SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Sharper Sword, the publication ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California.
SPEAKER_00: Lighthouse believes that individuals can reach their potential for the Lord as they grow in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We want to hear our Lord say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
SPEAKER_00: Let's join Pastor Doug Fisher as he preaches another important biblical message from the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Exodus chapter number 12.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being in church today.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for your good spirit and thanks for participating in the worship, in the uh edification through psalm.
SPEAKER_01: In Exodus chapter number 12, I want you to look at two verses.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to uh ask you to think with me just a little bit this morning in a in a slightly different way.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Exodus chapter 12.
SPEAKER_01: Notice verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months.
SPEAKER_01: It shall be the first month of the year to you.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's stop there for a moment because God was saying, we're about ready to begin something brand new.
SPEAKER_01: You're coming into a new era of life.
SPEAKER_01: Moses and Aaron, you're going to lead my people who have been in slavery.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to lead them out of slavery into a new way of thinking, a new calendar, a new festival that's going to worship me.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, what they had been telling, what Moses and Aaron had been telling Pharaoh was let my people go that they may sacrifice to me.
SPEAKER_01: Let my people go that they may serve me, God said.
SPEAKER_01: Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me.
SPEAKER_01: Now the difference is that everything the Israelites had done up to this point in this period of time when they were enslaved was for the Egyptians.
SPEAKER_01: They served the Egyptians.
SPEAKER_01: They, if you would, did what the Egyptians said.
SPEAKER_01: And now what God was saying is we got a new beginning.
SPEAKER_01: They are no longer serving the Egyptians, they're serving me, their God.
SPEAKER_01: They're no longer, if you would, holding, if you would, their little festivals to the Egyptians' gods.
SPEAKER_01: They're holding their feast to the living God.
SPEAKER_01: They're no longer going to serve Pharaoh and man.
SPEAKER_01: They're now going to serve me, and they're going to the wilderness, but they don't know exactly what to do yet.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to take note, this is the beginning of a new calendar for you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the beginning of a new era for you.
SPEAKER_01: And what God was going to ask Aaron to do was, through his power, change their cultural way of thinking.
SPEAKER_01: He was going to ask a large group corporately called the Church in the Wilderness to change their way of thinking, more their thinking now towards God than towards human.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, he was going to tell them, you're no longer going to depend on the Egyptians, you're going to depend on me.
SPEAKER_01: You don't know it yet, but I'm sending manna down every day but one, and I'll give you instructions, and they'll depend on me, not on men.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, they're not even going to follow the schedule that the Egyptians set for them.
SPEAKER_01: They're going to follow my cloud.
SPEAKER_01: And in that cloud's going to be the angel of the Lord, and they're going to have to change their way of thinking, and not all are going to make the adjustments perfectly at the start.
SPEAKER_01: Some are going to have a real challenge with this new way of thinking because as a slave, they, with rigor, with hard, if you would, task masker type of schedule, they were told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, for whom to do it, and now I'm going to give them some liberty, and they're going to worship me, and they're going to do it in some way that they don't even quite understand at all because they're going to do it by faith.
SPEAKER_01: Let me make this statement.
SPEAKER_01: Once in a while a family goes through a cultural change.
SPEAKER_01: A family, a marriage goes through a change in seasons.
SPEAKER_01: Brethren, now, businesses go through changes.
SPEAKER_01: Ministries, churches go through changes.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: Change does not always mean going liberal.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes changes for more productivity.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes a family will say, We've got to change our way of thinking just a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Our family's a little bit older now.
SPEAKER_01: We've got to sit down and talk about how things are going to be.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, with the family, you're going to have to do that more than once.
SPEAKER_01: I remember when our first daughter got married.
SPEAKER_01: I cried for three days.
SPEAKER_01: She's in here today.
SPEAKER_01: Her husband just talked to you about the offering.
SPEAKER_01: When I saw them drive away, I didn't cry at the wedding.
SPEAKER_01: But when she left us, what do you mean she left us?
SPEAKER_01: When she drove away with that guy, I lost it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I was thinking she's not gonna be home tonight.
SPEAKER_01: And that's different after so many years of having the family all together.
SPEAKER_01: Here, this guy was breaking up my family.
SPEAKER_01: I cried for three days, and then the Lord said, It's time to change your mindset.
SPEAKER_01: Now I gotta tell you, when the next daughter married, and she's in here today, too.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't her fault that I just said, it was a new cultural mindset.
SPEAKER_01: Are you still with me or not?
SPEAKER_01: And when one of my sons married, it was.
SPEAKER_01: Because the servant doesn't know what the master's doing, but I'm telling you everything the Father and I are talking about.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm including you in on the vision.
SPEAKER_01: May I say to you that uh businesses can have a caste system.
SPEAKER_01: Businesses kind of have a here's the upper-level hierarchy, and here's all the peasants that make the money so they can live that way.
SPEAKER_01: When I was in the military, I was a Marine Corps officer, and uh, we didn't quite have a caste system, but I took note of something.
SPEAKER_01: Uh when I was commissioned, uh, I had already had some uh special forces classes and some schools uh under my belt, but but my major, the the Marine officer instructor that was my mentor said, he said, Lieutenant, you will go and work with the grunts for a while.
SPEAKER_01: Now, grunts is not a bad term to Marines.
SPEAKER_01: It's just not the highest term, but it's it's a good term.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll go work with the grunts for a while because you need to know how they function, what they need.
SPEAKER_01: So when you go into the special forces side, you won't think you're superior and you'll be able to supply what they need.
SPEAKER_01: So I went in and I took uh a weapons platoon, which is, you know, mortars and machine guns and anti-tank uh weapons, and then after that I had an 81-mortar platoon, and then I went into recon special forces.
SPEAKER_01: And I never forgot what he said to me about make sure when you're out there with special forces that you don't think you're a hot dog somebody.
SPEAKER_01: That you don't think you're superior.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, I want to tell you something that uh uh in the grunts, everybody was there kind of uh, you say, was there a this was post-Vietnam?
SPEAKER_01: So so some of them wanted to be there and some of them didn't.
SPEAKER_01: But in recon, everybody there wanted to be there.
SPEAKER_01: It was a volunteer force.
SPEAKER_01: There was a little bit different spirit, a little bit different attitude.
SPEAKER_01: But we made sure the recon guys didn't think they were superior.
SPEAKER_01: Like confident, yes, courage, yes.
SPEAKER_01: But one of the first things I did with my uh with my recon platoon, 21 guys, three teams of seven.
SPEAKER_01: I told them to put their field gear on, they put all their packs on, we loaded them down heavy, and uh we uh had their weapons.
SPEAKER_01: I loaded them up with ammunition, and I told them we're going on a forced march.
SPEAKER_01: Now they didn't go on forced marches in recon.
SPEAKER_01: They helicoptered, they airplaned, they jumped, they uh they submarined, they shipped, they did all that, but they weren't used to humping.
SPEAKER_01: You say, what's humping?
SPEAKER_01: It's not a bad word, it's the Marine Corps term for humping that gear, pulling it with you.
SPEAKER_01: And a forced march makes you hurt in places you didn't know you could hurt.
SPEAKER_01: And they remembered it from days gone by, but they just hadn't done it in a while.
SPEAKER_01: And I took them on a 15-miler, and it was up and down and over hill and dawn, and the last part was up a mountain.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I shouldn't remember it that way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a Christian now.
SPEAKER_01: But they got to the end, and man, they were all leaning over their packs and sucking air because the altitude had grown up, and and I was sucking air too, I just didn't show it.
SPEAKER_01: I was hurting too.
SPEAKER_01: Bible saying, wasn't that great, wasn't that great?
SPEAKER_01: And they were all looking at me going, what have we got here?
SPEAKER_01: But later on there was a camaraderie that was built.
SPEAKER_01: Because I remember later jumping and having to go on some of those not under combat situations, but under training situations.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, there's no way to prepare for that in a gym.
SPEAKER_01: You can prepare a little bit, but you can't prepare for that in a gym.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to go out and do it.
SPEAKER_01: My point being is that uh there was no caste system because the officers and enlisted alike did it all together.
SPEAKER_01: But there had to be a mindset and an attitude shift, and an attitude change.
SPEAKER_01: And the concept is once in a while God takes us through an attitude change and a and a and a and a, if you would, a shift in how we view something.
SPEAKER_01: We don't get more liberal, we just see it more clearly.
SPEAKER_01: And as ministries go, as churches grow, as uh as families grow, as businesses grow, as military units become more effective, whatever society is, sometimes there's a shift in the cultural attitude that must take place.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that was what was going on when God said to Aaron and Moses, today is the beginning of your months.
SPEAKER_01: But they had no idea how much change was going to take place as they headed out to the wilderness following that cloud.
SPEAKER_01: But may I say to you, they got as far as they could, and then they weren't able to change anymore.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: They got as far as they could, but then some of the leaders' mindsets began to hold them back.
SPEAKER_01: Like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
SPEAKER_01: And the leaders' mindsets, if you would, uh, became gainsaying.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Jude, chapter one, there's only one chapter, the gainsaying of Korah.
SPEAKER_01: It was a negative attitude.
SPEAKER_01: Korah was small-minded.
SPEAKER_01: Korah couldn't make the changes.
SPEAKER_01: Korah could only see the skepticism.
SPEAKER_01: Kor, if you would, was was the type of leader, Korra, Dathan, and Byron.
SPEAKER_01: God called for him and he just wouldn't come.
SPEAKER_01: And his families and those who he influenced were affected by what he did.
SPEAKER_01: My point being is, brethren, sometimes if we grow and mature, the only way to reach new heights is to adjust our attitudes a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't say go liberal.
SPEAKER_01: Keep the doctrine, but get to know God better by faith.
SPEAKER_01: And say we've got to make a few adjustments if we're gonna get where God wants us to get.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Joshua chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody alright, say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua chapter number one.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to take note sometime in your own personal studies that by the time Joshua chapter one comes around, all of those in the wilderness church in the wilderness had died off save Joshua and Caleb.
SPEAKER_01: There were younger ones there, all under the age of 20, but the older ones, Joshua and Caleb, crossed over, if you would, and the attitude changed in leadership.
SPEAKER_01: It's such a small little thing, but look at chapter one of Joshua, look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host and command the people, saying, Prepare ye vicituals.
SPEAKER_01: Vituals is just food and logistics and preparation.
SPEAKER_01: We in the military, we'd call it beans, bullets, and band-aids.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Prepare ye victuals, for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan to go into the promised land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you read over that casually, you'll miss it.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua commanded the officers of the people.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua told the leaders.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua had a staff meeting.
SPEAKER_01: And Joshua told the leaders, you go out and you pass through the multitudes of the people, and you officers, command the people.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua was establishing a chain of command.
SPEAKER_01: You say, what was different?
SPEAKER_01: When Moses had 10 spies that were ten leaders, he sent out twelve, ten of them came back rebellious.
SPEAKER_01: They were the leaders.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua had the opportunity to take leaders, tell the officers, you get ready, here's the marching order, here's what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01: Now you take this information out to the host and you command the people.
SPEAKER_01: Where when Moses would try that, the leaders would rebel.
SPEAKER_01: You say, I'm not getting it.
SPEAKER_01: If Moses told the ten spies something, they were saying, We're not able, we can't do it.
SPEAKER_01: God's not going to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01: And so they, those leaders in Moses' days, would not command the people.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, please listen, they discouraged the hearts of the people.
SPEAKER_01: I don't get it.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Moses had ten leaders that discouraged the hearts of the people.
SPEAKER_01: He could tell those leaders something and they wouldn't follow through with it.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, they would go backbite Moses.
SPEAKER_01: They would go say to the people why it wouldn't work.
SPEAKER_01: Where Joshua could command his officers, and in a very positive way, his officers went out and said to the people, get ready, we're about ready to go now.
SPEAKER_01: We're about ready to conquer now.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody prepare.
SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
SPEAKER_01: We're heading into the promised land, we're ready to go.
SPEAKER_01: And there was such a positive atmosphere.
SPEAKER_01: What am I saying?
SPEAKER_01: The church in the wilderness stopped themselves.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01: The church in the wilderness stopped themselves.
SPEAKER_01: You say, why?
SPEAKER_01: God was more than willing to go on with them.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua and Caleb got to go further, but the church in the wilderness stopped themselves.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: They kept looking back at what they used to be, and how they used to be ran, and what they used to have, and they forgot all the rigors, they forgot the oppression, they forgot a lot of things, but they couldn't look forward because they were too much focused on looking behind at what they thought they were missing.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: When God changes a family and when God changes a ministry or an organization or a business, you learn from the past.
SPEAKER_01: But you don't live back there.
SPEAKER_01: You learn from the past, you learn from that.
SPEAKER_01: You take heed, you you watch it.
SPEAKER_01: But may I say, the past has to be put in the past.
SPEAKER_01: Paul said, those things back there, I I looked at them, I learned from them, but I have to press forward.
SPEAKER_01: And I can't be living back there.
SPEAKER_01: I've got to look and press forward towards the mark.
SPEAKER_01: But I remember back there of who I used to be and what I used to be, and I don't want to become that again, but what I've got to do is turn this way and press towards the mark.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua turned them and pressed them towards Jericho.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, is that right?
SPEAKER_01: And he said to the officers, I'm commanding you, you command the people.
SPEAKER_01: And the people listened to the officers.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, is that right?
SPEAKER_01: In Moses' days, the ten spies came back from their recon trip, looking around, and said, We can't go up, there's giants in the land.
SPEAKER_01: And all the people heard that and started doubting Moses.
SPEAKER_01: No wonder they didn't follow Moses.
SPEAKER_01: No wonder they fell short, according to the book of Hebrews.
SPEAKER_01: Well, the Joshua it never says that he fell short.
SPEAKER_01: He may not do everything perfect, but he didn't have rebellion.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't have small-minded thinkers.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Achan was a small-minded thinker.
SPEAKER_01: But the point of it being is Joshua could press forward because they were ready.
SPEAKER_01: Look at 1 Samuel chapter 30.
SPEAKER_01: You're doing great this morning.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Samuel chapter 30.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking to you today about families and marriages and relationships and organizations and community and military units and ministries and and you name it businesses.
SPEAKER_01: Brethren, when God wants to press something forward, normally faith moves us forward.
SPEAKER_01: Normally, not always, but normally faith moves us forward.
SPEAKER_01: Once in a while, God will give us a planned setback.
SPEAKER_01: I'll say it again.
SPEAKER_01: Once in a while, God will give us the planned failure to teach us something.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe to humble us to get ready to move forward again.
SPEAKER_01: Look at 1 Samuel chapter 30, you're doing well.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Samuel chapter 30.
SPEAKER_01: This is where David was at Ziglag.
SPEAKER_01: And Ziglag, they returned, and you don't read the whole chapter, but in the first part of the chapter, the enemy burned Ziglag, stole all of David's and his men's wives, children, all their herds, all their goods, everything, took them.
SPEAKER_01: David began to pursue after he asked the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He he counseled with the Lord, and the Lord told him to pursue and go after.
SPEAKER_01: Verse number 10 says, 400 men were so faint.
SPEAKER_01: If you would, they they pursued the 400 men, but 200 men of the 600, 200 were so faint, they were so Wiped out physically, they couldn't go forward, so the 200 stayed and the 400 men on.
SPEAKER_01: God delivered all of the women, all of the children, all of the animals, all of everything, and they even recovered more if you read it carefully.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 22.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 22.
SPEAKER_01: Well, then the wicked men that were with David, men of Belial, of those that went with David, they said, Because they, those 200, went not with us, we will not, we won't give them any of the extras, we're not gonna give them any of the spoils, we're not gonna give them any of the profit.
SPEAKER_01: But they can have their own wives back, they can have their own children back, but they don't get any of the profit because they didn't go with us.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 23, David said, Ye shall not do so, my brethren.
SPEAKER_01: That's not the way it's gonna be in my kingdom, that's not the way it's gonna be, David said under my leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us.
SPEAKER_01: You all think you recovered it, men of Balah, but I want to tell you something.
SPEAKER_01: If God wouldn't have had that certain man waiting for us that led us on in, we would have never got where we got today.
SPEAKER_01: And that's not the way God operates, guys.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't operate with the concept that uh, well, you were faint, so you didn't get anything.
SPEAKER_01: God looks at one ship.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean, one ship?
SPEAKER_01: Well, watch what David says.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord hath given us verse 23, and who preserved us and delivered the company that came against us into our land.
SPEAKER_01: For who will hearken unto you in this matter?
SPEAKER_01: But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff.
SPEAKER_01: They shall say the words, part alike.
SPEAKER_01: There's a oneness.
SPEAKER_01: Brethren, uh, we may have some people today that couldn't quite make it to church, but they're still part of our congregation.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever happens today that God wants to honor and glorify Himself, whether they're sitting in here with us or not, they're part of who we are.
SPEAKER_01: Are you still with me or not?
SPEAKER_01: The idea is there's a oneness that God puts into play.
SPEAKER_01: And notice what he says.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 25, and it was so from that day forward.
SPEAKER_01: So he made it a statuate, a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.
SPEAKER_01: What we're seeing here is God's mind.
SPEAKER_01: Well, even when David got back to Ziglag, you know what he did?
SPEAKER_01: He took of that spoil that they felt like was all theirs, and he sent it to the elders of Judah.
SPEAKER_01: That was David's tribe.
SPEAKER_01: He sent it to his friends, he sent gifts to everybody.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, if you go on, he sent gifts to the men in the countries in that area where he was wont to haunt.
SPEAKER_01: H-A-U-N-T, if you read the end.
SPEAKER_01: That was his areas where he was uh actively roaming and gaining, if you would, substance off the land.
SPEAKER_01: And he wanted, if you would, to everybody to know that he was not their enemy and that whatever he got, he would share.
SPEAKER_01: What was the haunt?
SPEAKER_01: The haunt was his area of operation.
SPEAKER_01: The haunt was where his men would be, because remember, they were still trying to get away from Saul.
SPEAKER_01: My point being is, brethren, this was an attitude change.
SPEAKER_01: This was an attitude shift.
SPEAKER_01: And once in a while, God takes our attitude and says to us, okay, time to mature up a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Time to mature up a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: That would be like a business giving out good stock dividends in a fair manner to all.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: Well, they didn't do that and they did that, but there's no caste system.
SPEAKER_01: Huh?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm up here, sure, I should get this.
SPEAKER_01: You'll get what's appropriate to you, but don't think the ones down here are peasants and don't give them nothing.
SPEAKER_01: Make sure they are doing for you and make you successful.
SPEAKER_01: Make sure you share in the spoil and the dividends a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Are you still with me or not?
SPEAKER_01: Brethren, at the judgment seat of Christ, we're gonna find out that God's system is very unique.
SPEAKER_01: Not everybody has the same gift.
SPEAKER_01: But when everybody pulls their gifts together, don't be surprised when God rewards somewhat equally.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, are you still with me?
SPEAKER_01: My wife and I are married, obviously, but God considers us one.
SPEAKER_01: Two shall be one.
SPEAKER_01: I really believe in this.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever we do collectively together, there's a share in that.
SPEAKER_01: You say a share in what?
SPEAKER_01: In giving God glory.
SPEAKER_01: And who knows?
SPEAKER_01: It's very possible that God might reward my wife a little bit more than me just for putting up with me.
SPEAKER_01: Ladies, right there is where you get your elbow out.
SPEAKER_01: The point being is God has a certain equality that's very unusual.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the widow came by and put in two mites, and God says, Boys, stop for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to take note of that.
SPEAKER_01: This woman has put in more than those rich guys because she put in everything and they only put in a small little portion of what they have.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Take note of that.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, is that right?
SPEAKER_01: She sacrificed more than they are, and he said, I want you to take note of that.
SPEAKER_01: God has a way of seeing motives and attitudes, and may I comment back that there was a cultural shift that had to take place, and the men of Belial were not going to influence the culture that David was trying to create in his kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: David was not yet king, but he was already anointed king.
SPEAKER_01: But in his kingdom, he made sure that that continued on that way.
SPEAKER_01: And the men of Belial, the small, egocentric thinkers, selfish men of Belial, self-centered men of Belial were not going to create the culture of David's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, are you still with me or not?
SPEAKER_01: Small-minded people sometimes that are egocentric and self-centered can mess up unity.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just trying to decide how much I want to get into this.
SPEAKER_01: A self-centered, egotistical person in a family where it's all got to be around them can mess up the culture of the family.
SPEAKER_01: It can be that way in church, it can be that way in ministry, it can be that way in business, it can be that way in the military.
SPEAKER_01: We did not like glory hounds.
SPEAKER_01: What was a glory hound?
SPEAKER_01: Somebody that wanted a medal for everything.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: I want to show everybody who I am, even at the expense of the lives of others.
SPEAKER_01: That didn't work.
SPEAKER_01: Glory hounds were dealt with.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: Those that would sacrifice men and women unnecessarily.
SPEAKER_01: I know that that's very like you're going, what are you talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Brother, in the military, you gotta have a culture that we're in this together.
SPEAKER_01: And we all come back together.
SPEAKER_01: And we don't leave anybody.
SPEAKER_01: I'll say that again.
SPEAKER_01: You don't leave anybody behind.
SPEAKER_01: There's a oneness to it.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Acts chapter number two.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter number two.
SPEAKER_01: I'm almost finished.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody alright?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to leave anybody behind today.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter number two.
SPEAKER_01: In Acts chapter two, watch this one more time.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes there's a cultural shift, and there has to be discussion.
SPEAKER_01: There has to be maturity.
SPEAKER_01: There has to be growth.
SPEAKER_01: There can't be this superior, see superiority and inferiority type of thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's we bring all together the best we can.
SPEAKER_01: Certainly some are gifted above others a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, some get incentives a little bit more than others, but make sure you follow after God's system.
SPEAKER_01: Look if you would at Acts chapter number two.
SPEAKER_01: And watch this if you would.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter number two, verse 44.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 44, last scripture.
SPEAKER_01: And all that believed were together and had all things what?
SPEAKER_01: Common.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what kind of what we just read about in David?
SPEAKER_01: David said, those that tarried behind at the stuff that were faint, and those that pursued forward, what God has given us, we're gonna have things that are common.
SPEAKER_01: We're not only gonna give the ones that tarried back at the stuff, their wives and their children, but we're gonna give them a portion of the spoil.
SPEAKER_01: You'll get your portion, you that went, and then we're even gonna take and give some of the spoil, if you would, to my tribe and then to the tribes and the people around us where we're coming in contact with so that we know they know that they're friends.
SPEAKER_01: And the concept was things became common.
SPEAKER_01: Notice they sold the possessions and goods.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not telling you to go home, you sell your house and donate everything and we'll we'll give it to other people.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that.
SPEAKER_01: But brother, there's nothing wrong with taking up a benevolence offering.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with helping somebody once in a while.
SPEAKER_01: The idea is so they sold the possessions and goods and parted to all men that every man that had need.
SPEAKER_01: And they continued daily with one accord.
SPEAKER_01: There was a unity.
SPEAKER_01: In temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness, singleness of heart, praising God, having favor with all people.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds like what David tried to do at Ziglag when he went out and gave to other people around that area.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
SPEAKER_01: Now, compared that to what?
SPEAKER_01: Please listen.
SPEAKER_01: Phariseeism.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: Compare what we just read to when Jesus had to rebuke the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: The Pharisees had a caste system.
SPEAKER_01: The Pharisees were way up here, and all the other people that were quote unquote what they called sinners, they were way down here.
SPEAKER_01: And the Pharisees loved to be called in the marketplace.
SPEAKER_01: Titles.
SPEAKER_01: Brethren, Jesus, the creator of this world, came and he did not act like a Pharisee, and the common people loved him for that.
SPEAKER_01: The common people felt comfortable around him.
SPEAKER_01: The Pharisees would not eat with the common people.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus showed up and ate with publicans and sinners.
SPEAKER_01: No caste system.
SPEAKER_01: No strict division, rigid division of society based on occupation or based on wealth or based on society and social structure and what family you were born into.
SPEAKER_01: None of that.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, the creator of the universe, was born to two people, one, his stepfather Joseph, to Mary, filled with the Holy Ghost, conceived, and they were not wealthy people.
SPEAKER_01: When they offered their offering, they brought two turtle doves.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with wealth, but don't let it go to your head.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with having a lot of money and having things and having niceties, but don't let them have you.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, are you still with me or not?
SPEAKER_01: Nothing wrong with driving a nice car.
SPEAKER_01: Just don't stay out of church polishing it every Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, is that right?
SPEAKER_01: Nothing wrong with excelling down here, but not at the expense of worshiping God.
SPEAKER_01: I hope I'm presenting this right.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I really hope I won't go away later and go, boy, I should have balanced that out a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01: Because different people have different things in society that they are, but it's good to remember where they came from and who lifted them up and let them be that.
SPEAKER_01: I was going through uh uh what's called Officer Candidate School back in uh Virginia, and uh that same major, that MIY, who by the way, was a uh was a he was on the cover of Life magazine.
SPEAKER_01: His last name was Ripley, R-I-P-L-E-Y.
SPEAKER_01: If you look him up, he was a uh a war, a true, true war hero.
SPEAKER_01: They wrote a book about him, they gave him a full, full-on uh commandant attended military funeral when he passed on.
SPEAKER_01: His name was Ripley, and Ripley told me, Major Ripley at the time, he later became a, I believe, a colonel.
SPEAKER_01: Major Ripley said, uh, Lieutenant Fisher.
SPEAKER_01: And then he said Lieutenant Branch.
SPEAKER_01: And he said Lieutenant Clark, there was four of us.
SPEAKER_01: He said, every day at Officer Candidate School, look in the mirror and say, Did I do my best today?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, I'm not just telling you to do it like a cliche, I'm telling you to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I, for one, every day went to the mirror at night and said, Did I do my best today?
SPEAKER_01: And I looked at myself.
SPEAKER_01: And I know the other ones did too.
SPEAKER_01: Don't take this wrong, but I came out number one and Branch came out number two.
SPEAKER_01: Because we did what Ripley told us to do.
SPEAKER_01: Because he knew what he was doing.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, just don't forget who you are.
SPEAKER_01: Because an officer candidate school, sometimes you're the leader and sometimes you're the follower.
SPEAKER_01: And they do that purposely.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you can't follow and submit, you can't lead.
SPEAKER_01: And I mean some of the guys that led, I would think, you want us to do what?
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to go in and say, let me take over.
SPEAKER_01: But you can't do that.
SPEAKER_01: Because they're also grading you on fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: I remember one guy said, we're gonna do this and this and this and this, and it was like I was like, and I said, That sounds good.
SPEAKER_01: And we got started on that particular problem, and it was a mess.
SPEAKER_01: And in the middle of it, he said, anybody have a suggestion?
SPEAKER_01: I go, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
SPEAKER_01: We got through it.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't because of me, but sometimes you just have to submit and wait.
SPEAKER_01: Because we don't have it all wired together either.
SPEAKER_01: David made some mistakes along the way.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: The point of it being our culture, though, sometimes in our families, in our ministries, in our businesses, in uh in what we're doing in the military, sometimes the cultural attitude needs to shift a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: And it takes a while for it to shift, to change.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like uh turning a larger boat.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean boat?
SPEAKER_01: I had the opportunity to say a little boat across the ocean.
SPEAKER_01: But when you get into a larger boat situation, you turn the rudder and you gotta wait.
SPEAKER_01: And you gotta have some momentum.
SPEAKER_01: Because once you turn the rudder without momentum, you're still not turning.
SPEAKER_01: So you turn the rudder and you wait, and with momentum, the the ship slowly starts to turn.
SPEAKER_01: But you can't you can't think like quick, quick, quick, quick.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes God shows us something and it takes time for him to turn the rudder.
SPEAKER_01: But we have to have momentum.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, Joshua had momentum.
SPEAKER_01: David had momentum.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Acts, they had momentum.
SPEAKER_01: Faith has forward moving to it, and we have to keep the idea of going forward and pressing towards the mark and momentum to see things turn.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not talking about being liberal.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking as the Holy Ghost leads you.
SPEAKER_01: There's some shifting to be more productive, to be more efficient.
SPEAKER_01: Please listen, to give God more glory.
SPEAKER_01: And the hindrance to that is self-centeredness, egotism.
SPEAKER_01: Thinking we're somebody we're not.
SPEAKER_01: It's better to think I need to have all things common.
SPEAKER_01: There needs to be one accord.
SPEAKER_01: How do we include more?
SPEAKER_01: Come on, are you still with me or not?
SPEAKER_01: How do we move over and let somebody else in?
SPEAKER_01: How do we bring up that next generation?
SPEAKER_01: How do we yet let that uh that teenager sing?
SPEAKER_01: Why does he get to sing?
SPEAKER_01: Because somebody chose him to.
SPEAKER_01: What should the rest of the teenagers think?
SPEAKER_01: Good job, brother.
SPEAKER_01: Not why do you get to and I don't?
SPEAKER_01: No, one accord is we we prefer somebody above ourselves and we rejoice when they're honored.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, is that right?
SPEAKER_01: And that sometimes the shift within our cultural thinking, there can't be gainsain, there can't be constant skepticism, criticism.
SPEAKER_01: Faith overcomes that.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: Faith says, you know what I'm supposed to think on today?
SPEAKER_01: If there's any praise, I'm supposed to think on that.
SPEAKER_01: If there's a good report, I'm supposed to think on that.
SPEAKER_01: There goes my daughter driving away.
SPEAKER_01: You know I was thinking, at least we got the right guy.
SPEAKER_01: I went home and I was crying.
SPEAKER_01: My wife was saying, it's gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_01: She was happy for I was he broke up the family.
SPEAKER_01: It was just different not having her there.
SPEAKER_01: The second day, still grieving a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Not just a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: The third day, the same.
SPEAKER_01: After that, alright.
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be alright.
SPEAKER_01: You say, why were you grieving?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I do.
SPEAKER_01: I needed to change.
SPEAKER_01: I need an attitude adjustment.
SPEAKER_01: I needed to let go and God bless them.
SPEAKER_01: Should I get my calculator out and say, okay, I won't have to feed her this and do this and do this and do that?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: That didn't cross my mind.
SPEAKER_01: What really crossed my mind is, God, I've got to get used to what's coming.
SPEAKER_01: Because this is going to continue to happen and rejoice in what God's doing.
SPEAKER_01: And please look up here and let go and not feel like that I have to be in control.
SPEAKER_01: Because when I walked her down the aisle, looked at him, I wanted to say to her, Are you sure?
SPEAKER_01: Just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: No, by the time you get there, you better.
SPEAKER_01: I took her hand off my arm, looked at her, gave her a kiss, and put her hand on his arm and kept it all together because everybody was watching.
SPEAKER_01: Sat down beside my wife, kept a straight face.
SPEAKER_01: I watched uh that when Brother Trieber married her.
SPEAKER_01: Everything was great.
SPEAKER_01: Reception, boy, isn't this great?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is great.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, this is great.
SPEAKER_01: And when they got in that little car with all those tin cans on the back, in the back it said, just married, and they drove away.
SPEAKER_01: It was like, I need to go hide away.
SPEAKER_01: He just broke up our formation.
SPEAKER_01: But it was God and his will.
SPEAKER_01: And we rejoice today, exceeding joyful.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying that changes are not always simple and easy and without some mental torments.
SPEAKER_01: You say, brother, I just can't believe that you know you would you would have a problem with that.
SPEAKER_01: Well, you have a problem with something else.
SPEAKER_01: Can I have a problem?
SPEAKER_01: Because when there's change, it takes a while to adjust.
SPEAKER_01: And letting go and letting others in to control.
SPEAKER_01: Now I gotta tell you something.
SPEAKER_01: Many, many years later, our last Thanksgiving man was I rejoicing.
SPEAKER_01: I was rejoicing our last Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you why.
SPEAKER_01: The whole family came over, and my wife did not have to cook.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, you're missing some.
SPEAKER_01: You're missing some.
SPEAKER_01: My wife did not have to cook.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: For Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: We had 26, 27 people over, and uh my wife did not have to cook, which meant this.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have to pay.
SPEAKER_01: Say there you go, thinking about yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: There's a bright side to all this.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe God's bringing you through a cultural change personally.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe God's bringing through you a maturity change, a corporate change, a marriage change, a family change, um military business change, a college change, a church change, or something.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to say this to you.
SPEAKER_01: Um, be careful that you're not like the men of Belial.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be self-centered.
SPEAKER_01: Don't think it's all about you.
SPEAKER_01: Look at how God has benefited and how much glory He gets.
SPEAKER_01: Because bearing fruit is all about giving you more.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this message by Pastor Doug Fisher of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California.
SPEAKER_00: To learn more about Lighthouse Baptist Church, visit our website at www.lighthousebaptist.com or call six one nine four six one fifty five sixty one.