that will give him a heart, open up our heart to the Lord and what he has to say. Brother Bill, if you'd come. Thank you, Preacher. Amen. Thank you. It is a blessing to be here tonight, and I'm sure appreciate all of you being faithful. Amen. And brother, when I walk in here, those kids don't hit me in the head, they hit me in the knees, amen? But it's a blessing. It's great to see, because a lot of you used to look like that, and then you got old, amen? And I don't understand why you're getting old and I'm not. I can't figure all that out, amen? But what a joy it is to be here this week for Vacation Bible School. Always looking forward to see what God's going to do, praying for lives to get saved, people to get changed, and for God's word to be blessed. I'll let you open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews again tonight. chapter number 11. While you're turning there, I will just say a couple of things. I know that brother Eric, by the way, thank you so much for helping him come along with me. And we got into things he didn't know he was getting into, but we had a great time and going into India and Mozambique, the border there, Zimbabwe and South Africa. and just everything that God during that time, and I know he kind of shared of his time with us, and so we came back together at the same time, but I'm in continual contact with the workers there in Zimbabwe and over in India, and the works are just always going on. Mozambique is the most interesting right now as we've been in Zimbabwe there. through many years, through another missionary, and a man that actually got saved from Zimbabwe and then went back up and started a church there. Now there's three churches that are functioning. There's two others that are in their infant stages. And then through that, it's crossed over into Mozambique. And just while I was there, we got a permit to operate in Mozambique with the men there. And Pastor Titus of the church there, he's got a great burden for that. It's kind of his home country, because you know, England colonized, and when they divided up countries, they didn't think about tribes, they just drew a line and split up people, and he's truly from that side, but he lives in Zimbabwe, he's a Mozambican, but he's got a great burden for his own country. and got permission, and so there was a piece of land over there, because they didn't have a place to really meet and gather, and for like $150, we bought a piece of land. You know, that's just like, yeah, where do I write the check to, you know? And so, and they put a little structure up there, just some wood poles and a ten. And yesterday, two more men got saved over there that he just sent me information on, an old man and a younger man. And they're training men to be pastors. That's what they're doing, teaching doctrine, training people to go reach their own country. Because Mozambique is getting overrun from the north side by Islam. And if you do a little research, you'll see the tragedies that are taking place as they're just butchering people. Obviously, when they say Christians, it doesn't mean it's a born-again Christian, just anybody that is Catholic or whatever, Swiss mission, whatever is up there. But you won't submit to Islam. They're just killing them. And I'm coming down through the country and I've told those men, you're going to have to get very serious because there's going to come a day where it's going to get very difficult to go into your country and preach the gospel. And so we're excited about the men that are eager and ready and willing to do that. Had God has changed their lives. Men that were former false prophets and they've gotten saved, they've renounced that. and they're preaching the truth. And so that's one great thing, and it's continuing on. And the joy is it's being done by a Zimbabwean who just loves the Lord. Brother Titus is one of the tremendous, tremendous Christians and pastors over there, and he's doing a great job. And so then there's been some other missionaries. For years and years, Zimbabwe had just one independent Baptist missionary that I knew of. There was an older man that had done some work in there, was no longer in the country, but in and out, he's passed away. But Brother Jeff Porter had been there for years, a good friend of mine, but he's the only one. And in the last year, it's just blossomed. There's been another man moving to the country, doing a tremendous work in the city of Metairie. He's got a man coming to help him who just got his support raised. And then just this last week, a week and a half ago, a missionary that was up in Sierra Leone just happened to leave the country because of health matters with his kids and things. And he's coming down to Zimbabwe to work with the missionaries there. There's another young couple that are on deputation. So it's like all of a sudden, there's just an influx. And we're very grateful for that because the country is very needy. And like I said, God's opened the door now into another place in Mozambique. And so we're excited about what God's doing there. Down in South Africa, the friends there are doing well. Eric knows a place, Testicia, where we went soul winning, and we bought a little piece of land there. Same thing, just a couple hundred dollars. Years ago, we tried to start a church there, put a tent there, preach there, work there a lot, but it just didn't come to fruit. And the men that we were working with just went a different direction. Doctrinally, I had to kind of pull out of that. But God had another man that we could help, Pastor Orlands, and so we shifted the tent to his area. That church is flourishing today. But about a year ago, they got a burden to go back into Justitia. We discovered they're going to build like a plaza there on the main road. And so land was cheap. So once again, we bought some land for a couple hundred dollars that we'll be able to put a church there eventually. And they've been going solely up there. We went there when I was there. And people are getting saved, and now is the right time. And we're excited about even the young man that's going to be going up there and leading that work. And just praise the Lord for that. Over in India. I could talk all night about that, but I won't, but just tremendous things. The men over there continue to go forward. Last week they were in two brand new villages showing films, preaching the gospel, and it's just all the time people getting saved. We just keep praying for them. We are trying to purchase a vehicle for them because that's kind of their greatest need. I always tell people, India's like a bottomless pit. If I had a million dollars, I could spend it all wisely in India and still not scratch the surface of the country. Because you have a billion people plus, maybe 1.5, 1.6 billion people. The country's huge. It's vast. And there's so much need over there to get the gospel. But we are going to try to purchase a vehicle for them to go back into a little forest area. It's kind of remote. And there's a people group back there that are untouched with the gospel. And they're seeing that door get opened. And so we're just we're just looking forward to what God might do there as they labor. And, you know, I just get to be a part of it. I don't really they're the ones doing the work. And I just kind of tell people about what God's doing. And and then as God blesses us, send it over there and they do the work. And I'm thankful for that, because it's really the responsibility of people anywhere to reach their people. I love coming to churches in America and helping for a week. And I hope during that week we are stirred, we're motivated, we're challenged. But it's really your responsibility to reach Fremont. It's your responsibility to reach out to all these other communities, which I'm thankful you do, amen. And God blesses us when we do that. I often, when I think about the missions works over in other countries, how do these local pastors get it all done? It's because God blesses them because they're faithful to do. And God's always looking for a church that's trying to do and do it well and do it right to put his blessing on. And as soon as a church starts thinking internally instead of externally, they're gonna lose that blessing of God. And so I'm thankful, thankful that you allow men from your church to go out and preach in other churches. I'm thankful that you let your young people go serve the Lord and God will build this church, amen. And just keep doing that, keep being faithful, keep standing, passionate, visiting. And I'll just share this really quickly. I asked Brother Eric when we were over in India, we were doing a conference there for a bunch of pastors and a mixed group of men, everything from Baptist to saved men, lost men. Anytime there's a conference, people just come, you know, and so it's a chance to teach doctrine. I felt really burdened to let Eric speak one day there, and obviously a young Christian in the Lord, and many times he preached along with me. I had him share his testimony. He did a wonderful job preaching the gospel. But I was struggling with saying, Eric, stand up and preach to these pastors, you know, not doubting his ability, but just knowing, you know, how people think. But I asked him to speak about why. He is where he is today. And he gave a short message, and I won't preach the whole message over because I don't think I can do it justice, but the thing that he brought out, and I was telling Pastor about this at lunch, and he shared many good things. One of the things he said about the love of the people here. They accepted him, they were friendly, they were kind to him. I hope they're still being that way. I noticed you're sitting by yourself tonight. The fact that, you know, there was a general, a good welcoming, you know. But one thing he said in the message at the end was he talked about his pastor. And of course, I've known your pastor since he was younger, before he had a beard, amen. And what's funny is his beard makes him look older than me, so that's great. But that's a joke. But the whole thought he gave was about your pastor's stand for his convictions. and the fact that Pastor McQueen, what he believed he stands on. And I thought what he shared with those pastors was so powerful because many of those pastors don't stand on their convictions. Many of them just waver for money. They waver for crowds. They waver for people. They'll say anything to get stuff. And I was thankful that he brought that out and shared that. And I had several of the pastors ask me about that afterwards because, It is important that we stand, amen? And Liberty Baptist Church ought to be thankful that you have a pastor that's not afraid to stand on what he believes. And that's not popular in our world today. That won't build a mega church. But it will build a church that makes a difference. And one of the things that I've been preaching lately is about faith. You know, have you ever thought about Daniel and then the three Hebrews that were in the fiery furnace? Have you ever thought about when the king looked in the furnace and he said, didn't we throw three men in the fire and the fourth is the son of God? Have you ever wondered how he knew that was the son of God? How did he know that? Well, I believe the reason he knew it is because three young men took a stand. And if we want the world to know the son of God, we need to take a stand. It's not popular. It's not popular to be a people of the Bible, convictions, doctrine. But the only hope the world has is if God's people will stand on the truth. We don't have to be mean. We don't have to be hateful. We definitely don't want to be prideful and think we're better than anybody else. But those three boys could have bowed down and blended in and not prayed to the God. But they didn't. They stood. And I believe because they stood, a king said, there's the son of God. And if our world is going to see Christ, it's only gonna be through churches that take a stand. Because honestly, I preach and I see more and more where I meet many people that think they're saved. But they're gonna say, Lord, Lord, there be not many wonderful works in thy name, cast out devils in thy name. And Jesus is gonna say, depart from me, I never knew you. Because they didn't know the Son of God. They just knew a form of religion, but they denied the power of it. And so I appreciated Eric's testimony. I appreciated what he said. And I appreciate your pastor and his stand on the word of God and on truth. And I hope that you do the same thing. He's not always going to rub you the right way. I remember one time somebody said about a preacher, his preaching was rubbing the fur on the cat the wrong way. And somebody said, turn the cat around. Amen. And sometimes as believers, we just need to turn around and we fit in, amen? And we're not fighting what God has given us. And so appreciate that, appreciate your support and all that you do. We've been back in America now since April, preaching in churches, evangelism, revivals, strengthening, and now we're starting to our summer vacation Bible schools. I just had my one daughter Lydia left traveling with me. Andrew has got a job. He's doing what every young man does, seeking for a wife, amen? You need a job before you can do that. So he's got a job, got a very good job in our home church in Ohio, working there, helping the church. I called yesterday and said, what are you doing? He said, I'm over the church painting. I said, amen, that's good. And needs to be helping at the church, and he's doing that, and that's a blessing. And my daughter Abigail got married over in South Africa. I got a good son-in-law. And I like my son-in-laws until they take my daughters. They're not so popular, but that happens. But pray for Anthony and Abigail. He has one year of teaching left at the school that he teaches at, and then he's going into evangelism in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe. He got saved many years ago. We were doing a vacation Bible school. He and his family had moved into the house directly across the street from us over there. And he spoke better English than he did Zulu, or Ndebele, his local language. His desire in life was to come to America, and he was the happiest thing in the world to see a house full of Americans living across the street from him. So he loved to talk to us, you know. And my first son-in-law, Josh, came and visited us. They spent a lot of time talking over the fence, you know, and never could get him to come to church. And so for Vacation Bible School, we decided that year to put the tent up rather than do it in the building, just because people might come to a tent that won't come to the building. And so we put the tent up right across the street from the church in a field, which is right across from his house. And every day when I was preaching, I could see out the tent, I could see his front door of his house. And he wouldn't come to the program. But he'd stand on the front porch and do karate at me while I'm preaching, you know? And I don't know if he was casting demons at me or what. That's craziness. But he, one night he came to the adult service in the evening time. Came in, sat down, preached the gospel. We were done. Some people were dealing with him. I was out back of the tent. He came walking out. I said, Anthony, glad you came. And I said, I got a question for you. He's extremely, extremely intelligent. It's a bad thing when your son-in-law is more intelligent than you. But that doesn't take a lot. But he looked at me and he said, I have a question for you. I said, sure. He said, how do you even know if you're saved? I said, wow, let me show you. So we went back in, sat down, took him through scriptures. When I got done, he said, well, if that's the truth, I believe it. He said, I'm saved, too. And that night, he got saved. And boy, he got right into the church. His life began to change. He finished up high school, came to our Bible Institute, and had to learn his own language so he could preach in it better, because that's what I told him. I said, you can't preach. You're not going to America. You've got to preach here. This is where you need to be. And so he got to where he could converse in it, read it. Somewhat and preach it and then finish the Bible college the whole times in Bible college he did a secondary degree through online with a teaching certificate and Did very well all the way through and so he's teaching right now, but he'll finish that at the end of this year and and but his heart is evangelism and doing what I do, and his heart's really knit to mine. And in discipleship and ministry, he has a lot of insights. So pray for them, because that's one of the things that Africa needs. And all my travels over there, it's rare to find evangelists. You find pastors, but you don't find evangelists. And evangelists are part of the church. And so it's a blessing to see him following that steps and so just pray for them that God will guide and direct them along the way and we'll be good. So Hebrews chapter number 11 tonight, if you have any questions about the ministry, glad to talk about it after the service tonight. Hebrews chapter number 11, we're going to begin reading if we can the first couple of verses, then we're going to jump down a little bit later in the chapter. Of course, it says in verse 1, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. And we spoke about that this morning, about our report. Are we going to have the faith that obeys God? We looked at the life of Abraham and how he obeyed God. Tonight I wanna jump a little bit further down into verse number 20. Verse number 20, because it says, by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith, Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. And I want to briefly look at each of these three men tonight and the testimony that God gives about their life where he equates it with their faith. and a lesson that we might learn from each of them about our faith. I've entitled this tonight, The Progression of Faith, or How Do We Achieve Faith? I'm afraid sometimes we look at people in the scriptures and we think, look at how God used them, but I don't know that he could ever use me. This year we're telling the story in Vacation Bible School of the man George Mueller. And I know that George Mueller wasn't a Baptist like we are. There were some things he might have taught or believed that might have been a little differently, but he didn't teach differently about the doctrines of Jesus Christ's salvation and the word of God. And George Mueller was a man of great faith. And people often hear about how he fed all those orphans and all that he did. And we're going to share many of those stories this week and how he believed God. And it's almost like people think that God could only do that for George Mueller in that time period of history. But God is the same God. God is still looking for people today that would exercise faith. God is still looking for people that would say, I believe God. As we said this morning, we would say as the apostles said, Lord, increase our faith. Lord, I want to do more. Now, pastor said after the message some things about the greater the trials, the greater the struggles, the greater opportunity for faith. I want to tell him to be quiet. I'm going to preach on that tonight, amen? But sometimes we don't understand that God can use us. that right here in this room tonight, it could be some of these young men, it could be some of the older men, it could be anyone that would say, I believe God, have faith in God, believe God, God can use me, God can still do something in our world today. It's one of the things that stirs my heart when I'm out of America and I'm in different countries, and I meet these men that are living in, you know, huts and small rooms, and yet I see them out literally almost every day preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel, and they pile in a little rickshaw or a little vehicle or a small car and they drive out into places where that vehicle shouldn't go. and they set up a PA, and they set up a projector, and they show a video, and then afterwards they preach the gospel, and people get saved, and lives get changed, and you know what? They do suffer. Sometimes they lose their life, sometimes they have family problems, sometimes they can't afford something, sometimes they're walking instead of riding, but they just keep going and going and going, and I think sometimes, wow, when we get to heaven, I wonder what their report card's gonna be like. Well done. thou good and faithful servant. And sometimes we have so much, maybe that's why we find it hard to exercise our faith. Because honestly, when do we pray? When we have needs. And when we have great needs, we start praying. And praise God, I believe we should. But that's like, That's not progressive faith. What about the vision that says everything's going okay, so let's stretch ourself and do something for God? Let's step out of the boat like Peter, amen? Isn't that an amazing story in the Bible? I'm not sure if that, sign up there, have faith in God, if that's what the water was like when Peter stepped out. But I think it was a little bit stormy night. And that story in the Bible has always fascinated me because they're out there on the boat and they see something coming across the water. And the disciples said, it's a spirit. And one of them said, no, it's the Lord. And the Lord said, be not afraid, it's I. And Peter must have recognized the voice because Peter said, Lord, if that's you, bid me to come. That's the spirit I'm talking about. The spirit of the night that says, if there's really God in heaven, if there's really the Lord doing something, then Lord, give me something to do that is unusual. I mean, after all, when's the last time you asked God to let you walk on water? Now, when I tell that story to the kids, I love to get it all worked up, you know, tell them how I walked on water. And I can talk about it for about 10 minutes. They're all listening, hearing the story. And then I say, yes, sir, we got to the edge of that water and I put my ice skates on. I'm not talking about frozen water. I'm talking about moving seawater. Is there anybody here tonight that would say, Lord, if that's you, bid me to come. That's probably a little bit what a church planner does. leave a established position in church and say, Lord, if that's you, let me go to this small town and start a church. But you don't have to be a church planner or a missionary to do that. It could be someone sitting right here in this room tonight that would just say, Lord, I hear your voice. If that's you, give me something to do. Let me step out by faith. Let me stretch myself. And maybe some of that will take place this week. Maybe some of it this week will be, Lord, you really want me to serve you? I'm going to be, you know, I'm going to be at the church five days in a row, morning and night. I'm going to go out in the afternoon. I'm going to tell people to come to Bible school. I'm going to pick up some people in my car. I'm going to go to that person that that always says no. And I'm going to ask him one more time. We had a boy get saved last week, and I can't tell you how long we've been praying for him. Well, he's come to Bible school as a teenager now. and last week, got saved. It was just such a blessing. I was talking to him after, he was just broken. He was telling me about, yeah, I got saved, got saved. I'm just saying tonight, God has something in faith that he wants every one of you to do. It could be finances, it could be your time. It could be that conviction that you need to start living in your life. Lord, if that's you, tell me to do it. And I'm gonna give up that item in my life. I'm gonna change this area of my life. I'm gonna get stronger in my belief for you. I'm gonna trust you, God, because what you're telling me to do is quite different than what everybody else is doing. We need Christians of convictions today. And it will make you different than everybody else. So these three men tonight show us, if I might say this, this progression of faith. The first one is Isaac. In Isaac, we see this simple faith of just believing what God said. Now, if you notice what God references, though, because we have the whole story of Isaac in his life, but God specifically mentions that Isaac, by faith, he blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. I think maybe you know the story, so I'm not gonna turn back to it right now. But you remember as God had told him about blessing his children, and as Isaac got to be an old man, it was time for the blessing, right? And he'd already dealt with his sons of Jacob and Esau. Remember how Jacob had deceived his father and got the birthright, got the blessing? And Jacob was grieved over that. Even though he knew that God had said it would be that way, he was struggling with it. And he was a little perturbed, but he did say when Esau came in and said, don't you have any blessing for me? He said, yes, but I can't give you that blessing. I think it's a picture of how he struggled with what God said. And God worked it out and it happened the way that God would said. But look at this verse, and I think it's important to see this, see the words of Isaac. Look if you would in chapter number 28 of the book of Genesis, all right? Just to see this statement that he makes. Because I would say sometimes in our hearts, we know what God wants. We know what God wants us to do. We know the step that he wants us to take. And I'm not saying tonight that it's a hard-hearted rebellion. It's just a disagreement with God in the sense that that's not the way it's supposed to be. The eldest is supposed to get the blessing, and God, you're changing the order, and you're gonna give the blessing to the second born, and it's just not the way it's supposed to be. And I don't know about you, have you ever argued with God about the way things are supposed to be? Your thinking compared to his thinking? And I'm just trying to get us to see tonight that these are normal people like you and I. That they have struggles and they have difficulties, and God says, no, this is the way it's going to be. Now, I do believe that it was totally wrong for Jacob to deceive his father. I think God had a way that he was gonna work it out, and we're never gonna get to know that way unless God tells us in heaven, and we always mess up when we don't do things God's way. And we do it our own way. But he got the blessing. But notice this kind of concluding words here in Genesis chapter number 28. Genesis chapter number 28. we should read verse 1, And Isaac called Jacob, this is after everything has taken place, And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, and go to Pandaram, in the house of Bethel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother. Now look at verse 3. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people. Look at verse 4. and give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land, wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And so as he comes down to this time in his life, and he's gonna send his son away, he has accepted the plan of God. And I wanna say tonight that you might struggle at times with what God is doing, with His plan and with His direction, but somewhere in life you have to surrender and say, okay, God, your plan's the best one. I wish we could all just say when we hear God's plan, we just jump in and do it, amen? But God's plan is not always our plan, is it? God's plan doesn't always fit the pattern of life that we have, you know, that we've altered out. I'm gonna do this, and then I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do this, and this is the way it ought to be. And God says, now wait a second, that's not the way it's gonna be. I have a different plan. And our flesh will struggle with that. But if you want your faith to grow and increase, there comes a time when you have to say, okay, Lord, I'm going to accept Your plan. I'm going to trust you, God, that you actually know what you're doing. That seems bad to say. But by the way, anytime you correct God, you're simply saying that God doesn't know what he's doing. Isn't that right? Have you ever said this? Well, if I was God, this is how I would have done it. I've said that before. Well, if I was God, this is how I'd do it. No, that's actually false. Because if you were God, you would do it the exact way that God did it. Because God makes no mistakes. Isn't that amazing? And we could spend all day trying to figure out why God lets happen things happen, why God does things that he does. That's not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to step back and say, okay, Lord, I'm going to accept what you are doing. And the moment in your life when you stop arguing with God and you surrender to God and say, okay, Lord, let's do this your way, you're on the way to progressing in your faith. That's a battle we'll all face in our life. Because things are gonna come up in your life and you're gonna wish it was different, you're gonna think it was different, you're gonna want it to be different, and it might even be because of your sin that things are what they are. And I can't necessarily explain all of that, how that God knows that someone's going to sin. Once again, well, if I was God, I would stop them. Because is God not able to stop sin? Sure he is, remember Abimelech? Who had Abram's wife? And God said, if you touch her, I'm going to kill you. That's pretty serious, amen? And he said, I didn't know she was his wife. He said it was her sister. And God said, I know that. And because of the integrity of your heart, I kept you from touching her. So God stopped him from defiling her. God is able to stop sin. So you can ask the question tonight, why didn't God stop David? I don't know, I'm not God and neither are you. And there comes a time in our life when we have to stop saying why and say, okay, Lord, we'll do it your way. Which is what David had to do after he sinned. David said, okay, Lord, I accept the chastisement. So we learned this lesson from Isaac that there may be struggles in our life about doing the will of God and doing it God's way, but we do have to come to the place where we finally say, this is what God said, so we have to do it. Now go back if you would to the book of Hebrews, and let's look at the second one if we look at the life of Jacob. Because God mentions about Jacob something very specific. In Isaac, he mentioned the blessing. And there are some things we could study and learn about that, but in Jacob, he comes very specific. Notice what he says here in, In verse number 21, by faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph. And we won't dwell there necessarily. But notice the statement that God says about him. And he worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff. We know the story of Jacob. who was known as a trickster, right? A deceiver all of his life, deceived his father, deceived his uncle. I mean, always tricking, tricking, tricking. God deceived himself, amen? It'll happen to you. And the story of Jacob is so interesting because as he went back to Bethel, and you remember the story, as he wrestled with God, and as the breaking of day came, God said, let me go. And Jacob didn't wanna let God go. God did to Jacob in that story, as they were wrestling and wrestling. Now, have you ever thought about that, wrestling with God? It's kind of like when a father has his little two-year-old, three-year-old, four-year-old, five-year-old, six-year-old, seven-year-old son, you know, and they're wrestling. And the dad's going, oh, man, you're so strong. Oh, you about got me. Oh, man, you're so tough, you know. And the little kid, yeah, look at me. I'm working daddy over, you know. I mean, could you imagine wrestling with God? I mean, any moment God just take his thumb and go. Or God says, heart stop. No more air, turn your air off. I can turn your arms into jelly if I want. He's God. And yet you can see Jacob wrestling and God letting him wrestle and letting him wrestle, you know. But what did God finally do? He reached down and touched the hollow of his thigh. And Jacob could no longer stand up. That's why the reference here in Hebrews chapter 11, what is he doing in Hebrews chapter 11? He's leaning on what? Because the Bible says he halted the rest of his life. He had that reminder. of when he wrestled with God. And when God touched him, he said, I won't let you go except you bless me. Because all of a sudden, he came to the point in his life where he realized how much he needed God. But without God, you can do what? Nothing. So yeah, I can. Look at what I'm doing in my flesh. Do you realize you're only doing it in your flesh because God lets you? He can stop you so fast. He can turn your world upside down so quick. And for the rest of His life, there He is. But what does the Bible say He's doing there in Hebrews chapter 11? What's the word? It starts with a W and an O and an R. What's He doing? complaining and murmuring. Oh, God, this is so terrible. What's he doing? Worshipping God from the top of that staff. Praise be unto God for what he has done. It wasn't Jacob walking around saying, look at me. I'm the man that whooped God. I'm the one that conquered him. That's not what it is. When God said to Jacob, I'm changing your name to Israel and you have power with God and power with men, it was because Jacob had to learn to lean on God. Because you can do nothing without God. And by the way, he wasn't done with that lesson. God had to keep teaching it to him and teaching it to him, just like he has to teach it to us. You can't do it without God. You've got to reach the point in your life where you surrender to what God's will is and you accept what God is doing. But then you've got to secondly say, I can't do this, God, without you. This is your plan. This is your will. This is your purpose. And I've got to trust you. But you know the story. Remember Jacob? God had told him. God had said, go back to your brother. Everything is OK. God promised him that there was all peace. But as Jacob was coming back to his brother Esau, he sent his servants out with all the gifts for Esau. He sent his children, his least favorite wife, he put his favorite wife in the back, and then there he was, there was he way in the back by himself. And he told his servants, when you see Esau, because they came and they said, oh, Esau's coming with a big crowd. He said, offer him the gifts, make peace. He was still acting like Jacob at that point. He wasn't trusting the Lord. When he finally came face to face to his brother, you can go back and read it sometime in the book of Genesis, the Bible says that he bowed down before his brother Esau and said, Lord, that's not what he was supposed to do. God had already sorted it all out. He's called Jacob, Jacob, Jacob all through that because he's still trusting in himself. How many times in our life have we done that? Here's what I mean. I'm gonna serve God, but I have a backup plan. See, Jacob had a backup plan. Just in case God failed, he had a backup plan. That's not faith. Because God doesn't fail. Well, yay, but wait a second, Brother Smith. Wait a second, if I do what God says, I might lose my job, so I better have a backup plan. Why? What if God wants you to lose your job? Well, then I can trust in this that I've made all this plan. See, that's not faith. Hello? Faith is saying, I believe you, God. So I'm gonna trust you. But the reality was we often only step out for God once we have the backup plan sorted. That's what he did. and God was reminding him, that's not what you do. Now praise the Lord, where was his faith? That now as an old man, he's leaning on that cane, and Jacob finally learned the lesson. Worship God. No matter the circumstances in life, worship God, because he is the one that I'm trusting. I'm telling you, our world today in American Christianity, we're upside down because we trust in our government. And I know people say, oh no, we don't. Yeah, we are because you're all stressed. Everybody's stressed about what's gonna happen in America. Why don't you worship God? Amen? Don't go quiet. Why don't you worship God? Because he has it all under control. Now, we may not like it, What happens may not be our plan, but it's God's plan. And we need to learn to worship Him, not just when things are good, but even when they're bad. We come to the last one very quickly and just notice it very briefly. Back in Hebrews chapter number 11, Isaac, just like you and I, had a struggle, but finally he had to accept what God was doing. Jacob had that struggle, had to finally reach the point where he realized it was all God and not him. And then in verse 22 it says, by faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. And let's turn over to Genesis chapter 50 and we'll finish there. But it's interesting that God noted these statements about him. So there's something for us in those statements. So we find what Joseph says here in Genesis chapter number 50. He lived a long life. In verse 22, he and his father's house. And Joseph lived 110 years. He saw Ephraim's children, the third generation, the children of Osama the Maker, the son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph's knee. Boy, he was the great grandpa and he enjoyed it. But in Genesis chapter 50, verse 24, Joseph said unto his brethren, I die. But notice what he said, and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land into the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. See, they always had this covenant before them. Verse 25, and Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died being 110 years old and they embalmed him. and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Now, Joseph is very interesting because, boy, we don't find in the scriptures much negative about Joseph, do we? What an example of somebody that believed God through all the temptations, the trials. Remember, he had the dreams and the visions, and it took a long time for that to come to pass, and he was sold by his brothers in the pit, he was taken to Potiphar's house, and he elevated there, was lied about, was put in the prison, He begged God to get out of the prison. He interpreted the dream. They forgot about him, but finally the Pharaoh had the dream and he brought Joseph out of the prison. And now Joseph is put in the palace and he's the number two man in the world. He's powerful. But Joseph never let it go to his head. I love what Joseph said, take my bones with you. He wasn't interested in a pyramid or a palace. He wasn't interested of being one of those that they parade around the world and say, look at the mummies of Egypt of all the great Ramses and all that type of stuff. He said, God's going to visit you. And when he does, take my bones out of this world, amen. Take my bones out of Egypt. Don't leave them behind. I love the lesson from the life of Joseph. It's not about this world. It's not about this life. It's not about our elevation. And if God so chooses to elevate us to a place of authority and prominence and recognition, it doesn't matter, because it's not about us. It's all about him. And what a tremendous place of faith that Joseph enlisted as, and how God used him. Have you ever wondered, what does it take for God to use us? Why is it today maybe we don't see God doing such great things of faith? Is it because of God? Is it because God in heaven can't do it anymore? Or is it because God in heaven is looking for someone that might struggle, but they will do it God's way? God is looking and saying, you know what, there's somebody that's gonna wanna wrestle to me, but in the end, they'll submit to me and worship me, amen? Is there not someone there on the earth that if I bless them and use them, they won't steal my glory? I'm convinced of something. I believe that there have been moments in our day and age where God started to work. where God started to do a great thing in a church or with some people or with a ministry or with an individual, and then all of a sudden it stopped. Here's why. Because man began to take the glory. And we began to exalt the man. We understand God has to use a man. It's his way. God needs to use pastors and evangelists and missionaries and people in churches and godly men and godly ladies to do his work. And God begins to heap the blessings on them and God begins to bless them. But remember what he told the children of Israel when they go into the land of Canaan, and he said, I begin to bless you, beware lest ye forget God. Joseph never did that. And God used him to save many people alive. He got to watch his children's children. As an old man, he said, I'm about to die, but let me remind you of something. God's gonna visit you. It's not about Joseph. It's not about what I did. It's God. And when he visits you, take my bones out of here. Oh, these Egyptians might stick me in one of those pyramids and those Egyptians might praise me, but he's saying, don't you. Take me out of this place. And I wanna say tonight, when you reach the point in your faith where you've surrendered to God and you're worshiping God, and you're seeing God do something, be very careful not to exalt men. Because pride goes before the fall. Have you ever wondered in your heart why so many mighty men fall? Because we look to the man instead of to the Lord. And tonight I wanna encourage you as a church because God is doing something here at Liberty Baptist Church. This is not a normal Sunday night in a church in America. God's doing something here. It's not normal for a church to send young people away to serve God and other people out to help other churches and do all that you're, it's not normal. It's God doing something. But be very careful to always be mindful that it's God. and give him the glory. Because then we get to see what God can really do. George Mueller, the man that fed all his orphanages, in his ledger at the end of his life, they found all these little statements of the donations, a servant of the Lord, a servant of the Lord, a servant of the Lord. And they determined that he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he never told anybody. George Mueller never tried to take the glory from God and say it's George Mueller. It's always God. Let's not take his glory. Let's ask God to do great things and let's be servants where people see God. Amen? Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, help us tonight. What I believe tonight