despise Him.

[Question]

In what areas are you most prone to murmur against God's providence, and how can the parable of the laborers (Matthew 20) reshape your perspective?

[Context]

From the discussion on murmuring and God's sovereign generosity.

Applications

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