But if you want practical teaching on Christian living, you get those examples from the nation of Israel. They were God's people. They still are God's people. They are the chosen people and will always be the apple of God's eye. You say, what are we? Chopped liver? No, we're the bride. We're the bride of Christ. And we're going to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Amen. But if you want to know how God deals with His people, we read the Old Testament. Exodus chapter 13 tonight, say amen when you found it, Exodus 13. We're just going to read a couple verses, and we're going to look at the nation of Israel. They've come out of Egypt. They're in the wilderness. They've been delivered. Their lives have been changed. And notice what it says in verse number 17. You see, it wasn't far to go to the Promised Land. But let me tell you, there were some things they had to do before they got to the Promised Land. There were some things they had to learn. And matter of fact, because they were slow learners, it took them 40 years. Right? Some people excel faster than others. And it takes time to learn how to be a Christian, for God's sake. Amen. Verse 18, but God led the people through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up, harnessed now the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from hence. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you'd bless the word tonight. And God, as we look at this message tonight, I pray the Holy Spirit would give us understanding. And Lord, everything you do, there's a reason why you do it. Amen. And God, we as God's people ought to be the same way. Everything we do, there ought to be a reason for doing it. And I pray you just would bless the word tonight and guide my heart and lips, and Father, I ask it in Jesus' name, amen. It says that he led them through the way of the wilderness. He took them into the wilderness. and he led them harnessed up out of Egypt. And what I want to preach on tonight is this little thought, is simply this, is that why God chooses the wilderness. Why God chooses the wilderness. Wouldn't it be good if we got saved and boom, we were in heaven? Wouldn't that be glorious? I can't tell you how glorious that'd be. I mean, the best thing that could happen to someone is someone gets saved one second, and the rapture happened the next. But that's not how it works. It's going to work for someone that way, because one day the body of Christ is going to be complete. That last person will be saved, and boom, they'll be in heaven. They'll be an exception to the rule. I mean, they'll be Enoch. They walked with God, and they were not, for God took them. But that is not the experience of Christianity as a whole. God chooses the wilderness. And in this passage I want to examine the path that God led them. And the path that God led them into, you know, we ask ourselves, you know, again, why couldn't they have gone to the promised land immediately? And the reason is that they didn't do that Because God knew that they needed to learn some things before they went into the promised land. And understand a few things, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but understand what they did in Egypt. They were carpenters. They were masons. They were cooks. They were laundry people. I mean, they were a service people to do all the service work that the Egyptians didn't want to do. And they knew all about manual labor, but there was something they knew nothing about, and that was battle. There wasn't a soldier among them with the exception of Moses, because Moses was an Egyptian. And Moses had led campaigns. And Moses was a soldier. He knew how to kill. But the children of Israel knew nothing about battle. And they were not prepared, fit, or ready for any kind of battle. And God knew that because He said, as soon as they see the armies of the Philistines, what are they going to do? They're going to run. What did they do when they saw the armies of the Egyptians chasing them a few days later? They were ready to be slaves again because they knew nothing about soldiering. And God has to grow us. People say, why can't I be saved one day and a pastor the next? You've got to learn some things. How come I can't be a mature Christian in one day? It doesn't work like that. I wish to God it did. Wouldn't it be great, ladies, if you had a child and the next day it was 21 years old? That'd save all kind of money. Get a job. Right? That'd save all kind of problems. But that's not how God chose to do things. And so, when it comes to these things, the reason we gotta go through the wilderness so we will know His works, His word, and His wonders. And the wilderness teaches about God and ourselves. The wilderness was dry, it was desolate, it was deserted, it was dangerous, and completely destitute of value. I mean, who wants to take the wilderness in battle? Nobody. Nobody's fighting over the wilderness. Nobody wants it. But yet there's a great lesson to be learned in the wilderness. Thank God there is. I prayed already, didn't I? Did I pray already? Okay, good. Can I say this? It was there that God proved the children of Israel. Remember, Moses had just spent 40 years in the wilderness. You say, what was God doing? Preparing him. He was learned in all the ways of Egypt. But see, he knew nothing about taking care of sheep. What the children of Israel knew how to do, he didn't know how to do. And what they didn't know how to do, Moses knew how to do. So God put him out there in the wilderness for 40 years. and said, I need to teach you some things. And then he spent the next 40 years learning about the church. I mean, you gotta learn how to pastor a church. Or you'll be smiting the rock and say, these are a bunch of rebels, kill them all! Bunch of godless rebels, God, get them, get them all! And that cost him the promised land. You can't treat God's people that way. I don't care how mad you get you can't treat God's people that way. Hey, I'm the pastor. It is my job to love, lead, and instruct this church. It is not my job to pray God's curse upon everybody. And that's a serious problem when you start hating the people that you're ministering to. They said it's a good thing that God and Moses never got mad at the same time. Because there wouldn't have been no children of Israel. You see, it was there that God proved Israel. And you have to spend some time being proved yourself to do anything for God. The Apostle Paul spent three years in the desert. learning before God ever loosed him to be a minister of the gospel. If you look in Galatians chapter number one, and we're coming back to our spot over here, but Galatians chapter number one, and the apostle Paul, as he gave his testimony in the book of Galatians, and the believers in Galatia, God help them, they'd been fooled and tricked by the Judaizers, and their faith had been shaken, and Paul wrote to them in chapter number one, and he told them about his experience, Galatians 1, and look what it says in verse number 13, and it says, For ye have heard of my conversation in times past in the Jews' religion, how at beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews' religion above mine equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the fathers. But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal a son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem, which were the apostles before me. But I went into Arabia." What's Arabia? The desert. "...and returned again in Damascus. And after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and above within fifteen days." You say, what was he doing on the back side of the desert? He's meeting with God. He was learning about God. He was learning about his calling. He was being filled with the Holy Ghost and power. God didn't turn him loose right away. I know that he immediately preached Christ, but then he had to go and learn something. Because he was learned in all the Jewish ways, but he needed to be learned in God's ways. There's a dying truth there. Now, what does the wilderness do for you and I as a child of God? Well, the first thing it did for us and it did for them, it shows us God's divine presence. You know, when you're in the wilderness, you find out in a hurry that God has got you boxed in? Isn't that what Pharaoh said? He said, hey, they're in the wilderness. They're boxed in. They're up against the Red Sea. They got nowhere they can go. And the wilderness has got them boxed in. You know, when you get boxed in, and sometimes God boxes you in. God wanted them up against the Red Sea. God wanted them boxed in where there was nowhere they could go. Because he wanted to show them his divine presence. Sometimes God just gets you in your life or you can't do anything. You know what this shows us? He shows himself real. He begins to show himself real in that pillar of fire in that cloud. Hallelujah. Look in verse number 20. Verse number 20 of our chapter, chapter number 13, and it says, And they took their journey from Succoth, and they camped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way, and by the night in a pillar of fire to give them light. to go by day and night, and He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people." You say, what's God doing? He's leading them with His own divine presence. Wouldn't it be good if God came down and just said, hey, hold my hand and I'm gonna show you what to do. Now, let me tell you, there's nothing wrong with that. That's the best place in our life to be where you know for certain you are doing the will of God no matter where it's at. God can lead you into some scary paths, can he not? And see, it shows us that It showed them and shows us that they needed His direction because they hadn't been that way before. You know, as you're trying to figure out your Christianity, generally speaking, when you haven't been saved very long, you haven't been this way before. You don't have experiences to rely upon. When I got saved when I was 17, I didn't have any experiences to rely upon because I had never went to church other than a Catholic church. And if you know anything about that, I had no experiences to rely upon. Then people are crazy. I mean, I had no experiences to rely upon. I didn't know how to act when I went to a church. I didn't know what to expect or what to do or how the services were conducted or the church was conducted or when to say amen. Had to learn all that. And they needed direction, because they hadn't been that way. That's why Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says, Now, any time you think you've got it all figured out, can I tell you right now, can I assure you of one thing? You don't. Every time I think I gotta figure it out, God said, you gotta figure it out, big boy, we'll see about that. And anything I try and figure out, but God says, no, it ain't happening that way. Just because you think you gotta figure it out. Just because you're self-reliant, you think you don't know me, I'm gonna show you how much you do. Now, I'm a planner. Brother Eddie will tell you, I'm a planner. I love plans. I love long-term plans, short-term plans, intermediate plans. I'm like the Russians. I even plan what time you go to the bathroom. I plan it all. But let me tell you something. It better be God's plans. And God has to remind me every now and then, Mr. Planner, that your plans are not my plans and you better get your plans in accordance with mine or we're going to have a serious problem. Jeremiah 10 and verse number 23, and I love these verses because it rebukes me all the time. I told you I'm a planner. I like to figure things out. I like to think about things. Look what it says in Jeremiah 10 and in verse number 23, and it says, Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. You can't plan it out. You can try. But remember, it's only tentative. Remember, it is a loose plan, subject to change at any second. Because God's ways are not our ways, and we've got to make sure we're on the same page as God. Amen. Look back in Exodus 19. You're there, Exodus 19, verse 3 and 4. Notice what it says here, Exodus 19, verse 3 and 4. And it says, And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called on him out of the mountains, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. How'd they get there? God carried them. How'd they get there? God prepared the way. I believe it was God that divided the Red Sea, not them. Now would you have taken that path? Now you know there is no way in human reasoning you'd have said, let's cross the Red Sea. I mean, someone comes up with that brainiac idea and you say, are you out of your mind? No, we're not doing that. That's a suicide mission. And it was for the Egyptians. Not for the people of God. Hey, God can direct our paths a whole lot better than we can. Look at chapter 23, verse number 20 and 22. 23, 20, and 22, notice what it says there. It says, Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgression, for thy name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto thy enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For my angel shall go before thee, and bring thee into the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, and I will cut them off. Wasn't it the ark of God that went before them to show them the way? You see, the wilderness reminds us that we need God's direction. Again, we think we got it all figured out all the time, only to find out that we're horribly mistaken. And we don't know what we're doing. That's why we have to pray and make sure God is leading us. Parents gotta pray and make sure God is leading you with your children, especially in the day in which we live. I'll tell you right now, we better be praying about everything. You're going on a trip, you better be praying about it. Even as simple as sometimes going to the grocery store, you better be praying about it. I mean, you might be caught up in a gunfight. You might be caught up in a mass shooting. You know what I do when God tells me, hey, don't go? I said, Lord, it's the grocery store. He said, I told you not to go. I said, amen. Yes, sir, I'm not going. Ask Miss Lisa. I said, I thought you were going to the store. She said, God said no. Hey, we wanted to go Hawaii. God said no. I wanted to go to Trinidad last summer. Man, the plans were made. It was in stone. And God cracked up all the stone. And God put in my heart the spirit of fear and said, I don't want you to go. I told Miss Lisa, I said, we're not going. She said, what? But you were so excited. You told him we were coming. I don't know. God said no. We called him up. We told him no. Matter of fact, they called up, and I hated to tell them. I mean, Ms. Lisa didn't even want to tell them. I said, put them on, I'll tell them. We're not coming. Brother Fizer got on, and he's usually a strong army. He said, oh, Brother Chris. I said, there's no old Brother Chris this time, brother. God said no, and I have to obey the Lord. And I don't know why. I want to come. The plans are made. We want to be there. But for some reason, God has said no. And this is too much at stake for me to disobey him. I'd hate for the plane to go down because I wouldn't listen. Right? And I said, if God's telling us no, the answer is no. There's been many times I had plans to buy cars and do these things and all kinds of things, business adventures, and God said, no, no, no, no, you're dreaming. I don't want you to do that. I am telling you right now, we need God's leadership in our life. When I go to the doctor, man, you pray. When you take medicine, you pray. You gotta be in tune with God. Or we're gonna have a problem. We need his direction. What does the wilderness do? Hey, I'll tell you right now, when you're sick, you're in the wilderness. And you need direction to know what to do. Am I supposed to take this medicine? You know, I told you, my doctor said, hey, you're on all this medicine, I don't know what to tell you, play with it. and decide what you're supposed to do. And I took myself off the one pill because I was having severe chest pain, and my heart couldn't keep up when I did anything. And I said, Lord, what am I supposed to do? He said, stop taking that pill. I was supposed to be taking two of them. I start taking one. And this last few months, the Lord said, stop that other one. You don't need it anymore. And believe you me, I'm checking all of my stuff, right? The doctor done told me, do what you want, play with it, I'm gonna see him soon. And I said, you know what? If it's causing me to have a problem, if I am recovering from COVID and I am, I'm recovering from my long COVID and I am, these things were to treat my long COVID. You gotta pray. I'm not saying go against what the doctor's telling you to do, but if he gives you permission to play with it, then pray and decide what you're supposed to do. If you're taking something and it's hurting you, what should you do? Stop immediately. You got to pray. You got to pray. I'm not against doctors. I'm not against medicine. That's why I go to doctor. That's why I spend all that money every year. Right? But I'll tell you right now, we need God's direction in everything. The wilderness has teach that we need God's direction because we don't know what we're doing. The wilderness shows us God's divine presence, but it's through deliverance from the elements. Now, remember, they had that pillar of a cloud by day. You say, what'd it do? It gave them shade. Now, if you've ever had sun on your head and you've been in the desert, or you've... The closest I've ever come to that was be on the ocean, fishing, with no hat and short-sleeved shirts. And when I looked down at my arm and my head and it looked redder than Miss Linda's dress back there, I thought, Houston, we got a problem. We're in the middle of the Gulf of Perea. I told the one boy, the Indians, I said, take your pants off. He said, what? I said, you heard me, take your pants off. And I put his pants on my arms and I said, now give me your shirt. They weren't going to get sunburned. And I put his shirt over my head. And I laid in the boat and prayed we'd get back to shore quickly. Because there was no cloud and I was lobster-fied on my arms and my face. And if I hadn't, I'd have had second and third degree burns if I hadn't put that kid's pants on my arms. Hey, you say, what do we need? What do they need? They're in the desert. And they need some relief from the elements. They got the fire by night. At night, the desert's cold. So the pillar of fire is providing them heat. And he's sheltering them from the extremes. You say, what does that tell us? That God takes care of us. Psalms 347, the angel of the Lord encamped round about them that love him and fear him. Right? And God takes care of us as a mother takes care of his children. Most mothers are good mothers. I can't say that about all fathers, because fathers can be reckless. I used to let Christopher, when Lisa would go to work, I'd say, you want to have some fun? He said, yeah. I said, here, you climb up the woodpile, get on the roof, go to the very top, and jump off to me. And man, he would jump off the roof and I'd catch him and say, you wanna do it again? He'd say, yeah, and he'd do it again and he'd do it again and we'd do it again. But we couldn't do that when mom was at home. Because mom is not reckless. I tried that with Reckon, dropped her on her head and she never let me do it again. She had a concussion. But Miss Lisa would have never done that. Not in a million years. Can I tell you, God is never going to do anything crazy with your life. He is going to care for us. And He is going to make sure that things are working in our life. He said, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusts in Him. Oh, fear the Lord. He is saints, for there's no one to them that fear Him. He said, The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Hey, I tell the kids, we'll eat when I'm ready. I can go all day without eating. One time Dad Dunbar came down and I was working here at the church. And man, I was working, working, working, working, working. He come out around 5, 6 o'clock. He says, Chris, he was nervous. He said, you know, I'll give you some money if you'll go get something. I'm hungry. And I said, oh, Dad, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. But Lisa and Mom were out. You don't want to be left at home alone with me. I mean, when I'm working, I'm working. Right? I'm not thinking about needs. Now, I'm 60. I might be thinking about it now. I might get hungry now, but back then, no. But you know, God knew that they had needs, and he knew that they needed deliverance from things. And again, Psalms 121. And I'm going to continue this message next Sunday night, but it's not going to be here, so it's going to be a several-part message. But Psalms 121, and look what it says in verse 1 to 8. It says, He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth thee shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is my keeper. The Lord is a shade upon my right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out, my coming in, from this time forth and even forevermore. But you know you have to learn that as a Christian. That God is going to take care of it. Sometimes we get so nervous and so panicked that God might not be able to take care of our little problem. I assure you, you have to learn that God can take care of your problem. You have to learn to trust in the Lord. You have to learn to have confidence. Now, God's not going to be like me and drop you on your head, right? He's able to keep you from falling. Don't put too much confidence in me. You remember that thing we said, I'm gonna fall backwards and you catch me, forget it. I'll catch you, sure. That's how the devil works. The devil's always said, yeah, I'll catch you, sure he will. No, he ain't catching you. You know what the witnesses teach us? That God is able, it teaches us about deliverance. It teaches us about direction. It teaches us about deliverance from the enemy. You know, the devil always attacks when you're determined to do something for God. Is that not a truth? You get up in the morning and say, you know what? God has spoke to my heart about X, Y, Z, and I'm going to do it. I'm going to fast today. You know the devil will attack that in every way, shape, form, and fashion. Everyone in the world will come by and offer you something good. They will. Yeah, let's go to lunch. Let's do this. Let's do that. Anything. It's like you decide you're going to diet. I mean, everything in the world will come against it. It will. I don't care what are you... Hey, I'm going to go pass out tracts. I'm going to pray. I don't care what time it is. When I get ready to pray, the phone is going to ring. And my phone is going to go ding, ding, ding, and ring, and everything in the world is going to happen when it's time to pray. And I don't care what time of day that is. When I say I don't read my Bible, it's the same way. And sometimes I'm like a little boy, I'm easily distracted. Right? I mean, and man, I hate when someone, I'm reading my Bible, they knock on the door. And then you go out there and see what it is, and it's a bunch of foolishness. It's the whack job, the nut job, and you know all they want to do is waste an hour of your time. I could tell you some stories. And I'm just thinking, you've got to be kidding me. An hour, hour and a half later, two hours later, And you're thinking, you have completely derailed any opportunity I had to have some spiritual time with God. Look in our text, chapter 14, verse 5 to 9, and it says, And it was told the king of Egypt the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. And he took six hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and the captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. and the children of Israel went out with a high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and all the chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them in camping by the sea beside Pahiaroth before Beelzebub." The Egyptians looked around and said, what happened to all of our stuff? Remember, they spoiled the Egyptians. And they said, where's our gold? Where's our silver? I mean, really, they took everything of value they had. And they said, what were we thinking? We're getting it back. Right? Remember, Israel went out with a high hand. Man, they're shouting, they're rejoicing. The Egyptians are buried and they're dead. They walk in the room, hey, let me have that thing. Take it and go. Don't you know they were probably after You know, 430 years, that they may have had a few things to say on their way out the door? Knowing human nature as it is? We won! We won! We won! We're on the winning side! Think about it. Don't tell me you've never done that. They went out with a high hand. You bunch of devils, you got what you deserved. Hope you rot in hell. Out the door they went. Don't tell me they couldn't have done that. They were riding high on the saddle when they went out of Egypt. It says they went out with a high hand. And boy, the enemy thought about that for a minute. And that bout got them half mad. Verse 10, I'll tell you right now, the Egyptians wanted a pound of flesh. As far as they were concerned, they wanted them all dead. I mean, they didn't bring all them chariots out for nothing. They're soldiers, they're warriors. What do the children of Israel... You think they took swords and spears? That wasn't even on their mind. They wanted the gold and silver. I mean, really. They knew something about business. Verse 13, And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. You know, all they had to do was believe God and act upon their faith. Don't we sing that song, faith is the victory that overcomes the world? Can I tell you something as a child of God? As a child of God, you know one of the lessons you have to learn as you grow? You have to learn that faith is the victory. Faith is the victory. And you have to learn that God can take care of whatever problem you have. But I'll tell you right now, that little lesson takes some experience to learn. You learn that little lesson over time. You learn that little lesson through the cares and troubles of life. And it's like a staircase. And each victory leads to the next victory, to the next victory, to the next victory, to the next victory. And as you grow in your experience and go up the staircase of faith, you can begin to trust God for all kinds of things. I remember when it was everything I had inside of me to believe God for $5. It was everything I had inside of me to believe God for $5. It was everything I had inside of me to believe God for a job that paid 365 an hour. It was a stretch. I'd be crying, oh God, oh God, you know, I need a dime raise. I mean, really. No joke. Oh God, deliver me from this person at work that's giving me so much problems. It was everything. I had to meet a, Lord, give me faith to pass out this one gospel tract today. Now today I could pass out thousands of gospel tracts, because I have experience and hope, and I know what God's done in the past, and I know I have the experience to know that God has done such great things. Today I'm not praying for $5, today I'm praying for $5,000. Sometimes it's $50,000. Sometimes it's more. You say, why? Because I've grown in faith. People come by and say, Brother Chris, you know, I'm so distraught. I mean, I just got to have $20. And I'm laughing thinking I got to have $4,000. You need $20 tomorrow. I need $4,000 tomorrow. I think to myself, well I'm already 4,000 short, what's another 20? It ain't gonna hurt me. Here it is, if I got it. But see, believing God for big things. Parents have got to believe God for big things. Especially if you're sending kids to school in the day in which we live. You gotta pray God that the teacher doesn't molest them or kill them or do something to them. You gotta pray God that they don't try and turn them into something else other than what they are. You gotta pray God that the state doesn't try and take them away from you! That's what's going on in our country. I thank God the burdens I had are nothing compared to their burdens today. Now I've been through God's experience and I've seen God do great things. I've seen God fix things that nobody could fix. And the Bible makes it very clear. Let's get one verse and we'll go home tonight. Look in Romans chapter number five. And the whole reason of going through the wilderness is to build your faith and give you experience and that'll eventually give you hope. Look what it says in Romans chapter number five. It says, notice what he says in verse three. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations, also knowing that tribulations work patience. We need trouble. You know what this country needs? A good dose of trouble. And we're going to get it. And every one of us are going to be on our knees praying before it's through. It says, tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. I'm not afraid of trouble. It builds our faith. It builds my Christianity. It builds my reliance upon God. Because it's through the wilderness experience that God shows his divine presence. Isn't that why David could say, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want? Right? Though he... I love when I forget how that goes. And I do have it memorized. Let's look at Psalm 23 right quick. Psalm 23. I thought I was going to say that, but I'm having a moment. You know I'm having a moment. I'm having one all day. It says, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for there are with me by rod and my staff comfort me. Man, when you're in the wilderness and you're going through the valley of the shadow of death, it's nothing if you have God's presence. You say, why aren't you afraid? Because I have God's presence. He says, how do you overcome that? With time I'm afraid, I'll trust in thee. You learn to not be afraid by trusting in God. And you learn by your experiences. And my family can tell you, I have had some harrowing experiences. Hey, I know what it is to knock on the door and they're pulling their shotgun. That don't bother me. I know what it is to say, hey, come over here and say that one more time, I'll beat the devil out of you. I know what it is to have the door slammed in my face. I know what it is to have the cops waiting to talk to me after we knocked on someone's door. Right? I've had plenty of experiences. I know what it is to have a group of people, hey, waiting outside the door to rob you and beat you to death. I said, listen, they ain't touching me. I told the lady. I said, you're scared to death. I am not. When I leave, lock your 10 locks back on your door. I will be all right. He said, are you sure? I said, I am 100% sure. because God is with me. And he was. When I went outside, God put the fear of God in every one of them guys, every one of them. And they parted like the Red Sea. And I thought, we better not mess with the preacher. And I said, that's the best decision you made all day, because God is with me. Now you can have confidence when you've had experience. What did the children of Israel lack? Experience. That's what the Red Sea is all about. They gotta realize God's divine presence. If God is with you, nobody can touch you. Remember the two witnesses of Revelation? No one can touch them until it's time to die. For three and a half years, they're going to wreak havoc on this world, and nobody can touch them. But when their journey's over, they're gunned down in the streets. And three days later, they rise from the dead. You know what gives me confidence? When God's given me a task to do, and He's told me that it's not finished, I'll tell you right now, I feel impervious. Nobody can touch me. And it's what gives me confidence. There's nothing greater than knowing God is in what you're doing. But you know what, you gotta grow in Christ to have that experience, to recognize God's presence. If God walked into the room, would you know it? Can I tell you right now, you have to grow in Christ to feel God's presence. I've been in service where the Holy Ghost was all over the place, and I was sitting there and I said, what are they getting excited about? You say, why? Because I wasn't that far along to recognize God's presence. And then when you're far enough along to recognize God's presence and His holiness, and you know God just walked into the room, you feel things that no one else does. because the wilderness is to teach us about God's divine presence. And if you're not accustomed to God's divine presence, it's something that you need to learn and experience, and you only experience it in the wilderness. When you're grasping at straws, But that is God's plan for every child of God's life. Let's stand for prayer. We'll bring it to a close tonight.