Fence Walkers

 Revelation 3:14-16, “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

You will hear a lot these days about change you can believe in. I want to talk about change God can believe in. We always say, "I believe in God," but did you know that God believes in you too? And whenever you confess your sins and become born again, then that’s when God wants to believe in you the most. Our text tells us that it literally sickens God whenever we can’t make up our minds. Do we want to serve God? Do we want a part-time salvation? Or will we commit to His fullness and be obedient to His word?

What does your life look like? Are you lukewarm? Are you hot or on fire for God? Or has your desire for Him grown cold and only now and then "fires" up? I believe it all begins with genuine repentance. Are you truly sorry whenever you sin? Have you changed since you were saved? Or do you feel guilty now whenever you sin? What is the fruit of your salvation? If you’ve just recently been saved, can your friends see a difference in your life? There needs to be a change that we all can believe in!

Here’s a fact of life.....change is inevitable. That’s right, we are going to change whether we want to or not. Don’t believe me? Pull out some pictures of yourself from last Christmas. Have you changed? I have! A little fatter, a little greyer. Things change even when we don’t want them to. Not all changes are good! Some changes are for the better...some are not. Some grow "hotter" in God. Some cool off and go from lukewarm to cold. So, we have to be aware that change will occur and make a conscious decision to continue to grow closer to God instead of growing away from Him.

Life is like a river. There is a current constantly flowing. Usually, we go upriver. We must paddle. If we quit paddling in the middle of a current, we don’t just sit still in the same place. We go wherever the current takes us. That’s probably what we were doing before we came to the Lord. That’s not changed; that’s the same old, same old. It takes determination and drive to paddle. It takes strength and faith to keep paddling for your destination. It takes the Holy Ghost to continue whenever you don’t feel like paddling.

The gospel is about change. A person who has accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and has made a commitment to Him is going to change. A person who claims to have accepted Jesus as their Lord and who continues to be substantially what they always have been is kidding no one but themselves. If you catch on to this gospel, it will change you! There is a contradiction these days that comes out of a word that has become the motto of the contemporary religious scene, and that word is "tolerance." Some are saying, "I’m okay, you’re okay." Some are saying that Jesus accepts us just the way we are.

Now, this is true only if it is understood what the gospel is all about. Coming to Jesus just the way we are is like getting into the shower just the way we are. A person doesn’t take a shower before they get in. They get into the shower just the way they are, literally. But when they get out of the shower, they are different; they are clean. Because that is what showers are for. Showering is what I do to get clean and keep clean. And so a person comes to Jesus just as they are like you or I get into the shower after working in the yard.

A person who comes to Jesus just as they are...proud, selfish, bitter, resentful, lustful and out of control...and who stays that way hasn’t really come to Jesus at all. Coming to Jesus is about being washed and being made clean. The scripture is clear that those who are forgiven must also be cleansed from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Look at the first part of that. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” Forgiveness is freely given for genuine repentance. To repent means literally to "turn away" from the act that you are seeking forgiveness for. Genuine repentance means that you are sorry and that you will stop doing that which has grieved God and separated you from Him.

How about this....“Lord, I’m really sorry I got caught.” or “God, I really regret that sin. I sure hope I can do better next time.” Does either of these statements indicate genuine repentance? I don’t think so. Both are prompted out of guilt or embarrassment, not a heartfelt sense of remorse over the fact that the Father has been grieved. Usually, those who pray like this have no intention of changing. They just want God off their backs.

Genuine repentance involves several things. First, confession. Not just, “Lord, I’m sorry for my mistake,” but “Lord, I have sinned against you.” Confession acknowledges guilt. The second is repentance. Repentance involves recognizing that the sin was against God. Although David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed, he realized that his sin was primarily against the Lord. Psalm 51:2-4, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight.”

All of us need to recognize that our sin is primarily against God. Other people may be hurt as well. However, when we hold our sin up to the love of the Father expressed through the Cross, we see that is where sin is darkest. Repentance also includes taking full responsibility for our sins. David didn’t blame Bathsheba or make any excuses for himself. He said, “For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.” He didn’t say, "The devil made me do it"! David realized that he alone was responsible for his sin. Whenever we catch ourselves blaming someone else...even the devil...for our sin, our repentance is incomplete. We should take full responsibility for our offense, no matter what happened or who was involved. Regardless of the temptation, we are ultimately the ones who choose to sin.

 

Lastly, repentance is not complete without honesty. I believe God is looking for us to be honest about our weaknesses, our failures, and our frustrations. Honesty promotes fellowship. If we are open and honest with the Lord, He can continue to work with us, even after we have sinned. We get into trouble when we start to cover things up: “Now, Lord, I know I made a mistake. But after all, everybody makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.” Responding this way avoids the real issue and is therefore dishonest. If we approach God in that fashion, there is not much He can do with us.

look at 1 John 1:9 again, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That says that He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we what? Confess our sins. It is so important for the believer to repent.

Repentance is different, however, for the believer and the unbeliever. Repentance for those outside of Christ means a change of mind. The unbeliever is to change his mind about what he believes concerning Jesus. He moves from unbelief to the belief that Christ paid the penalty for his sin. An unsaved person admits that they cannot save their self. They trust Jesus instead of their own goodness for eternal life. They change their mind about God and His payment for our sins. It is important to understand that repentance for the unbeliever does not refer to cleaning up his life. There is no magic wand that makes them perfected in Christ overnight...any more than the believer has a magic wand that causes them to make the right decisions.

And unbelievers should understand this.... you don’t clean up your life and come to God...you come to God and let His Spirit clean you up! Let Him change you...because He will if you are obedient to Him. But even after you come to Christ, you will still have the need at times for repentance. After you receive Jesus, you will continue to repent as you grow in Christian faith and character. This repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in behavior.

What happens when we delay our repentance? The Bible teaches that God disciplines those who are disobedient. When we keep on in our sin with no intention of stopping, we won’t escape the disciplining hand of the Father. There is a consequence to our sin and our failure to address it. However, we know that if you and I deal with our sins genuinely, openly, and immediately, God can lessen the severity of our discipline. We are wise to repent as quickly as the Holy Spirit has convicted us. That’s another reason that we should desire more and more of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives.

The issue is not whether we should change; God is insisting that we change. We are all going to change before this is over. But scripture and history teach us that some will change and be saved, and others will change and be lost.

There is one thing that hasn’t changed. And that is the Word of God. It was infallible when it was written, and it is infallible now. Just because you have changed, or society has changed doesn’t mean God’s Word has or ever will. Malachi 3:6, “ For I am the LORD, I do not change.” or Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

It used to be taught that the hour of God’s judgment means that we are in danger. It was taught there are forces out there that can do us in and that our only safety is to be completely committed to Jesus. It was taught that the devil was going to be destroyed, and those who persisted in being on his side would be finally destroyed with him in hell. That’s the way it used to be taught.

There is a new spin being given to things now. Hell is out. It is “politically incorrect” to talk about hell. Love is in. The truth is that if you really want to know what the love of God is all about, you must keep hell in the picture. Can’t you see how that must be? If we do away with hell, there is not really much incentive to respond to the love of God.

 

We are not hearing enough about the devil and his tactics these days. We do not seem to be aware that there is an enemy after us who is more dangerous than a sniper, a stalker, or a pedophile. There is an enemy who is after us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from the time we are born into this world until we check out at the end. If the devil ain’t chasing you, it’s because he’s already got you! He has some new tactics, though.

You remember that at the beginning of the Christian era, Satan tried to destroy the church by force. But this only caused the church to band together and to grow. Satan then changed his tactic, and instead of trying to wipe out the church by force, he simply decided to join it, and he encouraged his infidel followers to do the same. What was true way back then is especially true in this generation. If a person is not aware of this infiltration and expects the devil to be on the outside and the good guys on the inside, that person will be in for a big surprise.

When the devil appeared to Jesus in the wilderness, he did not appear in the form of a red imp with a pitchfork. He appeared as an angel from heaven. If Jesus had judged strictly from appearances, He might have been deceived. And so, in the 21st century, if we judge strictly by appearances, we will be deceived. The scripture is clear in the book of Revelation that before this is all over, the very elect could be deceived. There will be miracles wrought and other signs and wonders. God’s Word has NOT changed!

The problem is that since the devil was baptized and became a member of the church in good and regular standing, he has been trying to change the rules and redefine the parameters of the game. Of course, this must not be allowed in the church because, as far as church doctrine and the meaning of holiness and godly living are concerned, it is the Word of God that has the last say. It is not up for a vote or a matter of how a person may see it.

We must return to the Word of God as the standard of righteousness. We must wake up and see that, although we are changing and we must change, the change must be a change toward holiness and godliness and not a change that would institutionalize the world and its sinful ways. It cannot be a change that “tolerates” what is an abomination to the Lord.

Some would say that we ought to empathize with people and compromise the truth in order to get people into church. The ideology that we must meet people’s needs if we are to attract them to Jesus is flawed unless it is well thought out. Dope addicts have needs. Their need is more dope. Those who sell drugs are meeting that need. What they really need is to understand the grace of God and the life that they can have in Christ! The drugs just satisfy a passing fancy....and getting people into the church by entertaining them is simply satisfying a temporal need and not an eternal one! They must recognize the need for true repentance and change in their lives!

Friends, the church is not a club or a social event. It is a place to come and worship God in Spirit and in truth. It is a place to gather with like-minded people to strengthen our faith and encourage each other. It is a place that reminds us that we need to come to God with genuine repentance and to offer up the change in our lives that God Himself can believe in!

The Incomparable Jesus

 There is a song that we used to sing:

 

Lord you are more precious than silver

Lord you are more costly than gold

Lord you are more beautiful than diamonds

And nothing I desire compares to you.

 

Those are some wonderful words, and when they are spoken from the heart of a man or woman who truly loves the Lord, they are transformed into words of worship and praise to Jesus. In our attempt to compare Jesus, we try to use the most precious, beautiful, and costly things in creation to describe how great Christ is and how much we love him.

But no matter how hard we try, there is nothing in this world that can compare to the greatness, the mercy, and the love of God that we can sense in our hearts. As Christians, we do all that we can do to give glory to our Savior, but our finite minds cannot begin to fathom just how great Jesus really is. No matter what words we sing that are so beautiful; no matter what poems we write that glorify Him; no matter what we try to compare Jesus to, it is never good enough.

How can we compare the love of God to anything in this earth? How can we compare the mercy of God and the grace of God to anything in creation? How can anything that has been created possibly compare to the Creator? There are no words that can truly describe the wondrous God that we serve. Somehow, all attempts fall short of what we really want to say to Him.

In the Book of Isaiah the Prophet, God begins to speak to His own people in Israel and explain to them that there is nothing that can compare to Him.

 

Isaiah 40:18, "To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?"

Isaiah 40:22, "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:"

Isaiah 40:25-26, "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth."

 

Christian, what is there in this world that can compare to Jesus? And what can we use to compare the beauty of our Heavenly Home?

There are so many lost souls in this world who are convinced that what they can see with their eyes, feel with their hands, taste with their mouths, and hear with their ears is all there is to life. Their eyes are blinded to the beauty of the eternal things of God and the beauty of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Their hands can build beautiful buildings and create wonderful landscapes and create wonderful works of art, but their hands are limited to only what they can touch in this corrupt and sinful world. They can’t reach over into the spiritual realm by faith and grasp hold of the beauty of salvation and the gospel. They can’t handle the truth and feel its power in their lives.

They can taste the good things of this life, the wonderful foods, and the good life that can be had for a price. Still, not one of them is able to “taste and see that the Lord is Good” with their natural instincts, so they cannot begin to understand that the best this world has to offer is less than nothing compared to what God offers to His people in the spiritual realm.

They can hear the grand music that stirs the soul and warms the heart; music that man, whom God has blessed with such great talents, has written even in his fallen, degenerate, and sinful condition. They can hear the voices of their loved ones as they speak and let those voices of love bring joy to their lives. But even these things of such great beauty and grace cannot compare to the beauty and grace of hearing the voice of God as he speaks to your heart and feeling the perfect love of Jesus Christ.

They can learn the wisdom of men, and there are some great things that man can teach, but the wisest of men and greatest of man’s wisdom and knowledge is nothing but foolishness in the eyes of God. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” (1 Corinthians 3:19).

What can compare to God? What can compare to His love? What can compare to his grace? What can compare to God’s power?

No matter what our level of education and our ability to express our feelings and to articulate our thoughts, we are so very incapable of truly describing the glory and majesty of Almighty God. Our God is an incomparable God! Nothing can compare to him!

Once we have handled the Word of God, we have tasted the goodness of God; we have heard the voice of the Lord speak to us; and we have beheld His beauty and grace, and we have gained the wisdom that He has to offer, and we have seen his majesty and power. We will know that certainly there is nothing that can compare to Him.

Some of you may be like I am. I love to travel and see the beauty of this country in the mountains, the seashores, and the cities that men have created. There are some wonderful sights to behold. When I look at the majesty of the mountains of this world, whether they are the Great Smoky Mountains or the Rockies, or the Cascades out west, I can’t help but be moved by their beauty. When I look at nature with the wonderful parks, rivers, and lakes that are meant for man to enjoy, I marvel at the beauty that God has created for all of us. I look at the Grand Canyon and all of the great wonders of the world. And I am amazed by God’s great design.

And yet, I must remember that all of these wonderful things, in their beauty and majesty, cannot compare with the glory of that New Jerusalem and the New Heavens and New Earth that Jesus will have waiting for me on the other side.

May we never forget that all these things – all of the campgrounds, the rivers, the lakes, the mountains that rise above the clouds, and the valleys that lie below in all their beauty, and the skies above, with the beautiful stars and the clouds that grace the sky. All of it, every bit of it, will soon be dissolved forever as the old is cast aside and burned away like chaff to allow the rise of the new things that Jesus has for us all.

Friends, if your eyes are focused only on the things of this present world and you are not looking with eyes of faith upon those things that are eternal, you will miss the best that God has to offer. Let us not be so focused on enjoying the wonders of this present world that we miss the far greater wonders of the world to come.

The song says we think of Jesus as more precious than silver and more costly than gold. My, what an understatement! How can I compare the value of a piece of silver, or the cost of a bar of gold, to the value of my salvation and my Savior? There is no comparison there!

All the silver in the world is nothing compared to the presence of the Holy Ghost in my life! And there isn’t enough gold in the world to buy even one drop of the precious blood that was shed for me!

The love of God is free, and I’m glad it is, for there is no price that could be paid to buy that love. The grace and mercies of God are free, and it’s a good thing, for no amount of sacrifice and no amount of money could purchase them.

Let me confess that this life that I live for the Lord Jesus Christ is not always easy. It is not always fun. I am not always living on top of the mountain. There are times when I can feel the weight of the world and the heaviness of sin, and there are times when I feel like I’m walking through the valley of the shadow of death, but there is no life that can compare to the peace that I feel even in the worst of those times.

In times of sickness, I’m glad to know that there are some good doctors out there who can help us to get well. Still, I’m so glad that when those doctors can’t do anymore and they have reached their limitations, I still know the Great Physician, and I can call on Him anytime without an appointment, without a co-pay, and I won’t have to sit in a waiting room for hours to reach him.

In Exodus 15:26, God spoke to Israel and said, “… I am the LORD that healeth thee."

He is the Lord that healeth me, and He is only a prayer away all the time. I can call on Jesus anytime. I don’t have to call an ambulance to get to where he is. I don’t have to jump into a car and fly through the night in an emergency. Jesus is with us all the time, and he is ever waiting for our cry to him.

He is a merciful Lord and able to heal all our sickness and cure all our diseases. He is an incomparable Lord. I don’t have an earthly doctor who studied in some medical school for years and who lives with me all the time, but I have someone better than that. I have the very God who created this body in the first place living with me all the time, and He’s there when I need him. All I must do is reach out by faith and receive what He has for me.

In times of financial difficulties, I can call on Jesus. I can call the bank, but they may not want to loan you the money, and if they do, there will be a lot of interest to pay for the “favor” of loaning it to you. And the more you need their help, the less likely they are to give it. But my Father in Heaven owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He knows how to meet my need and he has never failed me. Best of all, what he gives is a gift that carries no interest, no carrying costs, and never has to be given back. And it doesn’t matter what I need; I know my God is sufficient to meet that need.

I may never be rich in this world’s goods. I may never live the lifestyles of the rich and famous, but I do know that His Word promises us in Psalms 37:25-26, "… I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful and lendeth, and his seed is blessed."

In times of sorrow, in times of distress, in times of despair, and in times of discouragement, I know that I can call on Jesus anytime and I know that he will hear me and answer my prayer. He stays closer than a brother. When everything else fails me, and everyone else leaves me, and no one can help anymore, Jesus will still be there! He is my incomparable Savior and my ever-present help in time of need! According to Hebrews 4:16, I can go, “… boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

The sad part is that there are so many people in this world who don’t know my Incomparable Lord! They have never heard the name of Jesus spoken to them in such a way that they can sense his love reaching out to them.

And there are many who claim to know him. But do they really know him? They haven’t experienced his great love. They haven’t felt his peace in their hearts. They haven’t had the joy of receiving the baptism in the Holy Ghost. They don’t know the true salvation that I know.

They know about the Lord, but they don’t have a personal, one-on-one relationship with Him! They are still trying to compare him with the world. When you really love the Lord, and you truly know Him in the power of His might and have experienced the presence of the Holy Ghost in your life, there is nothing else that can take their place anymore. There is nothing in this world that can compare.

Perhaps you haven’t felt the presence of the Lord in your life. Somewhere, down deep inside, there is an emptiness that only Jesus can fill. That empty place is your heart and your soul, and it is there for a purpose. It is there as a dwelling place, down deep inside, for the presence of the Lord to live in you.

Maybe you haven’t known the peace of God that is beyond understanding. Maybe you haven’t felt the love of God as He wraps his arms around you and draws you close to his side. Maybe you haven’t experienced the wonderful joy that knowing Jesus as your Savior can bring.

There is nothing that I can use to describe to you what all of these things feel like. You must experience them for yourself. There’s nothing that can compare to the things that God has for you. But you’ll never know what they are until you surrender your heart to Jesus and let Him be the Lord of your life.

If there is someone like that reading this, I urge you today to come to my Incomparable Christ and give your life to him. I won’t promise you a life of ease or constant victory, but I will promise you that Jesus will always be there when you need him and that He will meet your every need. Most of all, I promise you, upon God’s Word, that you will enjoy the wonders of Heaven and miss that awful place called hell. God will give you eternal life right now if you want it.

Perhaps you have come to Christ and have a begun a walk with him, and yet there is still something missing. There is still an emptiness on the inside. How long has it been since you heard the voice of the Lord speak to you? How long has it been since you really felt that wonderful peace in your heart? How long has it been since you felt the sweet presence of the Holy Ghost?

How long will you allow Satan to blind you and lead you away from God? Right now you can come back to Jesus. God still loves you. He won’t give up on you easily. He is long-suffering toward us, and His greatest desire is to see us come back to Him.

Do you know my Incomparable Jesus? Is He living in you, and is He the Lord of your life? Why not come to Christ and then walk with him in the greatest life that anyone can have? A life that is wholly surrendered to God’s will?

 

Be Strong and Courageous

 Joshua 1:1-9

 

This story from the life of Joshua gives us the perfect picture of the commitment we must have if we are to accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God. It also lets us know why we often fail to accomplish those great things.

 

1:1 “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,”

1:2 “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.”

 

Regardless of who we are, there will come a time when we must step out in faith and walk with God without anyone there to hold our hand. Ultimately, the life we live before God is between our own heart and the heart of God. No one else can answer for our actions, and no one else can remove the consequences of those actions.

Joshua had lost his mentor. Until this time, Joshua had been a follower more than a leader. It was easier to lead when Moses was there to help answer the tough questions. It is always easy to make decisions, correct problems, or say what needs to be done if you aren’t involved in the front lines of the fight. In the thick of the battle, though, it isn’t so easy to see or make those quick decisions when you come to realize that every word you speak, every action you take, and every command you give can mean the difference between life and death. In the church, this is even more damaging when you realize that the decision doesn’t mean just life on earth but can cause the eternal loss of a soul.

There is a statement that I read once that said this, “When in charge, ponder. When in trouble, delegate. When in doubt, mumble.”

That little statement contains so much truth. A leader never wants to appear indecisive or admit he doesn’t know the answer. They will sit and think about a situation for a long time, hoping that it will solve itself in the meantime. They get in trouble for either making a decision too quickly without knowing all the facts and then they try to put the blame on anything but our own inadequacies. The last portion of that saying is the truest of all. If they don’t know what to do or have an answer, so, they say anything but not loud enough to sound like they are giving instructions. They just mumble and let those around them work it out the best way they can.

Then, when it comes out right, they love to jump up, take the recognition, and claim that they solved the problem. God help us when we don’t have the courage to say those words that every man finds nearly impossible to say when asked a question, “I DON’T KNOW!”

Joshua found himself alone with God and responsible for the fulfillment of the destiny of the nation of Israel. God’s command and promise of a land that they would occupy as their own still stood true, and yet Joshua knew the fickle nature of the Jews.

In his heart, Joshua may have felt a lot like the baby whale who heard his mother say, "When you get to the top and start letting off steam, that’s the time you’re most apt to be harpooned."

This nation of people had failed in their first attempt to obey God and possess the land God had promised, and now they were here for their second opportunity to obey. Joshua knew that this time, it was do or die because he would never survive another 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Israel had to go over the Jordan River and conquer Canaan, or there would most likely never be an Israel again, and God would have to raise up another people to call His own.

Have you ever been to a point in your spiritual life where you knew that you had been here before, a kind of “spiritual de-ja-vu?” How many times has God brought us to the “Jordan” and told us to go over, and we fell back in doubt and fear?

God never saves a soul with the intention of allowing that soul to be lost in the end. He paid a terrible price for our salvation, and He wants us all to be blessed beyond measure. He desires for all of us to take up our cross and follow Him to the end.

Can you hear yourself asking, “God, why do I keep failing repeatedly? Why, Lord, must I face the same old friends, the same old temptations, the same set of circumstances and fail every time I face them? God why can’t I move on and become more stable in my walk with you? Why can’t I live a more sanctified and holy life? Why am I so unstable?”

I believe that if we follow the commands of God to Joshua and Joshua’s example in obeying those commands, we will quit riding the roller coaster life of failure and victory, and we will be victorious in all things. If we just learn to listen and obey.

Understand that God never changes his command to us. Once the Spirit of God speaks direction into the heart of a man, that direction never changes. God had commanded Moses to take the Children of Israel into the Promised Land, and Moses had failed and was not allowed to lead them over. But Joshua was to continue the work for the command had not changed and the promise of God had not failed. Now, Joshua was to complete the task that God had commanded.

God has given each of us a command to follow Him. He has instructed us to take the land and win souls for Him. He may have done so through a command to teach, to preach, to witness on the streets, to witness to our own family, to work in some capacity in the church, or any combination of these things. Still, He has commanded us to occupy until He comes, and that means work, not sit idle or do nothing. This means that He has chosen each of us to take up the gauntlet and see the work go forth that those who came before us were unable to complete in their lifetime.

I can tell you this. There are times when you will begin to move out in obedience to God’s commands, and you know that God has given you the authority and the ability to accomplish the work He has called you to do. Even so, I sometimes feel like General John Galvin, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and Commander-in-Chief of U.S. European Command, was asked what it was like to be in charge of so many various forces. His reply: "I often feel like the director of a cemetery. I have a lot of people under me, but nobody listens."

 

1:3 “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.”

1:4 “From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.”

1:5 “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

 

As you can see, God’s command to Joshua was to carry on the work that was begun by Moses. Now Joshua had to look to God for answers, for no man could give him the help that was available from God. When God gives you a job to do, He will also equip you for the challenges of that job. Someone said, "Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks."

I must make the point at this time that Joshua was not manipulating people or jockeying for the position of leader of Israel. God gave Joshua this position only after Joshua had proven for many years as a follower and obedient servant to the man that God had put over him. Joshua left Egypt with Moses over 40 years before.

Too many times, we want God to place us in a position of authority and put us in the limelight of ministry without paying the price of being a follower and learning the lessons of leadership first. God never works that way. We must be faithful in many small things before God can allow us to be responsible for many things, especially the souls of His people.

 

1:6 “Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.”

1:7 “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.”

Since God’s plan requires courage you will have to depend upon him and face the challenges of life and win over them if you would experience God’s best for your life. It is easier to have courage when you know what the purpose of God is in your life!

I have discovered that a lot of people I talk to claim to be strong spiritually, but every time I see them, they are down in the dumps about something. I feel like telling them, “If you are so strong and victorious in your life, why don’t you let your attitude reflect it and your face show it?”

I realize that we all have bad times and bad days. But we must have courage and faith, and trust in God that it will all be right. We should pick our heads up and live on victoriously.

In verse 7, I believe that we can see the real reason that so many people live such wishy-washy Christian lives. They are up one day and down the next, living large one day and under their circumstances the next! Do you see the reason?

We must observe to obey all of God’s commands, not just those we like. Most people read the Ten Commandments and say to themselves, like the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19, “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”

Jesus told him to give up everything and follow Me, and the young ruler could not, for he was too self-centered and focused on the material things of this life. He wanted to live life on his terms and not God’s.

We must not focus on this life, our desires, our ambitions, our goals, our likes or dislikes. We must focus on God’s commands and move out! We must not turn to the right to see even that which is good and yet will turn us from God’s chosen path. We must not turn to the left or any other direction and chase after the pleasures and possessions of this present world, forgetting that it shall all perish. Put on your spiritual blinders and resist temptation. Keep yourself from the very appearance of evil, and you won’t face so much temptation. Keep the blinders on and your eyes on Jesus and the prize of eternal life.

 

1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

 

Here is the key to ultimate victory in our daily walk with God. We should keep the Laws of God in our hearts and minds all the time. We must learn to meditate upon the Word, chew it up, digest it, and allow it to change us from day to day.

We will only have a prosperous life and experience good success if we stay in the Word of God and obey its commands. We must stay true to the call of God. We must focus only on His will for our lives. Only when our will and our desires begin to coincide with the will and desires of God will we really experience “the good life” and have good success in our work for Him.

Finally, let me exhort you. Just as God spoke the words, “Be strong and of good courage,” to Joshua three times, He is speaking those same words to us right now. Don’t allow fear, doubt, and frustration to sidetrack your work for God. Step out in faith, trusting God for the victory. Learn to be a good follower so that God can make you into a great leader. Then, go out with courage and face the challenges of ministry to accomplish great works for the Kingdom of God.

 God is with you wherever you go and whatever you do for Him. Since God is with us and helping us, how can we fail? We can do nothing else but have good success. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).

Don't Be Afraid to Dunk

 The story is about two ducks and a frog living together in a farm pond. They were best of friends. You could watch them amuse themselves and play together in their pond all day. When the hot summer days came, however, the pond began to dry up, and soon it was evident they would have to move. This was no problem for the ducks. They could easily fly to another pond. But the frog was in trouble. He would be long dead before he could find another pond to live in.

So it was decided that they would use a stick that could be held on both ends in the bill of two ducks that would fly side my side. That way the frog could hang on to the stick with his mouth as they flew to another pond and safety.

The plan worked well. It was a strange sight to see the ducks and the frog flying along and so, as they were flying along a farmer looked up in sky and saw them. In admiration for their ingenuity he said. "Well, isn’t that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it?" The frog forgot what he was doing and with a sense of great pride in his wisdom he opened his mouth and said, "I d i i d ..!" A few moments later he was dead, splattered on the ground. He was too proud of his own accomplishments to keep his mouth shut and save his own life.

Pride is a terrible thing. That frog found out in a very hard lesson that the Word of God is true.

 

 Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

 

It was pride that caused man to fall into the Garden of Eden. Adam was too proud to admit that he could not be as God. It was pride that caused the population of the whole world to perish in the flood. Their pride wouldn’t let them repent and be invited into the Ark. It is pride that causes so many people today to refuse to confess that they need God, and that pride will certainly lead to their eternal downfall.

How many times does God give us the way out of our sentence of death for sin in His Word? How many places can we find where God gives us some specific instructions on how to live in a manner that is pleasing to Him? How many times does His Word tell us that he will be our God if we will only be His people? Time and time again, God reaches out to mankind, making every effort to bring people back into the right relationship with Him, but pride won’t let us hear him. Pride won’t let us obey Him. Pride won’t let us surrender our will to His will. Pride leads us through life like we have a ring in our nose and it’s pulling our nose upward all the time. We are snubbing our nose at God with arrogance and pride saying that we don’t need Him, we can make it on our own.

The Word of God contains a very pointed story of the pride of one man. It speaks to each of us concerning our own pre-conceived ideas of how God should move on our behalf. We are so arrogant that we think we have it all figured out, and we try to put God in a box and tell Him how to bless us and where to lead us. Even Christians, who are born again and filled with the Holy Ghost, often have this same sense of pride. We think we know what’s best for ourselves, and we don’t even ask God what He thinks. We do our thing and then expect God to bless us just because we acknowledge Him from time to time.

Friends, God won’t fit into your box or my box. Our preconceived ideas and notions don’t restrict him. Romans 11:33 says, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

When we think we have it all figured out, God bursts forth from our box and begins to move and work in ways we could not have imagined. That’s what happens in this story found in 2 Kings, chapter 5. Let us examine the story together and glean for ourselves what the Holy Spirit and the Word of God would say to each of us.

 

2 Kings 5:1, “Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.”

 

Now here was a great man. He was the 4-star general of the Syrian army and had led his army in victory after victory with a chest full of medals to prove his accomplishments. He was a man of integrity, a man of courage, a man of great strength of character, and wisdom, a man who was highly educated and highly acclaimed by his own people. He was a man of great honor and was highly favored by the king of Syria. But – he was also a leper.

We live in a world where there are great people and there are not-so-great people – at least according to the world’s definition of great. Most of us are in the “not-so-great” category. We won’t see our names in the headlines of the newspaper after we have accomplished some outstanding achievements. Our name will never become a household word. Our picture won’t be in the Who’s Who book of American heroes. We will be listed among the mediocre.

Now, lest you get into a “Pity Party,” let me tell you that the world is not the final authority on greatness, and neither are worldly accomplishments the only standard by which greatness is judged. God rewards faithfulness, not greatness. If you want to be counted as great in the Kingdom of God, then be found completely faithful to the calling of God upon your life. I would rather hear Jesus say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” than have the President of the United States give me a Citizenship Medal for my service to the nation.

There are a lot of people out there who will, and have, achieved far more than I ever will. Some people have built businesses and amassed huge fortunes or even established great Trust Funds to help humanity for years to come. Some have rooms filled with trophies awarded for their agility, power, and skill at a game of sports or some other field of endeavor.

However, like Naaman, they all are living with a terminal illness. They might be wealthy, successful, educated, and healthy, “But” they all are condemned to die eternally because of sin. Not one will escape. The debt of sin will always be there.

For Naaman, his sentence of death came when he found he had leprosy. For all of mankind, since the fall in the Garden of Eden, there has always been a “But” that is added to their lives… “but,” all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

The “But” that affects the life of every man, woman and child on the face of the earth is called sin, and one of those sins is the sin of Pride. It may not seem so bad to many people, but let me remind you that Pride is one of the three areas of sin that John wrote about in 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

According to this verse, “Pride” (including self-sufficiency, arrogance, and rebellion) is one of the core aspects of sin along with “Lust” which is an extraordinary desire for whatever we want, no matter what the cost. Pride causes the downfall of everyman who refuses to bend his knee in surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Pride is the sin in the heart of every man who refuses to allow Jesus to be the Lord of his life. Pride, coupled with a lust for the things of the world, are the sins that keep man from living a holy life and obeying every word of God. Naaman had Pride too as we shall soon see. But first, let’s look at what happens next.

 

2 Kings 5:2-4, “And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.”

 

A captured slave girl from Israel was appointed to serve this Commander of the Syrian Army. She had no choice about where she was to be, but she did have a choice on the kind of attitude and spirit she would have.

She could have been like so many people I know who hate those who are over them. They hate their parents. They hate their boss on the job. They hate the policeman who stops them from driving too fast. They even hate the preacher when he preaches the truth and does all he can to get them ready for the rapture and for the Judgment. You can see people with these attitudes everywhere.

This young girl from Israel, from the land of Samaria, living as a captive in the home of the very general that had taken her from her comfortable home, and likely killed some of her family and destroyed her home, refused to live with that kind of attitude. She never forgot what she loved and knew about Israel, but she also refused to hate.

She might have been in a foreign land, serving a foreign master and living as a slave in the household of her enemy, but she learned to love Naaman as a master, and she cared for his well-being. She knew of the prophets back home and the power of God that they had to heal the sick. Her witness began the journey for Naaman’s salvation from certain death.

 

2 Kings 5:5-6, “And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.”

 

Naaman did not know how to approach the prophets of Israel. He had not been taught the ways of Moses. He began his search in the only way that most of the world knows. He began by trying to buy his way back to health and the blessings of God. He didn’t understand or know the God of Israel but he was desperate for healing. All of the embellishments of his dazzling uniform and the gleaming medals upon his chest made the world gaze in wonder, but underneath it all – NAAMAN WAS A DYING LEPER!

Friends, when the day comes that we must face death and then face judgment, there will be a lot of people who are going to try to find a way of escape, but there will be none.

 

Hebrews 9:27-28, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

 

All the wealth you have gathered won’t buy one instant in Heaven. It won’t pay for one drop of water in the pits of Hell. It won’t buy one breath when the death comes to claim your life. All the degrees behind your name won’t mean a thing on that day.

All the property you won will be left behind for others to fight over. You cannot pay the price to escape – But it has been paid for you – if you are willing to accept the terms of the payment. In exchange for your eternal life, Jesus gave his life and shed His blood on the Cross. The debt is paid, but only if you accept Jesus as your Savior and surrender your life to him.

I see people walking everywhere with a façade built up around them. On the outside and on the surface, they all try to wear a smile. They all try to make you believe that everything is fine. They try to confess that all is well. They put on every appearance possible of being a success. But underneath it all, they all have the “Leprosy of Sin,” and it’s killing their very soul, and they need a Savior!

 

2 Kings 5:10, “And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.”

 

Naaman had tried to be healed his way. He had tried to play “Let’s Make A Deal,” but it wouldn’t work. He quickly learned that it was either going to be God’s way or no way at all, and he didn’t like that answer. He felt offended because the prophet didn’t even come out to shake his hand and recognize Naaman’s position.

Elijah told him to go dunk in the muddy water of the Jordan River seven times if he wanted his healing. But Naaman was just TOO PROUD TO DUNK! What was more humiliating, to die of leprosy or to dunk into the muddy Jordan? To Naaman, the Jordan was more humiliating. His first thought was that he would rather die than obey the prophet of God.

Oh, how often I see this same attitude and spirit of rebellion in the hearts of men today! How often do they refuse to accept the bloody sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross because it just doesn’t look pretty or feel good to them? They would rather choose to live life on the edge of hell and then die and fall into the flames, than to trust in the blood of Jesus. They want to be saved, but only in their own way, so they try to “work out” their own salvation, only to find that the “leprosy of sin” has not gone but grown worse than ever. They are just TOO PROUD TO DUNK UNDER THE BLOOD OF CHRIST and let that blood wash away their sin!

 

2 Kings 5:11-13, “But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”

 

I’m going to take the place of Naaman’s servants in this message. I’m going to try to talk some sense into you. I’m going to try to make you realize that there is only one answer to your “leprosy of sin.” You can’t receive forgiveness in sports, in medical care, in your job, in your title, in your position, in your own way. There’s only one way – through the blood of Jesus Christ and surrendering your life completely to His will.

When the Day of Judgment comes, you will have to surrender everything to be there. The grave that covers you won’t keep you down. The wealth of the world will be nothing. The power and prestige will melt away, and you will be left standing alone before the Judge of the Universe to answer for the life that you lived.

There will be no one to defend you if you have not surrendered to and accepted Jesus into your life! There will be excuses that will hold water on that day.

There is no doubt that you would offer all that you have, all that you are, all that you can think of, just to escape the final verdict of guilty on that day. There would be no price high enough, but nothing you have will be enough. The die is cast, the end has come, and there is no escaping the destiny that awaits you. But it doesn’t have to be that way!!!

Naaman finally understood that the only way was God’s way. He had to do what Elijah said, or he would surely die. He finally decided to swallow his pride, humble himself before the will of God, and DUNK SEVEN TIMES IN THE JORDAN RIVER.

It wasn’t easy for Naaman. I can imagine that every time he went down, he held his breath, held his nose, closed his eyes, and hoped no mud would fill his ears. He probably came up sputtering and spitting each time, wondering if this was really going to work. Six times he dunked under the water and nothing happened. But on that seventh dunk, it all changed.

 

2 Kings 5:14: “Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

 

What a feeling he had, then! I can imagine that even the “ultimately cool” general of the Syrian Army started shouting for joy at the new skin and new life that he had been given. The leprosy was gone, and he recognized that there was only one God who could have done this thing – and He Praised the God of Israel.

Friends, let me tell you that one moment in Heaven will be worth it all! Nothing can compare to the knowledge that you have eternal life and forgiveness through the Blood of Jesus.

Why not do it God’s way for a change? Swallow your pride, bow your will to God’s will, bow your knee before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, surrender your life to God for his service, and then let Jesus be the Lord of your life. His blood will wash away all sin and shame, and then you can rejoice because your name is written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

 

Are you too proud to dunk? I certainly hope you will not be. You can either dunk under the Blood of Jesus or swim in the Lake of Fire. Which will it be?

 

Between the Living and the Dead

 Numbers 16:48, "And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed."

 

Whether we are talking about man in the beginning of time or man in this present hour, there is a common ground that we all stand upon, and that ground is the place of rebellion. Adam stood in that place while in the Garden of Eden and became a “Rebel” against the commandment of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, defying the Word of his Creator and declaring that he would not live under the Law of his God.

Modern man does the same thing. He declares, either by word or deed, that he will not bend his knee, bow his head, or reverence and fear the God of all Creation. A quick look at the news of our day will show the defiance in the hearts of men against God Almighty. Humanity is so filled with pride and selfishness that the heart still drives mankind to Rebel against the Lion of Judah, and very few are willing to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Even in the very House of God, among His Adopted Children, there is often a spirit of rebellion: rebellion against the Word that convicts for sin, rebellion against authority that God ordains, and rebellion against anything or anyone who tends to try to change us to become anything other than what we already believe is good enough.

There is a story in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 16, concerning the Children of Israel in their march through the wilderness under the leadership of Moses. God had wrought miracle after miracle in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Yet, the Children of Israel continually found themselves in a state of rebellion against the leadership that God had placed over them and, indeed, against the God that had delivered them.

Understand this: God had already brought them out of bondage, and that bondage in Egypt is a type, a representation in Old Testament form, of the pit of miry clay called sin that every one of us was born in. When each new generation was born in Egypt, they didn’t have to be made slaves; they were born slaves and had no power to deliver themselves from the iron fist of Pharaoh. They needed a Savior and Deliverer, someone who would step up and call down the power of God to deliver them. Of course, we know that the man whom God called to do just that was Moses, and Moses was given a voice, someone who would speak for him, his own brother whose name was Aaron.

It is often said that Moses is a type of Christ as that deliverer of the church and that Aaron, Moses' brother and spokesman, is a type of the Holy Spirit that speaks to us and leads us to follow Jesus.

Let’s fast forward to the journey of the Israelites and remember that they made it all the way to the Jordan River, the very boundary of the Promised Land that God had given to Abraham, and it was described in the Bible as “a land that flowed with milk and honey.” Their Promised Land had everything in it that they would have ever needed to be a powerful, happy, prosperous, and godly nation. But nothing comes from God without a living, active faith, and faith is something that the Children of Israel showed a lack of at every turn. Here, at the very brink of great victory and the fulfillment of the promises of God, their faith failed, and they were turned back into the wilderness to wander for another 40 years. A whole generation of faithless Children of God perished in the wilderness and never obtained the promises of God because they refused to believe God would fulfill His word to them.

I wonder how many generations of Gentiles, your ancestors and mine, failed that test of faith? How many failed to see the Promised Land, failed to trust God to give them the desires of their hearts, and failed to believe that in Jesus, there was provision for the body, water for the soul, and life forevermore? How many times have we, right here this day, come to the brink of the river, tried to look over on the other side, and could not see any way that God would give us the life we wanted? All we saw were the giants in the Land, obstacles too big, people who had more power to drag us down than we could handle, and persecution from friends and neighbors that we considered greater than the promises of the Almighty God!

How many of us today are facing our own Jordan River, and God is saying, “Step out by faith and take the land that is before you!” But we won’t move because it’s a scary thing to step out into the unknown. It seems so much safer just to hang out where we are and watch the river flow than to step into the water and take a chance of making a wrong step and drowning. Some people stand by the river, looking over into that place where they know they should go in God, into a deeper relationship; into a more active ministry, into a work that they’ve been called to do, but they won’t step out into the water by faith and trust God to bring it to pass. It’s just too comfortable to hang on in the desert place and enjoy thinking about it rather than doing it.

You will never inherit the land hanging out on the wrong side of the river. You must step out in faith, believing, and let the Holy Ghost guide you. You’ll have to learn to walk closer to Jesus. You’ll have to just trust and keep on making the next step. But Jesus will take you into places that you never dreamed possible if you only have the faith to step out and follow Him!

It wasn’t Moses’ fault that they didn’t enter the Promised Land. It wasn’t Aaron’s fault that they had no faith! It wasn’t God’s fault that they wouldn’t trust Him and follow Him to victory! It was their own lack of faith despite all that God had done for them! They had that slave mentality that had kept them in bondage in Egypt, and though God had taken them out of Egypt, they hadn’t taken Egypt out of their own hearts and minds, and like Lot’s Wife, they kept looking back to where they’ve been instead of where they were going.

Let that be a lesson to all of us; you’ll never move forward or grow in the Lord as you should as long as you are always focusing on the past! You can’t change the past, but you can stop it from controlling your future! Learn from it, remember the pit that God brought you out of, then forget it and keep moving forward, keeping your eyes on the prize of the Crown of Victory that is ahead instead of the defeats that are left behind.

They were turned back into the wilderness, and with their backs facing the Promised Land, they walked into a continual and deadly place of rebellion against God and Moses! They kept looking toward Egypt instead of looking toward the Promised Land. Where their heart was, their mind stayed, and their whole life was wasted looking in the wrong direction.

As I studied Numbers chapter 16, I began to see a clear pattern that has been repeated many times in the hearts of men throughout history and is still being repeated today.

In the 3rd verse, four men rose up against Moses; four men who were full of pride and jealousy! These men were Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On. These were men of the tribes of Israel, three of them being from the Tribe of Levi and one from the tribe of Rueben.

Suppose you remember anything about the Tribes of Israel. In that case, you will also know the Tribe of Levi was chosen by God to be ministers and servants who were to work at caring for the Tabernacle and that the Tabernacle was the place in the camp where the presence of God dwelt. What a privilege it is to be chosen by God to work in His kingdom. Regardless of whether their job was hammering stakes to hold up the outer walls, assembling and disassembling the gold-plated Acacia boards of the Holy Place, or carefully folding and wrapping the veils that stood before the Ark of the Covenant, it was all a labor of love for God; at least it should have been a labor of love.

Some of the Levites sang in the choir as the sacrifices were offered. Others took part in assembling the Brazen Altar and the Laver of Water, where the priests were commanded to do their work. Only the priests could carry the Ark of the Covenant, but that was a commandment of God, and anyone who touched that Ark other than those chosen to carry it would die instantly under God’s judgment. The Levites were not chosen to be priests but to serve in the Tabernacle. They could do everything except what the priests were given to do, but there was a dividing line that they must never cross.

The only people who were chosen to serve as priests were the sons of Aaron. The Aaronic Priests were called and anointed to carry the blood of the lamb, to present the blood before God in the Holy of Holies, and to care for the Altar of Incense, the Lampstand, and the Table of Showbread. Only a priest could enter the Holy Place, and only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies. Only a priest could handle the sacrificial offerings. This all pointed to the fact that only Jesus, our Great High Priest, would be worthy to be the sacrifice for our sins. For anyone else to try to usurp that authority or to push himself into that position without the anointing of God meant death.

Since Aaron is a type of the Holy Ghost in speaking for Moses, it seems to me that what the Bible is trying to tell us is it takes the anointing of the Holy Ghost to serve as a priest. It’s a special anointing that no Levite had. They were anointed to serve in one capacity and the priests in another. God chooses whom He will, and He anoints us to do a job. We should be grateful to serve wherever God chooses to use us. It’s a great and wonderful privilege to work in the House of the Lord.

Two of Aaron’s own sons, men who were chosen to be priests, overstepped their bounds even though they were anointed. They took it upon themselves to offer strange fire upon the Altar of Incense, overstepping their assigned duties, going beyond their anointed task. In Leviticus 1:1-2, we are told that the fire of God’s judgment shot out from the altar and consumed them.

When God gives us a place, that’s where we need to be. This lesson from God’s Word tells us that if we don’t obey the Lord and not only stay in our place, but carry out our duties as God specifies, then we are subject to the judgment of God for our rebellious heart. Too many people presume too much; just presuming that you can do the same thing that God calls someone else to do and then trying to usurp that position can get you into more trouble with God than you want to handle.

These four men, Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On, along with many others who came under their influence, were soon to discover how dangerous it is to play the games of jealousy, envy, and rebellion against the will of God!

Somehow, it comes into the heart of man that he deserves so much more than he’s getting. Mankind also believes that he should be the master of his own destiny and the ruler of his own life. Pride and selfishness reign in all of us occasionally, and even in the people of God; I’ve seen this.

Korah and his followers decided to call a meeting and confront Moses and Aaron with their grievances. Now, it’s one thing to come to God with questions and concerns, but it’s another thing altogether to come to God with the attitude of a know-it-all.

Their accusation against Moses and Aaron was simple. They accused Moses and Aaron of taking too much power. Their attitude was one that I’ve heard so many times; “Just who do you think you are, Moses? What gives you the right to exercise the authority that you have over us? Are we not as good as you are? Are we not as holy before God as you are? What makes you any better than us? And the same goes for Aaron!”

Moses immediately fell on his face before God. He didn’t lash back at them, although he probably felt like doing just that. Instead, Moses fell down and prayed for these men and all of the camp of Israel, for Moses knew that what they had done was not against him but against God!

It was God who set Moses and Aaron over the Children of Israel; and it was God who had placed the Levites in their positions; and these men were defying the divine order of God! Terror for what God might do to the people struck the heart of Moses. He feared for Israel and cried out to God for mercy on their behalf. The acts of defiance against Moses, Aaron, and God would not go unanswered.

 

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

These defiant Jews were about to find out just how terrible God’s power of destruction can be. In the 13th verse of Numbers chapter 16, these defiant men even confessed that they thought the land of Egypt was better than the Promised Land. They called Egypt the land of milk and honey.

Oh, how terrible it is when we begin to live in rebellion against the Law of God! Isaiah 5:20, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

When we begin to listen to the voice of Satan, and allow pride and jealousy to arise in us, our vision of right and wrong are skewed. And we are in danger of God’s wrath.

Look around our society today, and you can see this in action. Many are saying that Christianity is the evil that plagues the world and that those who preach that Jesus is the only way to salvation are the troublemakers because we are intolerant of people who teach anything else. Men will try to excuse their rebellion against the authority of Jesus by saying that there are many ways to Heaven. They will pass laws to make immorality and degenerate behavior legal and, at the same time, pass laws that restrict even speaking the name of Jesus or reading a Bible in a public place, saying that it infringes upon the right of all men to think the way they want. America is fulfilling Isaiah 5:20 right now.

Like Korah and his followers, mankind says, “We are good as you. We are equal or even better than Jesus. We don’t need a leader. We can save ourselves. We don’t need to hear some preacher or some book to tell us what to do.”

I’ve seen this same attitude in the Church! “Preacher, I don’t need you to tell me how to act, what to do, and what not to do! I’m as good as my neighbor, even better than many! I can hear from God just as much as you can. I don’t need church! I don’t need a teacher! I can get it all on my own! If I feel like I want to do something for God, I don’t need the approval of anyone because I can hear the voice of the Lord just as good as they can.”

That’s nothing more than an evil spirit of pride, a spirit that rejects the counsel of God and defies the leading of the Holy Ghost! Yes, you can hear the voice of the Lord as well as the pastor can, but do you have the anointing that he has for the office, and do you have the authority under the Word of God to do whatever you want to? God has a divine order and when we step out of that order, we are walking on dangerous ground!

Korah and 250 of his followers brought their own brass censers to the court of the Tabernacle. Censers were used to carry burning incense before the Lord, and only a priest could do that according to God’s instructions. They came to show Moses and Aaron that they could do the work of a priest and a leader of the people just as well as Moses and Aaron could. They came and stood before the very door of the Holy Place and took fire off the Brazen Altar to burn their incense.

Incense is a type of the prayers of the saints and these men had their prayers, but their prayers and offerings were not accepted because of the pride of their hearts. We can pray all we want to for God to give us this ministry, or let us be lifted up, but unless it’s in God’s will, we pray in vain.

There are people today who are full of themselves. They aren’t teachable; they never shut up long enough to hear anyone or learn anything. They’ve always got to put in their two cents worth, and frankly, I think that most of the time, we need to give them at least a penny and a half in change because what they have to say is so foolish. All it does is prove to the whole world just how little they really know, but they are so full of selfish pride and a know-it-all attitude that they think they’re really being helpful. Sometimes, you just want to say, “If you’ll be quiet and listen, rather than keep running off at the mouth and arguing about every point, you might accidentally learn how foolish you really are.”

But realistically, the best thing you can do for people like that is just put them in God’s hands and walk away. They aren’t teachable and will probably never hear anything other than their own voices.

Like Korah and his cronies, their hearts are set on rebellion, fixed on pride of self, and their only desire is to take over where they have no place. Because of their continued hard-headed and hard-hearted attitude and jealousy, God finally told Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from these rebellious men and that everyone whose tents were even close to them should move away lest they be consumed with the same judgment as Korah and his followers. They were not to touch one thing that belonged to these men because it was all cursed in the eyes of God for their rebellious attitude!

If you’re a Child of God, you better check your heart and attitude to see if pride and jealousy are there because God hates those things. They are a sin that will steal your eternal soul and bring death, both physically and spiritually.

Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel who stood with them separated themselves from Korah and his followers. Even the 250 who had been drawn in to be a part of Korah’s rebellion drew back a little. Something happened to put the fear of God into their hearts.

The Shekinah Glory, the power and presence of Almighty God that normally rested between the Cherubim above the Mercy Seat upon the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, came forward and stood at the door of the Tabernacle. God’s presence was with Moses and Aaron in a clear and visible way! There was no question whose side God was on in this battle. He stood with his anointed ones, Moses and Aaron.

 

1 Chronicles 16:22 says, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."

 

Let me tell you, child of God, that you better be careful when you speak out against a man or woman of God! You might not agree with their form of ministry. You might not like the way they preach or teach. You might think that you know more than they do. You might think that they are being too hard, or too soft, or too anything. But never forget that if they are preaching Christ and Him crucified, they are still speaking under the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Don’t put yourself in the place of “touching the anointed one of God,” and don’t let yourself be caught up in trying to discredit those God has anointed.

At Moses’ word, God honored his chosen man and proved who was on the Lord’s side. The ground beneath the feet of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. These rebellious men, along with their entire families, wives, and children, their tents, and all that they owned, were swallowed alive into the pits of hell, and the earth closed over them. It wasn’t just an ordinary earthquake, but the earth moved more like a wild animal that opened its mouth wide to swallow its prey. The hole opened; they fell in, and the hole closed.

The screams of the dying and terror in their eyes as they fell alarmed the rest of the people, and they began to turn and run away lest they too would be swallowed up, but that didn’t save those who had rebelled along with Korah. The fire of God’s wrath, like lightning that came from the Shekinah, and fire from the altar killed all 250 of them.

If you had stood there, would that have been enough to persuade you to repent your rebellion? It wasn’t enough for Israel! Oh, how far had their lack of faith taken them! Even though God’s judgment had fallen, and he had clearly shown who was called and anointed to lead Israel, the people began the very next day to murmur against Moses, accusing them of murdering all of those who had died the day before! This is a definite case of “Terminal Stupidity!” When will they ever learn? You saw God’s wrath swallow up 250 and more yesterday! Have you forgotten already? Are you stupid enough to continue in rebellion and think you’ll get away with it?

But we can’t point fingers at Israel. How many times have we seen the good things of God, and yet we still see Christians who rebel against the authority of the preacher of the gospel or rebel against the leadership that is placed over them, or how many times have we seen people who simply refuse to come under authority but will bow up, get angry and even leave the church because they can’t have their way?

All of us have seen how many people will backslide and fall into such deep pits of sin and despair that some never come out of! It’s as though their sin of rebellion opens its mouth and swallows them up, heart and soul, and they never experience the anointing of God again.

Do you think it can’t happen to you? How many times does the judgment of God have to fall, and how much pain and death will men have to face? Christian, how much trouble is going to have to come into your life before you realize that it’s futile to fight against the power of God and the authority that God has placed over you? How many people today will run from the House of God every time the preaching gets hot and conviction falls on them for their sin of rebellion? We must repent our bad attitudes quickly before the judgment comes.

As the people stood that day, accusing Moses and Aaron of murder, suddenly, beginning at the front and moving to the back of the congregation, people began to drop dead on their feet in an instant of time. The wave of God’s judgment could be visibly seen as it moved back into the crowd. People were dropping dead, row upon row!

Moses commanded Aaron to quickly grab a censer of burning incense and run among the crowd, in effect, offering a prayer of atonement for their rebellion! As Aaron ran quickly, the incense arose before God, crying out for mercy and the plague of death to cease.

 

Numbers 16:48, "And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed."

 

Fourteen thousand seven hundred of the Children of Israel died in a few moments as God’s wrath went among them! That’s not counting those who had died the day before! If Aaron had not stood there with his censer, there’s no doubt that all of Israel would have died for that spirit of rebellion.

Let me tell you, friends, that this is no game we’re playing. Whether our hearts and spirits are right is a matter of life and death! All of mankind died in an instant of time when Adam took that bite in the Garden of Eden. The price of sin is death, eternal death. We were born dead, spiritually dead!

Then Jesus ran among men, carrying that incense, that censer filled with his prayers to the Father on behalf of all men. He came and stood between the living God and the souls of dead men as our intercessor. The judgment of God was set for every one of us to die in the pits of the flame, just as Korah did. But Jesus came running from Glory, the Shekinah Glory of God dwelt among men; and he stands today, having been nailed to an old rugged cross, giving His blood as payment for our sin, and rising from the dead. Jesus is standing there between the living and the dead.

Jesus is the way to life! Who will be on the Lord’s side? In Numbers 16:50, we see that Aaron and Moses returned to the door of the Tabernacle, and the plague stopped!

Jesus went down and took the keys of death, hell, and the grave. Today, the power of death is stopped! Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and all who will have life must come by Him!

Let us check our hearts and see if there is a spirit of rebellion in us. Are we teachable, or does pride rule in us? Are we submissive to the leadership that God has anointed over us, or do we live in rebellion against that authority? If that authority is anointed and operates according to God’s will, we must be willing to bow before it!

Lord, help me never to usurp the position and the authority of those who are placed over me! Lord, help your children never to do that either! The One who is over us all is Jesus! Let us never think that we know more than Christ himself. Let us never presume that we can live without the Law of God! Let us always realize that except for the mercy and grace of God, we would be counted among the dead.

Is your heart right with God today? Have you repented of that spirit of pride, of rebellion against the leadership and authority of God, of that self-centered desire for what you want instead of what God wants? The Word of God teaches us today that without Jesus, we have no chance. We either submit to Him, or we die! God’s wrath is coming soon upon all who refuse to serve him in spirit and truth. The plague of death will come upon everyone who has not been fully persuaded to surrender all to Jesus.

The Book of Revelation describes the judgment of God that falls upon the Antichrist and the False Prophet and all his followers at the end of the reign of the Antichrist upon the earth. It is very similar to what happened to Korah and his followers.

 

Revelation 19:20 - 21, "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."

 

On that day, rebellion against God will meet God’s wrath. With the word of His mouth, millions will fall dead in their tracks while the Antichrist and his False Prophet fall into the pits of hell while they are still living. All of those on the side of the dead will fall into that awful place, never to get out again.

Where do you stand? Are you on the side of the living or of the dead? Jesus stands in the middle, beckoning us all to come to him and have life eternal. It is His desire that none should perish, that none should suffer judgment, that none should ever be lost, and that none should stand in a place of rebellion.

Jesus is standing between the living and the dead, beckoning us to come to Him and stand among the living who will be eternally blessed. Come, stand with us. Every one of us must repent of that rebellious nature, that heart that says, “It’s my life, my way, and I’ll do it the way I choose.” We must follow Jesus and come under His authority as our Lord and King.