Getting Comfortable Living In The Wilderness

Morning, let's pray. Lord Jesus, I just pray that you would speak through us. Lord, that our words would be seasoned with salt, that we might impart grace to the ears, that we would grow thereby. We're grateful for what you've done. Lord, we lack and we ask for more in Jesus' name. Amen. Last night we were having a family time. We were talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and how we have need of it. And a lot of times we're excited because perhaps we've sang salvation song and the horse and rider have been thrown into the sea, but now we're heading through the wilderness and we get comfortable with living in the wilderness. And the Lord had intention to take them through a wilderness journey, as Dan had shared, to try them and to test them and to prove the things that were in their hearts, to show them the grumbling and complaining that was in them, to show them their unthankful hearts, their proud hearts, the rebellion against Moses, against authority in their life. But before that, they were in bondage in Egypt. They were crying out to the Lord for years and years that the Lord would deliver them, to raise up a deliverer. And it says that the Lord sent Moses. He sent them from a small child and he was preserved in Pharaoh's household. And that Moses would be a prophet. Stephen said that the Lord, he quoted Moses, that the Lord would raise up a prophet like me from his brethren, him you shall hear. And it's clear that Moses was a prophet. And from a young age, he knew that he was a prophet. He was going to be God's deliverer as he came to understand these things, being trained in all the ways of Egypt, in the ways of war, in the ways of wisdom, in the ways of knowledge. He had the best psychology and sociology and all these kind of profs that were teaching him. And they had power too, the magicians. And he probably knew a trick or two, working with the demonic, watching them or practicing demonic. And he had opportunity to be misled. He had opportunity because they had all the wealth and they were dominating the people of God. But somehow in his heart, he knew that this was not the purpose of his calling. That he saw his people suffering. He saw the Israelites, the children of God suffering affliction. And God put it in his heart that in the process of time, that he realized that he would walk away from the passing pleasures of Egypt. If you want to be used of God, you want to fulfill the purpose and call of God. It's not a raise you need. It's not more money. It's not honor that's going to make you happy. You have to be willing to walk away from all that you have, all your security, and all of what's made you to the point and say, Lord, I want to fulfill the purpose and call of God. It's letting go inside. And Moses actually, when he let go inside, he saw his brothers being mistreated by an Egyptian soldier. And he grabbed that soldier because he was trained in war. He was a man of war. He grabbed him and he killed him and he buried him in the ground. And then the next day, he saw two of his brothers fighting. And he had it in his heart that his brothers would walk in unity and love. And he said, why are you quarreling? And one of them said to him, are you going to kill me like you did the Egyptian? You're going to kill us also? And when he realized that this thing was found, instead of using all that natural training and all that wisdom and all that experience that he'd attained to, and all that position of authority, if you could only get like Joseph into that position of authority, then God could really use you. There's no one-size-fits-all with God. He elevated Joseph out of a pit to second in command in Egypt. There was nothing except for the Pharaoh that was left from his control and his power. But yet he does the exact opposite with Moses. He takes him from the Pharaoh's household and he runs into the wilderness because the Pharaoh was going to kill him. Because he realized that he had betrayed him. And so he heads into the wilderness for some 40 years. In the same way that when Moses, now he's totally at the end of himself, when the Lord visits him in the burning bush, he says to him that he's going to send him to be the deliverer for his people Israel. And he's like not up for the task anymore. When he was young and full of zeal and full of power and full of fire and full of passion, and he had some strength in himself to make it happen, to get it done, to fulfill the call of God as a prophet unto his brethren. You know what they said to him? He said, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? That's what they said to him there in the wilderness. Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? But when he was totally at the end of himself, that's when God can raise up a man. That's when God can use him for his glory. When you have no strength of yourself, when you have no ability to make it happen, when you have no might or power in the flesh, and when you're just, it's just you and the Lord, and you just wake up in the morning and you say, Lord, please help me today. I need your help. I can't get those few sheep to go to where I need them to go today unless you help me. Please give me the strength. You know, just leaning on your God. You know, we see Jacob at the end of his life leaning on his staff. What a miracle in Hebrews 11, leaning on his staff, still trusting in the Lord. The scripture says, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. He'd had a hard life. He'd gone from being a deceiver and a supplanter, stealing the birthright and getting the blessing from his brother, to being deceived, to ending up with a huge mess, having four wives on the go, and 12 sons. And then they sold off his favorite son Joseph into slavery, but he thought he was killed. And then how at the end of his life, we see God's faithfulness, how God restored and how God blessed and how God's intention was for the reconciliation of the people of God. And now we see Moses. I'm not your man. Send someone else. I can't even speak anymore. The one who was so learned. He said, I'll give you Aaron as your mouthpiece, and he sent him to go and show his power and his signs to the Pharaoh. For what purpose? To see God's people delivered. That's the goal. Not of what he could do. Not of his own righteousness did he deliver them. But according to his mercy, he saved us. This is the gospel, friends. So he shows his power, and the magicians show their power. Do you know that the devil has power also? It says in the last days that this antichrist spirit that rises up is going to even call fire down from heaven, and people are going to marvel. Well, Elijah called fire from heaven. If these false prophets can call fire from heaven, then we need a serious discernment in this hour. Because it doesn't say that we should follow after people because they prophesy in his name, cast out devils in his name, do many miracles in his name. Because he said to some of them, I don't know you, or in fact, I never knew you. Depart from me because you practice sin. But we have to have a desire to be purged as Moses led the people through the Red Sea. And they sang salvation song. He led them into the wilderness to be tried and to be tested and to prove those things that were in their heart. God knew what was in them. And those bitter circumstances didn't make them miserable, angry, and grumbling and complaining. It was in their hearts. God exposed what was in their hearts by sending trials to them. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that our faith must be tested. The testing of our faith produces something. Patience or proven character. Add to your faith proven character and proven character hope from Romans 5. We need proven character to become God-fearing, to say that doesn't matter, I'm not going after God for the gifts. I'm going after God for Jesus himself. Exchange it all for Jesus himself. He himself is worthy. The lamb that was slain is worthy to receive the reward of his sufferings. Though I speak with tongues of men and angels, yet I have not loved. What's the goal of it all? I used to go in different places and I could preach with the best of them and I could put them in their place. I had enough, I had a sharp enough sword, like a two-edged sword, it says the word of God is. You can put anyone in their place when you have the hammer, when you have the final authority. That's just not a curling term, that's a gospel term. When you have the final authority with you, you can win any argument, you can win every dispute because you have authority. But is that the goal, to win? Or is the goal to win your brother over for Christ? All these gifts that God gives us is like a man who went and planted a seed in the ground. And I'm telling you, the biggest problem with the gospel today is that the seed does not go into the ground and die, it remains alone. But if that seed gets pushed down six feet under, it goes down into the ground, so to speak, and we become buried with him and baptism unto his death, so that we might be raised in the likeness of his resurrection. First the blade, then the ear, and then the corn in the ear. We have a desire to prophesy and to preach and do great things for God, but what about seeing an inheritance of a lost people being reconciled to God? And what we see is after much zeal and much work and much labor, we bring home little brothers. Where is the revival? Where is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? It's because, in fact, in our own lives we lack the Holy Spirit. We can speak in tongues with the best of them, brother, but after we speak in tongues, nobody repents of their wickedness. So what power do we really possess? What changed life is there, the power of a changed life? We talk much about it, but I want to see the fruit of it. Though we speak with tongues of men and angels, yet have not love, it profits me nothing. If I ask any mother or father who's been up long in the night, laboring with a child that's teething and crying and suffering, you get tired, you get exhausted, you have to get up to work the next day perhaps, and you just lay it all out there, and you give all that you have in hopes that that child might be comforted. Paul called himself so gentle among you as a nursing mother with an infant, longing to see their faith increase and the love of God manifest. And he got so much joy in Thessalonians when he saw that their love for one another and for him was abounding. For him, that was the goal. The goal was to see the fruit that they were established, rooted and grounded in Christ. It's not so exciting as our brother Dan shared, but you know what? Our Heavenly Father is glorified when you bear fruit and that fruit remains. We need to be bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we get this fruit through sufferings. If we suffer with Him, then we're also going to reign with Him. We want to reign in true righteousness, having the breastplate of faith and love. This is what we want. That's the goal. That's the mark that we're trying to aim for. Though I can fathom all mysteries, boy, that gets exciting, but we don't have love. Though I can give my body to be burned, I'm willing to die for the gospel, but I have hatred in my heart for those heathens that are killing me. It profits me nothing. Though I give all my possessions to help the poor, yet have not love. How does that happen? We can give and to be seen by men. Adonai and Sapphira were giving to be seen by men also, but what did it help them? What did it profit them? They gave the appearance of giving all, but what did they do? They held back some for themselves. Why not just say, hey, you know what, brother? We have peace to give half and be honest with God. They never would have perished that way if they were just honest about their giving rather than giving a false appearance that they were more righteous, that they were more righteous, just like some of the other brothers who were giving all, some of the other sisters. You know, we talked last night about receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the genuine. There's a counterfeit out there, but there's a genuine. We have to seek the genuine. It's not enough that you've experienced Christ and being born again and having him breathe on you and you receive some life, but now we need to wait on God. We need to have some who hunger and thirst for righteousness. It says we shall be filled. We have a desire for more, and so we want to see the power of God come, not that people would see us as something, but that Jesus would be high and lifted up. We need the baptism of the real thing. I can teach you, speak in tongues. I can do it, but where is the repentance that comes from it? We want to see the power of God manifested in our children, in our young people, so that they begin to weep and cry and say, Lord, send me. I want to give my life for you. Where you send, I will go. We pray that Lord have thine own way, yet we give him one hour on a Sunday morning, or we give him 15 minutes before work because we're so tired. God is not looking for our stinky sacrifices. Cain gave an offering to the Lord. He gave him some of what he had of the fruit of the ground, but you know what? God looks at the heart. Abel gave her the first fruits and of the fat, and if you want to have the power of the Holy Spirit come in your life, then all the parts got to be on the altar. You can't just put half a bullock on the altar, have everything perfect, put all the stones in order, put your wood there, put half the bull on there, and then grab this word and start washing with seven or 12 buckets of water in the Old Testament until the whole sacrifice is washed and wait for the fire to come. It will never come until you say, okay, Lord, then have all of me. I'm not going to only give you half my life. I'm not going to say half for you, half for me. No, if we've been buried with him into baptism unto his death, then that's the end of you. That has to be the end of your life in this world. We can't say we love God and we love the world. That's when you're going to call fire down from heaven, and you're going to lead people astray after another gospel and a different Jesus. We have to stay yielded to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the headship of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, you're going to end up with the spirit of Jezebel. The spirit of Jezebel, she teaches and she seduces people to commit sexual immorality. It says, do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. You adulterers and adulteresses, it says, friendship with the world is hatred toward God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. But somehow we think that we can serve Christ and we can live for the flesh. That's a spirit of adultery. This is the teaching of Jezebel. She teaches and she seduces. Not just women have the spirit of Jezebel. There's a lot of false prophets have the spirit of Jezebel. They draw people after themselves. We want to overcome this thing. We need to have discernment in this hour so that we can rightly judge and discern who is holy and who is his. I think of Abiram and Dothan and Korah, these men of renown, mighty men of renown, who were Levites, who had authority given to them from God. And who stood with them? 250 of the Levites who were taking care of the tabernacle. They stood with those rebellious men. They went through the wilderness and they were to be purged and they were to be made the most humble men like Moses was. And what happened? When Moses heard them saying, hey Moses you take too much upon yourself, the spirit of Jezebel rose up in them. The spirit of witchcraft, rebellion. It says rebellion is the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness like iniquity and idolatry. It rose up against Moses. Moses said the Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from his brethren. These Pharisees and these Sadducees, they were like Korah and his crew. They rose up against Christ. They challenged Jesus. And when Jesus refuted them with his wisdom and with his power and people were following after him, they became jealous and envious and they wanted to kill him. They wanted to kill the Prince of Glory. And Moses falls on the ground and he says tomorrow this time you come with censers and you put fire on it. You bring your false fire and you put it on your censers and you hold it up to God and see if he accepts it. And at that time the Lord showed up to challenge the authority of Moses. Moses didn't go on his own accord. Moses was sent by God, yet Korah and all his crew, they took too much upon themselves. You know what God might give you a place? You be faithful with what God gives you and he'll entrust you with more. If you're faithful with a little, he'll entrust you with much. But you know what? When you get entrusted with much, it's not going to lift you up. It's going to shrink you down. If I go and I put 500 pounds on your back, you think you're going to stand up stronger or you think you're going to be bowed down just a little bit? Because the foundation holds the weight, brothers. He said on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. It holds up the house. It says you were God's house. You were God's building. Are you ready for that? Are you ready to have a revival come to you and to your house? And all of a sudden, like I was listening to Erlo Shtig and he said there were knocks on the door continually. People coming, confessing sins, being added to the number. And I've had that at different times in our life and times past, but I want it again. Where people come and we have time for them. Say, hey, listen, go home. I got to get up for work. I got money to make. Yes, we all have to work and make money. But you know what? You're going to send your kid home? Go home. No, you're going to send him to bed and you're going to say in the morning, I have somebody here who's going to watch you while I go to work until I get home and then we can have a family time. We can have family altar. Brother, if God entrusts you with a son, if he gives you a daughter, then you be faithful to raise that child in the way of the Lord. I don't see anybody giving their child up to adoption and putting them in the local church. Let somebody else raise them up. Put them in foster home. If God gives you a son, you raise that son. Don't send them off to foster care. That'll be the last son you get. We need to have an understanding of how Paul says, I was among you as a nursing mother with an infant so gentle and caring, longing to see them grow up and to be established in the faith. No greater joy, he said, John, when I see my children walking in the truth. He had such love for them. That's the goal. All the gifts are necessary. First, the blade, then the ear. And all those gifts are like a stock of grain in which the wonderful life and the juice that comes from the Holy Spirit flows to bring nourishment. All those gifts are necessary to bring the nourishment of the grain so that the grain could be produced in the head. But after it's all said and done, when the field is now ripe for harvest, he sends in the sickle. And that is when prophecy and tongues and words of knowledge and all these things will cease. But he said, love remains. This is what we want. We want the fruit. He's coming for the fruit. All those things that were very necessary and useful for the building up of the church, for the edification of the body. Now he's coming to see how much of Christ has been formed in you. How much is there of Christ formed in you? Are you still as selfish as anything? Are you still looking out for me and mine? Is your love very shallow? You'll give somebody an hour, but that's it. The rest of the time is mine. Brother, God wants to bring us to a place. That's why many of us have many children, because the Lord uses these things like trials in our life to refine us and to prove us and then he adds another one. Praise God, it's a blessing, but what is it? More work. And then he gives another one. Praise God, it's a blessing, but what is it? A heavier responsibility. And then another, and then another, and then another. According to your faith, that we would be faithful with each one at different stages in their walk with God. We would cherish them and discipline them and raise them in the ways of the Lord. As best we know how, and this is how God wants us to become reproducers of our own kind. That we would reproduce after our own kind. When he told the 12 or 11 that were there, go and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of Jesus. Reproducing after your own kind. Unless that grain of wheat goes in the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, if you're done with your life in this world, if you're done with the pleasures of life and not living for next week or next month or next year or when you get a wife or when you get your own business or when you get your own house or when you get your own farm, live every day as your last day. Keep looking unto the Lord. The day of redemption draws nigh. If the Lord wills, we'll do this or that. Praise God, but we can't live for the flesh. We want to live for Christ. To live is Christ and to die is gain. May the Lord give us a revelation and when you give your life as a ransom this way and you're done with sin and you're done with your life in this world, well then be certain that you'll see a blade coming up and it's not that seed which was sown that you're going to see. It'll be something new that comes out of the ground. It'll be something green, something full of life. First the blade, then the ear, and then the corn of the ear. May the Lord bring it to pass in our midst. May you be a blessing in the earth. When you stand before Jesus, may you not stand there with empty pockets and speechless. You go stand there with some wedding garment on that that you found in your closet somewhere rather than the one that comes from Christ. Something more righteous than the righteousness which is of Christ. May the Lord give us understanding in these things. Many of us, we trust in our own righteousness rather than the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness which comes from Christ. And we have a responsibility to keep our robes washed. That our robes be dipped in blood. As Jesus' robe was dipped in blood, that we would have our robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. That we would remain pure and spotless as a bride waiting for her bridegroom. That we would be ready. Are you ready for Jesus to come? Are your waist girded with truth and your lamp burning? Is your heart on fire for the Lord? Are you watching? Are you just beating servants because you have the power to beat them? Eating and drinking like with the drunkards, living in the flesh, loving this life, getting all your satisfaction from the world. Brothers, sisters, let's die to what we're held by. Let's be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's stop making provision for the flesh to obey it and its lusts. Let's desire purity and holiness. Let's look unto the Lord and be saved. There's things we need salvation from still. There's selfishness and prides. I have so much pride still. We have to be purged and cleansed. This is what the baptism of fire is. When you put all the bullock on the altar, then the fire can come. All the bullock. And you continually wash the sacrifice with the word of God. Then the fire will come. All these false Jesuses, all these Baal worshippers, they'll scream and cut themselves. You'll go to meetings and you'll hear them in these all-night prayers, screaming and crying, but no fire will come. No lives are changed. The demons that came out are back the next morning. There's no hedge of protection around them. We want to see the power of God and the glory of God. And it's there for us. But we need the faith and we need the courage to press through with God. And if we lack the Holy Spirit, it says, if any man lacks, let him ask of God. He's going to give us because he's a good father. He doesn't want to leave us as orphans. He wants to come to us. So they waited in Jerusalem. Come Lord Jesus, come send the Holy Spirit. And they had to come together in prayer. They had to come together and wait together until their hearts were united and became one. Because the Holy Spirit, while we still have divisions, one with another, and we're angry with each other, and we're bitter at each other, and we're still judging one another, and we lack love toward one another, Holy Spirit's never going to come. The Holy Spirit comes on them that are right with the Lord. It says, if two or three gather together and are united, he's going to come in our midst. We need to unite together in the Holy Spirit, according to his word, not in the flesh. I'm not talking ecumenicalism. It's a gospel which accords with godliness. And as we draw near to God individually, seeking Jesus as a fellowship individually, then the fire will fall. And we're going to see our joy not come from things. Our joy is going to come from the Lord. May the Lord establish us and keep us by his power and through his grace. It's not of works lest any of us should boast. Thank you Lord for your word. I pray that that would become real in our lives in Jesus' name. Amen.