It's great to see everyone and I am very happy to be here again
and be your speaker in these series of meetings.
And Frank gave me the microphone tutorial.
So I think I can avoid letting it rip off my coat, 14 times
tonight and entertain you thoroughly.
But anyway, that will be better tonight, I promise you, but it's
great to see you. I'm glad to be here.
It's an honor to be here in numbers.
The 13th chapter, the Bible says, in the Lord, spoke to
Moses saying, send men to To spy out the land of Canaan which I
am giving to the children of Israel from each tribe of your
father's. You shall send the man everyone
a leader among them. So Moses sent them from the
Wilderness of Paran. According to the command of the
Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
This is a great story and it's not just one of those stories,
like Disney's Frozen or one of those deals that they come out
with. We're a little girl, somehow
grows a fan and we call her Ariel.
That's not the deal. We're talking about our real
time, that happens, something real, and it is fantastic.
It's amazing. And the reason it's amazing is
because what God has promised was home, he's promised all
these people, not just home, but a Homeland, but there was going
to be there were going to be great trials, and there were
going to be tribulations and there were going to be
Crossroads to that but he promised Them a reward, what he
asked for in the midst of all this though was he asked for
people to be faithful to him? And one of the things that these
guys did that's going to really irritate God, is that they have
been wandering in the wilderness.
Now, eating manna that God just allowed them to go around and
pick up. Kind of like in our world today.
You see people that sometimes that can do something that don't
do something and yet our society takes care of them.
And what happens whenever people are given something many times
and they take it for granted, they complain.
These people complained about that.
So you know what? God did?
Okay, you want me? I'll give you fat Quail.
So they had Manna and they had fat Quail every day.
In fact, if you were to study how many truckloads and how many
train loads that the Army Corps of engineer would have to have
to feed this group of people, it's a significant number.
You know, sometimes we they why don't all those boys in the
uniform? Why don't they just go?
Drop in on all these Isis evil folks.
And you know, just put a whooping on them wherever they
are. Well, first of all there in 60
countries, second of all, there's this thing called a
supply line. That's pretty difficult to do.
God was the supply line of the people of Israel.
And he's taking them out of Egypt and he's feeding them
every day. And then he finally says go over
and check out the land and then God gives this wonderful
illustration. He said I'm going to give it to
you. I'm gonna give it to you.
It's going to be a gift. Now, in that moment, that that
sounds like a great deal of the people would soon recognized
that there were challenges in being faithful to this promise
and and laying hold of this promise and gift that God has
had. They gather amazing fruit in
verses 1 through 20 of Numbers Chapter 13?
It was truly a land that flows with milk and honey.
Just like God had promised him Just like you had promised him.
In fact, there were people that came to the Americas looking for
siebel, ah, and it was one of those wonderful Cities of Gold.
That people would look for Fantastical Treasures.
Of course, it didn't exist. Had they been able to go to a
place and gather amazing Treasures with the stamps Ebola
on them, and brought them back. I promise you, the map would
look a whole lot different today but I couldn't bring it back.
Any evidence. In other words, all the people
that told the story of see below or any other Fountain of use
youth, they were telling stories.
They were telling fables, they had no evidence to bring back to
produce faith. But God gives you evidence to
believe. God does not ask you to check
your brain in at the church building door and God did not
ask them to cross over into the promised land without some
evidence. He gave them evidence The
evidence was hey it's going to be a land that flows with milk
and honey. It's really going to be
wonderful and it was just like God said it was.
And after 40 days, they returned.
And they showed Moses and the people what they were able to
achieve, and they talked to them and brought to them in verses 25
and 26. And verse 27.
The Bible says, then they told him and said, we went to the
land where you sent us, it truly flows with milk and honey, and
this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who
dwell in the land are strong and their cities are fortified in
very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants
of anak there. Do you hear the wind that
they're bringing back with them? Do you hear the whining?
You hear the fear in The Voice. He's a little Israelites.
Jesus was not Shaquille O'Neal. Jesus was not some big 611 guy.
Jesus was a little brown man and all the sudden they go over here
and there were giants. It'd be like going to the NBA
game at and walking down the court.
And if you've ever done that, it's pretty amazing.
I was Starstruck and LAX Airport.
Savannah can tell you, I left my briefcase and if there's
anything I don't ever do I do. Leave my briefcase Juwan Howard,
walked through the airport, I had to go over and say something
to him because that's what you do, right?
Just this unbelievable freak of nature 7, feet tall that
walkthrough in front of me, that I've watched my whole life play
basketball for Michigan fab five to his MBA days.
Pretty impressive, I wouldn't want to meet him in a back alley
and he having a problem with me and what these people knew?
What the Israelites new is, we're going to have to go over
here and we're going to have to, what these folks.
We're gonna have to drive them out.
We're afraid of that. Caleb and Joshua were streaming.
We can do this. Do you know what the greatest
cancer is on the battlefield fear?
You know what the greatest cancer is and any team fear, you
know what the greatest cancer is that any organization that's
trying to achieve a goal that sometimes may seem
insurmountable fear. The I cants and the pessimist
and the people that look at everything that's going on as as
half full or almost dry. If you listen to the weather
reports and if you listen to everything pretty much, I think
you guys are about to break off into the ocean.
In fact, my whole life, people on the other side of the
Mississippi, River have been sure you were going to what
hasn't happened yet? Contrary to every movie that
showed it falling off into the ocean.
It hasn't happened yet, and you're still here.
But if you listen to the eighth word blurbs, that people
describe the fears of earthquakes or your fears back
east of tornadoes, we're going to go circling up in a A tornado
and y'all are going to fall off. Those are fears that people have
wherever they live. There's a difference in me being
afraid of an earthquake because I am And I'm also afraid of
tornadoes just so you know. And God say, hey, I've got
something for you. And I've got evidence and I'm
going to ask you to trust me and believe in me because I've never
let you down, not one single time.
That doesn't mean it's going to be easy.
It doesn't mean it's not going to be difficult, but I've never
let you down. Caleb and Joshua were the only
ones that really believed. God, that really believe the
mission. Notice Caleb quieted the people
before, Moses and verse 30 and said, let us go up at once and
take possession for. We are well able to overcome it
but the men who had gone up with him said we're not able listen,
we're not. Not able to go up against the
people for they're stronger than we and they gave the children of
Israel, a bad report. You know, what happens when God
says, I want you to go over here and I've got to land prepared
for you and you get pessimistic, come on the scene and give the
people a bad report, what happens?
That people began to believe that bad report.
They trust in that bad report. Fear begins to go through at all
the people. The Bible says the land through
which we have gone out as spies as a land that devours, its
inhabitants and all the people whom we saw in, it are men of
great statue, there were giants. The descendants of anak were
there from Giants? We were like grasshoppers in our
own sight and so we were in their sight. if you've ever been
a hold of somebody that 7 feet tall, as I just described to you
Juwan Howard, it's a pretty imposing deal.
I'm six foot two. It's one of those deals you
just, you're pretty much at all, you get a team of those guys
together and it's really something to watch.
It's impressive. I've got a nephew named Trevor
and he was throwing a ball one day, my middle brother Kipps boy
and he was throwing them all one day and the ball roll underneath
my cousin Alex's chair and he wouldn't go get it.
And his mother said, just go over there and get the ball.
And he said, no, that giant has it.
Alex is about 63 and about 300 pounds of big guy that giant has
it. It's easy to look at your
physical circumstances. It's a I can't it's easy to look
at your physical circumstances and say, God can't save me from
this. God can help with this.
Oh no, what a lie. What a lie physical
circumstances create in our minds sometimes in chapter 14,
verses 1 through 4. The people believe the bad
report they wailed about how they were victims and how they
wish. They were back in Egypt and at
least they could have died. Back in Egypt in peace.
Moses and Aaron were beside themselves just to give you the
hierarchy of leadership you had Moses and Aaron.
They were the main guys. Then you had Joshua and Caleb
that were leaders as well. But they were the only two of
the 12 that came back with a good report.
And here's what I want to say to every man that considers himself
a leader in. Here's what differentiates
people from being a leader and being a decision maker.
Leaders are willing to go into places that are difficult and
and tight and hard and very very arduous.
Because it's the right thing to do.
Decision makers will weigh the odds and they'll wait things out
and they'll lick their finger and stick it up in the air and
see which way the winds blow and if the winds blow politically
the wrong way, they'll say, oh you know, let's take a poll.
Yeah, let's take a poll. That sounds like a great idea.
I'm sick of poles, are you sick of bowls.
I'm sick and tired of it. We've got an election coming up,
and we're already hearing about how everybody hates Hillary and
hates Bush, and we had enough Clinton and Bush and you maybe
we have I don't know what God has in store, but I'll tell you
this no leader. That knows what is Right stops
and says, hey let's take a poll to make sure that everybody's
good with this. Leaders do, what is right in
those moments. The Bible says Caleb and Joshua
tore their clothes. I don't know if you've ever seen
somebody, clear them out of spot and I won't even call it pitch a
fit. But that's, that's a kind of our
thinking. On the deal.
I've seen some guys that were able to clear out a spot in the
midst of circumstances, where people were literally going to
go and do the wrong thing. I've had the privilege in
business to see people leaders, Real leaders.
That despite all the people there, the majority of which
said, oh this can happen that can happen.
This is not going to happen. Stand up in the midst of it and
speak. Truth and speak a vision and
show people, this is what we're going to do.
Get on board. Those were the kind of guys,
Caleb and Joshua were you'd think automatically this story
is going to end well. And yeah, it's not going to end
well. And they spoke to all the
congregation of the children of Israel saying.
The land we pass through to spy out is an exceedingly, good
land. If the Lord Delights in us,
there's the key he will bring us into this land and give it to us
a language flows. With milk and honey, only do not
rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land for, they
are our bread, their protection has departed from them.
And the Lord is with us, do not fear them for all of this speech
that they just gave the people. Oil picked up rocks and we're
going to Stone them to death verse 10.
It's not going well. It's not going well.
God was so angry. That he almost destroyed the
people. Moses pleaded for the people and
he saved them, but God made a decree about the people in here.
Goes in verse. 22 of numbers, 14.
Because all of these men who have seen my glory and signs,
which I did in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and it put me to the
test. Now, these ten times and have
not heeded, my voice. They certainly shall not see the
land of which I swore to their fathers nor shall any of those
who rejected me. See it.
But my servant Caleb because he has a different spirit in him
and is followed me fully, I will bring into the land where he
went And his descendants shall inherit, it every doubter god
said, and every complainer over the age of 20 years old will die
and their carcass will rot in the land.
You will not go in. You know what that means?
Means god holds everybody in this room accountable for what
they believe and what they believe in and what they're
convicted about and who they're convicted about.
God holds us accountable for what we believe to those that
were older. And those that believe that
report and drop that report, every one of them had to die.
And so years would pass before they would have this opportunity
again and I want you to notice how God differentiated those
people from Caleb. He said, Caleb has a different
spirit in him and he was willing to follow me fully Fully.
That's who Calum was. God said something else.
He said all of these men who have seen my glory, You think
God takes it personally, sometimes whenever he shows us
who he is. And then because of our own
fears, we acquiesce and we shudder and we failed him.
I think he takes it very personally.
Whenever Jesus came into the world.
The Bible says, the word was made flesh and John one in one.
And one in 14, the Bible, says, God's word was made flesh and
dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory, as of the only
begotten of the father full of grace and truth.
In other words, whenever we have heat, we have seen.
And whenever we have heard about Jesus, whenever we have examined
the evidence about Des. And whenever we understand the
glory of who Jesus is, and we fail away and we don't follow
fully because of fear or because of whatever the reasons are What
do you suppose? The reaction will be from God.
In verse 34 of Numbers. Chapter 14, the Bible says, this
is what God told, the people ye shall know.
My rejection. You know, the greatest thing,
kids fear and school rejection. You know, the greatest thing,
parents fear rejection, you know, the greatest thing people
that are married fear rejection. God will make your worst
nightmare come true. If when you look at his evidence
and when you look at what he has shown you, and what he has given
you in the form and in the message of Jesus Christ.
And if you turn back from that, I absolutely beyond a shadow of
a doubt know that God will know, he will teach us his rejection
and just because he doesn't do it now, does not mean he won't
do it one day. In Numbers, Chapter 14 verse 36.
This is what the Bible says. Now, the man who Moses sent to
spy out the land who returned and made all the congregation
complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land.
Those very men who brought the evil report about the land died
by the plague before the Lord. God struck him dead.
But Joshua, the son of nun, and Caleb, the shot, the son of
jephunneh remained alive of the men who went to spy out the
land. Just for a little while tonight,
I want to talk to you about facing our Giants because that's
really what scared these people. They saw giants.
They saw a battle going on and they valued their own ability to
fight in a way that basically said, I can't do this.
And I want to talk to you about overcoming some enemies and
facing some Giants in your own life.
And there are only two, I don't have a bunch of points tonight.
I'm going to make it very, very simple.
The first giant that I want you to think about and he is a
biggie is Satan. The Bible says, but even if our
gospel is veiled, second Corinthians 4 verse 3, it is
veiled to those who are perishing, whose Minds the God
of this age has blinded, who do not believe less, the light of
the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God
should shine on them. You know, one of the reasons why
people don't accept the gift of God and they're not faithful to
God and they're not heading for a home in heaven.
It's because of his work when Jesus gave the parable of the
soils. He said there's four kind of
ground and there's one kind of see the seed is the word of God.
And what we do is we go out and throw the seed and it falls on
the ground, the hard ground and the Stony, and the thorny, they
don't bring forth fruit. Only the good ground does, and
on the Wayside ground, Jesus said, what happens to the
Wayside soil, is the seed sits on top and the birds of the air
come and devoured. Who do you think it is that
wants to take the word of God, out of any, and every possible
institution of Higher Learning today?
Who do you think it is that wants to ban every possible
reading? A Bible or prayer in anything
you want to talk about, but do you think it is?
That wants to keep everything about religion inside and locked
inside of a church house and laws are being passed to call.
Preaching the gospel and convicting people of sin hate
speech in certain States. Who do you think's doing that?
You're not up against an enemy, that's easy.
We're not up against an enemy, that is to be trifled with, but
we're not up against an enemy, that cannot be defeated.
We absolutely are not in the business of losing when we're on
God's side in Luke 22:31. Here's how powerful Jesus
treated Satan. As far as his relationship with
Simon Peter Simon. Indeed.
Satan has asked for you that he may sift.
You as wheat Luke 22:31 to everybody in this room that
thinks you're going to be able to good choice, your way.
And by your own rationale and own thinking that somehow you
can just tough it out and push through every Situation without
the Lord's help. And without the church.
And without reading your Bible and without prayer, and without
any recognition of God's presence in your life, I want
you to know, Jesus had no confidence in Peter's, ability
to resist, completely by himself.
Satan wants you. He said, but I have prayed for
you that your faith should not fail.
And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren,
but he said to him, Lord I'm ready to go with you both to
prison and to death. And Jesus said, I tell you
Peter, the rooster shall not Crow this day before you deny me
three times that, you know me. I want to tell you, fear is the
reason why Peter denied Jesus, three times fears.
The reason why Christianity is a different difficult thing for
people to put on everyday and remain faithful Christianity.
Because of Satan looks fearful in the practice of Satan wants
us to be afraid of losing our job or losing our status for
losing our friends or maybe even losing everything.
Because of our convictions in God.
Do you know that Satan is asking for you tonight?
I want you to get this straight. Satan already has the world.
He's convinced the world that they don't need, Jesus, they
don't need the church, they don't need the Bible.
I don't know if you saw this statistic that came out two
weeks ago, but from 2008 to 2015, the points that have gone
down, we've lost 8% of people that would refer to themselves
as a religious in the United States of America.
In other words, that the headline, went basically
Americans more secular than ever before.
You know what? That means means God's not a
part of their life. Satan already has a significant
A portion of the world churches are being shuttered.
All over this nation, our Brotherhood included.
As a result of what Satan has been able to accomplish hearts
that have been hardened to such a degree that the Lord is not
welcomed. We have a culture that is so
refined and so educated. And so in love with our
Brilliance that we have no place for Jesus or a need for Jesus,
because we live in a self-sufficient society that if
we want it, we can have it. And if we want it, now, we can
push a button. We can go through a
drive-through, we can go to a anything we We walk and we can
have it now from our thermostat to our food.
Two hot water. We can have it right now.
We live in a society today that Satan has convinced.
There's no such thing as an arduous fateful, good life
filled with purpose and self-sacrifice but it's all
about the flesh. He got Dimas According to
second, Timothy 4 and 8 because Demas loved the world.
He got Judas because Judas had an affinity for money.
And for 30 pieces of silver, he traded his soul.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, and he wrote
about Satan and he wrote about what was happening.
Here's what he said. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse
10, finally my brethren be strong in yourselves.
No, He didn't say that be strong in the Lord and in the power of
His might, you know what I think about when I read that I think
about some little wimpy shrimpy kid at school getting bullied by
somebody and the Big Brother that's about 10 feet tall, and
bulletproof coming on the scene and just whooping up on the
bully. We've all seen those stories.
They've been unfolded in print and television.
Elevation and movie a thousand times.
When the Bible says, be strong in the Lord and in the power of
His might, I would remind you that Jesus with a few Legions of
angels could have called, and made it greasy spot out of the
Middle East. We think we're powerful with our
nukes and our air force and we talked about people pushing red
buttons and all that good stuff. Jesus, almost annihilated the
entire Middle East. and the only reason he didn't, It was because
he loved his so much. Finally my brethren be strong in
the Lord and in the power of His might put on the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to stand against The Wiles of the
devil. Last night we had a little
firecracker, gunshot whatever it was during church and I got to
tell you I was feeling pretty good up here behind this Pulpit.
I think I can duck pretty good. I don't know how you're going to
fare, but I'm going to do pretty good up here.
I've got this whole thing and it's wood and I'm going to get
down behind it. That's what's going to happen.
I've to Shield, I'm going to trust in that.
And if somebody literally were coming in the back door and I
were able to tell you, hey, we can all get behind a concrete
barrier and we can all pack in there and lock the door.
And you say, no, I want to see who it is and what's going on.
You're not going to do that. You're not going to do that at
all. You're going to grab if I handed
you a Kevlar vest, you'd be strapping it on, you'd be
getting down behind everything, you could get down behind what
God is saying is, hey, I'm asking you to be strong and I'm
asking you to recognize That I have stuff for you to put on,
I'm not asking you to go out and fight Satan with nothing on.
Put on the whole armor of God, we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities against Powers
against rulers. Of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness, in the Heavenly
places. Therefore, take the whole armor
of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.
And he goes on to say, basically this, you can do it stand.
Therefore, and he goes on saying, gird yourself clothed
yourself above all. Taking the shield of faith.
You know how you get Faith. Faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God. If your faith is failing and
you're not sure you believe in God, chances are, you're not
reading your Bible. Chances are you're not checking
out the evidence that God has given us.
And the promises that God has given us chances, are that we're
not in the mode of thinking about this book as the perfect
mental, emotional spiritual, she'll that God has mentioned
for it to be And by the way, the Apostle Paul, when he wrote this
was in a Roman prison cell and he watched those Roman soldiers,
being closed and girded with special armor every day as they
watched his cell. And if they ever gave up their
posts or he ever escape, they would surely die as a Roman
soldier, because Roman soldiers didn't take off their armor and
they didn't fall asleep and they didn't stop doing what it is.
They were designed to do. Paul said this in second,
Corinthians 10 verse 4 for the weapons of our Warfare are not
carnal. But Mighty in God for pulling
down strongholds, casting down arguments and every High thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every
thought into the Captivity of obedience of Christ.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has destroyed the most fortified
philosophies and systems of idolatry atheism.
Reels, at the message of Jesus, and I assure you every History
Channel and National Geographic story that comes along and tries
to cast. It out on Jesus as some sort of
a womanizer or perhaps he is homosexual or variety of other
claims. The reason they have to do that
and the reason these guys get on there and say, well it's
possible, it's probable. The reason they have to do that
is because historian after historian after historian
outside of biblical evidence has laid down their name on the line
with accuracy who Jesus was, and what he was, and what he did on
the cross. They've laid down their name and
they were not even Christians. That Jesus did live.
He was alive. There was a man named Jesus, he
did die on a cross. He was a good man.
And perform many wonderful Works.
He's our historians. That didn't care one iota about
following Jesus. They just wrote about Yet,
modern day. People can fill your children's
Minds with all kinds of ignorance and arrogance, was
so-called philosophies that are not based upon any scientific or
any historical document known to man.
But they basically can write supposition and they'll say
things like possibly and probably and likely we know
certainly that Jesus lived and certainly that Jesus died and
certainly that he rose again. Think about this when you fight
Satan you're not alone. If anybody thinks they're going
to fight Satan by themselves and without the Lord's Church, they
have grossly underestimated. Their enemy.
And they have completely destroyed.
One of the great attributes of God, salvation in the church,
What happens when people devalue the church and they talked about
their personal relationship with Jesus or their personal
relationship with God, and they never are present among God's
people. They have destroyed the very
sanctuary of God's manifold wisdom.
Did you know? The church is God's manifold
wisdom? According to Ephesians chapter 3
And God put everything and made everything subject to Jesus in
the church. If you read about Revelations,
10, 11 and 12 what you find out is Satan, his whole story was
wrecked and he's like a chained animal, he was thrown out of
heaven. And Jesus was exalted to the
right hand of the father and he has no more access to Jesus our
high priest. The bad part for us.
That's the good part for us. The bad part for us is God cast
him down to earth for a little while?
And he now roams as a hungry lion, trying to pick off your
precious children and your grandchildren and your own soul.
Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
Listen resist him steadfast in the faith.
Knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your
Brotherhood in the world. You're not alone.
Jesus promised us that if we're in the father's house and we're
in the father's hands. This isn't an All-State plug.
But I think about the Allstate commercial in my commercialized
mind of, you're in good hands. Why do I say that?
Because Jesus said, if you're in my father's hands, no one will
pluck you out of my father's hand.
No one can. How do you make sure that you're
in the father's hands? How do you know where you should
be? Will you you're in the father's
house every Lord's day you eat at the Kings Table prepared by
Jesus, the son of God himself, Two people that don't Avail
themselves of the privilege and the opportunity.
And also the command to be here are basically saying I'm going
to go out and I'm going to face Satan and I'm going to win.
And you're not going to win. You're a dead man or you're a
dead woman walking. If you're away from the church
and you're away from God, and you're away from the path of
God, that is centered around the church.
You're not winning, you're losing, or you've already lost.
You just don't know it. The second John I want to talk
about my last remaining minutes. Is the giant of self.
Jesus said in Mark 8:34 when he called his, his people to him
and his disciples, he said, whoever desires to come after
me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me
for whoever desires to save his life, will lose it, but whoever
desires to who will lose it. But whoever loses his life, for
my sake and the gospels, we'll save it for.
What will it profit? A man.
If he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what will
a man give in exchange for his soul?
So for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation of him. The son of man will also be
ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father.
With the Holy Angels. Now take you back to the story
in numbers. God said, you will know my
rejection. Those people that brought the
bad report and didn't believe in God and didn't trust in God and
said they're Giants, and we're going to get whipped and we're
going to lose God said it, your gun.
You know, my rejection, he turns around here in the voice of
Jesus and says you need to understand that if you're
ashamed of me and my words in this sinful world, I'm going to
be ashamed of you when I come back.
In other words, you're going to know my rejection.
You stand up for Jesus, he's going to stand up for you, one
day. You confess Jesus as the Son of
God, he'll confess you as his son as the Son of God, one day.
The giant of self makes people forget God and care.
Very little about what anything and anybody else says except
themselves. Paul contrasted those who are in
Christ and those who were living for self in Galatians 5:19-21,
or I don't have time to go into that, but I'll tell you this, In
Romans 8, verse 1, the Bible says there is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Who walk not after the flesh. But after the spirit, that is a
very succinct. Passage that draws Galatians
5:19 through 24 in clear picture, if you're in Christ,
you're saved and here's what your life looks like.
It looks like self-control and love and patience and and
brotherly love it. Looks like that it doesn't look
like drunkenness and fornication and all the other sins of the
flesh. And if you want to know, if
you're alive and your children are winning spiritually and
whether Satan, and the giant that he is is winning or the
giant of self is winning. You open your Bible to the fruit
of the spirit and you see how many of those things apply to
you and you open your Bible to the works of the Flesh in
Galatians chapter 5. And you see how many of those
things apply to you. And Paul was describing people
who had a habitual practicing lifestyle, that involve these
things. He didn't say you had to be
perfect. if you're here tonight and you hear what I'm saying,
what he does expect his faithfulness.
I'm not a perfect husband but I am a faithful husband.
Nobody's a perfect wife but you can be a faithful wife.
There's a big difference there. God is not asking us to live in
a world and that and there's never a moment where we fail or
fall at times or stumble. But he did say, he wanted us to
be faithful. He did say, he did not want us
to walk after the flesh, but walk after the spirit and
Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life,
which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.
Here's what Paul told the Colossians therefore put to
death your members which are on the earth.
Fornication, uncleanness, passion evil.
Is are covetousness, which is idolatry because of these
things. The wrath of God is coming upon
the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves, once walk,
when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to
put off all these anger wrath, malice blasphemy, filthy
language out of your mouth do not lie to one another.
Since you have put off the old man with his deeds and it put on
the new man who is renewed in the knowledge according to the
image of his Him, who created him?
Here's what happens. You got to hate sin.
And hate everything he's selling.
You ever heard of the old out that song and saying Devil in a
blue dress? Sure, you have.
It could be Devil in a blue suit too just so you know.
The point of it is very simple. Sometimes the things that look
physically gratifying and that please your I are nothing but
bait to hook you in. That's it.
In other words. What's behind that face or
what's behind? That suit of clothes and what
looks so appealing to you. And what feels so appealing to
you, What captures your heart sometimes, or your eyes, or your
affection? Is a trap.
You know, the one thing I can't stand in my own life, it's a
weakness of mine. It makes me react, sometimes in
ways. I don't want to, I can't stand,
being taken advantage of. That's all he does.
You know, let you feel a little
pleasure. He'll let you feel a little
affection. He'll let you feel a little
acceptance. He'll let you have all the
emotional and then he's going to reel you in.
I think about those fishermen out there on deep-sea fishermen
and they get these big giant fish on there and the fish, of
course, take this bait and they run that that line is far as
they can. It goes way out. that fisherman
just keeps on reeling a man and keeps on reeling them in You
know, the best part of it, for the fish, some of those fish,
some of those fish recognize that they're getting reeled in
and they figure out a way to break that line, you better
figure out a way to break that line of Satan's, got a, hold of
you and really you in and you're in the best place on Earth to
break that line. When you're in the Lord's House,
you're in the among the best people to break that line when
you're among God's people. But you've got to make up your
mind, you hate what he's selling because when he reels you in
according to James chapter 1, he will add So lutely annihilate,
you sometimes people get themselves.
So no heat. So deep in sin that they can't
see their way out there so tired, they're so exhausted.
They give in. That's the worst thing you can
do. That's the worst thing.
Anybody can do. And then the giant of self.
This is one of those. We've got to recognize that all
the things that we want in all the things of this flesh are not
good things. The flesh is something that will
war against us. It's something that the Apostle
Peter said, it will always war against you.
Satan will do that over and over, and over again.
And and First Peter chapter 2, when he used the idea of the
flesh that always Wars, what he's saying is Satan, is not
going to give up. And the young man sin is not may
not be the middle-aged man sin or the old man, sinned.
But all along the way Satan is going to try his best.
It's a reel. You in, he will always war
against the soul and he operates through the smell of Flesh.
He operates by what you can see. That's why John would say.
Don't love the world. Neither the things that are in
the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the father is not in him.
Whenever James would say, friendship with the world is to
be the enemy of God. Why would he say that?
You're not God's friend. If you're in love with what
Satan selling you. You're not God's friend.
If you're the one that is driving the boat in your life
and you're the captain of your own ship.
Listen, God is not asking to be your copilot.
He's asking the pilot he's asking to be in charge.
He's asking for surrender. That's what repentance is
repentance. Is bringing all of our mistakes
and all of our problems and all of our flaws and surrendering
them. And arising to walk in newness
of Life. Here's what Paul said, don't you
know that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were
baptized into his death. He sort of just like we were
buried with Christ in baptism and the Bible says we arise to
walk in newness of life. But God be thanked that you were
the Servants of sin. But ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of Doctrine, which was delivered.
You being then made free from sin, ye became the Servants of
righteousness. There's a story.
Of an embattled football coach made a movie out of it, facing
your Giants, it's a great movie. It's one of the few that I would
ever plug in any kind of a lesson, a coach had a losing
season, the kids didn't believe in him, it was a bad year.
Had a lot of things messed up in his life.
He had a lot of things that weren't going good and he
really, really, really began to work on himself, spiritually.
One day, he decided he was going to take his team in a different
direction. It gets all the kids out there
and he begins to get the biggest strongest leader on the team.
The one that was the most pessimistic and he knew if he
could change this kid, he could get to the whole team's heart
because this kid was the heart of the team and he called him
over and this kid was all pessimistic and down and out and
He asked him, basically, how far do you think you can?
How far do you think you can bear crawl?
You know what a bear crawl is? You get down to some evil coach
thought that up. I'm just telling you how far can
you bear crawl? When somebody is hooked to your
back. It's going to put another kid on
his back. How far do you think you could
go immediately the kid who wanted to know?
Well, how far do I have to go? And he just kept negotiated with
him and how far can you go? And then how far can you go
blindfolded? And all along the way.
This coach started him out. And when you, when you start
bear-crawling, everything gets on fire real quick.
You can't go down, you can't stop your arms.
Get on fire. If you don't believe it, just go
home tonight and try it, don't break anything, and don't break
your neck. I've seen some guys almost do
that. So, if you're not able don't,
but if you are, just go do it. It's a great exercise.
They get this kid down, they blindfolded me?
He's got the other Kiln is back, and the coach is just in his
ear. He is in his ear, encouraging
him, that he can do it. And the kid keeps going and
keeps going and he doesn't go 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 yards.
He goes all the way to the end zone and when the finally, he's
able to take his wife old off, he cannot believe he made it all
the way and it was a turning point on the entire team.
Listen. There are people that God filled
the stands of Eternity with to cheer you on.
God didn't want you to scourged, God doesn't want you down, God
doesn't want you sad or upset or down on yourself or feeling like
your left behind in some way. He said, since we are surrounded
by so great, a cloud of witnesses.
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin, which so easily
ensnares us and let us run with endurance, the race that is set
before us looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. Who for the joy that was set
before him. Endured the cross despising, the
shame and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God,
for consider him who endured such hostility from Sinners
against himself, lest you become.
Become weary and discouraged in your souls.
You know what God did God spent the life of people like Noah and
Moses and Abraham to get your attention in 2015.
So you never give up and you never allow Satan and you never
allow the giant that he is to operate in your life and have
power over you, God gave you the ability to break that line.
God gave you the ability to be his son and his child and to be
the Kings child. God gave you that, right?
Don't you ever give that right away?
The Bible says you are of God little children and have
overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he that
is in the world. Don't you ever doubt that for
one minute? The greatest tragedy that I see
happening in the church today is whenever people are getting
discouraged and they get weak and they get down the first
place. They cut attendance and time is
The Lord's House? What a tragedy?
What an awesome. Awful thing.
You want to know what's going along with that, their Bibles,
never open. And we expect God to come down
and do something kind of one of those stories about the guy that
was going to go from the flood and that people came by, of
course, and said here, where the last for the last ride out and
do know. God is going to save me.
The boat came by the guys on his roof.
No, no. God is going to save me.
The helicopter comes by, and he's up on the tallest hill.
No. No.
God is going to save me? He dies.
God has a conversation with him and said, would you what would
you expect that sent you? I sent you an ambulance, a
fireman I sent you a boat and a helicopter and you do not all of
them. How do you expect God to operate
in your life? If you shut the church house
door? How do you expect God to operate
in your life when you shut your Bible?
How do you expect God to operate in your life without prayer?
How do you expect God to operate in your life without Fellowship?
How do you expect to win? Without this team.
You won't. That's why this is the manifold
wisdom of God. That's why in Acts chapter 2.
The Bible says they were praising God and having favor
and the Lord added to the church daily such as we're being safe.
God puts you in the church, right?
Where he wanted you. According to First Corinthians
chapter 12 and verse 18, and the Glorious news, we have when we
preach the gospel is by one Spirit.
We were all baptized into one body.
This is where he put safety. This is where he put salvation.
This is where he puts this is where he put Fellowship.
This is where he put our defense and when we link our Shields of
Faith together Satan doesn't stand a chance.
What I didn't read to you as the Bible says the shield of Faith
Can quench. All not some not part all the
fiery darts of the devil. Do you believe in that?
Do you believe that with all your heart?
You can win, we can win. We're gonna win.
That's the beauty of the Book of Revelation.
It says and tells us the reality of the end game in the end game.
Is we win until that, time comes until Jesus comes back or we
die. Faithful to him.
You remain faithful to him. You stay and you work and you be
faithful and you don't believe the pessimism and you don't
believe the lies and you don't get on the devil's line.
And if you find yourself where you, find your children on the
line, you do like what those great?
Big fish. Do you break that line?
You recognize the situation you're in and God gives you the
power to do that. You're not gonna do it on your
own. God gives you the power to do
that. We thank you for listening to
our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.
Road in Bakersfield, if you would like any additional
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