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As we're all experiencing today
and last week, and we will experience in the weeks to come, the devil
is attacking. He's attacking very strongly.
And so we need to be much in prayer that they will overcome
what he wants to. As you may have known or have
heard, I was laid up. In fact, I almost felt like I
wasn't going to be here this morning because I have to travel
quite a distance to get here. But the Lord gave me a good drive
to come in. And unfortunately, the Lord did
not give our brother a good drive last week when he spoke here.
This is why I say the devil is attacking. Brother Rogers, when he left
here, there was an accident that he was involved in. We praise
the Lord that neither he nor his wife were injured at all.
The car was injured a little bit. But they are here this morning
and he is going to minister this morning to us. So brother, come
and break the word of life for us. Shortly after we left last Sunday
evening, we were on the 110 freeway just outside of downtown LA when
all of a sudden this accident took place. We know that the
Lord always has purpose. The Lord never allows into our
life anything that is not for our good. And so he was with
us and we thank him for that. I remember once when I was a
student in college studying for the ministry that we had a ministry
with a trumpet trio that I traveled with and we were on our way to
Guatemala. And we were just a little bit
north of Mexico City when a cow came running out on the highway
in front of the bus that we were driving. We were taking a bus
down for a Christian schooling in Guatemala City that was purchased
in the United States and we were driving down for them. And this
cow came running right in front of us and wham! We hit that cow
and the cow went running off and the bus stumbled off to the
side of the road and so we had to leave it there in Mexico City
and the people of Guatemala had to come back and get it when
it was fixed. We were more fortunate than that because our car was
still drivable. Doesn't look too good, but it drives well. And so there's no mechanical
damage apparently done to it and no damage to us. But we had
to miss the GRBC meetings in Cambria as a result of that.
And we felt bad about that. Some of you were not here last
week, or some that were here missed out on the fact that we
have a second book in a series of four books on the subject
of signs of the time. And actually this book is a part
of the first book, as are the next two, but there were so many
pages in the book that we felt that we needed to divide it up
into smaller bites, so to speak, so we decided that we would put
it into four books, and when one was published and we got
our investment back, that we would go on with the second one
and do the same with the third and then the fourth, and then
you would have the entire thing. And this is, those of you, which
are most of you, have our first book. The format of that book
is that we will name a sign of the time, like for example, Israel
is back in the land. And then we'll give scripture
where that is found. And then we'll explain what the
verse says and then we'll go into various books, magazines,
newspapers, internet writings and so forth that kind of verify
that in fact the thing that God prophesied thousands of years
ago is happening today. And so if you didn't pick one
of these up that cost $17 each, and if you didn't pick one up
last Sunday, or if you'd like another one, or if you read the
one that we had and want to give it back, whatever your case may
be, you know, just let us know and we'll be glad. My wife will be in the back by
the table back there to share that with you as we leave this
morning. So pray with us that as we continue
to work on these books that we'll be able to get them all printed
because it's a very, very expensive proposition to self-publish a
book, and so that's why we're doing them one at a time, that
when you get the investment back we'll go on to the second one
and so forth, and so that's what we're after. Now this morning
I'd like to open your Bibles, if you will, to Numbers chapter
13. Numbers chapter 13. Let's fall for prayer. Father
in our God, we thank you that we have your word and that we
can have confidence in it, we can trust in it because it's
truth. Every word written in here is inspired by God and we
know that as we read it that you want us to do more than read
it and memorize it and so forth, but you want us to apply it to
our lives. And we pray today that you would
help us to see some of the ways in which we can live for you
in a way that would please you and bring glory to your name,
as we would try to abide by the things that your word teaches.
For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I hope that you understand
that the Word of God and the preaching of the Word of God
is not given just simply so that you might become more knowledgeable
of various scriptural things. Certainly that's a part of it.
We want to understand what God teaches. We want to be able to
know, and we do this as a result of the Holy Spirit teaching us. I'll tell you what, I would rather
have a guy that had never been to seminary or college, didn't
even graduate from high school, just got out of grade school,
and that guy that is filled with the Holy Spirit, and trusting
God in his life and born again, I would rather listen to him,
for instance, than some guy that got a DDT or a PhD or whatever
kind of a D, whatever, from Harvard University, that doesn't know
Christ as Savior and is not being led by the Spirit of God. Because
this book is not understood in any way, shape, or form, except
as the Spirit of God teaches it to the people of God who are
born again. And we need to understand that. When I first went into the ministry,
back shortly after the Civil War, we had the experience of
trying to figure something out. You stand at the back door, people
come by and they greet you, and they usually make some kind of
a comment, sometimes good, sometimes bad about your sermon, but at
any rate, they're back there sharing with you. And people
will come by and say, you know, I was really blessed by your
message today, and this is what I got out of it. And I'm sitting
there saying, would you repeat that? They repeat it. I say,
just a minute, I want to make a note of that. Because that
would make a good message somewhere. I get on a card and write down
what they said. There is no way that I said what they said I
said. You know, they got something out of it completely different
than what I said. The first time I experienced
that, I thought, my word, am I cracking up here? Did I say
things I didn't know that I said? And then I'd go back and listen
to the tape of it, and sure enough, I did not say that. But that
took care of another one of my bewildering wonderments when
I first went into the ministry. And that is here, sitting out
here in the church that I was passing, there's maybe 150 or
so people in that first full-time church that I pastored, and I'm
saying, well, now I have one message. How can I, in this one
message, say those kind of things that will assist people in all
of the needs that they have, understanding of the word that
they need, and so forth and so on? How is that possible? Then,
as people would say the things they would say at the back door,
I began to realize, you know what? I am not the teacher, as
I stand and preach. The Holy Spirit is the teacher. And He will share with and interpret
for people differently depending on their individual needs. Therefore,
it's not up to me. It's up to me to know what the
Lord would have me speak on, and then to speak on that, and
then just let it go, and let the Holy Spirit of God use it
in whatever way He sees fit in the heart of each individual
who happens to be there at that particular point in time. And
that's a very important lesson to learn, and I think that a
lot of people in ministry have never learned that lesson, though
they may have been in the ministry for very, very many years. And
we need to see that the Word of God is, first of all, There
is truth to be learned. This book, from cover to cover,
is truth. There's not one word in it that's
false. There's no contradictions in it. There's no discrepancies. There are no problems with it.
If I have a problem with it, it's my problem, not the problem
of this book. This book is God's Word. Period. Exclamation mark. And that being so, we need to
understand that everything in it is truth. And if it is all
truth, we need to learn what that truth is, not just so that
we might know truth. Certainly, we need to know truth.
So, a lot of people know truth, but it doesn't do them a bit
of good. When I was in college, you know,
you start getting a little bit of knowledge and you get kind
of fat-headed, and you think you know a lot more than other
people. And one day I was exhorting my mother about this, that, and
the other thing, when I was a student in college, and she said, son,
you have more knowledge than me, but I have more wisdom than
you. You say, amen to that, you didn't
even know me back in those days. But at any rate, you know, I
didn't really quite understand what she was saying, because
back then to mean wisdom and knowledge, and that's kind of
all the same thing, but it's not. Knowledge. is knowing the facts. Wisdom is applying the facts. A lot of people hear the word
of God, they even understand the truth of the word of God,
but they do not allow that word of truth to sink into their hearts
in such a way that it causes them to do what they do based
upon the truth that they have learned. You know, in your own heart,
without any preacher telling you, that there are certain things
that you are presently doing, for example, you know they are
wrong. The way you think, the way you talk, the way you act,
what you do, and so forth. There are things that are wrong
that people do, that are Christians. And they know the truth of what
God's Word says about those things. And they're not doing those things,
they're not obeying the truth. So a very important part of our
study of the Word of God is not just to learn the truth that
is being taught in the passage. The other half, the other side
of the coin, is to apply the truth that we have learned to
my own personal life, so that it motivates me, it encourages
me, it convicts me, it changes me, it makes a new person out
of me. There needs to be a constant
growing experience in the things of the Lord and in our obedience
to the Lord. Now what I have to share with
you this morning was meant to be an encouragement
to you, because I know that it's very difficult when a church
loses a pastor, particularly one that you love, as I know
you love Jim, to lose him. And at least in your case here,
you don't have to guess why he left. His health just would not
allow him to live in this part of America. And so a lot of churches,
they have the added burden of not really being sure why their
pastor left to go elsewhere. And so they're very discouraged.
And I want you to know that you in this church can do anything
that God wants you to do. It doesn't matter what it is.
If God wants you to do it, along with His will to do it, He will
give you the ability to do it. And if we believe that, nothing
is impossible in accomplishing the work that God has given us
to do. We have such a case that is an example of this in Numbers
chapter 13. And I want you to ask yourself,
what is your focus? Is your focus on your problems,
or is it on God? Those are the two possibilities.
Those are the two ways that you can live. The choice is yours. Focus on God and what his word
teaches, and apply that to your circumstances, and you will have
victory over discouragement. Focus on your problems, leaving
God out of the quotient, and you will be defeated. It's really
that simple. Take the 12 spies that Moses
sent out to look over the promised land. You know, they had left
Egypt, they had the Red Sea experience, God had done many miracles, He
delivered them with a mighty hand, and now they are on their
way to Canaan. And they come right up to the
borders, and they say, all right, we're going to take one man from
each of the 12 tribes, qualified men, men who are godly, men who
are leaders, And together we're going to send them out into the
land and then bring a report back to us of what it is that
they found. So after examining the land for
40 days, they came back into the Israeli camp, and that's
where we pick up the story, right when they get back there in verse
23. Look at it, will you? Numbers
13, 23. And they came into the brook
of Eshko and cut down from a branch with one cluster of grapes. And
they buried between two upon a staff, and they brought of
the pomegranates and of the figs. The place was called the Brook
Estal because of the cluster of grapes which the children
of Israel cut down from the fence, and they returned from searching
out the land after forty days." I'm not sure if you are aware
of it or not, but in God's word, numbers have significance. The
number forty The number of days that they looked over the land
is the number of testing and you will find out through God's
word that very often like the Lord was out in the wilderness
for forty days and forty nights being tested of Satan and you
will find all throughout God's word that the number forty is
used in that day. So they were out there and God
was testing them to see how they would respond to what he had
said and there could only be one conclusion. after looking
over the land, and that is, God was right. The land was a land
that was flowing with milk and honey. It was, and that designates
wealth, success, prosperity. Now they come back and they're
supposed to report as Moses had given them instruction. And actually,
there were three reports. Now see, these folks were Baptists.
That's why there were all these different reports. There's a majority, and there's
a minority. I was called a pastor at church
in Florida once, and it was the weirdest experience I ever had.
First of all, they wanted me to come and candidate, and I
told them I wasn't interested. But then they said, well, wouldn't
you come down and hold a week of Bible conference for us? And
I said, I'd be glad to. So I went down, and I got down
there, and the deacons got the meeting going with me, and they
kept on talking to me about the value of coming down and being
their pastor and I said no I'm not interested and so we got
through the week and then I got home a week or two later they
called me on the phone and they said well now you know we after
you left we got to talking about you and in a meeting and somebody
said well let's have him be a candidate and somebody else said well we
don't need him to be a candidate he's already been here for a
whole week and that's more than most of the time when you have
a candidate Let's just call him to be the pastor. And so they
had a vote that was 100%. It was then I began to suspect
that something was really going on here because they were Baptist
and 100% just is not, you know, that is not the way that normally
it goes. But that's the way that it was.
So here we have a true situation like that. We have a minority
report and we have a majority report. First of all, there was
the third report, which was a unified report. That's what they all
agreed on. The land was exactly as God said
it would be. A land flowing with milk and
honey. A place to be greatly desired.
Now here we have this in verse 26. And they went and came to
Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of children of Israel
and to the wilderness of Paran and Kadesh and brought back word
unto them and unto all the congregation and showed them the fruit of
the land. And they told him and said, We have come to the land
wither thou sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey,
and this is the fruit of it. So they confirmed God's word.
I tell you what, my friend, in everything and anything you do,
the first step to success is to confirm that that is in keeping
with what the word of God says. If you feel that God wants you
to do something, you better be sure that that does not violate
some principle or direct statement in the Word of God. Now, it's
not that God's Word needs confirming, but that's what happened here.
But the fact that they saw what God had described to them in
exactly the same way, it gave them additional courage, it should
have at least. But notice in verse 28. Nevertheless,
the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are
walled and very great, and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land
of the south, and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites
dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and
by the coast of Jericho." Now here we have a little word that
often occurs in a report, and that is the word, but. which
is what the word nevertheless means. So you see in verse 28,
nevertheless. In other words, the land is a
land flowing with milk and honey. It says God said it was nevertheless. Hey, there's giants in the land. They have chariots of iron. They're
very strong. Their cities are walled up to
heaven. And they started looking at all of this stuff. And while
they agreed with God that, hey, this is a land falling with milk
and honey, they did not agree with God that they could go into
the land and possess it. Now this is where I started my
message with you today. There is knowledge and there
is wisdom. They had the knowledge right
on. What God said was true. But these 10 spies that were
giving this report, the majority report was, we can't do it. There's no way we can go in there
and do this. Even though God said we can do
it. You know, we're kind of an exception to the rule here. We
can't do it. You know, when you start feeling
like you can't do something that God said you can do, you'd better
get down on your knees and find out why you have that particular
thing going on in your mind. So, you know, nevertheless, the
word, the word, but, you know, it is a land foaming with milk
and honey, but, you've all been there. Well,
you know, he's really a nice person, but, that's where you get to the clench.
That's where the real facts are. It's what is on the other side
of the word nevertheless or but, where the problem usually is.
So here is what the ten fears. Strong people, strong fortitude,
and even giants. In other words, these ten look
at all of this strictly from human viewpoint. Now get it,
there are twelve men, all have equal qualifications, all go
out on the journey, yet when they get to looking at life,
ten of them are looking at it from human viewpoint, and that
instills fear and discouragement. Two of them look at the situation,
Joshua and Caleb, from the divine viewpoint, and everything they
say will encourage faith. But you see, it all depends on
focus. It all depends on whether you're
going to believe God all the way, or if only part of the way. So they looked at the situation,
Joshua and Caleb did, from divine viewpoint. So the two men, Caleb
and Joshua, who give the minority port, will be the only two men
among all of the adults that will ever make it into the Promised
Land. Even Moses himself didn't make it. For 39 more years, they
lived out in the desert until everyone that was 20 years of
age and older died. Then they entered the land. Now,
apparently, after the mention of giants in fortified cities,
there was mass terror in the minds of the people. You know,
there's a verse in the book of Proverbs that is key to understanding
what's going on here. That verse says, As a man thinketh
in his heart, so is he. You can have great talent, great
resources, great everything, but if in your heart you say
it's impossible, guess what? For you, it is impossible. But
God's Word says all things are possible with God. Doesn't matter
what they are. If God said it, you'd better
believe it, apply it, live it, and do it. Otherwise you'll be
missing out on the best that God might happen to have for
you. And then notice that the majority add further words in
verse 31. But the men that went up with
them said, We be not able to go against the people, for they
are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report
of the land, which they had searched under the children of Israel,
saying, The land through which we have gone to search it is
a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people we
saw in it were of great stature. Is the majority always right? No. Why? Because God is always
right. And anybody who doesn't disagree
with God, even though it's the majority of 999,999 of a million,
they're wrong. Because God and God alone is
right. And God said they could do it. They could go into that
land. They could possess that land.
Don't you think that God knew there were walled up buildings?
Walls? Don't you think that God knew
there were chariots and giants and all the rest of it there?
There's nothing that God doesn't know. That's one of the things
that makes God, God. He's all-knowing. And so He told them, knowing
what they would be up against when they went there, He said,
go on in. Do it. You can do it. And I'm afraid
that these men, the majority, had the wrong attitude, the wrong
idea. Now the result of the acceptance of this human viewpoint majority
is going to bring discipline to the people. Discipline takes
the form of discouragement in the life of a believer who refuses
to trust God through tough times. Encouragement is the lot of those
who trust God through tough times. If you believe that God is sovereign,
that is, He's in control of everything. If you believe that God loves
you, that He can give you grace to go through whatever you're
going to go through, And if you believe in God's will to do something,
you'd better do it, even though it seems impossible. Now notice,
if you will, verse 28 again. Nevertheless, the people be strong
that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled up in very
grace. And moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. Let's
get down to the last verse, verse 33. And there we saw the giants,
the sons of Anak, which came out of the giants. And we were
in our own sight as grasshoppers. So we were in their sight. I
call this grasshopper theology. And a lot of people are guilty
of it. You know what? You and God make a majority.
Did you know that? I read a story once, a very short
story, it was just a paragraph long. It was a story of an ant
and an elephant that were walking along together on a road. And
they came to an old rickety wooden bridge. And they started crossing
the bridge, and that bridge just shook like it was going to fall
down. Got on the other side of the bridge, and the ant said
to the elephant, Boy, we sure did shake that bridge, didn't
we? You and God are stronger together
than anything. You, without God, are weak. You can't do anything. by yourself. And sometimes God allows into
our life discouraging circumstances and disappointments and so forth,
because it's only through that that we learn to trust in God
the more. I used to lift weights. You can
tell that's just by looking at me, can't you? Look at that muscle. Man, I want to tell you, look
at that. I'd lift weights, and I'd start out with about 5 or
10 pounds, you know? And I'd start going up, down,
up, down. And then before you know it,
I'd go... Like that. I said, I need more
weight. So I add another 10 pounds, and
I'd go... And then... I said, I need more
weight. Put another 10 pounds on it.
And before you know it, I'm lifting over 100 pounds, then 150 pounds,
and I go... It's just like I'm lifting a
toothpick. You see, you build up little
by little. The only way that you can become stronger in your
physical muscles is by challenging them to that which is just a
little bit too heavy, but not really, really, really too heavy,
but you can do it, but it's a stress. The same way in our spiritual
life. God sends us challenges, even discouragements, disappointments,
losses, Because through these things, He can and He will make
out of us a people that otherwise never could have existed without
the challenges, because that's what makes us strong. And we
trust God through it. Experience, anyway. And so God
allows, He sent these people into this land, so well knowing
that there were giants and all of these things that might discourage
the average guy, But he said, I'll give you the land if you
just go in and take it. But as soon as they saw the giant,
their verdict was grasshoppers. And they became occupied with
themselves. Now listen to the other two spies in chapter 14. And all the congregation lifted
up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And
all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
and the whole congregation said unto them, Would the God that
we had died in the land of Egypt, or would the God that we had
died in this wilderness. What a difference in the slants
of their vision of these other people. Notice in verse 6, 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 pass through to search it is an exceeding
good land, and if the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us
into this land, and give it to 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 bred
for us. Their defense is departed from
them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not." How could there
be such a dramatic difference in the vision of these two groups
of men? You see, didn't Joshua and Caleb see the walls, the
chariots of iron, the giants, the strong people, and all the
rest of it? Sure they did. Well, how come they have a different
attitude? Because if they looked up those walls that were on the
way up to heaven, they didn't stop their vision there. They
kept on looking and they saw in heaven, God that's bigger
than the walls, that's bigger than the giants. God is bigger
than anything. God is stronger than anything. And we've seen it during the
course of the history of Israel since 1948. Especially in 1948.
They didn't even have an organized army. And they were being attacked
by tens of thousands of people with all kinds of tanks and planes
and modern weapons. They won the war. Well, how do
you win a war in that kind of a situation? It's impossible,
is it? No. After the war was over with,
some of the Egyptians, I had that issue of Lace Magazine that
told about the war and the results of the war, and it's a pictorial
experience, and it's sensational. It showed a boost. These Egyptian
people became so frightened, they took off their boots and
they ran back to Egypt across the Suez Canal. Because without
their boots, I guess they could run faster. They left their tanks
with the keys in the tanks and just got out of the tanks and
they ran. Somebody said, well, why did you do that? Well, they
said, because we looked up in the sky and there were thousands
of soldiers in white robes. And then somebody then goes to
the Jewish commanders who were there and they said, what are
they talking about? We didn't see anything like that. I remember when Elisha, was in
Dothan, and surrounded by the people who wanted to murder him,
surrounded with a great army, and his servant looked out, and
he got up in the morning, and he saw these people, and he said, he
said, Lo, look at this! We're doomed! And Elijah said,
Lord, open his eyes. And what did this man see when
he opened his eyes? He saw the chariots of God. Do you think that those enemies
of Elisha won the victory that day? Oh, no, no, no. Impossible
that a man, the prophet of God and his servant, could overcome
the vast host of the army? Of course it's possible, if God
is there. Another part of the story is
that as the Israelis were coming across the army with their army
in another one of the wars, all of a sudden there arose this
incredible wind that just came out of nowhere. There was no
storm. And it created a sandstorm that was unbelievable. And when
the sandstorm was all over with, they were just in front of their
tanks and their soldiers with a minefield. that the Egyptians
had laid out for them. And that sandstorm uncovered
all of those mines. They were able to disable all
of those mines and not a thing happened to any of their soldiers
as a result. I don't know how God does what
he does. None of my business. I don't even understand it. But
if God says, Herb Rogers, you'd better do this. Hey, I'll tell
you what. I may believe the truth of the land of promise, but I
had better believe that God has given me the victory in that
land of promise there along the way. And so, you see, a vision
of God can offset and shut out our vision of our own helplessness.
Have you ever felt helpless? If you are a true child of God,
filled with the Spirit of God, you never have to feel a sense
of helplessness anywhere for any reason. This is the ministry
of the Holy Spirit. Thereby does He encourage us
and give us the victory as we have a vision of Him. That's
why the Apostle wrote in the book of Hebrews, looking unto
Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. We need to believe
that He is with us. We need to practice in our attitudes
and our experience that the Lord Jesus Christ is with us and He
creates situations. He creates circumstances so that
whatever they may be, if He has sent them, they are for our good.
For all things work together for good to them who love God
and to them who are called according to His purpose. Are you discouraged
today? Do you need encouragement? And
keep your eyes on God. And you will have an explosion
of confidence. And you will automatically be
encouraged. Because that is the way that
God works. The faith comes first. And when
you believe what God says, and you apply what He said to your
circumstances, you have victory. And you're no longer discouraged.
Forty years later, the same Jewish nation decided to trust God,
and under the leadership of Joshua, they marched into the land, and
they overcame the giants, they threw down the great walls of
Jericho, and all the rest of it. And as you read the stories
of the experiences that they had in the doing of it, it's
exciting. I get chills up and down my spine
when I read that stuff. How could they do it? Why couldn't
the people 40 years before them do it? The people 40 years before
them could have done it if they just would have trusted God,
believed what God said about going into the land and taking
it. There would have been no trouble, they could have done
it just like the guys did 40 years later on. Hey, we serve
a wonderful, omnipotent, sovereign, all-powerful God that's in control
of everything, anywhere and everywhere, and He has promised that certain
things will be possible for us if we will only believe in Him
and trust in Him. And this was the problem with
these particular spies that went out. They didn't trust. They didn't believe. And so they
discouraged all the people. And as a result of the discouragement
of the people, then the people became frightened. And that's
why leadership is so important in a church. That you need people
in your church who will lead the people in your church and
encourage them in the things of the Lord. And when they do
that, I'll tell you what, it's going to be absolutely encouraging
for the people in that particular church. You know, in our society,
we have instance everything, don't we? Instant meals. You don't want to cook, you just
go out and buy one of these boxes that has a prepared meal in it,
you throw it in the microwave oven, a few minutes later you
come up and it's all cooked for you. We have instant credit,
instant everything. And therefore, when we have to
wait on things that God has promised us to happen, we give up. Because
we've been trained in instant everything. Instant pudding,
instant jello, blah, blah, blah, you know? God says, wait on the Lord, and
it will come to pass. You've got to learn to do that.
There's a verse over in the Gospels that says, Knock, and it shall
be opened unto you. Are you familiar with that? Beacon
you shall find. But the Greek language there says, keep on
knocking. Keep on. looking, and it will
happen. In other words, there's a perseverance
here that is important, that we need to follow. We should
not give up because it doesn't happen instantly the way we would
like it to happen. Because God doesn't work that
way. Look, he promised Abraham that he was going to be the father
of a child that would give birth to many nations and peoples and
so forth. Do you think that Sarah got to
expecting the next day? It took years. But it happened
because God said it was going to happen. And anything that
God says is so, is so. And we've got to recognize that.
But that is the way God works. There's nothing instant with
God. As a matter of fact, have you ever heard the saying, cheer
up, things could be worse? How many of you ever heard that?
Heard that, okay. You know, I was really down one
day, and somebody came and told me that. They said, cheer up,
things could be worse. So you know what? I cheered up,
and they were right, things got worse. We don't like to wait for anything
in this American culture. And while we're trusting God,
it doesn't mean that everything's going to be fine, hunk and dory.
God doesn't work in that way. God deliberately allows, as I
said before, those discouraging circumstances that make the situation
look hopeless, so that we will the more trust in Him and allow
Him to do whatever it is that He wants to do. That's all I
am, is a conduit through which God might work if I allow Him
to do it. And so just because as you're trying to do what you
know God wants you to do, there's something discouraging that comes
along, it doesn't mean But God is not in it. I read of a girl whose mother
was sick in bed for several days, and the daughter decided to make
her some tea to help her feel better. And the six-year-old
brought the mother's tea into the room, and the mother drank
and thanked her, and then she asked how she made it. She replied,
well, just like you do. First of all, I took the tea
leaves and boiled them, and then I strained them. And the mother
asked, well, what did you use the strainer with? And to this
the daughter replied, well, I couldn't find the strainer, so I used
the fly swatter. You see, it's true. When you pray, things can get
worse. But only if God allows it, because
that's a part of what the story is. Look, you study on your own
one of these days the story of Joseph. And look at all of the
things that came out of that man's life that could discourage
him. But in the end, he was the ruler in Egypt. That's where
God is sending him to go. Don't be discouraged because
you try and nothing seems to happen. And you try and matters
only get worse. Sometimes when we get what we
want, we are disappointed to find out that that's not really
what we wanted after all. Let God be God. Serve God one-heartedly. Determine that you will allow
him to do whatever it is that he wants to do. But you will
trust him and you will take that word of truth that you study
from day to day and time to time. And you will not just learn the
truth, but you will live the truth. You will obey the truth.
You will believe the truth. And you will apply that to your
daily life in such a way so that God will be glorified, you get
over discouragement, you have victory, and the Lord will be
glorified. Try it out. It's a formula that
works. Bow with me in prayer. Father
God, we want to thank you that you have given to us the encouragement
of your word, the hope that only you can give through your word
and through the Holy Spirit of God. And we just pray today that
for each one that is here that is passing through some kind
of a personal experience in life that is disappointing, that somehow,
someway they might learn to find those scriptures that apply to
their circumstances and then to follow through on them and
obey them and live their life in the victory that you had intended
for us to live in. And we'll thank you in Jesus'
name. Amen.
Ministry & Message
| Sermon ID | 41513619544 |
| Duration | 44:00 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Language | English |
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