The Jesus People

Take you through 40 years of Old Testament history but we'll begin first of all in the New Testament in Matthew the first chapter and Then we'll go back into Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy This morning. I want to Speak to you. I give it the title to my message is on the Jesus people The Jesus people who are they? How do they act How do they live Let's look to the Lord in a word of prayer Lord, we thank you for your presence this morning.

And now we ask that you would anoint thy servant and your people as well Lord may our ears Be anointed may our hearts be anointed to receive what you have. May we be encouraged? Maybe we may we be instructed in righteousness we thank you Lord for The privilege of being behind this sacred desk and Unfolding your truth. May we hide it in our hearts? May we receive it? And may it profit us unto all righteousness in Jesus name.

Amen There's one verse out of the Christmas story every year It's a tradition in our family before we open our gifts to read the Christmas story and we generally discuss it Together and see what new thoughts or insights the Lord might Bring out to us as a family and this year as I was reading it Also in my own private time verse 21 leaped out at me and Gives me the basis of where I begin my message today it says and she shall bear a son and You shall call his name Jesus for it is he Who will save his people from their sins? Now there are two thoughts that I want to dwell in Dwell on to this verse before we go into the Old Testament. The first is found in the words his people Jesus came to save his people Now who are his people Now God sent his son to save his people the Jews but he came to his own and His own received him not but the good news is That as many as receive him to them gives he power to become the sons of God In other words, the door was swung open for Gentiles and all peoples to claim the promise of salvation from sin But I note in this verse that salvation conveys a two-fold promise He will save his people his people from their sins Jesus came to save us from something and to something and It's the fact that many people do not grasp this or it is not preached that do That is the reason that they do not enter into the full benefits of their salvation Jesus came to save us from something to something. He came to save us from sin and In so doing to make us one of his people Jesus people if you please Now some people want salvation from sin But they're unwilling to be one of his people and walk in covenant obedience with him You See salvation is not only deliverance from sin.

It is coming into a relationship in which we live like Jesus people You see Jesus is both priest and King He is both Savior and Lord and We cannot claim one without the other Can we only let me ask you this question? Can we only have? The Savior to come into our hearts, can we only have the sin bearer come into our hearts and Not all of the other aspects of who Christ is You see you cannot divide Christ. It's impossible to divide him If he truly comes into our hearts and life all of him enters in or must enter in Do you know that the phrase that is used so? Frequently in evangelical circles, it's used by evangelists. You've used it.

I've used it when we ask people That do not know the Lord. What do you want to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Now, do you know that that's not even biblical? the Overwhelming usage of the word Lord for example in the book of Acts shows us how clearly Christ Was presented to new believers in the early church and how he is not being presented today and how we ought to be presented Peter on the Day of Pentecost Ended up his message and he talked about this Jesus whom you put to death and he said God has made Jesus both both Lord and Christ Saul on the road to Damascus was apprehended and what was his response? What was the question when he recognized that? That he had encountered the Living God. He said who are you Lord? The Philippian jader was told when he was asked how to be saved What was he told believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved And so the phrase accept Christ as your personal Savior is not found in the scriptures Jesus is Lord and Savior and this means that he came to save us from our sins in Order to be our Lord so that we would become one of his covenant relation people Jesus people if you please You see many Christians want to be saved from sin, but they don't want to be owned They accept the Savior and not the Lord they want delivered from sin and its effects But they don't want to make the commitment that comes with being a Jesus person They want God's grace, but they don't want his law.

They don't want his yoke. They don't want his lordship Now I want to trace for you The the people of God the Jesus people from the earliest places in the scripture in the Old Testament They're referred to as a people of God I simply refer to them as Jesus people and See what lessons we can draw from it But first of all, let me say that there are three classes of people spoken of in the Bible first of all are those who are Classified as aliens and Strangers from the covenant of promise in Old Testament days. They were non Jews Who did not know or serve the one true Jehovah God? Today anyone who does not serve God is not a Jesus person or in spiritual terms They are aliens and strangers from the covenant of promise They're unsaved very simply But in theological terms, they're strangers from the covenant of promise.

That's one class of people Then another class that I want to talk about today are the people of God now in the Old Testament, they're the Jews and Deuteronomy the 7th chapter in the 6th verse God spoke to the descendants or said this about the descendants of Abraham He said for you are a holy people to the Lord the Lord your God The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession Out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth Now today anyone who serves the Lord is one of his chosen people We're spiritual Jews. I remember my mother when she used to go down to Greenwich Village in New York and Witness there at Washington Square Park. She would encounter a lot of Jewish young people and Immediately when she would begin to witness a I'll say they'd say oh, well, you know that doesn't pertain to me I'm a Jew and she says I'm a Jew too In fact, she would say I'm a better Jew than you are and then would explain to why she's a Jew and begin in the Old Testament and go into the into the New Testament and so the people of God in the Old Testament are the Jesus people of the New Testament spiritual Jews and Then there is a third class of people in the scripture They were the people of God in disobedience and rebellion They were the Israelites who failed to keep covenant They were the chosen people who did not act like chosen people and therefore they were cut off from the covenant and Today anyone who claims to be a Christian by natural birth Maybe even by new birth But they don't act like a Jesus person They may go to church.

They may do Christian things. I Thought as you're taking to remind me of the man who as you were taking the offering Asked the pastor after the service one day. He said you think if I give a lot of money to the church, I'll get to heaven Pastor said I don't know but it's worth trying There's a lot of people today who think it's worth trying but it isn't They would be in that same category of those who broke covenant.

They don't act like Jesus people They may have gone forward in a meeting a meeting, but they're not living like one of God's people It's interesting in when the Prophet Hosea was told to marry a prostitute The first child that came out of that Union God said name the child Loamy which means for You are not my people and I am NOT your God That's a the interpretation of the meaning of the name. You are my people. You don't act like my people I don't even consider you my people And so that's a third category of people But it's the people of God that Jesus people that I want to speak about and share some things with you Turn with me to Exodus the third chapter and while you're doing that, let me say that Jesus people are a people on the move They're always going on and forward in God They never stay at the same place.

They never stand still or if they do it's only momentarily and They deal with it when they go on they always move on and got that's the exciting thing when I think about 1986 or This past year The way the Lord has led me on and opened my eyes to new things I'm excited about this year because it's an opportunity to move on in God God's people can never stay at the same place. They always have to move on and Also Jesus people are the people of God see salvation not just in terms of being saved from sin but as entering the promised land of the fullness of Christ and you see that's inexhaustible But in contrast there is a class of people who don't go on in God In fact, we're gonna see it they go around and around and around and around They go in circles. I Mean some of them are even Important people, but they don't go on in God and They are denied the promised land of the fullness of Christ now This is pictured for us in the children of Israel coming out of bondage here in Exodus a third chapter verses 7 and 8 look at it with me and The Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people Who are in Egypt now stop there just for a moment because that's the first time that's the very first time that God refers to the descendants of Abraham as my people He said I have seen the affliction of my people and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters For I am aware of their suffering And then verse 8 is so prophetic because you can parallel it to the coming of Christ in the New Testament He said so I have come down To deliver them from the power of the Egyptians and To bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land and to a land flowing With milk and honey, but note the phraseology I have come down to my people to deliver them from from from something from the power of the Egyptians to and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land Now we've got to cover some history very quickly here and Let me ask the question answer it.

How did he how was this accomplished? Well, you remember that the last plague was a slaying of the firstborn and God told them to slay a lamb and put the blood on the doorpost Flip over to Exodus the 12th chapter and we'll read that just a verse. We just have to take little vignettes little verses little glimpses of this history Because if they had not done this then even their own firstborn would have slain but he said and the blood To put the blood of the doorpost and the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live And when I see the blood Even there's a hymn that says When I see the blood I will pass I will pass over you when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague shall befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt Now do you see what this is a picture of this? Of course is a type of the cross It's a type of the believers justification because because of the blood Because of the sacrifice God sees us in Christ and as Christ We're saved We're saved and the death angel of destruction and judgment and death and hell can not claim us That's why I used to love that him when I see the blood I am protected hallelujah But But there was more than protection and shelter that God was accomplishing on the night of the Passover You see in God coming down to save his people He was coming to bring them from that place in Egypt from that land to a place in him to a relationship in him To a land but more than a land to a place where they would have fellowship with and not be under that bondage anymore Now let me illustrate what it was like for Israel on the night of the Passover They were like a drowning man Who had been rescued by a lifeboat? But they were still on a storm in the rough sea They were not in the place in God and with God that he had promised for them they were saved But they were not delivered There was still the possibility of being oppressed by Pharaoh a type of Satan and still with the opportunity for the taskmasters to control them and the taskmasters are a type of the flesh and When the children of Israel were in Egypt though they were in their houses feeding on the paschal lamb They were not singing They were not happy They still had to leave Egypt They were commanded to observe the Passover with their loins girt and the shoes on their feet and a staff in their hands They were not yet delivered They were sheltered by the blood but not delivered they knew that their firstborn would not die but they did not have peace they in fact were in terrible fear and They could not have peace while the enemy was still in power Let me give you a modern illustration or at least begin it and I'll Go back to Israel and then I'll complete this illustration. Let me tell you about a young man a young teen challenge Fella in one of our in our center, New York some years ago He was four months in the Lord.

He was saved and He was given an opportunity to go back and visit his family and He was given six hours to go back home into Spanish Harlem, which is called El Barrio and He came to me just before he left. He said brother Don he said I'm really scared he said this is the first time I'm gonna be on my own and I'm gonna go back to my neighborhood where I Got into a lot of trouble and I know my old friends will be there and so forth And he said I'm really scared. He said what do I do? And I said Tony I said, you don't have to do anything.

You've already done it, right? I Said greater is he that's within you than he that's within the world. I said you go on that He said well, thank you, and he went in the chapel and he prayed And he headed home got out of the subway walked down his block towards his tenement house his apartment Very carefully. He looked all around and the street was crowded But to his surprise there was none of his old buddies none of his old friends or pushers there or prostitutes and He got all the way down the street and into the house and sat down and Breathed a sigh of relief and he said Oh Lord.

Thank you Thank you for clearing the streets for me, but still Tony Realized that he was saved but he still did not know that he had been delivered And I'll come back to Tony a minute But when Pharaoh let the Israelites go they left Goshen and they headed towards the wilderness and the promised land Again remember it's that's the intention that God has for them to get them to that land Now turn over to Exodus 14 and They come to their very first serious test in respect to deliverance They were saved, but they were not delivered in the 14th chapter It's at a point where now they know the Egyptians are Chasing them They're in fear for their lives because of hearing the chariots rumbling behind them I don't know if you've ever heard chariots rumble behind you but this young man Tony went down to his neighborhood and he was afraid of the Chariots that were going to be in the chariots were going to be prostitutes and pushers and so forth And he wondered if he would be delivered He knew he was saved but didn't know he was delivered and Israel didn't know this in verse 13, but Moses said to the people do not fear stand by and what and See what the salvation now. I thought they were already saved Well, they were I thought they already had salvation When when the death angel passed over No, this is a further picture of it and you can't understand salvation till you see this do not fear stand by and see The salvation of the Lord which he will accomplish for you today For the Egyptians whom you have seen today. You will never see them again forever The Lord will fight for you.

Well, you keep silent and the Lord said to Moses Why are you crying out to me tell the sons of Israel to go forward? Walk in the newness of your life walk in the power of your salvation Now this is a very interesting time in the history of Israel it's a very interesting time in the history of a soul because many are saved but they're not enjoying their deliverance and We cannot enjoy our salvation as long as we're still oppressed by the enemy Or as long as we permit fleshly things to hold us as long as there are task Masters in our lives causing us to be in subjection to their authority We are not delivered. We don't understand salvation in Fact our taskmaster is any stronghold by which the enemy keeps us in defeat But what happened at the Red Sea to look at verse 27 of Exodus 14 now, let's read it as their Salvation and their deliverance is complete it says so Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and The sea returned to its normal state by daybreak While the Egyptians were fleeing right into it then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea and The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen even Pharaoh's entire army That had gone into the sea after them not even one of them remained But the children or the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea and The waters were not like a wall on their right hand and to the left thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore and And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord And what was the song? This is the song of salvation This is a song of deliverance. I will sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted the horse and It's rider.

He has hurled into the sea The Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation You see they didn't sing on the night in Egypt. They sang here After they had crossed the Red Sea and the Egyptians were buried This is my God and I will praise him my father's God and I will extol him Now, let me come back to Tony Tony had a visit with his family Still had to come back to teen challenge.

He still I hadn't seen all the Egyptians taken care of yet. And So he walks back to the subway He's about to go down the stairs to go catch the train back to Brooklyn to our Center when all of a sudden out of nowhere a drug an old drug pusher spots him and comes running up to him an old task master and said to him Tony I Missed you. Where you been? And Tony was a little afraid.

He didn't say too much and The pusher said hey, he said you want to buy a bag of stuff Well, I'll tell you what he did and what he said, but first of all, let me tell you what he didn't do He didn't panic He didn't say oh my goodness I'm gonna be back in Egypt like the children of Israel were Saying we need to go back he didn't panic he didn't say now I know what this is this is temptation and we we covered it one time in class, but Boy, where's my notes? What do I do now? What is there something am I supposed to do at this very point? Or I got a call. I got a call. This is my counselor.

I got a call my pastor No, he didn't panic for just a moment. He froze and Then Realizing and drawing upon the strength that was within him. He said no.

Thank you He said I've got my own stuff and the pusher looked at him. He said oh, yeah He said where do you get yours now? He said I get mine in Brooklyn now. He said Oh Brooklyn He said I get to Brooklyn.

He said He said what's what's the address now where you're connecting and he he said oh, it's a 416 Clinton Avenue That's the address of the teen challenge center, but the young man didn't know what was going on And he said oh, yeah, he said you you got a name you got a got a name of a connection He said yeah, I'll give you my connection. His name is Jesus Christ and The pusher looked at him. He said man.

You said you're crazy. Tony says no. He said you're crazy He said I don't need what you have anymore And he went on his way witness to the young man Young man didn't want to hear anything about it came back to the center came in the door and told me this story Because I because he remembered and we both remembered how he had left the center he came back He said brother Don if I ever doubted if I ever doubted the power of God he said now I know Whom the Son has set free is free indeed But the point is that here he learned the difference between what it means to be saved and what it means to be delivered And I ask you this question.

Have you reached this point or are you still at the point of being? Saved as Israel in Egypt, but not delivered Israel's taskmasters were buried in the Red Sea and If you have taskmasters that are controlling your life, they can be buried at the cross You might be saved but still not delivered. Now. I'm not saying that these are two different works of grace Don't misunderstand me.

These are not two different works of grace. This is one work of grace that takes place at the cross But you see because many today preach Except the Savior or they they preach salvation and being saved from something but they do not preach about a Relationship of coming and being one of his people in which you are delivered and free Indeed as the young man Tony found out that he was praise the Lord All right, the next destination we got to move along We've still got a lot of history to cover the next destination for Israel, of course was to go into the land of promise There they would enjoy the blessings of Being his people It couldn't have been realized until they were in Canaan. They had been brought out in order to be brought in Now the place of interest entrance The place where they were to enter into the promised land is a place called Kadesh Kadesh Barnea Remember the name Kadesh Barnea It was at this point where Israel could have gone on Into the fullness of the promise of being his people in his land But it is here Where we see the status the most tragic moment in Israel's young history as a liberated people You recall one of the first things that they did in fact turn with me to numbers the 13th chapter the one of the first things that they did Is what? They wanted to send in spies to spy out the land numbers 13 Verses 1 and 2 then the Lord spoke to Moses Send out for yourselves men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan Which I am going to give to the sons of Israel.

You shall send a man from each of their fathers tribes Everyone a leader among them Now Hold your hand right there. Hold your hand right there and go over to Deuteronomy Because Deuteronomy is a further History, you can't understand the total history Until you put the two together in Deuteronomy the first chapter and verses 20 let's verse 19 and Then we sent then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on The way to the hill country of the Amorites just as the Lord God had commanded us and we came to Kadesh Barnea Okay, and I said to you You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord our God is about to give you see The Lord your God has placed the land before you go up Take possession as the Lord the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed Then all of you approach me and said Let us send spy let us send men before us That they may search out the land for us and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter Now It looks as if when they asked to send spies that God commanded them to do so and he did But that was not God's will It was not God's intention that they send in spies.

He allowed it He permitted it only because it was in their hearts that they wanted to do it it's the same principle as when Israel asked for a king and He said all right, I'll give you a king but I am your king you don't need a king and so God as it were came down and gave in to the the Unbelief in their hearts and it was a sign of unbelief to send men to check out what God had promised Now listen to me You see faith does not need spies When It has God's Word and the presence of the Lord for assurance if Jehovah had already spied out the land for them and declared it to be acceptable real estate It must have been worth taking It must have been worth having and I I share this because how often we do the very same thing. I Occasion when God has spoken to me can you imagine Israel having the nerve to check up on what God had promised and That's exactly what we do. God speaks to us and says all right do this or go there and we say well Lord I want to go in and check up and decide on my own if what you have chosen for you For me is up to my liking Can you imagine the nerve of it? Can you imagine the unbelief of it? That's exactly what they did You see the characteristic of Jesus people is that they take God at his Word? They don't spy out what he has planned out for them But God said okay you want spies you want to check out the land go and so they went and They were there for how long? How many remember how long they went in 40 days remember that very significant They went in for 40 days 12 of them went in They all came back.

They all basically had the same Report as to what their natural eyes saw they said the land is flowing. Well turn with me to numbers 14 verses 24 Numbers 14 Excuse me numbers 13 Verse 24 they came back and their description of it is like reading a tourist brochure. I Mean any any Israeli today anybody from the tourist department of Israel today would be very happy with this description It says that place was called the valley of Eshkol because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there I mean they were they were Massive grapes.

I mean if it was if this was today, they would have a grape bowl You know like they have a citrus bowl and so forth. They would have a great bowl When they returned from spying out the land at the end of 40 days they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation the sons of Israel in the wilderness for an at Kadesh and They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land thus they told him and said We went to the land which you sent us and it certainly does flow With milk and honey and what else did they expect God had said it was gonna be that God's he's right We verify God's right. He said it certainly does flow with milk and honey and this is its fruit.

I mean they brought back actual evidence and then Verse 26 nevertheless the people who live in the land are strong And the cities are fortified and very large and moreover. We saw the descendants of a knock there were Giants Now as I said that all twelve saw the same thing but ten of them saw it a little bit different verse 30 and Caleb quieted the people and Kate of quite of the people before Moses and said we shall by all means go up and take possession of it for we shall surely Overcome it, but of course, you know what happened the people went with the majority report Listen they always go with the majority report But why the difference in the reaction to what they saw? You see the ten already had seeds of unbelief in their heart they were representatives of the congregation of Israel that didn't just take God at his word and go in and possess the land and It's no wonder that they returned fearful because I not look at verse 28 after they reported all the good things they said nevertheless an Unbelieving heart always puts a nevertheless In The will of God Always puts the nevertheless into the situation Caleb and Joshua saw the fortified cities and the high walls in fact The high walls the interpretation of it was like like skyscrapers we would use the same term if you take it out of the original language that really what they were saying is that they're like skyscrapers and And Joshua and Caleb saw it they saw the high walls and the tall Giants But they also saw God Their eyes were fixed on him who is invisible Sure, the cities were great, but God is greater The walls were high But as the psalmist says we are able to run through a troop and leap over a wall in the strength of the Lord The Giants were strong, but God is stronger You see faith Faith always reasons from God first and then looks at the difficulties Unbelief always reasons from the difficulties and then looks to God and When you do that You go with the majority report faith looks at difficulties. It looks at him straight in the face Doesn't deny them you see there are a group of people today into the whole faith thing That in essence what they are they're Christian science They follow the practice they deny reality.

They just say well. It's not there It's just not there and and Caleb and Joshua did not deny that all that was there And then there's a there's another group of people that Who just seemed to be easygoing about life, and you know when they see difficulties they see Giants or whatever they say well everything will work out all right They operate on the principle of just taking things in stride But that's not faith either Faith looks at difficulties it looks them straight in the face. It is fully aware of enemies and the negatives But true people of faith.

They're not ignorant They're not indifferent. They're not reckless. They're not deniers of reality No real faith is when we acknowledge that yes, there are giants in the land, but the living God is among us hallelujah true faith looks to him and Holds the conviction that there is never a wall too high for the Almighty God There's never a city too great.

There's never a giant too strong in other words faith Is simply the only thing that gives God his proper place in a situation? give God his proper place in a situation and You won't you won't be overcome you won't go by the majority report Look at verse 33 of a chapter 13 They ended up their report, and they said they also saw the Nephilim the sons of Enoch are part of the Nephilim those were giants and They said and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight You see unbelief sees the enemy as Giants in itself as grasshoppers But Jesus people people of faith see the enemy as grasshoppers and God is a giant now because of Israel's unbelief Kadesh Barnea And here's the heart of what I want to say because of Israel's unbelief Kadesh Barnea instead of being a turning point at that point they could have made a right-hand turn and gone east and gone on into the fullness of God the fullness of Christ, but instead they had to make a left turn and Go into the wilderness turn to numbers 14 25 numbers 14 25 Now the Amlekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys turn tomorrow turn left Is what it means? Turn in West and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea By the way the rest in other words God was sending them almost back where they had come from Because he said you haven't learned your lesson yet, and they made a left-hand turn Now keep your hand right there and flip over to numbers 33 and 37 numbers 33 and 37 and they journeyed from They journeyed insert the word east actually they went a little bit south and then went east But they journeyed east from Kadesh and Camped at Mount Hoare at the edge of the land of Edom Which was at the outskirts of the promised land now in this verse? They are now making a right-hand turn they are now going into the promised land But as I said these two verses Describe the Shaddish point in the history of the children of Israel at Kadesh in the first verse they could have turned right and Went into the promised land instead We don't read about it until the 33rd chapter, and then they go in but one big difference 38 years of time had elapsed before they could make a right-hand turn and My friend I say to you. This is what disobedience will do for you It requires you to make left-hand turns into wilderness Experiences instead of going and making right-hand turns into the promises of God and the fullness of Christ from Kadesh To the outskirts of the promised land it took them 11 days but it took Israel 40 years and The question is how long would it take you to get? Where God wants you to be in him? We have a choice to make We can either go around in spiritual circles Or we can obey him and go into the fullness of Christ If we rebel against God if we allow the flesh to rule us If we consult spies God speak to us, and we we go around we ask everybody their opinion and Believe me when you do that you're going to run into the ten spies And say well if I were you I'd check this thing out a little bit more if we like Israel are constant complainers If we're warriors, and I'm going to talk about warriors in a moment see because the Lord I'm not going to miss anybody this morning If we do that we will pay the price in spending our time in hard wilderness places Listen, I say this and what I read this and was studying this I wept as I thought And read the history of Israel 38 years and listen I've met people I meet people I see them maybe once a year once every two years and Every time I meet them they're still in the same place They were the year or two years before I meet some people five years later, and they're still at the same place They're still talking about What they're going to do, but they never go because they're still in the wilderness There are still certain things that have not died turn to numbers 14 Numbers 14 and as you're turning there let me ask the question to you What was a primary purpose of the 38 years? What was 40 years 38 years They were at Kadesh and then they make a left-hand turn and they spent 38 years until They came back to Kadesh and went on to the promised land, and then it was still another about a year and a half Almost two years, so it was a total of 40 years What was happening? During those 38 years of course we all know that those who had been came out of Egypt they all died They all died in the wilderness, but let me put state it another way Sounds a little more graphic 599,000 998 deaths took place Adults 20 years of age and upward Let's read about it in numbers 14 verses 26 Beginning at verse 26 and the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying this is after They refused to go in this is it after they had sent the spies in he said how long shall I bear with this evil? Congregation who are grumbling against me firm feet that's the only way you're going to be able to stand in light of what is coming upon the earth and then number four There was a possibility of the priest having proud feet Now there's no scripture reference to this I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are making against me Say to them as I live says the Lord just as you have spoken in my hearing so I will surely do it to you your corpses Shall fall in this wilderness Even all your numbered men According to your not complete number from 20 years old and upward who have grumbled against me Surely you shall not come into the land which I swore swore to settle you except Caleb and Joshua Your children however whom you said would become a prey I will bring them in and They shall know the land which you have rejected but as for you your corpse shall fall in this wilderness and Your sons shall be shepherds for 40 years in the wilderness listen. They were not only shepherds they were pallbearers an average of a hundred and thirty eight Died every day That doesn't mean that many died every day, but when you average it out It comes out to be an average of a hundred and thirty eight people dying every single day Boy if that wouldn't put the fear of God in your heart If that wouldn't say to the younger generation, I want to obey God.

I want I don't want to believe I don't want to be his people. I don't want to act Like I'm not one of God's people and your son shall be shepherds for 40 years in the wilderness and they shall Suffer for your unfaithfulness until your corpses lie in the wilderness According to the number of days which you spied out the land 40 days For for every day you shall bear your guilt a year even 40 years And you shall know my Opposition I The Lord has spoken surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me in this wilderness, they shall be destroyed and There they shall die as for the men who Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation Grumbled against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land Even those men who brought out the bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord but There were only two original Jesus people, of course until the new generation that was born and Again, so it is with us You see God If we don't obey the Lord, you know, I don't know about you, but it strikes fear in my heart I said Oh God, I don't want to go around and around You see God keeps us sometimes in a wilderness of his making in order that everything in us that is Displeasing to him will die. You see a spiritual wilderness is a spiritual death march God has to get rid of all that is unlike him before we can go into the promised land of his fullness and listen to Me I've been there at times in my life and I look back and I realize That I didn't make the progress in God that I could have made I was going in circles Until I dealt with what God was dealing with in my life And see we can either take the 40-year route into the promised land or the 11-day journey and I don't know about you But I'd rather go in 11 days The wilderness journey is for those who are slow learners They're for hardheads They're for rebels and the unbelievers and the complainers so you can take your choice at Kadish Barnea you make a right-hand turn or a left hand according to the condition of your heart now finally and I close after Israel Left Kadish they took the right-hand turn and headed towards Kenan As I said, it had been 38 years almost 40 years.

It was 38 at that point since the spies had gone in It would be approximately two more years Before they would actually cross the Jordan which was the final Obstacle before they're coming into the promised land and it's during this time that we have the book of Deuteronomy Because it's spoken really to this newer generation it's spoken as if you please to the remnant You realize in the Old Testament when you when you read this there were two churches there There was a church that was dying There was a people that were dying because of disobedience and there was then the remnant the new people that were going to go on into the land Now there are several things that God said to them at this point in Deuteronomy First of all he spoke to them and said that he wanted them to be a consistent people a Consistent people a characteristic of their forefathers was to be inconsistent turn with me to Psalm 78 and I'm gonna be closing out this history lesson of God's people Psalm 78 and while I'm doing this, I want somebody to turn and hold just for me 1st Corinthians 15 58 Raise your hand somebody is gonna get 1st Corinthians 15 and 58 and read it in just a moment. I need a volunteer All right Hebrews 3 14 somebody volunteer for that Joe first Peter 5 9 first Peter 5 9 Tom, okay, and then Colossians 2 5 Colossians 2 5 and have that ready a little bit later but Psalm 78 Verse 34 This is a this psalm is a history of that period Psalm 78 34 when he killed them then they sought him and Returned and searched diligently for God And they remembered that God was the rock and the most high God their Redeemer but they deceived him with their mouth and Lied to him with their tongue For their heart Was not steadfast towards him Nor were they faithful in his covenant when he slew them. They shot him But they deceived him and verse 37 is What God pinpointed to this true remnant going in? He said I want you to be a people that are steadfast that are consistent in other words Their forefathers had been fickle They changed their minds and they changed their wills all the time They were not consistent, but to the people that were going to go into the promised land This is what he said only take heed to thyself Well in turn in fact to it Deuteronomy 4 9 want you to look at it with me Deuteronomy 4 9 Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently Lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen What did their what had their eyes seen an Average of a hundred and thirty eight people a day died because of unbelief That's what he's referring to less As well as all the other lessons that they had learned lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen Unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life, but make them known to your sons and to your grandsons Now listen to me God wants a consistent people Not those who are up one day and down the next not those that are gunhole for God one week or one month and Then you see them a week later or a month later, and they're right back at Lesson the same lesson having to repeat the same thing having to repent over the same thing God wants consistency in our lives that's a characteristic of Jesus people and let me also say this to you if you're in a husband-and-wife relationship and One of you is the one that's always the inconsistent one You see you're going to bring that other one down.

You're going to affect that other one Or in a family situation there may be a son or there may be somebody else who is Inconsistent and listen it can hang a cloud over the entire family Somebody who is I've known people that are that way and as soon as you see them walk in the church door or as soon as You see them you can just look at them and know that they're down Now listen there are times when all of us are down there are periods when we all struggle, but I'm talking about a person who was a yo-yo a person who was constantly in living in instability God says I want a people to be steadfast read some verses who has first Corinthians 15 and 58 Brother would you read it steadfast and unmovable a man Hebrews 314 Who has that? Holding firm holding firm who has first Peter 5 9 This is very interesting first Peter 5 9 our ability to resist Satan is based upon our stability in Christ Resist him firm firm in your faith Colossians 2 5 The steadfastness of your faith here talk Paul is talking about being a disciplined person so that you maintain a stable and consistent testimony and then finally God wants his people not to be afraid or dismayed Turn to Joshua chapter 1 Because in Joshua is the account just before they're about to cross the Jordan It's the last-minute preparation Before Realizing this the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and In Joshua the first chapter verses 7 8 and 9 he says only be strong and very courageous Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right or to The left so that you may have success wherever you go Brother Phyllis talked about the straight path a few weeks ago In which reference was made to not turning to the right to the left, but to be straight on to be consistent This book of a law shall not depart from your mouth But you shall meditate it on it day and night so that you may Be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous And then you will have success Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous do not tremble or be dismayed For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go Now dismayed in the original Hebrew means this means to be broken Afraid dismayed Confounded alarmed in fear crushed to terrify to break and In fact, it's the original it you know This is the word from which we get the word in our English crack up. He cracked up Because if you carry worry to its worst conclusion and you really believe what you worry about will come to pass you just might crack up and God says to his people do not tremble or be dismayed Maybe that's where the older in my wife and I were in Ireland the Irish ladies always who always would say not to worry Not to worry Well, that's that's biblical Worry has been defined as a small trickle of fear into which all other thoughts are drained you see the psalmist tells us of the futility of Rising up early and sitting up late to maul over troubles that are beyond our control Psalms 127 to says it is vain for you to rise up early To sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows for lo he giveth his beloved sleep Are you a worrier? I? Want to tell you it's not scriptural there was a survey taken at the University of Wisconsin on one occasion and They found the results regarding the things that we worry about Here's what they found Eight percent of the thing excuse me forty percent of the things never happen Thirty-percent of the things couldn't be changed by any amount of worry in the world Ten percent were petty worries twelve percent were needless health worries and Only eight percent Were real and legitimate worries Aren't you relieved you can get rid of 92% of? all of your worries 92% of all our worries are like a rocking chair It'll give you something to do but it won't get you anywhere The scripture says great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them And that word offend really means well, she'll not dismay them. She'll not worry God says he will perfect that which concerneth me God says not to worry.

I've given you the land I've given you a promise and I will fulfill it praise the Lord. Let's stand together Luke chapter 15 the story of the prodigal Show me a group or a teaching offering crowns without crosses and I'll show you a prodigal ministry living between parlor and pigpen