WEBVTT 00:00:01.459 --> 00:00:04.440 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:10.460 Elation Church. I've entitled today's message, 00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:12.439 Hold On. Look to the person beside you and say, 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:18.280 Hold On. Sometimes we have to hold on. It's not 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.620 always the easiest thing to do is to hold on. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.839 Now, the strange thing is you're not really going 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:27.339 to understand what the title of the message. 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:32.920 Really means, fully means until the end. So you 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:34.880 can be thinking about it before we get to the 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.820 end. What about that? Everybody say, hold on 00:00:36.820 --> 00:00:44.020 one more time. James 3, verses 3 through 5. We 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:46.960 can make a large horse. I found out last week 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.159 a horse can be 1 ,200 pounds. I've been saying 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:53.159 600 pounds. We can make a large... That was two 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:55.179 weeks ago, wasn't it? I remember from two weeks 00:00:55.179 --> 00:00:57.920 ago. We can make a large horse go wherever we 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:05.579 want by means of a small bit in its mouth. Everybody 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:12.700 say, wow. So why is this a Bible verse? Here's 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:18.219 some more information for you. Verse 4. And a 00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:21.219 small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:24.319 the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:31.329 are strong. Everybody say, wow. Now, this is 00:01:31.329 --> 00:01:34.030 factual information, but the Bible's not just 00:01:34.030 --> 00:01:37.450 about factual information. Right? We can look 00:01:37.450 --> 00:01:42.469 at the encyclopedia for that. This is an illustration. 00:01:43.049 --> 00:01:46.530 It's actually two illustrations. Because the 00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:49.909 very next verse tells us what God is talking 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:52.909 about when He says, okay, you put a bit in a 00:01:52.909 --> 00:01:54.629 horse's mouth, even though the horse is really 00:01:54.629 --> 00:01:57.560 big, you actually steer, everybody say steer, 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:00.980 you steer that horse with the bit in its mouth, 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:03.359 and then there's a rudder on a huge ship. It's 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.579 small in comparison to the ship, right? But you 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:09.560 can take that rudder and you can steer. See, 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:11.520 they didn't have steering wheels 2 ,000 years 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:14.400 ago. I don't know if you figured that out yet 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:18.460 or not. But in our terminology, we're talking 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:20.580 about a steering wheel, right? I mean, we still 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:23.599 have ships and rudders and horses and bits, but... 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:29.180 The rudder steers the ship. So what is God giving 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:34.159 us these illustrations for? He's saying that 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:36.460 that bit in the horse's mouth and the rudder 00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:39.099 on the ship is just like something on your body, 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.319 and that is your tongue. Everybody say your tongue. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.819 Verse 5 says, in the same way, just like that, 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:49.460 just like that. The tongue is a small thing. 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:56.259 So if the bit steers and... causes the horse 00:02:56.259 --> 00:03:00.120 to go in a certain direction. And if the rudder 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:03.319 steers and causes the ship to go in a certain 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:07.000 direction, God wants us to know in the same way 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:14.439 your tongue steers you and puts you on course 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:18.340 or in a certain direction. Your tongue does. 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:24.560 Even though it's a small thing. And we need to 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.800 remember this. Now, some of you are saying, well, 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:30.840 I've heard this now for four weeks. Well, have 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:39.800 you done it yet? I saw a preacher one time say, 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:41.879 you know, everybody keeps saying, well, you just 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:43.500 keep preaching the same thing. He said, well, 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:44.960 I'm going to keep preaching it until you do it. 00:03:46.060 --> 00:03:47.659 You're just going to keep preaching that same 00:03:47.659 --> 00:03:50.680 message until somebody applies it and becomes 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:54.030 a doer of the Word. Don't worry, the message 00:03:54.030 --> 00:03:55.949 is different. It's not the exact same message. 00:03:58.129 --> 00:04:01.610 Your tongue steers the direction of your life. 00:04:02.449 --> 00:04:04.969 The direction that you're going in determines 00:04:04.969 --> 00:04:12.030 the destination. You can't go south and ever 00:04:12.030 --> 00:04:16.850 make it to New York. If you go south, you might 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:21.170 get to Key West, but you're not going to get 00:04:21.170 --> 00:04:24.199 to New York. So if you want to go to New York, 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.279 you better go north. If you want to go to Key 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.279 West, you better drive south. Do you understand 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:37.639 what I'm saying? Some of us keep steering our 00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:41.980 lives towards Key West when we want our lives 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:46.899 to end up in New York. Not that anybody wants 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:50.519 to go to Key West or New York. Those are figurative. 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:58.839 Everybody say figure two. You want peace. You 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:00.680 want the direction of your life to be taking 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:03.579 you to peace, but your tongue is taking you to 00:05:03.579 --> 00:05:09.639 worry and anxiety. I can't get much more plainer 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:14.160 than that. Your tongue determines the direction 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.800 and destination of your life. Your words are 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:20.209 important. Look at the person beside you and 00:05:20.209 --> 00:05:22.110 tell them, remind them, your words are important. 00:05:23.209 --> 00:05:30.310 Your words are important. Proverbs 18, 21. Your 00:05:30.310 --> 00:05:37.810 tongue can bring death or life. Those who love 00:05:37.810 --> 00:05:43.810 to talk will reap the consequences. So if you 00:05:43.810 --> 00:05:52.560 want life, you got to speak. Don't ever expect 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:56.500 for your destination to be life if you're speaking 00:05:56.500 --> 00:06:04.720 death. You might say, well, Dean, that's just 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:06.740 all up to God and it has nothing to do with what 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:13.699 I say. Well, God said it does. God said it has 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:19.480 to do what you say. Just throwing it out there. 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:23.839 Somebody smile. I'm not mad at you by telling 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.399 you this information. I love you and I'm telling 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.939 you this information because I want you to speak 00:06:28.939 --> 00:06:32.300 life. If you want your destination to be life, 00:06:32.420 --> 00:06:37.579 I want you to speak life. Speaking in agreement 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:43.220 with what God says brings God's promises and 00:06:43.220 --> 00:06:51.430 blessings to you. I haven't put it this way yet, 00:06:51.490 --> 00:06:55.430 but we're progressing. Look at the person beside 00:06:55.430 --> 00:06:56.990 you and say, we're progressing a little bit in 00:06:56.990 --> 00:06:59.670 this study. We're moving forward a little bit. 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:03.290 We're getting... Speaking in agreement with what 00:07:03.290 --> 00:07:05.970 God says brings God's promises and blessings 00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:12.029 to you. But guess what? Speaking in opposition 00:07:12.029 --> 00:07:16.730 to what God says moves God's promises and blessings 00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:26.500 out of your reach. Selah. Let me sit there and 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.300 think about it a minute. Now, we've looked at 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:34.519 David's words. We've looked at Zechariah's words. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:37.079 We've looked at Mary's words. We've looked at 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:42.420 the shepherd's words. If you haven't listened 00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:44.600 to those, you can listen to them on podcast or 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:47.079 Facebook or YouTube. They're all there. All right? 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:51.079 Just go to Alation Church. So today we're looking 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:53.199 at a different story in the Old Testament, but 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:58.000 we've got to set the stage. So, here's where 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.939 we are this week. How many of you remember this 00:08:00.939 --> 00:08:03.360 story or were here for this series that I entitled 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.899 Going to the Promised Land? God's people had 00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:10.420 been slaves in Egypt. They hadn't been slaves 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:13.860 all of the 400 years. When they first arrived 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:17.160 there, they were the honored guests. But it turned 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:20.680 out that they became the slaves in Egypt. And 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:22.620 they cried out to God and they wanted to be free. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:25.639 So God delivered them. He sent a man named Moses. 00:08:25.699 --> 00:08:27.800 Are you familiar with the story? He sent a man 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:32.980 named Moses to bring them out of captivity and 00:08:32.980 --> 00:08:37.100 to take them somewhere. Where was he taking them? 00:08:39.179 --> 00:08:42.980 Everybody say Canaan. But then say the promised 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:48.519 land. You see, God told Abraham that this is 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.519 your land. Everywhere your foot treads, it's 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:56.039 yours. I've given it to you. So he had given 00:08:56.039 --> 00:09:00.899 it to Abraham and his descendants. And then they 00:09:00.899 --> 00:09:03.240 had not been in the land for over 400 years. 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:07.779 And God says, look, I've promised this to you. 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:10.059 It's a land flowing with milk and honey. It's 00:09:10.059 --> 00:09:12.659 an amazing place. You're going to move into houses 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:16.320 that you didn't build. You're going to reap from 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:20.019 gardens that you didn't plant. It's going to 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:24.759 be a great place. It's a place for you. And it's 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.220 my promise. Everybody say promise. It's my promise 00:09:28.220 --> 00:09:33.799 to you. So hold on to that thought of it being 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.820 a promise. That promised land was promised by 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:41.419 God. Now, it should have taken them about 11 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:43.460 days to get there. It took them a long time to 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:47.059 get there. God was dealing with them and they 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:49.480 were just complaining and complaining and complaining 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:52.980 and complaining all the time. And God was doing 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:55.360 miracle after miracle after miracle and just 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:56.919 as soon as the miracle was over, they'd start 00:09:56.919 --> 00:10:00.539 complaining again. Everybody say wrong words. 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:05.039 Wrong words. But they finally get to the edge 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:07.500 of the promised land and in Numbers 13 verses 00:10:07.500 --> 00:10:12.639 1 and 2, the Lord now said to Moses, Send out 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:16.460 men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:19.700 am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:26.379 from each of the twelve ancestral tribes. Picking 00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:30.279 up verse 17. Moses gave the men these instructions 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:35.620 as he sent them out to explore the land. See 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:39.259 what the land is like. Find out whether the people 00:10:39.259 --> 00:10:43.700 living there are strong. Are weak. Few. Are many. 00:10:44.820 --> 00:10:49.379 See what kind of land they live in. Is it good 00:10:49.379 --> 00:10:54.720 or bad? Do their towns have walls? Or are they 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:00.639 unprotected like open camps? Is the soil fertile 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:07.159 or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:15.720 bring back samples of the crops you see. So the 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:19.659 spies went into the land. They came back. Was 00:11:19.659 --> 00:11:23.919 the soil fertile? Were the crops amazing? I mean, 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:26.899 if it takes two grown men to carry one bunch 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:29.019 of grapes on a pole, that's a lot of grapes. 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:32.840 That's all I'm saying. It's pretty fertile vineyards. 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:38.259 They came back with a report. Here's the report. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:43.159 Everybody say words. Everybody say promise. God 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:47.679 made them a promise, right? But what are their 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:52.899 words in response to God's promise? This was 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:55.759 their report to Moses. We entered the land you 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:59.100 sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful 00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:03.980 country. Everybody say, great place. A land flowing 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:07.000 with milk and honey. Here's the kind of fruit 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:12.419 it produces. Everybody say, good land. Good land. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:18.429 But... The people living there are powerful, 00:12:18.590 --> 00:12:22.289 and their towns are large and fortified. We even 00:12:22.289 --> 00:12:27.929 saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. The 00:12:27.929 --> 00:12:30.330 Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites 00:12:30.330 --> 00:12:33.450 and Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country. 00:12:34.269 --> 00:12:37.870 The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:43.870 Sea and along the Jordan Valley. Now, it started 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:47.360 out with a good report of the land. But now all 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:51.799 of a sudden it's going downhill. They weren't 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:53.639 speaking in agreement with the promise anymore. 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.139 They began speaking in agreement with what they 00:12:57.139 --> 00:12:59.840 saw, with what they felt. We're going to see 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.759 some things that they felt that they started 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:05.600 saying too. But Caleb knew this was heading in 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.779 the wrong direction. So he just interrupted the 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:11.779 other guys. I don't know who the spokesman was. 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:13.759 We don't know his name. We probably don't know 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.389 his name because... He gave a bad report. So 00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:21.669 he just kind of disappeared in history because 00:13:21.669 --> 00:13:25.570 of his bad report. But Caleb tried to quiet the 00:13:25.570 --> 00:13:29.049 people. I mean, there's giants, there's all these 00:13:29.049 --> 00:13:33.509 fortified places. He knew where they were going, 00:13:33.590 --> 00:13:38.549 so he said, wait a minute. He tried to quiet 00:13:38.549 --> 00:13:40.850 the people as they stood before Moses. And listen 00:13:40.850 --> 00:13:43.830 to what Caleb said. Let's go at once and take 00:13:43.830 --> 00:13:47.860 the land. He said, we can certainly conquer it. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.919 Let's go get it. Here's what he's saying. God 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.519 said he gave it to us. God promised us this land. 00:13:55.779 --> 00:13:58.519 It might take a little bit of fighting, but we're 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:02.059 going to go get it. Let's go. Let's quit talking 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:06.279 about the negative things that we saw. Hello? 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.919 Are you with me? Let's quit talking about all 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:12.179 this negative stuff that we saw and let's go 00:14:12.179 --> 00:14:14.960 do it because God gave it to us. So let's go 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:22.080 get it. But the other men who had explored the 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.600 land with him disagreed. Here's what they said. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:29.519 Everybody say, they said. We can't go up against 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:36.320 them. They are stronger than we are. We can't 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:40.080 have it. Here's what they said. I know God promised 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:44.750 it to us. But we can't have what God promised 00:14:44.750 --> 00:14:49.250 to us because what we saw is bigger than what 00:14:49.250 --> 00:15:03.149 we believe. Think about that. So they spread 00:15:03.149 --> 00:15:05.809 this bad report. Not only did they tell it to 00:15:05.809 --> 00:15:07.730 Moses, they went home and told it to their wives 00:15:07.730 --> 00:15:10.029 and kids and told it to everybody. They just 00:15:10.029 --> 00:15:15.570 started telling it to everybody. So the bad report 00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:18.809 about the land, they spread it among the Israelites. 00:15:19.830 --> 00:15:21.990 Here you go. They said the land we traveled through 00:15:21.990 --> 00:15:24.710 and explored would devour anyone who goes to 00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:26.950 live there. All the people we saw were huge. 00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:33.970 Was everyone huge on the first report? There 00:15:33.970 --> 00:15:36.850 were just some huge people. Now everyone's huge. 00:15:37.110 --> 00:15:39.590 We even saw giants there, the descendants of 00:15:39.590 --> 00:15:44.309 Anak. Next to them, here's what they felt. Next 00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:50.649 to them, we felt like grasshoppers. And that's 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:52.450 what they thought too. Do you think they talked 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:55.169 to the giants? Do you think they walked up to 00:15:55.169 --> 00:15:57.690 the giants and said, what do you think we look 00:15:57.690 --> 00:16:05.549 like to you, grasshoppers? No. No. Everybody 00:16:05.549 --> 00:16:12.730 say imagination. So they're speaking. what they 00:16:12.730 --> 00:16:15.570 saw that was in opposition to the promise of 00:16:15.570 --> 00:16:17.750 God, and then they're speaking their feelings, 00:16:17.830 --> 00:16:19.909 and then they're speaking their imaginations. 00:16:24.029 --> 00:16:29.289 Come on, somebody. God promised them the land. 00:16:30.309 --> 00:16:36.669 What was their response to God's promise? Well, 00:16:36.850 --> 00:16:41.350 we had ten people. Given a bad response with 00:16:41.350 --> 00:16:44.230 their words, with their imagination, with their 00:16:44.230 --> 00:16:51.029 feelings. But we had two people who were different. 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:55.269 Caleb and Joshua. Here's the way they responded. 00:16:55.649 --> 00:16:59.529 They exhibited faith in God's promise. They were 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:03.470 not moved by what they saw. Their words remained 00:17:03.470 --> 00:17:09.599 in agreement with God's promise. Trick question, 00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:13.920 unless you've heard me ask it before. Who got 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:22.200 what they said? Who got what they said? Think 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:28.940 about it. It was 40 years, but Caleb and Joshua, 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:32.859 they moved into the promised land. I mean, it 00:17:32.859 --> 00:17:35.960 took them a while, but they got what they said. 00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:39.279 You know what? The other ten people got what 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:42.839 they said too. They didn't get the promised land. 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.660 And the whole journey they kept saying, why did 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:49.720 you bring us out here for us to just die in the 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:56.660 wilderness? They got what they said too. They 00:17:56.660 --> 00:18:01.160 died in the wilderness. So everybody got what 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:03.480 they said. Everybody got what they believed. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:09.819 Everybody got what they said. Thank you for two 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:17.720 smiles. Here's God's response. Numbers 14, 22. 00:18:19.539 --> 00:18:23.180 It's what God says. They have all seen my glorious 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:28.940 presence. Remember Mount Sinai? They saw and 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:36.160 heard God. Everybody saw the cloud and the manifest 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.549 presence. They have all seen my glorious presence. 00:18:40.390 --> 00:18:43.109 They saw the cloud by day and the fire by night. 00:18:44.910 --> 00:18:47.390 They have all seen my glorious presence and the 00:18:47.390 --> 00:18:50.450 miraculous signs I perform, both in Egypt and 00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:54.609 in the wilderness. But again and again, they 00:18:54.609 --> 00:18:59.109 have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. 00:19:01.589 --> 00:19:06.299 They will never even see the land. I swore to 00:19:06.299 --> 00:19:09.259 give their ancestors. None of those who have 00:19:09.259 --> 00:19:14.799 treated me with contempt will ever see it. What's 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:21.740 he saying? The people who don't believe me, the 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:26.319 people who speak out against me, people who don't 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:29.680 believe my promise, and they don't want to move 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.420 forward with my promise, they're never going 00:19:31.420 --> 00:19:40.490 to see my promise. Never going to see it. But 00:19:40.490 --> 00:19:44.549 my servant Caleb has a different attitude than 00:19:44.549 --> 00:19:48.670 the others have. He has remained loyal to me, 00:19:48.789 --> 00:19:52.549 so I will bring him into the land he explored. 00:19:54.230 --> 00:19:59.990 He believed. So he's going to get it. Here's 00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:02.210 the deal. Everyone received according to what 00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:04.930 they said and according to what they believed. 00:20:05.349 --> 00:20:07.190 And if you want to find out what somebody really 00:20:07.190 --> 00:20:12.329 believes, just listen to what they say. I haven't 00:20:12.329 --> 00:20:15.289 said that yet either, but let's just throw it 00:20:15.289 --> 00:20:18.849 out there. Alright? If you want to know what 00:20:18.849 --> 00:20:21.410 somebody really believes, what their faith is 00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:30.849 really in, listen to their words. Does this actually 00:20:30.849 --> 00:20:35.950 apply to us? Just in case you're wondering, let's 00:20:35.950 --> 00:20:40.109 go to Hebrews 3 .19. It says this, So we see 00:20:40.109 --> 00:20:43.650 that because of their unbelief, they were not 00:20:43.650 --> 00:20:47.490 able to enter his rest. Everybody say promise. 00:20:48.150 --> 00:20:51.089 Everybody say rest. He's talking about the promised 00:20:51.089 --> 00:20:54.009 land, and this is their rest from being slaves 00:20:54.009 --> 00:20:56.150 and the traveling. Yeah, there was going to be 00:20:56.150 --> 00:20:58.490 some battles. There was going to be some warfare 00:20:58.490 --> 00:21:00.369 that was going to take place, but it was actually 00:21:00.369 --> 00:21:02.890 a place of rest. I like to call the promised 00:21:02.890 --> 00:21:06.710 land the abundant life that God has for us to 00:21:06.710 --> 00:21:10.509 live in. And just in case you're wondering, when 00:21:10.509 --> 00:21:12.509 I use the word abundant life, I'm not talking 00:21:12.509 --> 00:21:15.690 about stuff. Because you can have a lot of stuff 00:21:15.690 --> 00:21:21.410 and not have abundant life. I'm going to say 00:21:21.410 --> 00:21:23.150 that again. You can have a lot of stuff and not 00:21:23.150 --> 00:21:26.349 have abundant life. Because there's a lot of 00:21:26.349 --> 00:21:28.190 people with a lot of stuff who commit suicide 00:21:28.190 --> 00:21:33.480 on a regular basis. Okay? So abundant life is 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:37.480 bigger than stuff. It's just being filled and 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:42.299 overflowing with love and joy and peace. Being 00:21:42.299 --> 00:21:45.839 satisfied with your relationship with God and 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:48.359 in Him. I mean, that's abundant life. I don't 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:52.180 care what you have. That's abundant life. So 00:21:52.180 --> 00:21:54.019 we see that because of their unbelief, they were 00:21:54.019 --> 00:21:58.319 not able to enter God's rest. God's promise of 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:06.210 entering His rest Still stands. So does this 00:22:06.210 --> 00:22:11.730 apply to us? It still stands. So we ought to 00:22:11.730 --> 00:22:13.549 tremble with fear that some of you might fail 00:22:13.549 --> 00:22:20.809 to experience it. What does that mean? God wants 00:22:20.809 --> 00:22:24.769 us to experience His life, His love, His joy, 00:22:24.890 --> 00:22:28.950 His peace. And it's a shame if we don't experience 00:22:28.950 --> 00:22:35.720 it. It's like, how can you know the promises 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:44.779 of God and not experience it? Well, by not having 00:22:44.779 --> 00:22:49.359 faith in them. A faith that's strong enough to 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:54.299 move your mouth. This is good preaching, but 00:22:54.299 --> 00:22:58.039 it's hard preaching. Somebody smile at the person 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:02.049 beside you and say, this is good preaching. And 00:23:02.049 --> 00:23:04.230 tell them my toes might be hurting just a little 00:23:04.230 --> 00:23:08.970 bit, but this is good preaching. For this good 00:23:08.970 --> 00:23:12.130 news that God has prepared this rest has been 00:23:12.130 --> 00:23:17.670 announced to us just as it was to them. But it 00:23:17.670 --> 00:23:20.950 did them no good because they didn't share the 00:23:20.950 --> 00:23:25.250 faith of those who listened to God. The difference 00:23:25.250 --> 00:23:31.490 was their faith in the promise of God. They're 00:23:31.490 --> 00:23:37.130 words in agreement with the promise of God. They 00:23:37.130 --> 00:23:41.569 spoke in disagreement or against the promise 00:23:41.569 --> 00:23:47.109 of God, so they didn't get it. For only those 00:23:47.109 --> 00:23:53.769 who believe can enter His rest. Hebrews 4 verse 00:23:53.769 --> 00:23:59.940 3. It takes faith. Just knowing that this is 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:02.380 available to you doesn't make it happen in your 00:24:02.380 --> 00:24:08.640 life. Just knowing that salvation is available 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:13.299 doesn't make people saved. They have to respond 00:24:13.299 --> 00:24:18.960 in faith. It's by grace, it's by God's unmerited 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.700 favor, it's by God's acts of kindness and favor 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:25.960 towards you that we can know Christ and be born 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:30.450 again. But it only happens when we respond in 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:35.769 faith. When we believe. And then the Bible even 00:24:35.769 --> 00:24:38.930 says this. Confession is made unto salvation. 00:24:42.029 --> 00:24:46.210 When we believe. When we surrender. When we confess 00:24:46.210 --> 00:24:50.130 that Jesus is Lord. There has to be a confession. 00:24:51.470 --> 00:24:53.849 Not just saying the word. Not just saying the 00:24:53.849 --> 00:24:57.019 title. But saying the relationship. Jesus is 00:24:57.019 --> 00:25:00.539 Lord. Jesus is my Lord. I've surrendered my life 00:25:00.539 --> 00:25:02.339 to Him. I want to live for Him. I want to follow 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:08.859 Him. I want to know Him. Only those who believe 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:13.900 can enter His rest. Only those who believe can 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:18.660 take hold of His promises and see those promises 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:22.900 in their lives fulfilled. Only those who believe. 00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:29.859 We have to believe God's promises. We have to 00:25:29.859 --> 00:25:35.539 believe. 2 Peter 1, verse 3. By His divine power, 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:40.980 God has given us everything we need for living 00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:44.039 a godly life. During this series, one of the 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:47.779 whole messages was, don't let your words cancel 00:25:47.779 --> 00:25:56.000 out your prayers. Here's the deal. God has already 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:02.980 answered most prayers that you pray. He's already 00:26:02.980 --> 00:26:12.440 answered. Hello? He's already answered your prayers. 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:26.420 So quit begging. I can't tell you how much of 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:30.819 my prayer life used to be just begging God. Just 00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:39.539 begging. We need to get to the point where we 00:26:39.539 --> 00:26:43.259 know what God's promise is already. He's already 00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:48.420 promised us something that is an answer to our 00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:52.779 prayer. And we're up there begging God and God's 00:26:52.779 --> 00:26:56.809 saying, Hello? I've already answered this prayer. 00:26:58.549 --> 00:27:01.690 I've already made this answer available to you. 00:27:02.349 --> 00:27:06.009 I've already given it to you. You just need to 00:27:06.009 --> 00:27:08.109 receive it by faith. You need to quit begging 00:27:08.109 --> 00:27:16.109 me for it and receive it. I've known people before 00:27:16.109 --> 00:27:18.130 that just begged and begged and begged and begged 00:27:18.130 --> 00:27:24.819 for God to save them. Oh God, please. Now, for 00:27:24.819 --> 00:27:30.140 us in this room, that's probably strange. I've 00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:33.000 had people say that they just can't get saved 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.700 and they beg God to save them. How many of you 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:38.160 know that Jesus' work on the cross has already 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:43.299 answered that? It's available. It's available. 00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:49.740 You don't have to beg God for it. I'll use my 00:27:49.740 --> 00:27:52.839 most common illustration. Peace is already given 00:27:52.839 --> 00:27:55.859 to you. Jesus said, I give you my peace. I leave 00:27:55.859 --> 00:27:58.059 it with you. Not like the world's peace. It depends 00:27:58.059 --> 00:28:00.599 on what's going on around. But my peace is bigger 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:02.460 than that. And I've already given it to you. 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:04.559 So we don't need to beg him for peace anymore. 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:06.900 We need to receive the peace that he gave us 00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:17.559 by faith. He is Yahweh Shalom. He is peace. By 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:20.039 his divine power, God has given us everything. 00:28:20.279 --> 00:28:21.839 Look to the person beside you and say, everything. 00:28:22.639 --> 00:28:25.000 God's already given you everything you need for 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:26.960 living a godly life. It's already been given 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:30.500 to you. Listen, we have received all of this 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:33.799 by coming to know Him. It's part of being in 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:38.579 Christ. The one who called us to Himself by means 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:43.720 of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because 00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:47.119 of His glory and excellence, look at the person 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:49.339 beside you and say, God's a good God. Because 00:28:49.339 --> 00:28:52.720 of His glory and excellence, He has given us 00:28:52.720 --> 00:29:00.680 great and precious promises. Hundreds of promises 00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:09.759 that God has made to you. Hundreds. I think it's 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:11.220 more than a thousand. I think it's more than 00:29:11.220 --> 00:29:13.220 a couple of thousand if you look at the promises 00:29:13.220 --> 00:29:16.099 in the Bible. There's a lot of things that God 00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:22.079 has promised to you. And the majority of them 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:26.900 probably aren't evident in your life today. Here's 00:29:26.900 --> 00:29:30.279 the deal. It's not God's fault. God is not holding 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:36.940 out on you. He's given us great and precious 00:29:36.940 --> 00:29:41.619 promises. These are the promises. Does anybody 00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:45.599 ever get knocked around by the world? The flesh? 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:48.559 The devil? Anybody get knocked around and beat 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:50.960 up a little bit every once in a while? Well, 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.960 the promises of God enable you to share God's 00:29:53.960 --> 00:29:57.019 divine nature and escape the world's corruption 00:29:57.019 --> 00:30:01.200 caused by human desires. I did not write this. 00:30:01.700 --> 00:30:08.359 I'm just delivering the message. So God has given 00:30:08.359 --> 00:30:11.140 you great and precious promises that will enable 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:14.099 you to escape the world's corruption caused by 00:30:14.099 --> 00:30:19.819 human desires. And in view of all this, get this, 00:30:20.509 --> 00:30:23.230 Make every effort to respond. Everybody say respond. 00:30:23.730 --> 00:30:29.250 See, it's our responsibility to respond. I didn't 00:30:29.250 --> 00:30:32.849 write this. In view of all this, make every effort 00:30:32.849 --> 00:30:37.670 to respond to God's promises. We have to respond 00:30:37.670 --> 00:30:43.490 to God's promises. We don't just sit back and 00:30:43.490 --> 00:30:45.509 say, God, I know you promised it, so I'm just 00:30:45.509 --> 00:30:51.180 going to sit here and wait. Why isn't it showing 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:53.799 up in my life, God? You promised it. Why isn't 00:30:53.799 --> 00:30:55.500 it here? Why are you holding out on me, God? 00:30:55.559 --> 00:31:11.559 Why? Faith is what's missing. What is your response 00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:20.079 to God's promises? What is your response? Here's 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:22.539 the deal. You will receive according to what 00:31:22.539 --> 00:31:32.319 you believe and what you say. But I don't want 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:37.099 any responsibility, God. I just want you to zap 00:31:37.099 --> 00:31:39.500 me with it or the preacher to zap me with it. 00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:48.920 I don't want any responsibility. See? You're 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:50.700 going to receive according to what you believe 00:31:50.700 --> 00:31:53.220 and what you say. Are you going to respond to 00:31:53.220 --> 00:31:55.460 God's promises with words of faith or words of 00:31:55.460 --> 00:32:03.740 unbelief? It's up to you. You might say, what 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:08.640 did Jesus say about it? Mark 11, 22 and 23. Here's 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:10.900 what Jesus said. He says, have faith. We're talking 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:15.619 about faith. Have faith in God. Don't have faith 00:32:15.619 --> 00:32:18.619 in yourself. Don't have faith in your imagination. 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.400 Don't have faith in your feelings. Have faith 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:25.799 in God. Because when we have faith in God, we're 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:28.940 connected to the source that can do something 00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:34.240 about it. So he is able. He is all powerful. 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:37.480 He's the one who can do something. So let's have 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:40.380 faith in him. Let's have faith in what he's promised. 00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:43.819 Let's have faith in what he said. Have faith 00:32:43.819 --> 00:32:46.559 in God. The disciples were like, wait a minute. 00:32:47.059 --> 00:32:50.119 That fig tree, last night you spoke to it. Everybody 00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:53.359 say spoke. You spoke to it, and then today it's 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:57.700 withered up from the roots. So what's going on 00:32:57.700 --> 00:33:01.460 here, Jesus? So Jesus said, have faith in God. 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:08.480 For assuredly, I say to you. He didn't have to 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:10.579 say that, but he just wants to make sure you 00:33:10.579 --> 00:33:13.940 know he's serious in saying it. Assuredly, I 00:33:13.940 --> 00:33:17.519 say to you, what I'm about to tell you is the 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:20.299 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 00:33:20.420 --> 00:33:26.519 For assuredly, for assuredly, I say to you, what 00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:29.960 did Jesus say? Whoever says, everybody hold up 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:34.099 one finger, says. Because our words are going 00:33:34.099 --> 00:33:38.500 to be the result of what we truly believe. Keep 00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:41.299 that finger up. Whoever says to this mountain, 00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:46.079 Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:48.779 not doubt in his heart, but believes. Everybody 00:33:48.779 --> 00:33:52.240 hold a finger on another hand for believe. So 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:54.440 now we're equal, right? Saying and believing 00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:58.640 is equal. Be removed and cast into the sea, does 00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:00.539 not doubt in his heart, but believes that those 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:07.440 things which he says will be done. He will have 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:14.610 whatever he says. Why do you think it says say 00:34:14.610 --> 00:34:18.170 three times and believe one time? We focus in 00:34:18.170 --> 00:34:20.530 on believing and don't focus in on saying, but 00:34:20.530 --> 00:34:23.670 Jesus said say three times and He only said believe 00:34:23.670 --> 00:34:27.849 one time. So everybody show me three fingers. 00:34:28.550 --> 00:34:32.409 You need to say three times as much as you say 00:34:32.409 --> 00:34:40.010 you believe. Because out of the abundance of 00:34:40.010 --> 00:34:44.860 the heart, out of what you are, Just completely 00:34:44.860 --> 00:34:49.019 in agreement with. When you get to that point, 00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:52.139 you're going to talk. Out of the abundance of 00:34:52.139 --> 00:34:57.500 the heart, the mouth speaks. If your faith isn't 00:34:57.500 --> 00:34:58.980 big enough to move your mouth, it's not going 00:34:58.980 --> 00:35:02.760 to move your mountain. If your faith isn't big 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:04.239 enough to move your mouth, it's not going to 00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:08.840 move your fear. It's not going to move your worry. 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:10.960 It's not going to move your anxiety. It's not 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:13.679 going to... Move your temptation. If your faith 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:25.760 isn't big enough to move your mouth. And, you 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:29.800 know, I've read verses before where God said, 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:33.159 you know what? If all you're going to do is talk 00:35:33.159 --> 00:35:37.039 about your trouble, just quit talking. And we 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:41.579 looked at Zechariah. Remember Zechariah? Several 00:35:41.579 --> 00:35:44.380 weeks ago we talked about Zechariah. The angel 00:35:44.380 --> 00:35:48.239 of God appeared and said, Zechariah, God has 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:52.500 heard your prayer. Here's the answer to your 00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:54.199 prayer. You've been praying this prayer, praying 00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:55.820 this prayer, praying this prayer. You and your 00:35:55.820 --> 00:35:57.739 wife Elizabeth, you've been praying and praying 00:35:57.739 --> 00:35:59.380 and praying and praying and praying and praying 00:35:59.380 --> 00:36:03.219 for a son. I know now that you're old and you 00:36:03.219 --> 00:36:04.940 probably don't think you're going to have one, 00:36:05.019 --> 00:36:11.590 but guess what? God's heard your prayer. And 00:36:11.590 --> 00:36:17.690 his words that flowed out of his mouth, instead 00:36:17.690 --> 00:36:20.750 of praising God and saying, wow, this is awesome, 00:36:20.849 --> 00:36:22.849 God. Thank you for answering our prayer. We're 00:36:22.849 --> 00:36:26.969 so excited that we're going to have a son. The 00:36:26.969 --> 00:36:29.250 angel called out his words as being words of 00:36:29.250 --> 00:36:39.650 unbelief. And guess what? God knew. That the 00:36:39.650 --> 00:36:42.670 power of life and death was in his tongue. So 00:36:42.670 --> 00:36:46.849 he just shut him up for nine months. Because 00:36:46.849 --> 00:36:49.889 that answer to prayer had to do with messianic 00:36:49.889 --> 00:36:52.969 prophecy. But nothing going to mess that one 00:36:52.969 --> 00:37:04.469 up. Here's my last verse. Let us hold fast. Everybody 00:37:04.469 --> 00:37:07.889 say, hold on. See, this is where the title came 00:37:07.889 --> 00:37:13.530 from. Hold on. I've been putting it like this. 00:37:13.690 --> 00:37:20.289 With bulldog tenacity. Hold on. Like a bulldog 00:37:20.289 --> 00:37:22.630 latched on a knot on the end of a rope. You can 00:37:22.630 --> 00:37:24.730 pick that dog up in the air and he's still fighting 00:37:24.730 --> 00:37:28.969 that knot. He's not letting go of that knot. 00:37:29.530 --> 00:37:32.909 Just like my grandpuppy. I gave her a big old... 00:37:33.179 --> 00:37:34.980 It kind of scared her at first because I gave 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:37.239 her a Christmas present. My grandpappy, I gave 00:37:37.239 --> 00:37:40.980 her a big orange gorilla, the biggest toy she's 00:37:40.980 --> 00:37:46.579 ever owned. This gorilla, the body is bigger 00:37:46.579 --> 00:37:50.199 than her head, and she's a... But guess what? 00:37:51.800 --> 00:37:54.059 If you try to take it from her today, she's holding 00:37:54.059 --> 00:37:58.139 on with bulldog tenacity. You can't get it out 00:37:58.139 --> 00:38:00.239 of her mouth unless she lets you get it out of 00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:03.940 her mouth. Let us hold fast! Why do we hold him 00:38:03.940 --> 00:38:09.199 fast? Does anybody know what a confession is? 00:38:11.500 --> 00:38:16.119 Does anybody know what a confession is? What's 00:38:16.119 --> 00:38:22.360 a good confession? You don't know what a good 00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:26.420 confession is? A good confession is an agreement 00:38:26.420 --> 00:38:30.739 with what God said. Caleb had a good confession 00:38:30.739 --> 00:38:33.889 when he gave his report. Would you agree with 00:38:33.889 --> 00:38:38.369 me? He had a good confession. He says, God promised 00:38:38.369 --> 00:38:40.909 it, let's go get it. We can have it because God 00:38:40.909 --> 00:38:45.929 promised it. Let us hold fast to the confession 00:38:45.929 --> 00:38:51.349 of our hope. Everybody say hope. I'm going to 00:38:51.349 --> 00:38:56.070 tell you again, the Greek word in the New Testament 00:38:56.070 --> 00:38:59.130 that's translated hope for us is the word elpo, 00:38:59.210 --> 00:39:05.340 E -L -P -O. It doesn't mean hope so. It doesn't 00:39:05.340 --> 00:39:10.360 mean wish. Never in the Bible does that word 00:39:10.360 --> 00:39:17.079 hope mean wish or hope so. That's what it means 00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:18.940 in English. That's what it means in our language. 00:39:19.800 --> 00:39:23.179 That's not what it means in the Bible. Here's 00:39:23.179 --> 00:39:25.139 what it means in the Bible. Confident expectation. 00:39:28.809 --> 00:39:31.150 And you're so confident that you can anticipate 00:39:31.150 --> 00:39:36.730 it with pleasure. That's what hope means. Confident 00:39:36.730 --> 00:39:41.869 expectation. And before it is manifest in your 00:39:41.869 --> 00:39:44.489 life, you're just anticipating it with pleasure. 00:39:44.550 --> 00:39:46.809 You're already happy about it before it happens. 00:39:48.489 --> 00:39:52.969 That's what hope is. Let us hold fast the confession 00:39:52.969 --> 00:39:58.179 of our hope. Now, how could we hold fast to a 00:39:58.179 --> 00:40:01.179 confession of our hope and have confident expectation? 00:40:01.619 --> 00:40:06.840 We can't do that unless our hope and our confession 00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:20.599 is anchored in God and His faithfulness. You 00:40:20.599 --> 00:40:26.400 know what? I might let you down one day. I don't 00:40:26.400 --> 00:40:34.519 want to, but I might let you down. Right? Has 00:40:34.519 --> 00:40:37.820 anybody ever let somebody down before? You've 00:40:37.820 --> 00:40:43.780 let somebody down. I might let you down. Guess 00:40:43.780 --> 00:40:51.440 what? God will never let you down. I could have 00:40:51.440 --> 00:40:54.400 every intention of washing your car this afternoon, 00:40:54.460 --> 00:40:55.900 and I could tell you that I'm going to wash your 00:40:55.900 --> 00:41:01.059 car. But there are things out of my control. 00:41:02.739 --> 00:41:06.760 I might not be able to wash your car, even though 00:41:06.760 --> 00:41:08.880 I really wanted to. You see what I'm saying? 00:41:13.179 --> 00:41:17.840 But there's nothing that is out of God's control. 00:41:19.050 --> 00:41:21.170 That could keep him from keeping his promise. 00:41:25.389 --> 00:41:29.909 Woo! Let us hold fast the confession of our hope 00:41:29.909 --> 00:41:34.789 without wavering. Now here's the key. Can't have 00:41:34.789 --> 00:41:37.610 confident expectation right now and then kind 00:41:37.610 --> 00:41:42.829 of lose it. And then say, well, I'm going to 00:41:42.829 --> 00:41:46.650 have confident expectation again, but now I see 00:41:46.650 --> 00:41:50.170 something and oh man. That's probably never going 00:41:50.170 --> 00:41:57.590 to happen. Probably never going to happen. It's 00:41:57.590 --> 00:42:05.349 called wavering. Wavering. We've got to hold 00:42:05.349 --> 00:42:10.369 fast to our words that are based on a promise 00:42:10.369 --> 00:42:13.510 of God and we're confidently expecting and we've 00:42:13.510 --> 00:42:17.519 got to keep on confidently expecting. You know 00:42:17.519 --> 00:42:20.059 why we can keep on confidently expecting? Keep 00:42:20.059 --> 00:42:27.900 reading. For he who promised is faithful. You 00:42:27.900 --> 00:42:32.440 got to keep confidently expecting even though 00:42:32.440 --> 00:42:38.159 what you see is not in agreement with the promise. 00:42:38.199 --> 00:42:41.239 Even though you see some giants and fortified 00:42:41.239 --> 00:42:46.050 walls and cities. You've got to keep it on the 00:42:46.050 --> 00:42:49.630 confident expectation that God has said, this 00:42:49.630 --> 00:42:51.949 is mine, this is promised to me, and it's mine, 00:42:52.050 --> 00:43:00.309 let's go get it. Are you with me? You can't say, 00:43:00.389 --> 00:43:03.349 well, I don't know, these are big guys, but I'm 00:43:03.349 --> 00:43:06.889 confident, I'm confident. I don't know, these 00:43:06.889 --> 00:43:10.230 fortified cities, I feel like a grasshopper. 00:43:10.929 --> 00:43:20.050 Oh, I'm confident. Here's why you've got to hold 00:43:20.050 --> 00:43:25.210 fast. Because you have a promise from God. And 00:43:25.210 --> 00:43:27.090 it doesn't matter what I see because I don't 00:43:27.090 --> 00:43:32.050 walk by sight. I walk by faith. I don't walk 00:43:32.050 --> 00:43:37.969 by feelings. I walk by faith. I don't walk by 00:43:37.969 --> 00:43:40.309 every thought that comes into my mind because 00:43:40.309 --> 00:43:44.250 the enemy's got some flaming arrows that are 00:43:44.250 --> 00:43:47.469 trying to get you to not confidently expect. 00:43:48.490 --> 00:43:50.889 anticipate with pleasure. When those hit, you 00:43:50.889 --> 00:44:00.829 don't just fall for that. Why? Because I've got 00:44:00.829 --> 00:44:05.030 a good God and I've got a faithful God. He keeps 00:44:05.030 --> 00:44:09.449 His promises. So I'm going to stand. This is 00:44:09.449 --> 00:44:12.730 the hill I'm going to stand on. God's a good 00:44:12.730 --> 00:44:19.579 God. God keeps His promises. He's faithful. He's 00:44:19.579 --> 00:44:25.599 faithful. So here's the DFV. Dean Forrest's version. 00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:31.820 After looking up the words. I'm not a Bible translator, 00:44:31.960 --> 00:44:36.719 but you can look up these words and you will 00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:42.800 agree with my DFV translation. DFV, Dean Forrest's 00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:44.320 version, if you're trying to figure that out. 00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:52.420 No matter what you see or feel, hold on. Everybody 00:44:52.420 --> 00:44:56.960 say, hold on. Hold on to joyful words of confident 00:44:56.960 --> 00:45:00.420 expectation. No matter what you see or feel. 00:45:01.980 --> 00:45:04.679 Hold on to those joyful words of confident expectation 00:45:04.679 --> 00:45:09.619 concerning the promises of God. Concerning those 00:45:09.619 --> 00:45:12.019 promises being fulfilled in your life. Hold on 00:45:12.019 --> 00:45:15.219 to some joyful words of confident expectation. 00:45:17.159 --> 00:45:20.380 And here's a warning. Never speak against the 00:45:20.380 --> 00:45:27.119 promises of God. Everybody say, that's wavering. 00:45:27.900 --> 00:45:30.360 When we speak against the promises of God, that's 00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:38.539 wavering. Don't expect anything if you're back 00:45:38.539 --> 00:45:44.199 and forth. Wish I had the verse over here. Double 00:45:44.199 --> 00:45:46.829 -minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Don't 00:45:46.829 --> 00:45:48.489 expect anything from God if you're just going 00:45:48.489 --> 00:45:54.130 to be back and forth all the time. Never speak 00:45:54.130 --> 00:45:58.329 against Him. Why do we not need to speak against 00:45:58.329 --> 00:46:00.389 the promises of God? Because God is faithful 00:46:00.389 --> 00:46:03.570 and He always keeps His promises. And you've 00:46:03.570 --> 00:46:06.449 got to be sold out on that. If you're going to 00:46:06.449 --> 00:46:08.869 be a person of faith and receive the promises 00:46:08.869 --> 00:46:10.849 of God, you've got to be sold out that God is 00:46:10.849 --> 00:46:13.650 faithful. If God said it, I can take it to the 00:46:13.650 --> 00:46:16.420 bank. Because God is faithful and He always keeps 00:46:16.420 --> 00:46:19.000 His promises. Now there's some promises that 00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:22.760 He's made me that, hey, it's been years have 00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:27.480 passed. I'm not talking about, you know, if it 00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:29.179 ain't here in five minutes, we're going to give 00:46:29.179 --> 00:46:33.639 up and start wavering. If it's not here by Friday, 00:46:33.800 --> 00:46:39.300 we're going to give up and start wavering. If 00:46:39.300 --> 00:46:40.880 it's not here by the end of the month, well, 00:46:41.000 --> 00:46:52.059 it ain't going to happen. Well, you just spoke. 00:46:54.440 --> 00:46:58.239 And it's not going to happen. And you're going 00:46:58.239 --> 00:47:03.519 to get what you believe and what you say. 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