Promotion

June 1st, 2017 Thurs. PM Sermon

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Sharper Sword, the publication ministry of White House Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California. White House believes that individuals can reach their potential for the Lord as they grow in Christ. We want to hear our Lord say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Let's join Pastor Doug Fisher as he preaches another important biblical message from the Word of God.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Look at Psalm 75. Psalms 75. And I want to give you three scriptures to start us out, to get our minds set on something, and then I want to ask you to consider something tonight. Just to consider it from the Word of God. Psalm 75, and then we're going to go to two other scriptures real quick. If you want to go ahead and pick up 1 Samuel 12, you can. Psalm 75 and 1 Samuel chapter 12. Thanks for taking time of prayer. And thanks for letting us uh change up the services just a little bit. Brethren, I don't mind uh consistency, but we don't want to get mechanical. We want to follow the Holy Spirit of God. Would you agree with that? There's something that I term, and it's not a good term, but we don't want to get into Baptist liturgy. Liturgy is a word that means it's just kind of uh uh done the same way all the time, and and I grew up in that type of thing, not in Baptist, but I grew up in that type of thing. Literally, I could I could be on the platform, I was an altar boy, I lit the candles and everything, and I didn't have to hardly think up there. I could daydream because it was gonna be kind of the same thing every time. And I said all the right words because I had them memorized. I mean, I could I could almost start even right now and take you through it. But those words were just memorized, they were kind of mechanical. Now, other people may have got something already from what we what we said, what we recited, but I gotta tell you, I I hadn't got it. I needed to get saved first. Amen. And so the point being is we don't want to get into Baptist liturgy. Let's do what the Lord wants us to do. Psalm 75. You know this scripture, perhaps, or if you're new to the Bible a little bit, maybe you haven't run across this one yet. Look at verse number six. Verse number six. It says this for promotion cometh neither from the east nor for the west, nor from the south. Well, that only leaves one direction. Come on, is that right? We know where promotion comes from because verse 7 tells us God is the judge. He putteth down one and setteth up another. The concept is promotion, advancing, moving forward, a God elevating, God uh magnifying, if you would, God giving the increase in promotion could be in business and job and in society and church and in influence, uh, you name it, whatever it is in academics, promotion doesn't come from the east, doesn't really come from the west nor from the south. It we know it comes from the north, is that right? And the north is God, and God is the judge, and we want God's favor. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be promoted while we're on this earth. And I'm not talking for popularity, and I'm not even necessarily talking to be seen. But if God promotes us and advances, he gets the most out of us. And what we want is uh we want this. We know in Matthew 25, everybody's given something according to their several ability. Several is a word that means uh diverse or or different ability, skill level. And God gives people, Christians, according to their skill level. He gives them the ability, if you would, to bear fruit. Now, one of the things that he also says is some bear fruit thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. Brethren, we do not want to settle for thirty-fold. In our lifetime, we want to look at ourselves and say, I want to reach my potential, Lord. Please, please, uh I want to reach my potential, increase, advance, a male, female, children. Uh uh we've got a uh a time where we minister and disciple, and we want God to advance us and promote us. I say that because that's the terminology in 1 Samuel chapter 12. Would you look at it? 1 Samuel chapter number 12. And the word in 1 Samuel chapter 12, we talked about advancement. Now the word is uh, I'm sorry, we talked about promotion, now the word is advance. 1 Samuel chapter 12. Notice verse 6, Samuel says something. 1 Samuel 12, 6. And Samuel said unto the people, it is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt. Who did God advance Moses and Aaron to? Well, he advanced them, he promoted them in front of Pharaoh. He promoted them in front of all the Egyptians. Believe me, after that army went into the Red Sea and died, don't you think the Egyptians knew who Moses was? What do you mean? When the Egyptian army went into that Red Sea and God took their chariot's wheels off and covered them with water, don't think Moses wasn't talked about in Egypt. God advanced Moses and Aaron. God promoted them. I didn't say he made them popular. He advanced Moses and Aaron with the children of Israel. Now, with the children of Israel in the wilderness, he could only advance them and promote them so far because of the children of Israel's humanity, carnality. Come on, is that right? They weren't respected out there like they should have been by the children of Israel. My point being, brethren, is God does that. God elevates different ones. God makes leaders. God can promote you in society, God can promote you in business. God can advance you in your family. God can advance you in ministry. And it's not to be seen, look at me, it's look at God. He's the one who does it. And stay with me before you make thoughts about the message, because when we get done and it all comes together, you'll see that it's not about us wanting preeminence. It's not about us wanting preeminence. It's about us wanting to glorify God and give him preeminence. With that in mind, look at Joshua 3. So we had the word promotion. We had the word advance or advancement. Here's one more word I want to give to you, then we'll give you kind of a thought. Look at Joshua chapter 3 and notice verse 7, verse number 7. And the Lord said unto Joshua, Joshua 3, 7, this day will I begin to magnify thee. I'm going to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, I will be with thee. Now, brethren, think about this. Moses was magnified. God just said that there. God magnified Moses in the sight of Israel. Now, wait a minute. Then that generation died off. And there was a new generation of young people that came forth, and now they were a little bit older in their adulthood, and God said, Now, Joshua, I'm going to magnify you in front of them. He does it in a lot of different ways, but how he starts is with a body of water, like he did with Moses. In the Red Sea, as that water came crashing down and destroyed the oppressors. What do you mean the oppressors? It just wasn't a Pharaoh's armies. They oppressed them. They abused them. They made them serve with rigor. You know there was immorality going on. And God magnified Moses. Well, the body of water that God magnified Joshua with was going to be the River Jordan. And then Jericho. My point being is Joshua is going to obey. They got back in the covenant again with the males. They obeyed. The manna ceased. They walked around Jericho. Joshua is getting magnified. The word magnified to increase, to advance, to give credibility to, to raise up, to make greater. And God does that. It's not for us to have the preeminence because one of the requirements for advancement is humility. It's a requirement. Why would God promote someone to their own destruction? So he gives humility along with it. And I know the Old Testament, I know some of the characters, and I understand pride lifts them up. I get all that. Now, with that in mind, I want you to see Exodus 33. And here's something real important to understand, please, about advancement or promotion or being magnified a little bit. And you say, Well, I don't want to be seen. I didn't say be seen, I said magnified, promoted, advanced, like witty inventions. What do you mean witty inventions? If God gave you insight to something and magnified you in your company, in your business, let him do it. Like what? Like giving you an opportunity, an idea for a vision to do something. That glorifies his work. Ministry. Or listen to me, paying for a ministry. You say paying for. Oh yeah, in the book of Ezra, some went and some paid for those that went. Come on, say amen right there. Giving is one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost of God. Everybody's supposed to give, but some people have the gift of giving. Everybody's supposed to be merciful, but some have the gift of mercy. So with that idea in mind, Exodus chapter 33 is something really important. Look at verse 11. Verse 11. Remember, Moses is one of those that's magnified. And the Lord said, Lord spake unto Moses, face to face. What does that mean? I'm just looking at what it says. Now no man can see God's face and live, but he says, face to face. Take it how you want to take it, but there's an intimacy. As a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of none, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. Brethren, evidently, when Moses was uh in there with the Lord, Joshua was pretty close. Joshua was an intern in an intern, intern. He was interning. You say, now wait a minute, was Moses interning him? Well, kinda. What do you mean? Was Moses training him? Well, kinda. But we don't look at Joshua and say, boy, Moses really trained him. We look at Joshua and say, God really trained him. There's nothing wrong with training someone, but let's not magnify the trainer. Let's magnify the God of the trainer. What do you mean? Moses did train Joshua. No doubt they had talks. No doubt he watched. Hey, Joshua was down in the valley when Moses had the rod in his hands. And Joshua's thinking, man, keep that rod up. Don't you think they talked about after the battle? Yeah, Aaron and Herod got in there and propped Moses' arms. It wasn't the arms of Moses, it was the rod in the arms of Moses. That's what was being lifted up, the power of God. And so the concept is no doubt Joshua is trained by Moses, but really God allowed Joshua to get close in to observe a little bit because Joshua was the next one. Come on. Moses was the pastor of the church in the wilderness. Joshua would become the pastor of the church in the promised land. You say, I'd never seen the Bible say church in the promised land. If it was a church in the wilderness, a little river didn't make them not a church. They crossed that river Jordan, they were still a church. They were just in the promised land, a called-out assembly, moving forward to conquer now. So the concept of Joshua being trained by the Lord, and I want you to see, if you would, that there was a face-to-face like God was revealing Himself more to Moses. Because part of advancement is God saying, Now I'm going to show you a little bit more about myself. Now I'm going to reveal a little bit more about myself. Now you're going to understand a little bit more about me. Don't let that puff you up. It's only by grace that you get that. I'm going to let you know a little bit more about me. It could be male, it could be female, it could be Samuel as a little boy. Come on, is that right? Don't think our teenagers can't know who God is. If God decides to reveal, then they will know who God is. And by that I mean, look at verse 17. You're doing great. Stay with me. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing that I have spoken. For thou hast found grace in my sight. You didn't earn it, you found grace. And I know thee by name. Remember, that was that same Moses that uh Jacobed put in the water, in the little ark. That was the same Moses in that little ark in the bull rushes that Miriam came by and said to the son of Pharaoh, or to the Pharaoh's daughter, You want me to go find a mother for him? I mean, God had his hand on that Moses from a young boy. Wouldn't you agree with that? It was that same Moses that was mighty in words and deeds as an Egyptian, that at 40 years old it came into his heart to deliver his brethren, and he decided, I'm no longer going to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Acts chapter 7, Hebrews chapter 11. And he fled after he killed one Egyptian, and God took him out to prepare him on his mountain. Come on, is that right? You call it the backside of the desert, and don't think that means backsliding. That means preparation. Don't let anybody tell you the backside of the desert is backsliding. Don't let anybody tell you that. When Moses fled, he fled right into the will of God, to the backside of the desert on the Mount of God. And he was being prepared for the bush to burn. And the great work God had for him in the last third of his life down here on earth. I say that because he's not done with him yet. Come on, is that right? I think the last third is the best third, amen. Why? Because the humility is the greatest. Your humility is greatest as you get a little older. Don't think fraileness is a bad thing. I'm out walking my little hill doing my tomatoes, and I gotta watch my step. I lose my balance a little bit. And instead of thinking, oh man, I'm getting older, I think I'm getting humbler. I'm getting more humble. You still with me? Depends on how you view this thing. Withering is a difficult thing, but it's a humbling thing. The grass withereth. So the concept is uh if I found grace in thy sight, I want to know you. Verse 18. Verse 18. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Now, this is a friend talking to a friend. Didn't I read that in verse 11? And he says, he says to God, they got this special relationship. He says, Show me thy glory. I'd like to see a little of your glory. How'd he know anything about the glory? Well, he was in the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord came down. When Moses set that, reared that tabernacle up perfectly the way God wanted it, the glory of the Lord filled it. So the concept is, he says, Show me thy glory. Well, we know what happens. Verse 19. He said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee. How do you make goodness pass before? There's a message in that. I'm going to let my goodness pass by you. I guess goodness and glory. So if glory is goodness, we're heading for goodness. Because when we get to heaven, we're going to be surrounded with goodness. You talk about a good atmosphere. Goodness, I'm going to let my goodness pass in front of you. So you can see some of my goodness. That's worth thinking about, amen. And if you ever experienced a little bit of time where God had a special little meeting with you personally, you know what the goodness is all about. It's like overwhelming at times. It's humbling. It's like, wow, there's a God. He just brought an amazing amount of goodness into my soul. It filled me with joy. That's being filled with the Holy Ghost, and it's just a, it's just, come on, I don't know how you say it. The biblical word is smidgen. It's just a little smidgen of his goodness. You say, what's smidgen? It's just a little bit. You know, you're smidgen of this and a little bit of that. Okay, you didn't get it. That's the best joke I have tonight. Now, with that in mind, I want to ask you to consider something. Look at Job 38. Job chapter 38. So promotion, please, advancement, magnification, increase. God doing that because he decides to. Is humility, but it's also him revealing himself. And each time it seems like God advances people in the Bible, male and female, he reveals himself a little bit more. He gives them a little bit more understanding. So I want you to see Job 38. Job 38. And in Job 38, verse 1, the Lord answers Job out of the whirlwind. And here's how he answers Job. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? You know what he just said to Job? You don't know what you're talking about. Now, you say, what are you saying? I'm saying God's going to rebuke Job a little bit. And he's going to put Job in his place just a little bit. Come on, is that right? But wait a minute, wait a minute. Watch what he says. Watch what he says. Stay with me. Verse 3 gird up now thy loins like a man. Get ready. Act like a man. I'm going to demand something of you and you answer me. Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. Now, he's talking to the richest man of the East. Formerly. What do you mean? In Job 1, he's the richest man of the East. But he doesn't have any of that anymore right now. He's going through training. Brother, don't take this wrong, but when I was in the Marine Corps, you break them down at first. And then you give them understanding. And then you build them back up again. And I'm not talking in human terms, please. But isn't that what God's doing here? He's breaking Job down and humbling him and bringing him to the brink. The brink of who he is, what he can do. It's like Psalms 107, to the end of his wit. W-I-T. The end of his wisdom. Everything Job knew, he exhausted now, and he says, now I gotta empty you out so I can pour something new in. You know that work. That way. Somebody says, I want to be filled with the spirit. You know we're asking him to empty out self. And we don't know what we're asking, and God says, I can do that. I can empty self out so we can fill you more with the spirit. Because the old man, the carnal man, is enmity against the spirit. So he wants that spirit, that old man crucified more, filled more, and I know these are concepts, and please don't think the Marine Corps has this figured out. This is biblical. What do you mean it's biblical? Break down first, give wisdom, lift up, but now there's humility, and what God's doing is he's challenging Job here a little bit, and he says, Declare if thou hast understanding. Like if you really know me, tell me how I laid the foundations of the earth. Okay, watch. Verse 6. Whereupon, Job, whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof? Semicolon. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. You know what he just told us something? Evidently, when he laid the cornerstone, there was some rejoicing going on in heaven. And we know the cornerstone is Jesus Christ, figuratively, literally. Because he's the one that created the earth. Come on, is that right? So he says, when the morning stars stand together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, or who shut up the seas with doors? When it break forth, like who set the boundaries up on the oceans? Why don't those oceans spill over more? Because God set boundaries up. Verse 10 uh break up from my decreed place and set bars and doors and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall the proud waves be stayed. Even proud waves have to obey. So it must be in some way, shape, or form alive. And if it can obey, you say, what do you mean it's alive? The earth groaneth. The rocks will cry out. Now you're saying, boy, you're getting really weird tonight. No, no, no. When it was time, God says, be still. And nature laid down in obedience. Physics laid down. What do you mean? The ocean, no, the sea out there, just laid down. Like, yes, sir. Come on, you still with me or not? But he says to Job, Where were you? Now, I want to make this statement to you. Even though he's rebuking Job, he's bringing Job closer. Even though he's rebuking Job, he's going to tell Job something about himself and bring him in closer to promote Job. Because by the end of the book, Job is promoted. Job is closer to God, understands God more, and Job is promoted and advanced and magnified. Would you agree with that? If you know the book, you know he was. And I'm not talking, look, I'm not just talking about the fact that God doubled his wealth and gave him another family. But God brought him in closer. And he did it through rebuke. When he was rebuking Job, he was saying, Job, listen carefully, I'm telling you something about myself. Here's what I did. Here's who I am. And sometimes when God rebukes us, what God is saying is, look, I'm taking time with you to correct you. Learn something. Are you still with me or not? You say I never saw it. That's because we skip over Job 38 and 39 and 40 and 41. Because we don't know what it's talking about, and I don't either. I don't know what a Leviathan is. You say, Well, I know what that is. Yeah, I know what you think you know what it is. But he spends seven verses on Leviathan. I got my thoughts on it, but it's hard to prove. Are you still with me? There's probably a book on Leviathan out there somewhere by some intelligent person. But don't think they know what they're talking about. Because if God didn't reveal it to them, but in this rebuke, God is showing Job a little bit more who he is and bringing him in closer. He goes on down to say, stay with me. He says, verse 16, Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Hey, we know now there's freshwater springs in the ocean. Have the gates, verse 17, have the gates of death been opened unto thee? Do you understand death? Brethren, we don't understand it. Can't we wait till we get to heaven and all this is no longer by faith? We get to understand it. Look if you would it stay with me. Verse 22. Verse 22, he says, Has thou entered into the treasures of the snow? Treasures. Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail? Isn't that an interesting way to put it? Whom I've reserved against the time of trouble. Verse 25, who hath divided a water course from the overflowing of waters or a way for the lightning of thunder? Hey Job, who controls the weather? To cause it to rain to earth where no man is? On the wilderness where there is no man? To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? Hath rain, hath the rain a father? Brethren, please, I understand people say Mother Nature, and I'm not being picky, but God is the God of nature. And he says this, he said, What about the rain, Job? What about the thunder? What about the ground out there in the wilderness where no man is? Man's not taking care of that ground out there. Man's not causing that little, that little spring up, that little plant to spring up and that herb to spring up. That's me taking care of details out there. Then he goes into verse 31. Can thou bind the sweet influence of Pleites and loose the bands of Orion? Now he's into the solar system. He's just gonna go around his creation a little bit. Stay with me and say, Job, where were you? And he's rebuking him, but he's trying to say, Job, understand who I am. Understand the magnitude of who I am. Because Job, I've got more for you. I'm not done with you yet, Job. Job in Job chapter 2, you were done with yourself. By Job chapter 2, you were done. By Job chapter 3, you couldn't wait to die. I'm not done with you yet. Come on, is that right? You read Job chapter 3, Job's giving up the ghost mentally. He wants to go home. I wish I would have never been bored. And God's kind of thinking, no, no, you don't understand. I got something way out here for you. I'm gonna magnify you more. I'm gonna exalt you more. I'm gonna promote you more. I'm gonna advance you more. But we need to go through Job 1 and 2 and 3 to get you ready for out here when I'm gonna show you about myself a little bit more so you're soft and tender to hear it, and self is not in the way. Are we still good tonight? Self gets in the way and humility. And God says, I want to reveal myself to you just a little bit more. And he's doing that in chapter 38 and 39. Uh, if you would look at 39. Stay with me. Knowest thou the time when the wild goats now is into the husbandry of the earth, the animals of the earth. Now he's into his creation of the animals. He's going to talk about them a little bit. I want to point uh just uh just a little bit out to you. Look at verse 13. Verse 13. Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? You know what God's saying almost? How'd you like that one, Job? How'd you like the how'd that how'd you like the way I colored the the wings of the peacocks? Have you ever stared at them for a while, Job? Can't you see Job just kind of listening to all this going? Wow. I'm not gonna say a word. Don't you think this is changing Job?

unknown 31:20

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

And isn't God talking to him in a very close way? Because rebuke is sometimes closeness. When we take time to rebuke our children, it's because we care about them. When we take time to say, and especially, by the way, uh they're not just rebuke when they're young, but sometimes they're rebuke when they are older. But when they're older, past 20 or so, you've got to explain the rebuke in more detail. Are you still good? It's because you care about it. Here's why you need to understand this. And sometimes we'll even do this. Let me tell you about something about myself. Let me share with you something that I learned in a hard way. I'm not just rebuking you, I'm trying to tell you something that I learned in a hard way to help you. Now I'm not saying God's showing his faults, I'm saying God's showing his magnification. He said, uh, he says, uh, would you just it's not like I love horses, but look at 19. I like horses, but you know. Hast thou given horse strength? He's going to take a little time and talk about the horse. Why is he doing that? Because he wants to. I like verse 20. His nostrils, the glory of his nostrils is terrible. Did you ever run a horse? And their nostrils get fierce. And when they're done, those nostrils are careful, man. You ever been around horses? You're looking at me like, what are you talking about? Evidently it's important to God. And God made the horse. You know what he says about 21 about the horse? He goeth to meet the armed men. They're going to use him in battle. Verse 23, the crib, the quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. Brother, now he's got those horses where they can be trained, if you would, to go to battle. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, that horse. I like verse 25. He saith amongst the trumpets, ha ha. You know what he said? Job, have you ever considered the horse that I made? It's got a fierceness to it. It can be gentle, it can be in battle, and it can stay in the midst of trouble. Ha ha. Let's go on through. Giddy up. And I made that horse that way. And Job's learning. Verse 27, the eagle. Man, before we had studied the eagle, he already said, verse 29, her eyes behold afar off. The point being is, brethren, we don't have to wonder who created animals and nature and cycles and solar systems and wind and water and herbal plants and man, we just we just believe it. And I want to tell you, you're hearing this from a man that was taught evolution in college and took it hook, line, and sinker. I had to take the anthropology classes in my major and the evolution classes and all that. Boy, I tell you what, when you get saved, you start rethinking that whole thing. You really do. And you think, man, did they sell me a bill of goods? I know I'm bipedally moat. I got bipedal. I got two legs. I walk upright. Big deal. Man, I don't have monkey legs. God created. He created two legs out of the dust. Come on, you still with me? And you say, well, I don't believe all that. Get to know God and you will believe it. Well, don't you think there's something you know about this and that? Look, there's things that are dreamed up and said and contemplated, and maybe even some of the creationism got it a little bit wrong. We're still studying. It's still being revealed. Brethren, don't think that there's not limits on how far man will go in space. I don't know how far that is, but God has already decided how much he's gonna let the Hubble telescope see. Come on, wouldn't you agree? He's got this all planned out. None of this is, oops, did you see they shot up a telescope? Boy, I hope they're not looking into the third heaven. Relax. Everything's good. God's still in charge. But he's revealing himself to Job. Then he goes on and he's not done yet. Stay with me, verse 40. Moreover, the Lob answered Job and said, Shall he that contended with the Almighty instruct him? You know what I just said, Job? Are you going to tell me what to do? I know you're important down there, but you're not that important. And I'm going to bring you closer in. But the only way I can do that is for you to have humility because I have to resist the proud. And then I give it grace to the humble. And he goes on to say, again, gird up the loins of your mind, like round two. Here we go. Well, I'll not go into all this, but I want you to see chapter 42. Everybody still good tonight? I want you to see 38, 39, 40, 41. You say he's rebuking him. Noah is revealing himself to him. Yes, he's rebuking him. But in that rebuke, he was saying, Look, look, consider who I am. And then Job makes this statement and God records it. Verse 5. I've heard of thee. By the hearing of the ear. But now mine eye seeth thee. And what was the result of that? Wherefore I abhor myself. Seeing who you really are makes me see how very, very frail I am. In fact, I didn't read it to you, but right in the midst of chapter 40, look at verse 4. Right in the midst of that, 40, verse 4, you know what he said? Here's my answer. The Lord answered the Lord and said, Behold, I'm vile. That's my answer. What shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. You know what he just said? I'm going to shut my mouth. I'm going to shut my mouth. Because when humility allows us to get closer to God, and God allows her to get closer, you know what it does? It just kind of, I'm just going to close my mouth. I got nothing to say. He's God, He's in charge. Somebody says to me, said to me the other day, uh, how do you build a church? And I immediately said, I don't know. You must know something. You've been a pastor for a while. I said, the longer you pastor, the more you know. You don't know how to get the increase and do it. You just do what you're supposed to do. And if God makes the plant grow, it he does that. You honor the word of God, you preach the word of God, you plant, you water, and God gives the increase. But how he gives the increase, who knows? He said, I was expecting a different answer. I said, if you would have talked to me when I was 30, I would have told you how to do it. I'll say that again. If you would have talked to me when I was 30, I'd tell you how to build that church. Now in my 60s, God builds the church, man. I know some of the things we're supposed to do, and if you got it figured out, let me know. Or you may have to go through 38, 39, 40, and 41. Where God says, now you know how to build the church, huh? Well, answer me this. Where were you when I laid the foundation thereof? So he says, Now I know you. And I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. And by the way, God already brought him in because the next thing God does, he goes to those three rebukers, those three miserable comforters. And by the way, look, I gotta tell you this, I think I would have been maybe an Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zophra. I'm not sure. The one guy that I really, I really like, I really like Job in the book of Job. I'm a little concerned about myself being an Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zosir, but one of the guys I really like, and you really need to study, and I'll preach on him sometimes, is Elihu. This is a wise guy. He's quiet, and basically here's what he says: Job, you're wrong. And Eliphaz, Bild, Dad, and Zophar, you're wrong too. But he says it like, I know I'm not supposed to say anything, and who am I? I know, but you're both wrong. I just want to say that. And he does it in a very kind way, and God records it. The idea, brethren, is when God rebukes Job, Job is allowed to be a little closer. I lead you with this last little thought. Daniel 1. If you've got rebuked by the Lord recently, maybe he's bringing you closer. Maybe he's magnifying you. Maybe he's promoting you. Maybe he's advancing you. Maybe he's going to give you greater opportunity. I want to say that again. If God's rebuked you, it's possible that God's going to advance you and promote you. Because not many men and women in the Bible that God advanced or promoted did he not rebuke. And it's not like it's God never rebukes to destroy. Would you agree with that? He doesn't rebuke to destroy. That would go against his New Testament principles. The rebuke is not to destroy. The rebuke is not to get him down and kick him so he can't get back up again. The rebuke is to make someone better. To correct, to instruct. So I want you to see the book of Daniel, and we're done. Daniel chapter 1. Verse 9. Now God had brought Daniel into what? Say it, would you? Favor. God can still do that. God can give us favor with relatives, he can give us favor with business, he can give us favor with our neighbors, community, he can give us favor. God had brought Daniel into favor in tender love with the princes of the eunuchs, the leaders. A favor, like uh, like uh God gave Samuel favor with God and men. Favor. And then it says, verse 17, as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill. And all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. So God gave him favor, and God gave him special understanding. Uh Joseph was the other one that got interpretation of dreams. What was that? That was God going to magnify him because Daniel was going to serve four kings and be influential with four kings. But I want you to see this, and we're done tonight. Look at Daniel, if you would, chapter number uh nine. Daniel nine. Please. Please, Daniel nine. Daniel nine. One of the characteristics of Daniel is in verse 3. Verse 3, and I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and slack sackcloth and ashes. Please listen. Satcloth and ashes speaks of humility. I'll say it again. Satcloth and ashes. I know we don't put sackcloth and ashes on, but we do put on humility. Are you still with me? We're supposed to put on humility. God, increase humility. I set my face on the Lord thy God, Lord God, to seek thy prayer and supplication. Supplication is speaking and praying for others with fasting and with humility. Of sackcloth and ashes. And here's what the messenger said in verse 23. Look at 923. At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth. And I am come to show thee. For thou art greatly beloved. For thou art greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter and consider the vision. Brethren, one of the things about getting closer to God is understand the matter. You're greatly beloved. Stay in prayer, stay in communications. Verse 22 says, I'm now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. It's given. It's given. We have to be careful about thinking that we get it like we figured it out. Like our great wisdom figured it out. I know God can give it, but let's recognize where it came from. And I'm talking about if God lets you pass college, if God lets you become a professional, if God lets you pass some very extreme test in your life academically or or trial, or gives you understanding to a business or ministry or wherever it is, brethren, it's God's favor, it's God promoting, it's God advancing. And that needs to have humility with it. And it needs to have a greater understanding of our Lord. That's why it's so important for us to be in our books. Brethren, this Bible, you know if we read it, there's stuff in there for us. It's still current. In here is promotion. In here is advancement. Because the more we get to know God, you say, well, he must have, Job must have understood business. All as I know is it said, and God doubled him. I don't know how he did it, but he did it. It's like when uh when the guy was down there with the husbandry and he decided to take, you know, cut some wood off of this and put it in front of their eyes. What's that all about? The poplars. And they started producing more. You say, well, I got that all figured out. Brother, that was the Lord. And he went out rich in cattle. That was God giving favor. Are you still with me? I mean, how do you cause iron to swim? Iron sinks, but the iron swam. Why? Because God is the God of nature. And if he wants iron to swim, it can. Why? They had a need. Something, the axe head dropped in the water and they needed it. Well, rather than diving down for it, he just caused it to swim to the surface. Come on, what are you gonna do? But it wasn't just the iron swimming, it was everybody watching. Magnifying God. But it magnified the man also. Everybody still good with what I'm saying? It's not like we do this, like we, I'm gonna figure this out. This is not a chessboard in life. This is a walk with God. And if God's gonna magnify us, we gotta turn around and make sure He gets the glory. But there's a price to pay of humility. There's a price to pay of trials. There's a price to pay of rebuke. There's a price to pay where God says, now while I'm rebuking you, listen, I'm gonna tell you something about myself. And when you read the rebuke, don't think about Job, boy, he's getting rebuked. Boy, he's really getting rebuked. Why don't we think God's revealing himself to him? What a privilege to be rebuked by the Lord in that fashion. Because God's going to use him in Job 42. Is it 42 chapters? 42. And he gets, I think Job gets to that hundredfold. I don't know where he was at in his progress of life. It's either the intensity of our servitude or it's the longevity. I don't know which. Maybe it's both. What do you mean? 30, 60, 100fold is some are given one, some are given two, some are given five, some are given different gifts, some are given different abilities, and some bring forth thirtyfold, some bring forth sixtyfold, some bring forth a hundredfold. Maybe it's the intensity, or maybe it's the longevity of serving a long time, of staying with it. It might be the intensity, but it might be the longevity. Because Moses' best days were in the last third of his life. And Job's best days were after he went through all that. So maybe it's the intensity level of staying faithful and focused, or maybe it's the longevity. I will say this a lot of it is determined by who we hang around.

unknown 49:36

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

If we walk with the wise, we shall be wise. That's why he says don't sit in the seat of a scorner. Stay away from that backbiting discord stuff. It'll hinder your 30, 60, hundredfold. It's true. People get knocked out of the saddle because we just don't do what the book says. And I'm saying we. I said we. We have to guard that. Because we only have one life down here to live, and we want to give him just everything there is to get. And brethren, please don't think this wrong, but you you ever squeeze oranges? And you know there's a little more juice in there. And I mean you squeeze it. Man, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking I want, I want the, I want all of it. And I like pulp. Some of you guys don't like pulp. Man, I want to squeeze it till the guts come out. Put some of that pulp in there. And so you take that and you squeeze of that orange, and then you twist it, man. There's a little more in there, and let that pulp squeeze out. I don't know about you, but Lord, get all you can. Please. And it's not just, we don't do this as individuals, we do it collectively. Two are better than one. A three-ford code. The idea is we can do so much by ourselves, but we do so much more collectively as a church past.

SPEAKER_01 51:13

Thank you for listening to this message by Pastor Doug Fisher of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California. To learn more about Lighthouse Baptist Church, visit our website at www.lighthousebaptist.com or call six one nine-461-5561.