THERE was a great commotion in the camp of Israel when this report of the returned spies had been given. Ten men had already given their views of the country; and now Caleb came before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it.” “Don’t go ahead,” the practical rulers in Israel said, “it can not be done.” I wonder what they came out of Egypt for, if not to go up and possess the land. They forgot. They were only looking at the practical side. I tell you, my friends, the practical side has ruined many a man in God’s work. “But Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” They forgot that God was leading them. “And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, . . . 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! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?”
Of the land they said, further, “The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.” Very strange—a famished land, an impoverished land, a land that the people can not get their living from! “And all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
Brethren, that is exactly what a man will do when he sits down to count all the difficulties in carrying out what God commands. He concludes it can not be done. I heard a man say the other day that he did not believe it was possible for Seventh-day Adventists to give the third angel’s message to all the world in this generation. But, if God has said it shall be done, it is possible. And it doesn’t make any difference whether you believe it or not, it is a possibility, and it can be done, if God has to raise up the very stones to preach the message. He can take the unlearned, the illiterate, the farmer from the plow, and the clerk from the desk, and send them out to preach this message to the world, if you and I fail to give it.
You say, “It is impossible. Think of the world to be warned.” Yes, but think of that great city of Nineveh—one of the mightiest cities on this earth. Historians estimate the population at from six hundred thousand to six million. It was a great and mighty city. God sent one lone, weak prophet down to that city, and in three short days the king, with all his lords and nobles, were clothed in sackcloth and ashes, and a great fast was proclaimed throughout that city for every man and woman that lived there. How long?—Three days.
Take God’s people, imbued with the Spirit, believing this message going to the world, and they can give a warning in a short time, when God is their leader. You need not doubt it.
“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.” Did they weep for Canaan? Did they weep for the promised land, which had been theirs back in the days of Abraham?—O, no! they wept because there were giants that stood in their way, and they could not conquer them, because of those great nations that they could not subdue. If they had seen the arm of God, the power of Jehovah, they would have arisen as one man, and said, “We can go over and take Canaan.” But they wept that night.
Notice what else they did. “And all the children of Israel murmured.” Of course; just as soon as a man gets discouraged by looking on the dark side, he begins to murmur. And the strange thing about all murmurers is that they never murmur against themselves. All the murmurings that ever come out of the heart—out of my heart and yours—are against somebody else. Another thing: you hardly ever hear a man murmuring against somebody who is putting on the brakes, and turning off the steam, and holding back God’s work; you always hear the complainers murmur against somebody who is trying to get on, to forge ahead, and to help forward God’s work. That is the class I murmur against. If any man sets a pace any quicker than mine, and says, “Forward move! quick step!” I say, naturally, “You are in too big a hurry. Just wait for me.” And it was just that way with those murmurers so long ago. They began to murmur against the men that God had used all those years to bring them from their bondage. “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!” Is not that a terrible condition when people would rather live in bondage than follow the commandments of the Lord? It is an awful state for a people to get into, brethren. But I tell you there are some Seventh-day Adventists to-day who would rather allow the Lord’s cause to be long delayed than to lay their own children on the altar, to go out into foreign fields. A thousand times rather lay your children on the altar of service, that they may go to the most deadly climates, and to the darkest nations of the earth, than to keep them here in this land of plenty, and have them go to destruction. There is many a son and daughter who will go out into these dark fields, if we will only lay them on the altar of service, and gain there experiences that they can never gain in this home country. The fields are languishing for the strong and brave, the men of faith in God. I tell you, dear friends, here in this very audience, you who hear my voice, we need your sons and daughters for God. We need them in India, China, Africa, South America,—everywhere, in unfavorable climates, under hardships and trials and privations, we want your sons and daughters to carry this truth!
But Israel began their murmurings and complainings, and they went straight against those men who had faith and hope in God. You see how far they dared go. “Wherefore,” they said, “hath the Lord brought us into this land, to fall by the sword?” “Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?”
“And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” They knew very well that Moses would not take them back. They knew that Aaron would not head their army. Let us do what?—“Make us a captain” (after their own kind, do you see?), “and let us return into Egypt.” O, we do like leaders after our own stamp, do we not?—men who take the slow pace if we are slow,—men who are worldly if we are worldly,—men who look for the Lord to come a long way off, if we put off the day of his appearing. We like leaders who are after our10own image. I tell you, it is dangerous.
“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.” What could the poor men do but weep? what could they do but bow their heads in sorrow before God—they who had given their lives to that people? Then Joshua comes forward: “And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes; and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.”
Are those not plain words? O, we need such men! We have a great work, we have a great message, we have a mighty Captain. Instead of our saying, “O, it can not be done,” we should say, “It shall be done, and I will be a factor in carrying this thing through.” When a man puts on the armor that way, seeking the Lord, and going forth, he will accomplish something. This whole people could be aroused, to a man, if it were not for the ministry that is holding them back. That is so, brethren. If you and I believed God as we ought, if we had faith in the almighty power of God to save, this people would rally. But when we talk a little doubt, and say, “I do not know; I am afraid; go a little carefully and slowly,” the brethren murmur and complain, and wonder whether God is with us or not. O, this people need strong, fearless leaders,—men who hear the voice of the Lord, and recognize it, and are willing to move forward and set the pace! Conferences will follow where you lead. You need not be afraid of undertaking and accomplishing great things for God; it can be done. And I will venture the assertion that every conference in the land can be gaged by its leaders. Take a conference to-day that has a man of faith, a man of courage, of strong convictions, loyal, a man of energy, a man of force, of consecration, and you will find the people walking right up to do the will of God. O, how must God look upon us! I think of my own unworthiness, my own selfishness, hesitancy, doubt, and unbelief, and say, How is it possible for God to use such a man as I? Instead of our looking on this side, and hesitating, and holding back, you and I ought to throw ourselves right in the harness, and every pound of our strength ought to go in a forward move. Then evil things would begin to break up. The people would begin to get a new hope and new courage, and our brethren would work together differently than they do at the present time. I know this is true, and so do you.
Notice what Israel did in this crisis in their history. “And all the congregation bade stone them with stones.”—Stone whom?—Joshua and Caleb. Why?—Because they said they were able to go up and possess the land; because they said the Lord was with them, and would deliver their enemies into their hands. Just as the congregation was about to execute the order to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle. The Lord had that congregation in hand, and he said that not one of those men, save Joshua and Caleb, should ever step foot into the promised land; and he saw that decree accomplished.
It seems to me that such lessons ought to inspire our hearts to be on the Lord’s side. God lives, and he wants men of faith and obedience, men of a courage that nothing can daunt. I do not believe in going ahead of God. Those who do that make as big a mistake as those who lag behind him; for you do not know what God wants until he speaks. But when God speaks, we should set ourselves to hear, and to accomplish his commands in the quickest possible way. I tell you, dear friends, that if you and I, and all our brethren in the ministry, pledge ourselves to that one thing,—to hear God’s voice when he speaks, and to obey it,—we shall accomplish great things. Let us go ahead, and as we make the start, the plan will develop. If we place our feet resolutely in the path of duty, what is now in doubt and uncertainty will be made plain, and we shall be able to accomplish what God commands. You have seen this verified a hundred times with men who did not know whether they could make a living and keep the Sabbath or not. But when they stepped out, God provided the way. So the Lord will always provide. When God speaks, let us step right out, and he will provide. I am not talking what I do not believe, but what I have seen time and again. One time we were in great distress for money. We did not have a dollar in the treasury, and what to do we did not know. We could not make money. So we went into our closets and prayed that God would open some way for money to come in, that we might meet our obligations; and lo and behold, the sun did not set that night before eight thousand dollars came into the treasury!
God has the power, and God has the heart. O, I do not think there is any reason for you and me to say that his purposes can not be carried out. Rather let us say, It can be done, and I will be the one to set the pace. We must have more active work, more courage, more faith. There is not a single requirement that God has ever asked of us, brethren, that we can not fulfil if we will.
God needs to-day in this cause, more than anything else that I know of, Caleb and Joshua,—men who dare, and who believe with all their hearts that God’s work can be accomplished,—Calebs and Joshuas who will go all through this land, and settle this murmuring, and quiet this complaining, and give assurance to the people that we are abundantly able to go into Canaan at the time appointed, if God is with us, and we are loyal to him. When we do this, our own hearts will catch the glow from God’s altar, and we shall be new men. Like Saul when he met the prophet, a new heart will be given us, and a new experience in our lives.
May God encourage us, and lift us up, and inspire our hearts for active service in his work, is my prayer.