In this sermon, the speaker discusses the miracle of a million shoes that occurred when the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years. Despite the harsh conditions and lack of resources, their shoes never wore out and there was not one feeble person among them. The speaker emphasizes that if God could take care of the Israelites in such a challenging environment, there is no problem He cannot handle. The sermon also highlights the power of commitment and trusting in God's provision, sharing personal experiences of running Bible camps and witnessing God's faithfulness in providing for their needs. The speaker encourages the audience to cut the ropes of doubt and fully commit to God, knowing that He will take care of them.

Then, he got an offer for a job in Denver, Colorado, and his salary would eventually be in five years the same salary as the President of the United States gets. So naturally, this happened to say, well, honey, you pack and I'll pray. Right? Isn't that how you handle it? I mean, it's got to be a God, you're going to get this much money, look what you can do. So he gave commissions, they were all set to go, and then one night, now in the job he had, he was out at nights a lot, soliciting for his firm, and this night, everything fell through, and he had to go to the main. And that night, I said something, and at the door, he got a hold of me and says, you rascal, you bring me whatever you want to pray against, what can I do? Well, here's what I said. I said, you know, if the pastor was to say to the public, people, I've been offered another church, they're going to pay me $5,000 more than I'm getting here, and I'm going, goodbye. What would he say? He'd say, well, you dirty rascal, he's in it for the money. But, the people do it all the time. He didn't offer to move to Vancouver, for, you know, he didn't care about it, he'd just go, man, and it's got to be the will of God, right? I mean, the people do it all the time, you know. One of the times they said, God, you're not going to make this move, shall I stay here? And he told the story just as he had walked into the church. And he said, I can't. The company in Vancouver would die out two years later. He wouldn't even have a job because of that, you know. But he didn't know that, see. So, alright, selfishness. Inconcerned, we have a classic example of that in Balaam over there in the book of Numbers. When he prayed, he had many meetings of God, he had visions of God, he uttered a prophecy of Christ, and all of this stuff. The second Peter 2 tells us, he loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity. The dumbass speaking with man's voice, forbade the madness of the prophet. He was mad. And Jeremiah said, they're mad on their idols. And he was, his sin was idolatry. Money, money, money. So he's totally insincere. We can be insincere in our praying, too. Hey God, I'll do this if you do that, and God does it, we don't do it. Then we blame God for this. Well, I didn't understand really what God meant. Another thought was no confession of sin. In Hosea chapter 5 it says, they, that's Israel, they shall go with a fox and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him, he has withdrawn himself from them. Now why would God do that? When they're praying and seeking Him, and offering animals for sacrifice. The 15th verse of Hosea 5 tells us why. God said, I will go and return to my place until they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. And the marginal reading says that the Hebrew says, until they be guilty. God walks away until they're guilty. Until you confess your sin. God won't listen to you. He'll just walk away and hide. No matter what you do, you won't find Him. Until you get honest and confess your sin. Why is it so hard to do that? Because of our pride, of course. It's neat to be able to blame your wife, or your kids, or your boss, or your neighbor, or someone else, or something else. And set yourself up to God as being okay. Listen, people, we can never really, in one sense, be okay, except through the righteousness of Christ, which is unto all and upon all them that believe, is called a gift. In Romans 5, the gift of righteousness. His righteousness put to our account. Apart from that, James 2 and 2.10, it kills us all. If you keep the whole law of God in one point, you are guilty of all. I've never heard anybody write a book on that. I've never even heard anybody preach on it. I've never read a sermon on it. Nobody deals with it. It's too hard, too hard. If you keep the whole law of God and offend in just one point, you're guilty of breaking every law God ever gave. That's what He said. Why don't we begin to believe that for a change? Because this means that we're no different from any other sinner. There's no such thing as big sinners and little sinners. We're all big sinners, you know. That's what God is telling us. So we have to come to Him that way. I'm a sinner and I know it. I think wrong. I speak wrong. I do things that are wrong. We confess them to God. I think I mentioned briefly about a friend of mine. He sang in a quartet in a big church when Revival came. And God broke him. He refused to sing. They got the mess cleaned up. And he had a list of 35 things. He called it my death list. Things he had to deal with. And he stayed with it. Now the guys in the quartet, they wanted to sing in our meetings because the crowds were big and things were happening. And we didn't invite them to. They made some big hints and we didn't listen. And they were really upset about that. But we knew they weren't walking with God. We don't want a performance. We want a ministry. Whether it's song or preaching or whatever. And so two of the quartet met with God, including this guy I mentioned. And one Sunday morning we had them sing. And they gave their testimony before they sang. And they sang a song. I don't remember. It was about the cross. I'd never heard it before. It was powerful. And they were through. And we didn't give an invitation. All that was said was in the prayer room over there, if God has spoken in your heart. This was before I preached. And 150 people screamed in the prayer room. When I preached and 10 people responded, that's good for the ego. God had already spoken. Well, no confession of sin. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our sacred sins, in the light of your countenance. So how can you get away with it? And we had Eskimo in Manitoba. Well, two of them went polar bear hunting. One guy came back. He said, my friend wanted to raise a blizzard on him. I couldn't find him. He's probably dead now. They've been looking for him. Couldn't find him. But next spring, a powerboat in Hudson Bay going along with some icebergs. As he went by an iceberg, he saw an Eskimo guy who was encased in the ice with a bullet hole between his eyes. He wasn't told the priest that came and chopped his body out. It was this guy's friend. So he shot him. And he jumped him in a crack in one of the icebergs and thought it was over with. And it really wasn't over with. And it's never over with. There are 250,000 unsolved murder mysteries in the United States of America. And in the coming judgment day, every one of them will be cleared out. Every one of them. If anybody's been wrongly accused, they'll be cleared in the coming judgment day as well. The Bible says there's time left for any purpose in the world. Because nobody's going anywhere. Nobody's got no plans. The Bible says, Then shall the king say, Then shall the king say. Nobody else is talking. Just the king. It'll be a great day. There'll be time on our own. We're going to go to the restaurant and go out. So when you're called, no one will see you. So God is speaking you through the word, and you're not obeying it. You can pray all you want. You won't go to jail anymore. It just doesn't work. It's like that in chapter 7. Matter of fact, when Israel was so bad, that God did four things, two things to them. First of all, He wouldn't answer their prayers. Then, I've got a lot to say. There'll be nothing. I think we should turn there a moment. The only thing is to listen. And pull away their shoulders. And stop their ears. That they should not hear. Yes, they made their hearts as an adamant stone. Lest they should hear the law and the words, which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in spirit by the form of prophets. Therefore, a great wrath came from the Lord of Hosts. Therefore it has come to pass, that as He cried, and they would not hear, so they cried, and I would not hear, says the Lord of Hosts. But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not, lest the land was desolate after them, that none find pass through nor return. For they lay the present land desolate. Then turn over to Proverbs chapter 1. 23. Turn ye with my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and you refused. I have stretched out my hand, and no man paid attention. Will set at nought all of my counsel, and will have none of my reproof. Because I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear comes, when your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own device. Will you say that's play? It's very play. We'll get away from that now. Psalm 37, it says prayers concern. They talk about, you know the pair of jaders, that was a big deal, somebody made five million dollars on it, I think, altogether. You know, they said, by no means, just discovered they made a big deal on it. Anyway, Psalm 37, your way, whatever your way is, commit it to God, and then what? Trust. Trust also in Him, and then what? Then He, as one translation says, He will do it. He will bring it to pass. Let me give you an example of that. A friend of mine in the ministry, a great soul in there actually, who's always talking to people about the Lord, and winning people to the Lord, but his church never goes. His denomination sent him to a certain time, to Saskatchewan, to start a new church, and after five years, he had children when he started, because his wife blew it all away. And she never listened. She told us later on, she'd never listened to any sinner of his or anybody else in 12 years. And so for 12 years, they had three kids, you know, she kept telling, we want to go back to house building, you're a great house builder, you're a rocking teacher, you're a poor pastor, and she kept loading this on him and all. He'd come to see me, he'd call me long distance, he'd write me a letter, please pray, and I'd go, what's your name? Brenner, Psalm 47, 5. Why don't you put it in the hands of God? We're trying to change you, you can't do that. God knows how to do it. Give God a chance on your wife. He couldn't see it. You know, if you're, like the Sawtooth Mountains in British Columbia, if you see them at 5 o'clock in the afternoon when the sun is shining on them, they are gorgeous. But if you're climbing them, it's just hard work. And he was so close to the problem, he couldn't see the glory and power of God, you know. I was thinking of his wife, well I guess she'll go back to house building, and he said, no, no, don't even think of that. And this is how it went, you know. And I preached on Psalm 37, 5 at a conference, and gave an invitation, she didn't even land to the front. The church was sporting that in their eyes, you know. I haven't referred to their problem at all. She's not to the front, she didn't know what to do, she's walking in a circle, running in her hands, and weeping her heart out, I've got some guys to take me to a side room, and then she went with God, you know. Several days later, he told me, my old brother Billy said, she goes solo, everything else, she's the greatest wife in the whole world, you know. But for 12 years, he didn't know what to do. He didn't listen to his own privacy, you know. And again and again, over the years, we've seen people, I'll give you one other example, a little place in Saskatchewan, forget the name of the town now, it was a very small place, now it was in a Baptist church. And a lady came for counseling one night, and she said, you know, my husband and I must be very poor Christians, because we have five kids, and I'm going to say, the youngest is 21, we're all over the house now, and the youngest is just, he acts like he's being possessed, he hates God, and hates the Bible. And I said, well, did you ever count your kids? And so we moved together, and two weeks later, I got a phone call from her. And she said, that's too bad, something, you know, doctor, you know, it was a few days later, she said, you know, I just wanted to rush him in, and get him saved, you know. But I heard the gospel a thousand times, that wasn't me. He needed to be dangling over the hill, by the Spirit of God. But he got. And one day, she was walking past the room, and he says, Mom, can you come in, and we'll get saved. She led him to Christ, he's gone into the ministry now. I don't know what happened to the rest of the family, I have no contact with them now. Then it only took two weeks, you know. And all these years, 25 years, or 21 years, or whatever, you know. Not really committing, and trusting. You give it to God. You know, King Leobald, when they, they took all the gold, the golden shields, there were four pounds of gold in every shield, there were 300 shields, they took all this away. And he needed those shields, because, when he walked to the temple, he called the guard, they put a shield on, they walked around, so nobody could hit him with an arrow. So they had to have these shields. So he had shields made out of brass, they had no gold anymore, so most of them were made out of brass. And that is because he committed the shields to the captain of the guard. Do you mind if I hit you with a play of my imagination? So he makes the commitment to the guy, I don't know his name, so we're going to name him Dumbo. And so the king, he's made the commitment, and you have to know that he, oh, he remembered something in here about Dumbo, that wasn't all over the way. So he phones the guy, Dumbo, would you mind calling the shields to make sure there's 300 more diamonds? I'm sure it can just hold on. And he goes back and, hey, that was just exactly 300. Don't you trust me, king? Oh, no, no, it's not that at all. It's not that at all, he said. No, no, I don't accept it. An hour later, he, boy, he's really worried about Dumbo. He phones him again, I'm not worried about you, it's not that at all. I'm not worried about you, you're a good guy. But I'm worried about those shields, you know? So Dumbo just leans against the wall for 10 minutes and comes back and lies. He knows the king is lying too, so what's the difference? So he's up there all day, you know, and he hangs up. Two hours later, the phone rings and Dumbo knows it's the king and he's really upset, you know. He says, king, don't you trust me? Dumbo, don't you even think that. I trust you with all my heart. But it's the shields that bother me, you know. And they're thinking that we do it, we make a Dumbo out of God, you know, by checking up on God all the time. Wondering if God really has it. We gave it to him, maybe God forgot, maybe God was too busy, maybe he had other things to do, maybe he's not doing it. We keep on, you know, making a Dumbo out of God. And they get nowhere as a consequence. Put the problem in God's hands, believe God, and watch God work. Give God a chance, people. Give Him a chance to work. That's why I said this verse in the Bible is the most powerful in the Bible in one sense. There's other verses that may be more powerful in the Old Testament, but this one. Connect the way. Now, one example of commitment, when Paul and company were in the ship in a violent storm, they were afraid one night they were drifting in the shallow water, and so they took some soundings and they were, and in the morning they were in a bad place, they were facing two angry seas were pounding on the shore on an island, and they had to get out of where they were, so it says they cut the ropes and committed themselves to the sea. So once they cut the ropes they were totally committed. There was no way back when they changed their mind five minutes later they couldn't go back. They were committed and had to go through with it. And that's one of the things we have to do as wealthy people. We have to cut the ropes so we can't go back. We can't take this back from God. We've given it wholly to Him. Commitment. Give it to God and leave it with God and praise God. I mentioned briefly one night about my mother when she came home after she'd been away from our home for months and came back after she got saved and how the first thing she did was commit us four boys and my dad to God for salvation and then what? Nothing happened for fourteen years. She just hung in there believing God. All four of us got saved. My dad got saved when he was seventy-five and the three of the four sons were full-time Christian work. She just believed God. She'd made the commitment she knew enough to just trust God now from this point on. You and I have to do the same. Things come up. It may be health, it may be money, it may be family problems, whatever it is. It's not a problem to God. It's a problem because we don't believe God. And we have to fuss around you know and get involved somehow and I'm not saying we should take our hands completely off to the extent that we let our kids run wild in the home. I'm not saying that at all. We have to look after our kids and have standards in the home and all this kind of thing. All right. Connect, trust, God will do it. In James chapter one verses five and on it says, If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all liberally and does not break, and it shall begin in him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavers is like a wave in the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. Let him ask and let not that man think that he shall receive anything of God. Unbelief gets you nothing. Don't let that man dream he's going to get something when he's full of unbelief. It isn't going to work. It's made so clear there, James one, five to eight, that's always been a great challenge to me. And then in Romans chapter four you know, when Abraham was going to have a child of his own, he handled a lot better than Zacharias did, right? He said he didn't stagger, being not weak in faith, he didn't stagger at the promise of God to unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. He didn't look, he said he didn't consider his own body now dead, now that he had the deadness of Sarah's womb. He never even thought about that. That didn't even enter the picture. And why should it? That's a human thing. And God's not a human being. And he's looking for our faith. So, being not weak in faith, he didn't stagger at the promise of God. It says about Sarah, his wife, that she received strength to conceive seed when she was past age, because she judged him faithful with promise. So, she got the strength to do it because she believed God. You know, in a church in Saskatoon or in Winnipeg, there was a lovely couple there, and they so desperately wanted to have a child, and they never had a child. Now, I was visiting them one night, and I got into this, I wanted to talk to them about it. I said, you know, I'd like to pray for you tonight that God would give you a child. They said, can you do that? I said, certainly. So, we prayed, and it was a couple months later she got pregnant, they've got a beautiful child now. When they brought the child to church, they said, you're the first one to hold it because you prayed for us. Beautiful child. You connect with your trust. And then God's power comes into the church. When Joshua says, son, Joshua chapter 10, can you imagine what that meant? You know, the earth was spinning, what, a thousand miles an hour? If you stopped it suddenly, everything would fall apart. You would go down 12 feet in the mud, you know. So God had to control a lot of things at that time. Joshua never had a clue about that, you know. We never knew. We know today. And then later on, Hezekiah with Isaiah when the sun went down so many degrees in the day, that was the same kind of a deal, when he somehow spun the earth back, you know, to take care of this. It was a great miracle also. So Hezekiah asked for a sign, and that's a sign that God gave great answers to prayer. Jesus had a few fish and a few loaves of bread and a crowd of thousands of people. Did He doubt? Not at all. He just gave thanks and passed it out. And He kept on doing it. Now, well, you see, what happened over there was two men running Bible camps, and we charged kids $2 a week for 10 days, and if we didn't have any money we could come anyhow, and sometimes we ran out of money. We just prayed, we committed and trusted and it always came to God in wonderful ways of taking care of a problem. Certainly, if He could take care of 4,000, 5,000 men plus women and children it didn't cost 10,000 people and a loaves of fish, He couldn't do anything wrong. Listen, God gave me a message one time entitled, The Miracle of a Million Shoes. It says when He was raised from the wilderness He made them happen actually. Their shoes never got old in 40 years and their clothes didn't wear out and there was not one single person among all the tribes who raised howling wilderness. There wasn't a hospital, there wasn't a store, there was nothing. So why do we fuss? Who do you think you are when you think of the problems God can't take care of? John 11 when Jesus was from the wilderness he said Lazarus or the resurrection would have occurred so people started to put Lazarus to death again. That's kind of stupid. You know how big Israel was in the days when Lazarus the resurrection of So everybody heard about Jesus. Everybody heard. And then the word spread like wildfire. You know, the preachers like you never heard about Lazarus. Jesus was in the area and Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as you yourselves also know him being delivered by the determinate counsel and from knowledge of God who has taken him by wicked hands and crucified him and slain whom God has raised up. That's all it was. Thousands of miracles. And then they had the nerve to say right after it fed thousands of people with human fission show us a sign. These guys must have been dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead