WEBVTT - Been Here Before 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:06.120 Deuteronomy chapter nine. You'll want a little bit of chapter 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:12.319 eight too, you do, Let's do chapter eight. Then let's 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:17.280 do chapter eight, verse fifteen through Deuteronomy nine, verse five. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:21.760 I studied all of it, and I just want to 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:25.880 be faithful to share with you what God spoke to me. Hey, 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.360 congratulations today, You're like, what are you congratulating me for? 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:35.280 That you made it to the end of another year. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.720 Congratulations that you came to church the Sunday before Thanksgiving. 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.320 What that means is God will give you an automatic 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:50.160 calorie deficit. So it's gonna be amazing because you're gonna 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:54.240 eat everything you want at Thanksgiving, and none of it 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.200 is gonna go to the fat cells. It's all gonna 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.040 go to places where it is going to produce a 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.360 better physique. Okay, I'm a false prophet. I need to 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:06.160 stop this and read the Bible. The Bible doesn't say 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.880 any of that. But I am glad you're here, and 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.480 I prophesied nobody's gonna fight at your Thanksgiving me all 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.920 because you're gonna keep your mouth shut when they say 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:22.679 stuff that makes you mad. A little tongue biting practice today. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:29.559 Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse fifteen, listen to this. What God did. 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:35.160 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, the 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:40.440 thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.920 He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.840 you manna to eat in the wilderness. None of y'all, 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:52.760 God never fed any of you. I thought we were 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.360 talking about some historic group, pastor Steve, and now I'm 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.920 talking about you. What God did for you in seasons 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.880 of your life. You didn't see a way, but He 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:09.239 made a way. Okay, we're on the same page now, huh, 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:11.639 Because we've all been in a wilderness, but we've seen 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.320 God's provision in those hard places. So that's what we're 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.639 talking about. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.800 something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.280 you so that in the end it might go well 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:30.120 with you. You You may say to yourself, my power and 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:35.320 strength have produced this wealth for me. But remember the 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:37.240 Lord your God, for it is he who gives you 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:41.239 the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.440 which he swore to your ancestors, as it is this day. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:51.799 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.040 other gods and worship and bow down to them. I 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.920 testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.400 like the nation's the Lord destroyed before you. So you 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:05.600 will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:12.840 Now Verse one, chapter nine, Here Israel, you are now 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:18.160 about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:23.320 nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:27.000 have walls up to the sky. The people are strong 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:33.040 and tall. Anekites. You know about them and have heard 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:37.840 it said, who can stand up against the Anekites? But 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.840 be assured today that the Lord your God is the 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:46.720 one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:51.200 He will destroy them. He will subdue them before you, 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:56.200 and you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:02.320 as the Lord has promised you. After the Lord your 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.720 God has driven them out before you, do not say 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:09.080 to yourself, the Lord has brought me here to take 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.600 possession of this land because of my righteousness. No, it 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:18.120 is on account of the wickedness of these nations that 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.760 the Lord is going to drive them out before you. 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.479 It is not because of your righteousness. Touch your neighbor 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.640 and say you're not that good. It is not because 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.760 of your righteousness or your integrity. Don't be offended. They 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:36.400 just said what the Bible said. It is not because 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:40.760 of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.360 to take possession of their land. But on account of 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.520 the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:50.599 drive them out before you to accomplish what he swore 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:55.800 to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let's say 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.159 amen to the word of God. The title of this 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:07.559 message is been here before, been here before. Speak your word, Lord. 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:11.520 We're listening in Jesus' name. Amen. Touch somebody on your 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:13.840 way to your seat, say this is not my first time, 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:29.599 been here before. Amen. Your kids sometimes tend to remember 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:34.919 stuff you wish they would forget, forget stuff that you 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:39.000 really thought they would remember. There's this one thing that 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.799 happened on vacation, like eight years ago that my kids 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.880 will never let me live down. I lost a little 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.200 not an AirPod, but it was. It was called a 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.120 j bird, a little headphone day, a little earphone thing. 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:55.400 I lost it, and I lost it. I lost my 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:59.600 mind because I lost this little thing. So stupid I 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:01.159 was fried. I didn't burn out. You know how it is. 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:05.279 Sometimes you're like, why this is not about the jaybird, 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:09.599 this is about something else, and they remember it. I 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.360 didn't throw any of them across the room, but they 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.640 remember when Mom had to pull them aside and say, 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:22.840 let's give dad some space. Wally works this out. They 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.920 remember that. They remember it comes up about once a week. 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.640 Remember that time with the j bird, not the time 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:31.919 we went to Singapore, the time with the J bird. 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:36.039 This is crazy. And then one of my boys, I 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.320 don't really remember which one would I would totally call 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.600 him out if I did. But we went to an 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:46.440 NFL game and somebody asked, is this your first NFL game? 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.400 First time going to an NFL game? And he goes, yeah, 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.920 this is my first game, and I like, yank him 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:57.400 by the arm. I'm like, this is your third NFL game. 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.400 He'd been to two games before or two NFL games, 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.479 went into the locker room of one and wrestled with 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.880 a wide receiver and met the quarterback. Yeah, this is 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:12.120 my first game. I'm like, so this is how it's 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:15.760 gonna be. I'm gonna just do crazy crap for you. 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.480 Your whole life just amazing stuff that kids only dream of. 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:21.960 And you're gonna talk about the jay bird that I 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.760 got freaked out about one time, and forget about meeting cam. Okay, Now, 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:28.840 the thing that I want to bring to our attention 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:33.560 from this text is that God's kids do the same thing. 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.640 Did they put niquill in a communion cup before y'all 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:46.040 came in? Today? I feel kind of foggy. God's kids 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:55.600 tend to remember the wrong things forgetting his faithfulness and 0:07:55.720 --> 0:08:00.720 focusing on things that really, in the big scheme of things, 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:04.800 don't matter much. And this scripture Deuteronomy chapter nine, verse 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.680 one is to me very bittersweet because you have the 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:12.480 man of God, Moses, who of course has led them 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.480 this far, and he's preparing them to go into a 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:21.240 land that God has promised them, but he's not going 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.080 with them. Two things I want you to notice from 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.400 Deuteronomy nine, verse one. Put it on the screen. Police 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:31.160 here Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan. 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:37.360 In some ways, that's exciting, you are now about to 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.880 cross the Jordan. But there's something about this that's very 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:47.520 sad too. The word you and the word now. See 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.520 when he says you, he's not saying we because he 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.440 can't go, because he had the opportunity to go, but 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:58.160 he didn't have the faith to go, because he had 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.160 the chance to step into it, but he didn't believe 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:06.439 God enough to step into it. You are going, He's 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.960 telling the next generation. You're going into this land that 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.480 God promised. You're going into this land that's flowing with 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:18.000 milk and honey. You're about to see God do amazing things. 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.160 You're about to witness miracle after miracle. You're about to 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:26.440 settle into something that God spoke centuries before you were 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:31.760 even born. You're about to go into the land. Now. 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.320 See that word is said to me too. It's the 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.120 word now because they could have been in the land 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.719 forty years earlier and in a terrible thing. To get 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.320 to a place in your life where you say, you know, 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.440 I had the chance to do that. I had the 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.920 opportunity to do that. I remember talking to him, man 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.080 who fell into deep sexual sin, and he said, I 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.440 remember the moment that God spoke the word to me, 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.319 and I was standing right on the edge and God 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.080 was trying to snatch me from it, but I stepped 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:10.079 into it anyway. It was twelve years later after wrecking 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.200 much of his life and family. That he stood at 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.760 the place of regret, realizing God gave me that chance 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:20.280 and I didn't take it. God gave me that word, 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.640 but I wouldn't hear it. God opened that door, but 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.959 I wouldn't go through it. You know, the Bible says 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.040 that God will make a way of escape for you, 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:33.640 but he won't push you through the hatch. God will 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.920 send people. God will send provision, God will send promises. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:42.440 Everybody say promises. I'm thankful for the promises that God 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:46.840 has spoken over my life. It's not just about land 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.800 and territory and geographical things like it is here in 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.800 the Old Testament. But for me, I'm thankful that God 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.360 has promised me some things, and whatever he speaks, he 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:02.640 intends to accomplish. And nothing can stop it. Nothing can 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:07.719 stop it. I mean nothing, No body, no devil, no 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:12.480 genetic nothing can stop it. No cancer, sell nothing can 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.120 stop it. Nothing, not even the dumb thing I did, 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:20.360 can stop it from coming to pass. If God promised 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:25.520 that he will perform it. If God promise, he will 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:30.040 bring it to pass. David said, delight yourself in the Lord, 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.800 and he will give you the desires of your heart. Now, 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:38.880 what does that mean? What does that mean? Because sometimes 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.720 God has to show us that not everything we want 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:50.400 is something that he promised. A lot of us lose 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:56.840 our confidence in God because we confuse our want with 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:00.640 this promise. This won't take long. But teach this part 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.320 and then I appreach so good. You'd be so inspired. 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:05.240 But let me dig into this for just a moment. 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.679 I said something last week. I said it so quick, 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.000 and I moved so fast, and I was talking about weasels, 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:12.200 and I was talking about the weasel and the word 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:14.640 and the seed and the dead thing, and you're not 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.200 dead yet, and God's seeds are still in you, and 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.240 don't give up on it. Just because something died on 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.480 you doesn't mean God isn't real in you. So I 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:23.360 was preaching all that last week and I said something 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:24.920 like the flash, and I don't know if you heard it, 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.600 but I thought it was really good. Okay, confidence in 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.280 God's promise? How many of you are confident in God's promise? 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:34.880 I am setting you up, dude. I am about to 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:39.600 knock you out with this hook. Confidence in God's promise 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:51.000 without commitment to his process is not dependence. It is delusion. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.679 I want you to write that down. So it just 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.439 came up on the movie screen. You're not going to 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.120 do it. Huh, you're not going to write it down? 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:07.079 Write it down? Yeah, for real, with on your phone 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.480 or on your notes or whatever. Write it down, because 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.080 I want that to be ringing in your head the 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.360 next time you think, why didn't God do it? Why 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.280 didn't he answer? Why didn't He do it? Why don't 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:27.280 I have it? Confidence in God's promise? Oh, Moses in 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:33.360 Deuteronomy is really reliving some of his own regrets. He 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:37.360 is reminding the people not only what God did while 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.960 they were in the wilderness, but how they disobeyed him. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.320 And he is warning them that when God brings you 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:48.040 into this land, be careful that the you that he 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.680 brings into this land doesn't think that you are the 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:57.760 reason that you're there, because you'll become arrogant, prideful, and 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.720 the moment that you forget, you will lose the war. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:06.080 Not because God isn't great, but because you forgot how 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:09.559 to fight your battles, and you did it in your 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.120 own strength. So the promises of God are sure. The 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:14.800 promises of God are yes and amen, the promises of God, 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:16.720 no matter how many of them he has spoken, he 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.120 will bring them to pass. The promise of God can 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.640 come from a barren womb. The promise of God can 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.520 come from a stable in Bethlehem. The promise of God 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.920 can come in the darkest season of your life. And 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.760 yet there is so much of what God has promised 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:39.120 me that I don't possess yet. There's so much more 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.400 that God has promised me that I don't possess yet. 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.400 I can make your list. Let's do it as an exercise. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.760 Do you believe God has promised to give you peace? 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:55.560 Wave at me. If you believe God has promised to 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.760 give you peace, So how are you gonna get it? 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.920 That's the question, right, God promised them this land. How 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:10.520 are you gonna get it? You're gonna start chanting peace, peace, peace, 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:12.680 Give me peace, give me peace, Give me peace, Give 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.840 me peace. Pretty please give me peace, Give me peace, peace, peace. 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:20.520 These these peace pieces. There is a process by which 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.680 God gives me peace, and it's found in Philippians chapter four. 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:26.440 Look at this on the screen. I want to bring 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.160 this into the New Testament from the Old Testament, where 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.880 the apostle Paul says, do not be anxious about anything, 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:41.120 but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.080 present your requests to God and the peace of God. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.160 The peace of God. Wait a minute, that's the verse. 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.120 I like. I don't like the first one because I 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:54.720 don't really feel like pray and I don't really feel 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:58.080 like being thankful. I don't really feel like asking God. Okay, 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:02.680 you do realize that in the original manuscripts of the Bible, 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.200 there was not a verse seven and a verse six. 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:08.640 It was just all one thing. So what he says 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.120 in verse seven follows from what he said in verse six. 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.400 I know that sounds the basic, but I think sometimes 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.440 we forget that that he says, the peace of God, 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:20.680 which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.240 mind in Christ Jesus. So there it is, the promise, 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:30.080 the peace, the process, prayer, petition, thanksgiving, not sitting around 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.360 thinking about everything that could go wrong, would go wrong, 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.440 did go wrong, might go wrong, possibly could go wrong 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.920 went wrong twenty three years ago. That process will not 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.120 get you peace. I don't care. You can't cancel out 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.360 a bad thought life with a good prayer life and 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:51.920 get peace just because you really really want it. Okay, 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:53.240 how many have you been praying for God to give 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:58.600 you peace? Are you doing the process that brings to peace? 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.320 That's the question. Go to verse eight. I'm a really 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.159 hammer to this home. I'm not playing with you all today. Finally, 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:10.600 brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:16.000 is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.640 if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.280 Then what happens. Whatever you learn received from me or 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.359 seeing in me, put into practice, and the God of 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.680 Peace will be with you. Well wait, I thought God 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:33.960 was gonna be with me no matter what. That's a promise, right, Yeah, 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.040 He'll be with you, But you will not receive his 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.800 peace if you don't want to think his thoughts. You 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:45.520 just won't. You can't fill your head with whatever and 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.040 then faith your way out of what you filled your 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:52.480 head with. You can't just binge whatever and then quote 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.360 a Bible verse on top of stuff that you binge 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.639 and ask God to cancel it out because he can't 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:04.359 because it's a prime. It's not automatic. But God promise, 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.240 but it's not a one time. I like to tell 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.440 stories about my kids. They were they had their hands 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.600 under this faucet. This was when they were real little. 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:12.760 I think it was Graham and he was waiting for 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.600 the water to come on, and there was a knob 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.280 and I stood there and watched him for a good 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.040 I don't know about thirty seconds, because I wanted to 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.199 see how long will you stand there and wait for 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.760 something to come out and not do anything to produce it. 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.920 He could have concluded there's no water because a five 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:37.880 year old boy doesn't want to wash his hands anyway, 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.399 so he could have walked away. The water doesn't work. 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.040 I see people all the time who come to church 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:50.000 and go that didn't work. That didn't work. You know what, 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.040 there's no water. That didn't work. I tried. I tried 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.320 to do it. You didn't try to do it. You 0:18:56.359 --> 0:19:00.600 took the promise out of context and pop like a 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:04.520 pain pill. It made you feel better for four hours, 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:07.560 but it didn't produce what it could have produced in 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:10.240 your life. Because the Word of God is not a 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:14.440 pill to be ingested. It is a seed to be planted, 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:20.000 and if you planted, the process will begin of producing 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:23.800 the potential of the seed now. But we give up 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.600 too easily. The first time that we feel fear, we 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.280 let go of faith. The first time that we get rejected, 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:35.040 we start expecting more rejection. So now we don't want 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.679 to go now, we don't want to try. Now, we 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.640 don't want to do it now. It's just too hard. Now. 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.440 I guess God didn't really say that. I guess God 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:45.680 didn't really mean for me to have it. I guess 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:48.280 I'm just never going to come into it. That's one 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.879 way of looking at it. But maybe another way of 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.840 looking at it is you have not fully allowed the 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.879 process to complete its perfect work in your life, and 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:05.359 if you get back in the process, you see the 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:09.840 promise come to pass. Because what's crazy about it is 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:15.000 nothing has changed about the promise in the forty years 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:20.680 since Moses last spoke it. He's been here before, he's 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.800 been in this exact spot. But now because he struck 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.160 the rock twice, instead of speaking to it like God 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:28.760 told him to, God said, you don't trust me enough 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.879 for me to take you in. It wasn't that he 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.280 wasn't enough to go in. He did not trust God 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.080 enough to go in. You see the difference. One is 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:43.359 I just don't have it, and the other is I 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:47.639 just won't do it. Now we're living in a time, 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:54.200 because this scripture is not good for snowflake culture, where 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:58.720 everybody wants God to bring everything that he spoke to them. 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.240 And this is why the generational correction is appropriate in 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:06.240 the scripture. This scripture is generationally appropriate because only those 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:09.240 who were twenty years of age or younger get to 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:12.360 go into the Promised Land. Everybody else either died off 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:15.640 in the wilderness or is staying there. So Moses, this 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.680 is so sad to me. He's preparing them for something 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.200 that he won't get to participate in. And as he's 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.560 doing it, you can hear that he's giving them words 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:31.480 of faith, but I hear the tone of regret, resentment. 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:36.880 He's mad at them. There's three different speeches recorded in Deuteronomy, 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:39.080 and all of them he said all this stuff before, 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.439 but he's saying it again, and now he's saying it 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:44.680 to them to let them know that even though you've 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.920 been at this place before, it's going to be different 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.280 this time. You are going to do what we couldn't 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:55.920 do because you are gonna believe what we wouldn't believe. 0:21:56.720 --> 0:22:01.040 So you're gonna see what we didn't see. But we 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.080 had the same promise, but you're gonna do with the 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:08.080 promise what we could not do with the promise, what 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.520 we would not do with the promise. If you keep 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:16.360 your eyes on God, and if you go forward believing 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:19.159 that God is with you, you're gonna see it. In fact, 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.320 he basically assumes that they're going to take the land. 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:25.000 He just cautions them that when they do, they need 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:28.600 to remember who brought them into it. I love it, 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:33.199 he said. You've been in the wilderness for a long time. 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:39.200 And it's funny about the wilderness because a wilderness is 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.440 a place, like I said last week, between places where 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:47.560 God teaches you things that you need to know for 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:53.479 where you're going. The wilderness. The wilderness is the place 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:56.640 where God gets you ready for what he has next 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:02.199 for you. The wilderness where He brings you manna to 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:07.040 your tent every morning because you don't have farmland yet. 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:10.960 The wilderness where He brings you water out of a 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:14.439 rock and there's not even a knob for the faucet. 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:19.800 It just starts flowing out. The wilderness. There are wonderful 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:23.800 things about the wilderness. There are wonderful things about loneliness. 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:28.439 When you're lonely, God will feel closer to you. If 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:33.159 you'll call on him than when you're real busy. Yeah, 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:36.560 there are wonderful things about when people tell you no, 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:40.439 Because when people tell you no, God has this way 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:44.280 of putting a yes in your spirit that you can't 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:47.679 even explain. It's a wonderful thing about certain tears that 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:51.760 we cry because God drives them and you feel his 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:54.600 touch like you never did before. It's a wonderful thing 0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:57.280 sometimes about you know, when you've done all that you 0:23:57.320 --> 0:24:01.760 can do and you can't figure anything, and God just says, 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:06.119 I got this one. Watch this man, woo, open your tent. Whoo. 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.679 Every morning it's gonna be there, brand new mercies with 0:24:09.800 --> 0:24:13.200 every rising of the sun. It's a wonderful thing. Have 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:16.920 you ever been fed by the hand of God where 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:20.000 God just dropped something off from you and you said, oh, 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:23.560 this is wonderful. I didn't even know how, but God 0:24:23.640 --> 0:24:26.520 did that for me. I didn't even know that person. 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:29.240 They paid for my gash at the pump. I didn't 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:32.280 even know that person. They stopped me and encouraged me. 0:24:32.680 --> 0:24:36.920 It's some wonderful things that happen in the wilderness. God 0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:39.879 just drops stuff on you in the wilderness. God just 0:24:40.040 --> 0:24:43.080 gusts stuff for you. In the wilderness. God just makes 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:46.840 sure that you have clothes to wear. In the wilderness, 0:24:46.960 --> 0:24:49.520 you don't outgrow it. It just keeps stretching with you. 0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:52.879 In the wilderness. He makes sure your feet don't swell. 0:24:52.920 --> 0:24:57.280 In the wilderness. It is a place of supernatural provision. 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:08.160 But if you stay there too long, you will become passive, 0:25:11.040 --> 0:25:16.560 waiting for a promise that God wants to give you 0:25:17.240 --> 0:25:26.199 the power to possess by faith. I am gonna break 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:29.840 that down, but first I need your help. Shot this 0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:36.880 God is bringing me into my promise, and that sounds selfish. 0:25:36.960 --> 0:25:39.080 I don't like talking about what God is doing for me, 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:42.000 see becomes Pastor Stephen. I think that the Bible says 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:45.320 that it's not about me, it's not about my desires. 0:25:45.320 --> 0:25:47.520 You were just saying a moment ago that it's not 0:25:47.600 --> 0:25:49.520 what I want that God promised, and so I would 0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:52.000 refer you back to earlier in your sermon, around nine 0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:54.720 minutes and thirty two seconds, and you're preaching really good, 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:56.840 but you've gone off course now because now you're saying 0:25:56.960 --> 0:25:59.080 God is bringing me into my promise. And I'm not 0:25:59.080 --> 0:26:01.400 comfortable with that, because, after all, it is all for 0:26:01.520 --> 0:26:03.639 his glory, and I don't really like all these worship 0:26:03.760 --> 0:26:05.920 songs that are like me, me, me, and God's gonna 0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:07.320 do it for me. And that's one of the thing 0:26:07.359 --> 0:26:09.600 about God, how great he is and how awesome he 0:26:09.680 --> 0:26:11.600 is and all of the wonderful things that He has 0:26:11.600 --> 0:26:13.240