WTFMT 52 (28 Mar18 HGM)

WILDERNESS TRUTHS FOR MODERN TIMES-52 TEXT: "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." (Isaiah 64:4)

 

I. A NEW LOOK

A. We have such an abundance of inheritances and other blessings, that we presently have no idea how many and how great are God's provisions.

B. From the land of plenty and blessings, the wilderness is usually looked upon as an unhealthy and undesirable place. This is particularly true for those who have experienced what man would call failure in the wilderness (in their dry times).

C. But if God does not call it failure then it is not failure and nor should we. Failure is not sin. Sin is sin. Failure is another opportunity for God to teach us His ways when we have missed His mark. God takes our failure and works it to our benefit. Failure is not destructive to us unless we get stuck in it. Not learning the lessons God has purposed us to learn through this time. D. Indeed, the wilderness is a place of possible failure and I believe God would rather us fail a few times then succeed in most areas. Failure helps us get it right. Very few people do things right the first time. Failure helps us learn obedience. The more we succeed (unless through Him) the less we need Him. Success (unless through Him) leads us to self-strength and self-provision.

E. This is not the fault of the wilderness, and certainly it is not the fault of God. Nor is failure to be blamed upon the enemy. However, the failure of a believer in the wilderness is still the fault of that particular believer.

F. Certain believers coming to the wilderness will focus their attention upon its unpleasantness to such intensity that they see these unpleasantries magnified many times. The real problem is not the wilderness with its difficulties, but with the self-centered view of the believer.

G. Actually in most cases the view has been turned self-ward. Thus it can be clearly understood how some folks create for themselves more unpleasantness than is actually in the picture.

H. Because of a great sense of self-worth and self-preservation, we may consider a situation as very dangerous. If we could turn our vision away from self and focus upon God, our view would change altogether.

I. The situation is still stays the same, but with this different point of view, we would now discover God's purposes. Then, the situation we feared as dangerous would be seen as God's arrangement for the purpose of bringing blessings to us.

J. If we were suddenly confronted in the wild by a lion and we had no protection nor defense, we would normally regard that a dangerous situation. Samson (the first Judge of Isreal) found himself in this situation. "Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him." (Judges 14:5)

K. But, if this situation is viewed from God's point of view, the lion does not look like an insurmountable opponent. The one who intended to defeat and eat Samson became Samson's source of food. "And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done." (Judges 14:6)

II. PARTING THOUGHTS

 

A. God works desperately to change our point of view in order to impact to us His faith and strength.

B. What we see is what we become. The apostle Paul says it this way: "But we all, with open [unveiled] face [our change of view] beholding as in a glass [mirror] the glory of the Lord, are changed [being changed] into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (II Corinthians 3:18) Thus in order for the victory and strength which are in the Lord to become ours we must look in the right direction.

WHEN YE PRAY

I would like to help with prayer because if we get prayer wrong we will not get too far in God. Now God wants us to pray. Jesus tells us this in Matthew, but He also tells us things not to do. Yet most Christians ignore them out of traditions of men and wrong thinking from a performance based denominational religion. In Matthew we read the words of Jesus, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." (Matthew 6:5-8) Prayer is one of the most mysterious functions and operations of the LORD. Our walk with the LORD is a huge mystery now I really like this. Who wants to serve a God you have figured out? We see this mystery when we read, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:" (Colossians 1:25-26) and "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Timothy 3:16) I learned this (and seem too often relearn it) the second time I went to India. After 10 days of a very busy schedule, sickness, and diarrhea I was at the end of my strength and self. It was late in the evening and my host pastor asked me to pray for a little boy who had not walked in 6 months. I said yes. The father brought the little boy over to me and I grabbed his little feet and I prayed this great prayer, "LORD please heal this little boy." No lightning bolts, no fancy words, God did not speak from heaven that was it. As I was reaching for my supper of chicken, curry, and rice (what I was fed to help my stomach) out of the corner of my eye I saw the father put the little boy down and as his little feet touched the ground the boy was off and running. The little boy is probably is still running. Well I never got to my supper that night a line quickly formed. But how did God do this? How did God heal this little boy? It was not me I had no strength so it had to be God. You know I find it amazing nowhere in the Bible did Jesus pray (like we do) for someone. Jesus just healed them He did not pray for them. You know if I cannot get to the Father on my behalf for healing I would not want someone to only pray for me. I think I would want someone who has a walk with the LORD who could touch Him on my behalf. Yes prayer is mysterious it reveals God's nature to us. His concern, heart, and love. How does He do this? Did you know prayer is translated six different ways in the Bible? The top three are beseeching, comforter, but the most common is "direct address to the Father." Not in communication, but communion. At first the disciples had it wrong when they prayed around through the Father. Many Christians sing the song, "Ave Maria" or around to the Father though Maria (Jesus' mother) , but in the LORD's prayer (beginning in Matthew 6:9) Jesus said to pray "abba Father." The word "abba" is a term of endearment, literally "daddy" in the Greek, an intimate word of the heart. Funny it is interesting to know John the Baptist disciples knew how to pray before Jesus' disciples. "And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1) There are seven points on prayer I would like for us to look at. John Wright Follette (my teacher's teacher) said, "we learn to pray by praying." Prayer is a work of the Spirit of God. Unless we have allowed God to work in our lives through His dealings and judgments we will NEVER enter into the "true" realm of prayer. Many Christians are begging God to bless the works of their hands and God is saying do something! As we pray we learn how to touch the heart of God. The second point is we cannot change God's sovereign will by praying. Jesus tried this in the Garden of Gethsemane, but in the end Jesus said, "not my will, but thy will be done." God has a plan and purpose for each and every life he created and praying will not change it. God is God and we are not no matter how hard we try to twist God's arm in prayer. The third point is prayer helps us adjust our heart and thinking with God's will. In the Psalms we read, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4) Oh how we like to delight ourselves in the LORD: standing in services, raising our hands, shaking our fist, and bobbing our head as the preacher rolls while all the while our heart has not been touched by the Spirit. My friend if we do not receive the word of God by our spirit we will never receive it by our flesh. The word "delight" here means pliable, bendable,, moldable. If we cannot be the clay and if the LORD cannot be the potter then He can never give us the desires of our heart, but sadly most Christians in prayer care little what God wants. And remember clay does not talk back. Prayer is not the time to receive something from God. We are to use our faith for someone else. Does God know what we need? When is the last time you have heard this message? The next point is the Holy Spirit always prays according to His will. In Romans we read, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27) So if we have the Holy Spirit operating in our lives then why are all of our prayers not answered? Please consider we are not praying according to God's will. God does NOT have to answer any of our prayers, but He wants to show us His love and concern (His character and nature) so He answers some. And if not we get angry at God and threaten to leave Him or get a big boo boo face or twist His arm. We must pray according to what and how God tells us to pray and not what we want to see happen in the lives of our family, friends, even the world. The next point is ALL things work together for good as long as we are called according to God's purpose and I would add if we learn the lesson God is teaching. Still in Romans, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) God already knows what we are going to pray before we pray so why pray? To align our thinking up with God's thinking. The LORD's purpose in our lives, friends, family, and the world is to share this wondrous Gospel message. He wishes none to be lost no not one. We need no other purpose or calling, but if God asks us to do specific things for Him say in ministry then we are to answer the call and fulfill the LORD's purpose in our lives. We really have this verse down. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Philippians 4:6) Now this is okay, but God is doing more than giving us things or healing our bodies in our prayers. He is teaching us a lesson of His character and nature in prayer. He is teaching us how He functions and operates so we will be useful now (somewhat), but more in our next life. God will not have to train us when we get to our next life we will already know how to move and respond with and like Him. The second to the last point is obedience to God is never substituted by prayer. Most Christians would rather pray for hours than be obedient. My teacher Charles Haun tells the story of a lady who God would wake up at night to pray for people. Well one night God roused her and she got up and went to her chair where she prays and prayed for about one hour for a missionary and then went back to bed. About 15 minutes later God roused her again and this time she got out of her bed , knelt by her bed, prayed about 30 minutes, and headed back to bed. About 15 minutes later God roused her again and this time she just laid in bed and started to pray, but drifted off to sleep. God never bothered her again that night. About three months later the lady heard in church the missionary was killed the night the LORD woke her up. There is always a cost for our disobedience and usually others pay the price. The last point is Jesus always prayed because He wanted to maintain contact with His Father not to do or get things from His Father. From this contact or communion God's goal in prayer is manifested, "righteous living" where we just live right before God and man. Just like we do not have to think to breathe, we just live right. It becomes automatic. For this to happen God must be able to get us over this "give me give me things" thinking, so He can take us deeper into the mystery of prayer. Jesus said, "of myself I have no power" and "I can do nothing except what I see the Father do." Jesus was so dependent on the Father for everything which came out of His relationship with the His Father. Prayer teaches us how to be dependent and how to have a relationship with our heavenly Father. In prayer it is not God needs to know, but it is we need to tell Him. There is a need in man to talk with God He put it in us. And in His response we learn His will and how He thinks and functions what He wants in every given situation. Prayer is amazing mystery of God.

AT THE END OF THE DAY

At the end of the day it will not matter what you did or did not do (by ways of good works) for the LORD. There are no do overs or redos in the LORD. At the end of the day what we have done for the LORD will be on full display for those standing around to see. There will be no talking, arguing, praying, discussing, or even horse trading. At the end of the day we all will stand before the LORD and the book will be opened and if our name is found in the Book of Life of the Lamb, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8) we go on to the Judgment Seat of Christ, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." (2 Corinthians 5:10-11) and if not then we go to the Great White Throne, "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them." (Revelation 20:11) to receive of our reward for not what we have done for the LORD, but for how we have done things for the LORD. God is not so concerned what we have done for Him, but He will be very concerned about how we have done things for Him. It is going to be not much done as most good, well intended Christians have been taught, but how done, how we did things for the LORD. Funny when you ask most pastors about their church they usually start with something like this, "well . . . we have about 100 members on Sunday (to be honest the mid-week service is a better gauge or determining factor of membership), we do this and/or that, but seldom do they talk about the spirituality of the members. Why are we so works focused? I guess it is easy enlarging our faith when we see a new building or new fellowship hall built, but now seeing spiritual growth and development as the LORD puts one through despair well that is a whole different focus. I will be honest I am as guilty as some pastors. When I pastored in Germany I would do the same thing thinking I was helping the LORD out impressing maybe a new member, but at the end of the day I was just embellishing the truth (most call it lying) to make things look better than they are. I wonder why we are so impressed by what we can do for the LORD? I wonder why we think the LORD is going to love us the more if we can do great things for Him? Great things for Him? He created the heavens (all three) and the earth, man, all we know and see, and we think building some building or big ministry to travel the world sharing this wondrous Gospel message impresses Him? Oh no my friend all of our good works, those good works we do for God are for our benefit not the LORD's. For it is in these good works in the hours of loneliness on planes, trains, and automobiles, in times of danger, in times of feast and famine, times what Paul calls the "terror of the LORD" in these times God can work in our heart and in our thoughts conforming us into the character and images of Jesus Christ, the LORD's grand goal in our lives. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist God the father openly spoke of His son, "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." As to date (the Bible never recorded) Jesus had not started His earthly ministry. Jesus had not yet preached one message, made one disciple, or even performed one miracle. I wonder what made the Father so pleased with His son? Maybe it was the wonderful relationship the Father and Jesus had. Of course the Father knows all things and saw the day (in the future) that Jesus would be stretched out on the cross between heaven and earth for the atonement of our sin. Maybe it was the utter dependence Jesus had on the Father. Funny how today we think we are independent and we can handle things for the LORD. In John Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." (John 5:19) We run around and say we have the power, brother do you have the power? And Jesus said he had a no power, "except for what the Father gives Him." Something is wrong here. As we walk with the LORD there are some very important things we must discover because soon we will find ourselves at the end of the day and it will be too late. We must learn we have no power, God is God and we are not! We must learn the only way we will ever be affective for the LORD is if we have a relationship with Him. We must learn He is not looking at what we are doing for Him, but He is closely scrutinizing us in how we are doing things for Him. The smaller the issue the closer He is scrutinizes us. Big things in God really do not matter, but ah the small things, well they are life and death to us. Something as small as a realization of our need for Him and a confession of our faith in Him to change us from who we are means all of the next world to us. We must learn the way up is down. We must be like Jesus lowly in heart and see of ourselves no reputation. My heavens just look at Christian TV (an oxymoron) the effort spent to build up a man over another man. Each working so hard to build up a reputation: as a end-time teacher, pastor, prophet, apostle, healer, you name it. Commercials are even made to promote a man to his greatness, but Jesus said the meek and humble shall inherit the earth. David said, "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalms 37:11) That is peace now on earth not in the sweet by and by. The meek and humble know truth. Jesus said in Matthew, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (Matthew 11:29) Wow peace and rest! People of ambition trying to build up their reputation know no peace and rest, but striving and contempt. At the end of the day they confuse love, truth, and the weightier things of God. Remember, truth without love becomes a club, but love without truth becomes a perversion. If we get this wrong we are heading for hard times and a great fall my friend. I guess when I think of the Father and His relationship with Jesus (at the end of the day) I think of the many father and son relationships I have personally seen. At the end of the day all we can share is the things we personally know and I have been blessed (term over used) with great examples in my life. Growing up in a military family we made many visits to family members. When my father would deploy somewhere in the world we would move in with my mom's mother at 57 Carpenters Ave. in Ridgeley, WV. When my father would come home we would drive over to 15 Napoleon Street in Johnstown, PA where his mother lived. Now Grandma Stahl was not Grandma Jewell. I learned quickly not to confuse them. Grandma Stahl was stern not very loving. When her husband left her with four kids she decided to raise her kids with discipline and not much love. Grandma Stahl was a tough lady. But at the end of day when we would leave to head back to Ridgeley we would load up in the car and as we waved good-by I could see a tear or two run down the face of my father and my grandmother. I thought maybe she was not as tough as I thought, but to be honest I never realized what was going on. As we (Karen and I) got older and had kids we would visit our parents. For years we would visit from one address to the next. And as we got older and as we gathered grandkids to our parents (at the end of the day) when we would leave we would load the car and stand and wave as streams of tears would run down our face. I began to understand a little bit about the end of the day. And now when our kids come home with our grandkids and they leave at the end of the day my heart and mind goes back to my father and his mother, back to all of the times we left from Karen's parents home and my parents home. Oh what a heavy heart. Now we stand at the end of the day with tears streaming down our face as our kids pull out. We wave, oh what a heavy heart. At the end of the day I kind of believe this is the way the Father kind of felt about Jesus.