In this sermon, the preacher shares a story about a pastor who falls asleep while traveling and has a dream about a ladder reaching into heaven. He sees angels coming and going, symbolizing God's abundant supply for His people. The preacher emphasizes that God's supply is limitless and that He answers the needs of His people. However, the preacher also warns about the danger of disappointment and unbelief, using the example of the Israelites in the wilderness. He highlights the consequences of unbelief and urges listeners to trust in God even in times of disappointment.

...is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. Disappointments can be dangerous. If you tell me this afternoon you don't have disappointments, I want to know what planet you came from. Heavenly Father, we need your Word. We thank you for the time of worship and praise. We have given to you, Lord, now give to us your Word. Break the bread of life. Sanctify us, O God, to hear, give us ears to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say. I honor you by standing here as your servant now. I honor your Word. I honor you, Lord Jesus, and I pray, Lord, that you come now, take authority over every prince of power and power of darkness, that nothing hinder the Word of God. Nothing shall hinder this Word. God, there are people here, Lord, this afternoon that are wallowing in the anguish of disappointment, and Lord, it's a dangerous place to be. We've got to be careful. So, Lord, teach us and woo us and help us, Lord, to hear what you want us to hear. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Disappointments can be dangerous. Now, you know we've all in our lifetime experienced various disappointments. You know those times when you feel totally defeated? You can get so disappointed you feel dead inside. There seems to be no hope. You've come to the wit's end, feeling of despair because the thing that you had hoped for didn't happen, the things you anticipated, prayed about, waited for still lingers. There's no answer. It's to expect something, to hope for it, and wait for it expectantly, and it doesn't happen, and it brings disappointment, and often that disappointment can turn to anguish. Now, anguish is really pain. It's when you feel such disappointment that you can almost, it's almost impossible to put it in words. You're so disappointed it causes pain, anguish, a sense of hopelessness, as if it's never going to work. No matter what I try, no matter what I do, it's not going to work. It's not working. It will never work. It brings this absolute anguish and despair. I want to talk directly to you in the service this afternoon who are overtaken by a spirit of anguish, that grief, that pain because of some disappointment. Because you wake up every morning, there's a cloud hanging over your head. You try to sleep at night, it's still there, that disappointment. This could have to do with your marriage, locked into a hopeless situation. It can have to do with your job. It can do with family, relatives. It can do with your health. Great disappointment can happen to many who can't get victory over besetting sin. That thing sets in and you get so disappointed because you don't have victory. Your battle is a losing battle. You see, I feel so unclean. I want to serve God with all my heart. I want to be honest about my walk with God and I just can't seem to get to victory. And folks, that constant battle begins to wear and tear on your spirit and you come down hard and you're disappointed because you say either I don't understand the word, I'm not making it work, I'm told the Holy Ghost give me power, I don't seem to get that power. Brings anguish to the soul. And a lot of people are under that kind of anguish. I don't know what's caused your disappointment, but I get letters from all over the country and from around the world of people who express the most incredible kinds of disappointments in their life. I'm thinking of a young pastor who many years ago, his first pastor, went into this little town and he was so zealous for God and he was a praying man. He sought God night and day in his first church and he goes all excited. I think there were 15 people. This young pastor goes into that church all fired up and he preaches his heart out because he doesn't know it better but to believe God to save the whole town. So he prays, God save this town, make us a soul winner. He tried to fire up the people, but that little 15 people had a little click going. They didn't want any soul saved because they had fellowship. They had this little thing going and this pastor just poured his heart out and after about three months they called him in and sat him on a chair and began to rail against him. You're trying to tear this church apart and just railed on him, accused him of everything, and the poor kid, 21 years old, sat there and just absolutely beside himself and so much so he just got up, cried, and walked out. Anguish filled his heart and he went to prayer and the young man said, God, is that all there is? You pour your heart out, you seek, you fast, you pray, and you try to help people and they turn against you? Is this what the ministry is all about? The young man was in total despair, absolute despair, anguish, disappointed. His first church. You see, Moses came to this same point of anguish because of a disappointment in his calling. In the fourth chapter of Exodus, he had just introduced himself to the princes of Israel and he said, God has called me to lead you out of Egypt, out of this fiery, this furnace of affliction, and he showed them the two signs. He put his rod on the ground and it turned into a serpent. He picks it up and it becomes a rod. He sticks his hand in his bosom and he pulls it out and it's leprosy. He puts it back in, the leprosy is gone. Incredible, miraculous signs, and the Bible says they believed and they bowed their heads and they began to worship. This seemed like a wonderful thing God was doing in Moses' life, a wonderful call. Everything's working out right, but instead of deliverance, Pharaoh increases their burden, the scripture says. More work was laid on the people. The people began to break under the load. The taskmasters began to whip them. The taskmasters, under the direction of Pharaoh, take away the straw. They used to have the Egyptians bring the straw for the making of bricks at the brick furnaces. Now Pharaoh, under the tutelage of Satan himself, takes away the straw and the burden is increased. More work is laid on. They had the same quota but now they had to go out scrounging for every little blade of grass and straw and weed. And now they're totally disappointed. I want you to go to Exodus the fifth chapter and I want to show you something that is the heart of my message here. Exodus the fifth chapter. And I want you to begin with me, follow me at verse, let's start with verse 20. They have just come out of a meeting with Pharaoh, all the princes and leaders of the people, the Israelites, and they've gotten the word now that they're going, they said you're too idle, you have time, if you can think about having time to go out and worship and to have a vacation, so to speak, go out in the wilderness to sacrifice to your God. You've got too much time on your hand and they increased the load, increased the burden. And verse 20, they met Moses and Aaron, they're coming out of Pharaoh's presence, who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh. They said unto them, the Lord look upon you and judge because you've made our Savior to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, in the eyes of his servants, and to put a sword in their hand to slay us. You know what they're saying, Moses? Things are worse since you came. Before you came, we were at least able to endure, but since you've came, you've come, everything has gone wrong, everything has gone wrong. And something happens now to Moses, and Moses returned unto the Lord and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil and treated this people? Wisest thou hast sent me, for since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people, neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. Now listen to the language of this meek, holy, godly man. Why are you treating your people in such an evil way? They've come to me and said, I might as well have taken a sword and slain them than to bring this kind of bondage to them. I've only increased their bondage. God, why did you send me? Nothing you said has worked out. None of your promises have come true. Nothing is working out. You haven't delivered these people at all, and not a sign of you being at work. Have you ever at least thought that way? Oh, at least be honest with me. Nod or amen or something. Lord, I pray, I seek you. Why aren't things working out? I haven't seen any sign of deliverance. I haven't seen you do it, God. Oh, yes. See, Moses is in a dangerous position. The children of Israel are in a very dangerous position. See, times of disappointment like this are very, very dangerous because it brings you at a crossroads and you have only two options. Either, in this such a time, you either reach out in one of two ways. You can either give up. You can give in and surrender to that hopelessness, and if you do that, if you give in to that disappointment, if you give in to that anguish that comes upon you and say, I don't understand this. I have had it. This is enough. Moses could have done that. He said, Lord, you sent me. I have had 40 years in the wilderness. I have walked before you. I saw the burning bush. I have walked honestly. I came. I gave everything. I've done what you told me, and now it's all blown up in my face. All my directions are crisscrossed. There's nothing to it. It's not working. You can't get away from it. This man stands before God and says, you have not been faithful to your word. Now, he's at a point now where he's got to either give in to that grief, give in to that anguish, give in to that disappointment, and if he does, he's going to spend the rest of his life, like Israel did, without joy, and they're going to be wasted away and spend their whole lifetime, 38 years in the wilderness, without peace, without the blessing of God, and they're going to live in anguish the rest of their lives. Or option two, you either, at that point, cast yourself into the arms of Jesus and say, I serve an almighty God. I don't understand it, but I know my God's on the throne, and you cast yourself in the care of our Heavenly Father, an almighty God. You have to either jump in faith, take a leap of faith, or you settle down and surrender to your grief. Some of you sitting here this morning, you were disappointed when you were a child. You were abused. You had a hard lifetime. I don't know what it is. You could have been in a troubled marriage, and you were bruised, and you carry a hurt, and you carry disappointment. Did somewhere along the line God allow you to come to a crossroad like this, where your disappointment, your anguish overwhelmed you, and you had an option? You either turn to the Lord and believe what he says, because every time you're in a place like this, God will send his word to you. God will send a preacher. He'll put a book in your hand. He'll put a word somewhere. The word will come. It's coming to you right now. It came to Moses. God didn't rebuke him. He sent a word to him. Then the word of the Lord. Then the Lord said unto Moses, chapter 6, Now shalt thou see what I'll do. He comes with a whole list of promises now. He says, I'm going to deal with Pharaoh. I'm going to do great things among my people. Do you know it's possible in a time like this, when you're overcome with a disappointment, you can spin out of control, and you can spin out into a life of absolute despair as long as you live. You can call yourself by the name of Jesus. You can say, I'm going to stay close. I'm still going to serve God, but I don't understand. You come to this place where you can get to the place. You can spin out where you will never again hear the word of God. No promises. You can come to the place as the children of Israel did here. You can come to the place where God hears your cry. He sees your anguish. The Bible said he was touched with their afflictions. Our Bible said the Lord is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. When you're down, when you're in anguish, when you're disappointed by things in life that have happened to you, the Lord feels that. The Lord knows it. When you reach rock bottom, and wits end, and you're down, and you're out, be careful what you do. Some of you had an opportunity, and you've spun out already. It happened ten years ago. You've been serving the Lord ten years. You still have anguish. You still have that disappointment. It's growing on you. It's making you sour, and nobody can get through to you. You're not hearing a word anybody says anymore. Now, there's hope for you this afternoon if you'll hear the word that I preach. We've got experts running all over the world now, and books by the thousands on how to overcome your anguish, and how to deal with hurts, and people going back into childhood and trying to dredge up the past, and bring it out in the open. But folks, there may be something to that one time, but to keep going back into the garbage pit, to keep going back and dig up your garbage, and never coming to a place where you say, God, I put this in your hands. You're almighty. I trust you to take it out of my life. If you don't, you're going to spin out and spend the rest of your time like the children of Israel did, and I'll show it to you in just a minute. God comes to Moses now. Moses encouraged. God didn't rebuke him because he knew that he was just speaking out of a sudden flash of misunderstanding. But deep in his heart, he trusted God, and God came to him and said, Moses, now I'm going to show you what I'm going to do, because I am the Lord. He said, I'm going to give you a name that you can trust, God Almighty. By my name, Jehovah, was I not known. I am God Almighty. Hallelujah. I want you to go to chapter 6, verse 5, beginning to read. I have heard, this is God speaking, I've heard also the groaning of the children of Israel when the Egyptians, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage. I've remembered my covenant, wherefore saying to the children of Israel, I'm the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage. And I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments. And I will take you to me for a people. I will be to you a God. Oh, what a wonderful statement. I'll be to you a God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, which brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Now I will bring you in under the land concerning that which I did swear to give to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. Now I will give it to you in the heritage. I am the Lord. Folks, look at me, please. A word came that should have solved every doubt, should have lifted every burden. Wonderful word. Miraculous word. I am God Almighty. I'm going to be a God to you. I have everything you need. I am your supply. I'm God Almighty. I have might and power and strength, and I'm going to give it to you, and I'm going to work in your behalf. Isn't that a wonderful word? Look at verse 9. And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses. Why? For anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage. Look at me, please. You know what they're saying? Moses, we don't want to hear it anymore. We've heard enough. It doesn't work. The anguish, because of anguish, because of disappointment, I can't hear it. Their minds are shut. There's apathy. There's a spiritual death. There's a veil that falls. They've allowed it to happen. They have wallowed in their anguish. They have played with their anguish. They are now in a place where they said, we don't want to hear anymore. They don't trust God. They don't trust their servants. They don't trust anybody. We'll work our own problems out. Moses, you go your way. You want to go? Fine. I'm not going to go alone. I'm going to walk alone. And this is the human attitude. This is the human spirit. When we feel God's not working according to our time schedule, when we get mad at God because we see such disappointments, we feel God has failed us. Like the husband who told me recently, I've tried so hard to make my marriage work, and my wife, nothing I say or do gets through. I am a dead man. I feel nothing. I don't care anymore. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. No counseling, nothing. He said, I'm going to walk alone. I don't need a woman. I'll never marry again. I've had it. Closed. He's not going to hear any preaching. He's not going to hear any counseling. It doesn't work because he doesn't hear because of anguish that's settled in as part of his life now. It's woven in the fabric of his character. I've heard wives who've walked out on their marriages, and there's no amount of counseling can register with them now because they say, Pastor, he killed my spirit. I am dead inside. I feel nothing. I feel nothing. Have people been so wounded? They say, I don't feel anything anymore, and they don't trust anybody. I have sat with people, tried to counsel, and I knew after an hour, not a word I said was getting through because they were so wrapped up in their anguish, so married to their disappointment, that nobody on this earth, not even God himself, can get through because they have given themselves over to their anguish. They've given themselves over to their disappointment. Can you imagine God coming right to them and says, I will be a god to you. Everything that God is. I bring life out of nothing. I produce resurrection out of death. I call things into being that don't even exist, and I'm here for you now. All I promise you, I told you, now you're going to see it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. Because of anguish and her cruel bondage. You say, well, wait a minute, Brother Dave. Didn't God go with them? Didn't He take them out of Egypt? He says, I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God. Didn't He take them? Didn't He lead them by fire at night and in the cloud by day? Yes, He did. But He didn't do it because of the people. He said, I will remember my covenant. He did it by covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said, I promise to take a people in, and I'm going to take it. And not once did those people believe. They never did believe God. Never. They never had one single day of joy other than a few times they danced, and that was a frivolous joy. Not based on any foundation of faith. There was no true joy. They lived for 38 years in the wilderness in anguish, bitterness, rebellion, and never did enter in. Every one of them except Joshua and Caleb died after spending 38 years in pain and anguish and misery. Still called the children of God. Look with me, if you will, at verse 9 again. But they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage. I meet Christians with that frame of mind. I know a couple. The husband just died last month. He was 80 some. I think she's 82. He died of Alzheimer's. She's dying. I'm sorry, he died of cancer of the throat. She's dying of Alzheimer's. She didn't even know her husband died, and she didn't have anybody in the world. We've helped some financially the best we knew how. I've known that couple for 45 years, and I remember when the anguish set in 45 years ago. I don't remember a day in 45 years I ever saw a smile. I don't remember a day in 45 years there was anything but murmuring and complaining. Murmur about cold. Murmur about heat. Murmur about money. Murmur about health. Everything was, I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying. Every day I'm dying. I get so sick and tired of hearing I'm dying. They lived 80 years dying for 45 years of dying. Never any happiness. They sat in my meetings many times. No joy. It's all gone, because they became addicted to their misery. If they didn't have their misery, they didn't have nothing to talk about. Oh come on now, people in this church right now, people hearing me right now. You'd have nothing on the telephone to talk about except your pains, your aches, about your childhood. Anybody who listens, they get tired of it. Folks, people don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. Not when I know I've got a God big enough to solve it. You say, brother, that sounds mean. No it's not. Not after years and years. I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say. When you're in anguish or a great disappointment, when you have hit the lowest point in your disappointment, and you're his child, he's not gonna let you stay there. He will come by his Holy Spirit, just as he did at this point, and he will give you a word of hope. I'm giving you a word of hope right now. For some of you, the word is coming now, just as it did to Moses, coming to you right now. And you're gonna have to make up your mind. A spirit of unbelief can get a hold of you. And just when God's about to bring you into a new life, just when God's about to answer every prayer you've ever prayed, just when God's about to say, now I'm going to move, you won't be there. You'll be swallowed up in unbelief. Unbelief. You can shut your heart, shut your mind. You can give up and harden yourself. I know many Christians, they have simply given up. They have given up. They say, I'm gonna go on the best I know how, but I'm just gonna go on. And they seem to plod through, but nothing works in their life. Everything goes sour. I want you to go to Deuteronomy with me, please, the first chapter. You're following me, aren't you? Deuteronomy 1. Let's start at verse 30. And in the wilderness where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God beareth thee as a man that beareth son, and all the way that we went until we came into this place, yet in this thing you did not believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents in by fire at night and to show you by what way you should go in a cloud by day. You know what he's saying? I took you up in my arms and I took you, not because you, but because you didn't believe me. You didn't trust me. You didn't believe at all. He said, yet I went out and searched the place for you. Verse 34. And the Lord heard the voice of your words and was wroth and angry and swear saying, surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I swore to give unto your father, say, Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed, obeyed the Lord. Look down, skip over to Deuteronomy, the ninth chapter, the ninth chapter of Deuteronomy, and I want you to look at verse 6 and 7 with me. Deuteronomy 9, verse 6 and 7. Understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness. For what? Thou art a stiff-necked people. Remember and forget not how thou provokest the Lord thy God to wrath and to willness. From the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt until you came unto this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. Look at me, please. God didn't deliver Israel because of anything in them. He was keeping covenant. Remember that. Now give me, I'll give you one more verse. Go to chapter 9, verse 24. Skip over to verse 24. You have been rebellious against the Lord. From when? The day he came and introduced his calling, the place I just registered. The first time I told you God called me, you rebelled then because of anguish of spirit. And folks, that anguish of spirit, because they gave in to it, they were not capable of faith at the Red Sea. They were not capable of faith at Marah. They were not capable of faith at any test. The ten times God tested them, they were not capable of faith because anguish had been the ruling spirit from that time. This is the end of side 1. You Are you seeing the picture of the danger of unbelief setting in? Unbelief hardened their hearts way back then, no matter what God did. Now what of all the miracles and the signs and wonders because they refused to believe and trust in Almighty God. Lord help us. Look at the consequences. Look at chapter 2. Look at the chapter 2. What happens when you spin out into unbelief and you don't trust God in your disappointments? Chapter 2, Deuteronomy. Let's start verse 14. And the space in which we came from Cadiz, Barnea, until we were come over the brook Zerud, was thirty and eight years, and to all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord swear unto them. For indeed the hand the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed. So come came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, that the Lord spake unto me. Now look at me please. You understand that even though they were God's people, they were not heathen, they brought upon themselves this judgment to live wasted lives for 38 years. Folks, I don't know about you, I don't want to waste a day, let alone my life. I don't want to waste a day. I don't want anguish and disappointment toward God to rob me of my simple childlike faith. When I'm disappointed, when I don't understand, I want to run to the Lord and embrace Him and say, God I don't understand, but I know you have a plan. I know you'll do it right. You'll do exactly what is right. There's only one thing that keeps you in despair and that's unbelief. You don't have to be in anguish, you don't have to go on in your disappointment. The only thing that holds us there is our unbelief, nothing else, nothing. Let me talk to you a minute about Isaac and Jacob. Isaac is the father, Jacob the son. Remember when Jacob cheats his brother? And now his brother Esau has threatened his life and so Isaac and Rebecca know they have to send Jacob away. Now remember, Isaac's a rich man now. He has all kinds of cattle and sheep and donkeys. He's got armies of tents. He's got almost an army following him, their families and their clans. And he's to really inherit his father's properties because in those days the blessing of God was equated with material things. The more material things you had, the more blessing of God was upon your life. That's how it was judged. And he's got to go now and Jacob is in his last visit with his father. He's not going to see his father for years. He's being sent to Phaedon Aram to find a wife among his own kind. He's not sent away with cattle, not a donkey to ride on, not one of the little tents, not even a pillow. He's sent with only the clothes on his back. It doesn't seem to make sense when you see he's going out on a journey. No cattle, nothing to start a new life. He's saying, go get a wife. No, usually they would set up the son. They would give a dowry. They would give him something to set up. Even we do that. We do our best to try to set up our children when they get married. Nothing. He sent out, Jacob sent out with nothing but the clothes on his back, but he was giving something. He was given something from his father worth more than all the money in the world. He was given a blessing. He was given a blessing. Now, before I tell you what that blessing is, you'd have to go back. I'll have to set the stage for just a minute. You go all the way back to the call of God. The Lord appeared to Abram. He said, Abram, don't be afraid. I'm your shield and I'm your exceeding great reward. And the Lord came to Abraham, the father of us all. And he said, I am God Almighty. He revealed himself. I am God Almighty and I've come to make you fruitful. And that was the blessing. And what God was saying, all you have to know is that I am everything you will ever need. I am all-sufficient, all-powerful. I am God Almighty. You need nothing else. That's why Abraham, the faith of Abraham is so extolled by the New Testament and by God himself, by all the apostles. Because here's a young, here's a man that steps up nothing more than on the word of the name of God. A revelation of his name and the power of his name that he could rest upon that name. That no enemy, he was told, I'll be your shield. God knew he's going to go out and face, he's going to live among enemies, going to destroy them at any time. He's a small clan to begin with. God began to prosper him, of course, but he sends him out with nothing more than a revelation of his name. His name. I am to you, Abraham, I am God Almighty. God Almighty. I'm your shield. I'm your refuge. I am the only reward you need on earth. I'm your great reward. Now, God revealed that to Isaac. Isaac knew him as his name, God Almighty. And now Jacob is about to leave and his father turns to Jacob and he says to Jacob, just before he leaves, he lays his hand on his head and he says, Jacob, the God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and give you the blessing of Abraham. In other words, Jacob, you're going to make it just fine if you will exercise the faith of your grandfather Abraham. Your grandfather made it through the wilderness. He survived all his enemies because he stayed on a name. He relied on a name, the power of Almighty God and it's your God. I bless you with this name. I bless you with it. So Jacob starts out and he says, the blessing of Abraham. I've had nothing. Halfway to Patanerim he falls asleep. I told you he had no pillow. He made a rock his pillow. And he has a dream and he sees a ladder reaching into the heavens and the father standing at the top of the ladder and he sees angels coming and going. What he's seeing is God's supply route. He's God Almighty with a host and army of angels coming and going, meeting the needs of his people, ministering. The ladder is there and he sees it. He sees these angels coming with blessings and swords, guardian angels with blazing swords. He sees every supply, loaded down with supplies, everything that anybody would ever need. He sees the angels coming and going. God gave him a vision of his supply route. You say that's wonderful? Wonderful. But we've been given something better. God has provided something better. We don't need the ladder because one day God the Father sent his Son and our Christ descended that ladder. Angels stepped aside. Thank God for ministering angels. Yes, but God has provided something even better. We do have ministering angels, but we have God himself came down in human flesh and he came down to experience our grief, our disappointment, our anguish. He took all that anguish upon himself. There's not an anguish that you know that he doesn't know. He's felt every kind of disappointment that you and I could understand. He had enemies come against him. He was spat upon. He was falsely accused. He had his beard ripped from his face. He experienced lies. He was rejected. Everything that we've gone through, those who were supposed to have loved him, failed him. They turned against him. They denied even one of his own disciples. Turned him in. Those he came to die for killed him. So he tasted of it all. Hallelujah. And now he's ascended to the heavenly Father. But let me tell you, I don't need a ladder. I'll tell you why. Because God Almighty, according to Paul the Apostle, I have the blessing of Abraham. The blessing of Abraham is a name. God Almighty. El Shaddai. Every name that God has ever named himself. He's not up there. He's right here abiding in my vessel in this temple of the Holy Ghost. I don't have to wake him from the dead. No, I'm preaching loud, but I don't have to wake him from the dead. Somebody said it sounds like you're trying to. He abides. He lives. He's here. Something better has been provided. Folks, who can imagine this staying in anguish and disappointment when all we have to do is talk. He's here to communicate, to trust him. It's our unbelief. You are continuing your anguish and disappointment because you don't trust him. That's it. It's a lack of faith. It's settled into unbelief. You say, well, I don't believe. We'll listen to this. And to him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power, the almighty power that worketh in us. We get the picture that this almighty God is somewhere out there in the cosmos, floating around. The Spirit's just floating around the cosmos. He said, if you love me and obey me, I will come and abide in you. My Father will come, Jesus said. The Spirit of God abides in us. We have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We have the Godhead abiding in us. It shouldn't be hard to communicate with somebody who lives here. He said, the word is nigh you, even in your mouth. It's in the belly. Out of your belly flows rivers of living water. Why not? Because of where he lives. Hmm. Oh my. I'm coming to a close shortly. In Exodus, with this I want to close. In Exodus 34, don't turn in verse 5, it says, the Lord descended in a cloud and he proclaimed his name to Moses. He said, I'm going to, and in fact Isaiah said, here's what the Lord said, and the Lord proclaimed. The Lord, the Lord. In Hebrew it's Jehovah, Jehovah. And that means one that gives being to that which is not. Jehovah is one who gives being or life to that which is not. He who brings something out of nothing. He who creates out of nothing. He doesn't need anything to work with. He says, it's done before you even know it's done. If it's in his mind, it's finished. All he has to do is think it, it's done. It's beyond our comprehension. But he said, I am Jehovah, I'm Jehovah. And then somebody says, well, Brother Dave, I know Isaiah said you to stay or rest yourself in the name of God. Stay upon the name of God. In other words, trust in the name that God has given to you. Well, let's talk about that. In this revelation to Moses in Exodus 34 chapter 5, let me tell you what it, how it interprets. Somebody says, my temptations, Pastor David, are so strong, my lusts are too mighty for me to handle, my battles a losing battle. And yet the Lord says, according to his name, you trust in my name, El, meaning the strong, mighty God. He said, I've given you a name that you can trust, strength, strong arm, almighty power. And then the scripture says, greater is he that's in us than he that is in the world. So you can't come and say, my lust is too strong for me, my temptation is overpowering me. God says, no, the Spirit of living God in you has the power of almighty God, almighty. I've revealed my name to you, El, powerful, almighty. You say, but I'm afraid that God's had it with me because I failed him so many times. Maybe God's not willing to help me this time. I know he's strong, I know he's almighty, but I wonder if it's too late for me. Sure, I believe God is almighty, I believe God's all-powerful. And yet the Lord's going to come to you and he's going to say, don't be discouraged. My name is strength, it's power, but my name is also merciful. I'm strong, I'm mighty, but my name is merciful. So that means I'm willing to help you. Merciful means willing to help. He's never unwilling to help you. My name is strength, it's power, it's almighty, and it's merciful. You say, but wait a minute, Brother Dave, I have nothing good to bring to him. I have nothing of worth in me. I feel worthless. I know that God is strong, I know that he's almighty, I know he's merciful, but God says, my name is also gracious. He's talking to Moses. My name is gracious. That means I have all the mercy and the grace that you ever need, no matter what you've done. You say, but Brother Dave, I've been sinning for so long, for 10 years. Some of you say, I've been sinning 20 years. I've heard people say, I've been sinning against God for 40 years. Some have been sinning against God for 50 years. I'm so steeped in sin. How can God have mercy on me? I know he's strong, and he's mighty, and he's powerful, and he's almighty, and he's merciful, and he's gracious, but God says, I've got a name for you that you can trust in. You ready for this? I'm long suffering. I'm long suffering. Now think of all this. This is all wrapped up in his name. Isaiah said, stay or rest upon the name of the Lord, his name. He has provided a name for every disappointment. He's provided a description of himself for every anguish that you and I suffer. I am long suffering. You say, but Brother Dave, I've broken every vow I've ever made. I can't even count the times that I've grieved God, and I've sinned, and I've failed, and I've cheated, and I've lied. God says, yes, I'm strong. I'm almighty. I'm merciful. I'm gracious. I'm long suffering, but I'm also abundant in goodness and truth. It goes on and on, folks. You can't get to an end of his name. His name is as eternal as he is. Hallelujah. He has provided everything you need for victory. He's coming to you right now through the lips of this pastor saying to you, if you'll come now out of your anguish, step out of your disappointment, and take a step of faith and say, God, I've had enough of my anguish. I've had enough of this disappointment. I turn my back on it. I turn to you. I believe you're God almighty. You're going to meet my need. I'll trust you. I will trust you from this day on. I'm going to trust you. I've committed my life completely to a life of confidence in God, total dependence on the Lord. I'll be tested on that, even for saying it. But by God's grace, every day I get up now and there's a problem. I did this all day Friday and all day Saturday. I had problem after problem. One thing after another. I said, God, this is your problem. I trust you. You work it out. You work it out. I can't handle the Lord. You work it out. You work it out. You work it out. Somebody said, what are we going to do? I said, I'm not doing anything. God's going to have to do it. You wait for the direction. You wait for him to speak. Doesn't mean that you become apathetic. No, but when you reach the brick wall, you stand still. Lord, you've got to break that wall or you're going to have to give me strength to leap over it. You're going to have to do it your way. He will provide a way. He's a way maker. The Bible says, they that are of faith have the blessing of Abraham upon them. The blessing of Abraham is a walk of faith. The blessing of Abraham is God said, if you will trust me, I'll be your shield. I'll be your strength. I'll be your power. I will defeat all your enemies. Nothing shall be impossible to you. Nothing. Even though I test you and try you as he did, when he had him go to the altar to make a sacrifice of his own son. God said, when I see that you trust me, when I'm convinced that you trust me, I'm convinced that you're wholly dependent upon me, then I will move. I will act. I will do it, but God won't do it to the point where he knows and he sees that live or die, you're going to trust him before the sons of men. All God's been wanting all these years from the very beginning of time, God's been looking for people to whom he could be God. He said, I want to be God to you and I want you to be a son, a daughter to me. Folks, isn't that what God said? Will you just let me be God? That's incredible. Just let me be God to you. Oh, hallelujah. Lord, be God to me. Be God to me. You know what that means? Everything I need. Will you stand please? God, be God to us. Now I'm asking right now, balcony and the main floor, everybody in this building within the sound of my voice, wherever you're at, if you've had a great disappointment in your life and you've had this anguish and it's overwhelmed you, I'm asking you to come and step out and make the right decision. I want you to take a step of faith. I want you to say, God, I'm coming now to commit myself to a life of faith. I'm not going to carry this anymore. You're going to lay down your hurt. You're going to lay down your anguish. You're going to lay down all of your bitterness. You're going to lay down all the thoughts of the past. Say, Lord, I want to enter into new life of hope and faith and rest in the Holy Ghost. If you're backslid, if you're cold in heart, if you don't know Jesus, come with these. Balcony, go to the stairs on either side and come down any aisle and we'll meet you here. Lord bless you. Amen. You are at a crossroad. If you've come down here because you have suffered or endured a great disappointment in your life, this is a wonderful time. It can become an opportunity to abound in faith. It's an opportunity to say, God, I'm as low as I can get. That's a good place to be. Where your end of all flesh, end of trying to depend on yourself to accomplish any good thing and say, Father, I turn to you now in full surrender. You come forward to resign. You resign all of your human efforts, all of your angles, trying to figure things out and say, Lord, I turn it over to you now. I'm going to rest. I've always said that the evidence of faith is rest. The evidence of faith is rest. If your soul is not at rest, you're not believing God. There has to be a total rest. God said it's possible. In fact, Luke makes it clear that Jesus came so that we would not have to live in fear the rest of the years of our life. So we not have to live in fear. God doesn't want you to live in fear. He doesn't want you to live in tears and anguish. He wants his joy and peace and rest. He said, there's a rest that remains for you to enter in. That rest is simply a life of faith, trusting God for everything in your life, for direction, for money, for healing of marriages, whatever it may be. He has everything you need. But you've got to turn to him, absolutely turn to him and say, Holy Spirit, you're going to have to speak to me. You need to spend quality time with him. You have to be into his word. Bathe yourself in his word. It's not complicated. It's very, very simple. But God says, you don't come into my presence entertaining doubts. Don't entertain doubts. Bring every thought into captivity. Bring every doubt into captivity, the obedience of the Lord Jesus and say, Lord, I may not understand, but by God's grace, I will trust you. I will believe you. Hallelujah. You're saved by faith. You're sanctified by faith and you're kept by faith. You're kept from the wicked one. God keeps you by faith in his power. Is there anybody here doubts he has the power? Does anybody here doubts that he's almighty? Does anybody here doubt that you have a problem he can't solve? I don't think anybody would say that. I think everyone here would say, I know he has the power. I know God can do it. Is he willing? Yes. He said, I'm willing. Is he ready to forgive? He said, he's more than ready to forgive. He's patient, long-suffering, he's kind. And I want you to confess right now you're unbelieving because that's the worst sin of all. Worse than drugs, alcohol, anything else is unbelief. Let's look to him right now. Just close your eyes in his presence and pray this prayer with me right now. Jesus, I ask you now, forgive my doubts, forgive my unbelief. Lord, I'm carrying a heavy burden. I've been deeply disappointed. I've been hurt in my life. There has been anguish, a lot of hurt. I don't want to carry it anymore. It's been too hard and depressing. I want to know joy. I want your peace. I want my soul to be at rest. Now, Jesus, I've confessed my sin. I've confessed my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Give me faith. Help me to trust you. I love you, Jesus. I know you're willing to help me. I take my disappointment in my hand and I lay it down at your feet. Say, here it is, Jesus. Take it away. My grief, my anguish, my guilt, my condemnation, and all my fears, I surrender to you. Now, let me pray for you. Father, I pray now that you help us to understand that all we have to do is turn to you with all of our hearts. We simply have to turn around. We turn in another direction. We turn away from facing our fears and our anguishes and our disappointments. We turn right around, face the other direction, and say, Jesus, we're looking unto you, the author and the finisher of our salvation. We're looking unto you who made me all these promises. I believe you'll keep your word to me, Father. I'm willing to risk my life and my future on it. Look at me, please. You have got to risk your life. I risk my life on it. That's right. I risk my life. You say, what if I, what if I trust God and it doesn't work out and I might die or something? You'd get the best reward of all. I mean, you would go right into his presence and God, the Father, would embrace you and says, what faith you had. I had to bring you home. Folks, I see some of you right now say, oh, Paul said, I have a desire to be with the Lord. If you really love Jesus, you want to be with him. There's nothing to fear. There's nothing to fear. Amen. He said, I've come to give you life and that more abundantly. Hallelujah. Glory be to Jesus. This is the conclusion of the tape.