Ye Have Not Passed This Way Heretofore 5-5-96 PM

 5-5-96 PM

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Joshua chapter 3. When you pick up also John chapter 21. This will not be a long message tonight, purposely. Joshua chapter 3 and John chapter 21. I want to give you some time tonight if God's willing and I can get through this thing in good order. I want to give you some time as uh to fellowship as we're starting to come into the summer months and everything. And I want to make sure that you have some time of fellowship too with God's people. Joshua chapter 3 and John chapter 21. Joshua chapter 3, we're going to begin reading, if you would, in verse number 1. But I want to get down to one of the verses, and I just want to give you a little phrase here. And again, it's more preventative, I think, than it is crisis management tonight. Now, you know, every time I preach somebody might say, man, that just is right what's going on in my life right now. May I say this, it's not built on that, but I believe it's built on by faith that this is what the Lord wants us to look at tonight. Verse 1, and Joshua rose early in the morning. And they removed from Shitem and came to Jordan. He and all the children of Israel and lodged there before they passed over. Brethren, this is the next generation, the generation that had come out of Egypt. They had been wandering around out there for how long? Forty years. And they had died off, if you would, except for Joshua and Caleb. And now, if you would, they were getting ready to pass over into the promised land. Now please look up here. Don't you know those children had heard about the promised land? Don't you know those fathers and mothers had talked about the promised land? Don't you know that Moses had talked to them often and often and over and over about the promised land? Hey, don't you know that Joshua and Caleb continued to talk about the promised land? And they said, hey, we're going there one day. And even those spies that came back said, Yeah, that promised land, it really is. There's grapes over there. We brought them back. I mean, God put in the hearts and the minds of these next generations that they were going to go into the promised land. And by the way, if you're hot tonight, we've turned the air down below on each other. Amen. Verse 2. And it came to pass after these days that the officers went through the host and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priest, the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it. Now remember, the ark was the mercy seat. And what they're saying is in the resemblance of the what's going on in heaven right now, when the when the ark, which is the mercy seat of God, picks up and begins to move, you are supposed to go after it. Verse 4. Yet there shall be a space between you and it. About 2,000 cubits by major. Come not near into it, that you may know the way by which you must go. So he says, when the ark lifts up and the priests start out, you just follow the ark wherever that's going. And by the way, that's the way we go by faith right now. Is that right? We try to follow the Holy Spirit's leading by faith in what he wants to do next. If you would have told me two years ago we would be in this building, I would have said, Well, we'll wait and see when we get there. Amen? Because I didn't know how it was all going to work out. I was thinking about just last night. Uh if we would have tried to use this building for Brother Hiles and Brother Scott coming in, there wouldn't have been enough room for the churches that would have gonna come. I looked at that thing and I thought, you know what? The Lord knew what he was doing because we would have had twice as many people and we would have had needed twice the size of this auditorium. So we're out looking for one. Amen? Look if you would at that again in verse uh number four. He said, That ye may know the way by which ye must go. Now I want you to see this next little phrase with me. For ye have not passed this way heretofore. Now listen, brethren, I don't know where you're at in your Christian life, but there's a good possibility that you've not passed this way heretofore. There's a good possibility that God's never had led you out past this place heretofore. You say, well, how could he? It's kind of like this. Me as a Christian, as I keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. Now, if I have a tendency to stop and backslide, I may have to pass over some old ground to get to where I was before. Is that right? Let me say it again. If I stop by faith what God wants me to do, and I backslide, I may have to pass over some old ground to get to the place where God wants me to so he can bring me to some new ground. But if you've just been moving along by faith with the Lord Jesus Christ, there's a good possibility that we've not passed this way hereto before. You know, I was looking at my situation, our family growing up a little bit before. Uh, I've never passed that way before. This is the first time I've I've ever had children at these different ages. And I don't know about you, but it's a learning experience. Amen. And I'm glad to learn it. I've never passed a church like this before. And I've not passed this way heretofore. But I want to say this to you. I'm not bored, are you? Man, if somebody says I'm bored with my Christianity, man, step out and follow the ark. Get behind that thing because God's not going to take you to a place where you just get bored. If you've been in this church very long, you've not been bored. I mean, we got guys right now. You know what they're doing? They're driving five buses that you paid for from Texas and driving back here so we can put our bus ministry a little bit more in order and get those things from the double run back to the single run run. We've never passed this way heretofore. We're praying for more workers and how we can reach out for more people. But brethren, please look up here. We're not stagnating and stopping. We want to do more for Lord Jesus Christ, but we're not trying to do it to please men. We're trying to do it to please God. I'm not concerned whether our name's in the paper or anything like that. I'm more concerned that when God looks down at us as a group, he says, Well done, thou good and faithful servants. But we've not passed this way heretofore. And we have good company, if you remember what he said to Abraham, uh, get thee up from thy father's house, from thy country, and from thy kindred and from thy father's house. And he said, I'll show thee where you are going. When the children of Israel passed out of Egypt. They didn't know where they were going. They didn't know what we were going to do. And somebody says, Well, listen, I'll follow God if I could just see exactly what I'm going to be doing out there. Brethren, that's not faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But he can see where we're going. Look if you would at John chapter 21. John chapter 21. And I hope if you're here tonight, you're not to the place where you say, Well, I'm not going any farther. Brethren, we ought to always be willing to go farther for the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter 21. In John chapter 21, look if you would at verse 18. Verse 18, he says, This. Verily, verily I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself. And walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall what? Gird thee. And carry thee whither thou wouldest not. Brother, part of this thing of walking by faith is we get into situations and responsibilities that we feel like they're over our head. If you're in this thing tonight with the Lord, and you may say, Oh, I just I just feel like I'm over my head in what I'm supposed to be doing. Good, praise the Lord. That way we're dependent on Him. Amen. I mean, if you're in here tonight and you're teaching a Sunday school and it's just kind of overwhelming the responsibility. Good, that keeps you dependent on God. If the nurseries are growing, or if the beginner's class, or if you're working a bus ministry, or our convalescence center is growing, ministry, and some of these different things that are growing. Hey, if you're in that situation, you're feeling, man, I don't know. I just feel like I'm over my head just a little bit, but you're not over his head. And it's good when he carries us, whether we wouldn't even want to go, but he puts a desire in our heart to want to go there, and we find ourselves out there sometimes, and we want to back up just a little bit and say, Oh God, maybe I'm out there too far. And God says, Listen, don't you remember when I led the children of Israel out of the wilderness or out of the Egypt? I didn't let them go through the way of the Philistines. I didn't let them go that way because I knew they were going to repent at the sight of war. I knew what they could bear. I knew what they could handle. And I stopped them from going the way of the Philistines because they would have turned around and ran. And listen, may I say this? I don't think God's going to lead us to a place just to so we get scared so we turn around and run back the other way. God knows what we're able to bear, and God knows what we're able to take. And you say, man, I feel like I'm in the pressure of this thing right now with my life and my family or my work or the church or the responsibilities I have. And I just feel like I'm I'm I'm pressured. May I say, good. Let me give you something. That's great. That means God's softening. That means you're dependent on God. That means you're looking through his eyes to see what you can't see from beyond, and you never passed that way hereto before. Look if you would in Numbers chapter 21. Numbers chapter 21. Stay with me. I'm going to get to a negative in just a moment. Numbers chapter 21. When we go into these situations where we're trying to move by faith and we're trying to do what God wants us to do, and we can't figure the whole thing out. And you may say, well, no, I got everything in my life right now, just boy, everything's in order, and I got my finances worked out, and I got this worked out, and I got that worked out, got this worked out. Be careful, by next week you may need this message, amen. Numbers chapter 21, and and notice, if you would, what he says in verse number four. Verse number four. And they journeyed from Mount Or by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom. They were going to go around. And the soul of the people was much what? Say it. Discouraged. Because of what? The way. But let me ask you a question. Who chose the way for them? God chose them the way. And every once in a while it's good for us to look and say, now wait a minute, why am I discouraged about the way God has chosen for me? I was looking out there today as I was speaking to some of the men out there and some of the women, and they were asking me, a couple of the veterans out there asked me, they said, now, now where did you pastor and how did that come about? You mentioned you were at Paris Island and what happened after that? And I said, Well, I went from one army to another army. On my knees that night I was in the Marine Corps, and when I got off my knees, I was still in the Marine Corps, but I was in the Lord's army. And I went from one army to another army. So God chose that for me, if you would, and God chose where I'm at, and God chose where you're at. But sometimes, if we're not careful, we get discouraged because of what? Say it. The way. And the way gets to be a little bit discouraging. Now, here, the way took them through the wilderness, and the way caused them to wake up every morning. And when they woke up, man, they had to go out and depend on God for what? Manna. For their daily food. For just a daily provision. When they woke up, they didn't know how they were going to be provided for that day, but they woke up, there was the manna. Amen. Amen. Except on the day that God rested. And they were supposed to gather twice as much the day before. So the idea though, God had them to the place where they just depended. Now, sometimes we can get discouraged in the way because, oh man, if I could just get ahead a little bit. Man, if I could just have a little bit more provision and have something planned for the future. Well, there's nothing wrong with planning for the future, but may God, may I say this to you, God sometimes says, no, you don't need to plan so much for the future. Let's just depend on me today. Because I like it that way. They were discouraged because they looked at the way and they saw that the wilderness was harsh, and that God sent this light bread down every day. And it says in verse 5 that their soul loatheth this light bread. Please look up here. They got tired and dependent on him. Some of them wanted to go back into Egypt, and you know that whole story. Now I want to talk to you about something tonight. I want you to listen. We're not going to focus on the children of Israel in the wilderness because please look up here. They never made it to their promised land. The children there didn't make it to their promised land. The ones we started with, they followed the ark right in, if you would, across the River Jordan and into the Jericho and on into the promised land. When we study the Bible and study the Old Testament, we can study about those who, if you would, didn't reach their potential. But I also like to sometimes and many times study about those who did reach their potential. Look at 2 Samuel 8, and let me show you a man who, I believe, reached his potential, and one of the areas that discouraged him. 2 Samuel chapter 8. And please turn there with me and watch this very carefully. This is not, this is not, if you would, Moses' discouragement and what he had to face so much. It's not the discouragement that Nehemiah had to face. But I want you to see just a little bit tonight about David. About David. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 8. And notice his success very quickly, so you remember who it is we're talking about. Because if there were ever a man in the Old Testament that I think reached his potential, it was David. Remember, when David took over from the king Saul, I believed that Israel was in a mess. They didn't have strong leadership. Their leader had just consulted with a witch. And God's blessing wasn't upon that. They had just lost in the battle. Saul and Jonathan was taken, if you would, and the Philistines were out there and they had defeated them. But David comes in, and after a long ordeal, look at 2 Samuel 8, and look at some of the accomplishments of David. Verse 1. And after this it came to pass that David smote the who? Talk to me. The Philistines. And subdued them. And if you would, verse 2, and he smote who? Moam. And measured them with a line. And the Moabites became David's servant. And verse 3, he smote, if you would, the king of Zobah there. And if you would, look a little bit further and look at verse 12, brethren. And these are conquerings of David. And David, if you would, there's no doubt that God took him from the sheepcoat, and God lifted him up, and God established his goings, and God took him to places in the way that hitherto he'd never been before. Look at verse 12. Of all the nations which he abdues in verse 11, of Syria, of Moab, the children of Ammon, and the Philistines, and of Amalek, and the spoil of Hadadazar. And it goes on, the king of Zobah. And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of Salt, being 18,000 men. And he put garrisons, look at his conquest, in Edom throughout all Edom. He put garrisons, all they of Edom, because became David's servant. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. And look at verse 15. And David reigned over all Israel. And David executed judgment and justice unto all his people. Now stay right there. Brethren, we're not looking at failure here, even though David had his problems. He numbered Israel later on. He had the problem with the woman. I understand all that. But we're looking here, brethren, and we look at this thing, we're looking at success. Statement. God put this Old Testament together for our admonition into whom the ends of the world are to come upon. And we're supposed to learn from these things that are in here. Is that right? And what we're learning about in David's life is a kingdom, if you would, that's successful. It's an organization for God that's successful. It's, if you would, you could look at it as a family and say, David did something that was successful. We could look at it as a ministry and say, David did something that was successful. We could look at it as a church and say, David did something that was successful. Well, then I want to know David is a successful leader. What bothered him? What got to him? What did he have to be careful of? And look if you would in verse 16. And Joab, the son of Zurih, was over the host. And may I say to you, that was one of David's biggest hindrances. Say what? Oh yeah, right there. You see, David had all these conquests. Syria and the Moabites and the Ammonites and the Amalekites and all theites and Assyrians. And it got to the place, though, where there was one area, and there was a couple, but one in particular that weakened the hand of David. Follow with me just a little bit and let me show you some scripture. Look at 1 Chronicles chapter 11. Stay with me tonight. 1 Chronicles chapter 11. And let me show you something that David said was a hindrance to him. And remember, David's kingdom was very successful. 1 Chronicles chapter 11. And look if you would with me, brethren, at verse number 6. Verse 6. And we're going to flip some scriptures very quickly tonight. By the way, I'm through half my scriptures already. 1 Chronicles chapter 11. I didn't say the message, half the scriptures. Amen. 1 Chronicles chapter 11 and verse 6. And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So who? Say it. Joab, the son of Zurih, went up first and was chief. Look at chapter 19. Stay with me. And if you've heard me talk about him before, stay with me. There's something in here that you haven't seen yet, maybe from me. Look at chapter 19, if you would. And in chapter 19, notice a verse of scripture here about Joab. And verse 8. And David heard of it. He sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. And the children of Amon came out and put the battle in array before the gate of the city, and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field. Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israels and put them array against Syrian. Please look up here. Joab was a tremendous leader. And the rest of the people he delivered in the hand of who? Abishai. That was his brother. Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon. And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me. But if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee. Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves how? Say it. Valiantly, for our people and for the cities of our God. And let the Lord do that which is good in his sight. So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians in the battle, and they fled. That's the Syrians before them. The idea is here, Joab was a tremendous warrior. Look at chapter 20, please. Chapter 20. You're right there? Verse 1. And it came to pass that after the year was expires, at the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army and wasted the country of the children of Ammon and came and besieged Rabah. But David carried at Jerusalem. If you know, you know what he did when he was back there. And Joab smote Rabah and destroyed it. My point is that Joab was a tremendous warrior. Look at 2 Samuel 14. Stay with me. 2 Samuel chapter 14. You say, I don't see David have any problem with this guy yet. Look at 2 Samuel 14. Joab did many things, but I want to show you something that David says in just a moment. 2 Samuel chapter 14, please turn there. Joab is the one that, if you word, encourages Absalom and David back together in verse 21. Verse 21 of 2 Samuel 14. And the king said unto Joab, Behold, now I have done this thing. Go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. Look what Joab does. And Joab what? Fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself. And what? Thanked the king. I mean, you've got to look at Joab and you've got to see that he was, there was a, there was some, there was some, if you would, courtesy there, there was some honor there, there was some respect. He was a mighty man. And Joab said today, thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my Lord, O king, and that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant. So Joab arose and went to Gisher, and he brought Absalom to Jerusalem. He brings Absalom back, and if you read the end of the chapter, Absalom and the king get back together again. Now, if you would, look at 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and look at chapter 3. Chapter 3. And watch this carefully. I want you to see that there's a lot of things that Joab was doing in a right way. But I also want you to see the other side now. In 2 Samuel 3, and if you've been in our church very long, you know a little bit about Joab, but I want you to see David's heart on this matter. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 3, and notice, if you would, verse 27. Verse 27. And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly and smote him there under the fifth rib. And he died for the blood of Asahel, his brother. And notice, if you would, verse 37. Look at it, brethren, please, verse 37. For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king, that means David, to slay who? Say it. Abner, the son of Nur. And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man. He's talking about Abner, fallen this day in Israel. Look at verse 39. And I am this day, say it. He's what? The anointed king. And these men, the sons of Zurih, thee, say it, too hard for me. The Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness. David says, This day I'm weak. Why? Because these two sons here. Abishai was a loyal, if you would, obedient servant to David. Abishai was the one that won to kill Shimei twice, and David didn't want him to. And Abishai was the one who won to kill Saul and David didn't let him. But Abishai was also the one when Ishbabinab came up and won to kill David. Abishai didn't even ask questions and took off his head. Amen. If you remember the story. But he says, this time he says, for this day, and I am this day weak. May I say something to you? I believe David was discouraged about what was going on. Abner was the captain of Saul's host. And Abner, being Saul's uncle, had set up one of Saul's sons. Ishbosheth to be king. And Ishbosheth had accused Abner of some things, and Abner says, Alright, I'm done with you. And Abner goes over and begins to join forces with David. And David sees the whole kingdom coming back together again, except for the actions of one man, it may have happened, and the actions of Joab, because Joab killed Abner. And David said, Man, you're too hard for me. And he says, This day I'm weak. Statement. We are each other outside of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God. We are to each other potentially the greatest encouragement there can be on the face of this earth. Let me say it again. Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God, we are to each other the greatest encouragement on the face of this earth. Let me say it again, because you're not going to get encouragement from the world to do spiritual things. I mean, these uh these young people singing up here and the preaching that goes on the pulpit and the handshaking and the people that co-labor beside you, and the people that swing the sword with you, and the people that run those bus routes with you, and the people that talk to you about things of the Lord and pray for you. Hey, brother, we are potentially each other's greatest encouragement. And if you don't know that by now, get out of the church for a while. Brother, we get to talk to somebody who's been at a church for a while, and they'll tell you the greatest, most productive times when they were in church. I got two calls last week from people who had been in church and been out for years, and one of them was weeping and crying and said, We've got to get back in church. We must get back in church. Our family's falling apart. Our happiest times when we're back in church. I got a visit from another person. They sat in front of me and they said, We need your help, Pastor. My husband who used to come to church is now involved in all manner of drugs. And now my son, who's 19 years old, is now going out and doing drugs together. And I've got a 10-year-old boy, and he's beginning to watch that. And I need help, but I may not be able to influence my husband and my 20-year-old boy, but I'm gonna work on that 10-year-old boy that I don't lose him. And this morning and this afternoon, I spent some time with that old woman. She's concerned about her family, and she's saying to me the happiest, most successful times of our family when we're in church and we are praying as a family. You don't know how important church is till you don't have one. We are our greatest encouragement, one to the other. Please look up here. Then we're also potentially our greatest discouragement is one to the other. We are potentially each other's greatest assets, and we are potentially each other's greatest liability. Who's gonna make that decision? We are. And may I say this, as I looked at this message tonight, I didn't look and say, alright, who do I have to be careful of? No, I didn't say that. I looked and said, Doug. That's my name. Doug? Who are you discouraging? Who are you tripping up? Who are you causing to stumble? Me. Who are you not propelling to be what they should be for God? You see, if if I look at my own self and I get myself to the place where I'm hindering very little and very few people, and you do the same, and we all do it together, you know what that means? We can go on to places we've never been to here before. We can go on and follow the ark of God in places we never dreamed of being before. We can go on and we won't crack and we won't split and we won't repent at the sight of war. Are you listening to me? And God will look down and he said, There's some people who have my heart, there are some people who love each other, there are some people that can put up with each other, there's some people that they're not looking at who's hindering them, but who they're hindering, and there are some people that I can use for our Lord. And David said, I'm weak this day. You sons of Zurih, you're just too hard for me. And that wasn't the only time he mentioned it. You know the story, and I don't ask you to turn there, and if you haven't, you ought to turn there and look at it sometime. Please look up there. Even though Joab brought Absalom back to David and got them all together. If you remember, Absalom burned Joab's field, and Absalom sat at the gate and conspired with Ahithophel and took over David's kingdom, if you would. Now please look up here. And Abs David was walking up the hill. Absalom had taken over, and Absalom did those ungodly things to his ten concubines. And then David called his men together, and Joab and Abishai and Ittai the Gittite. And he said, Listen, we're going out to war against Absalom. Deal gently with my son. And they got out there in battle if you remember the situation. Absalom was one with the long flowing hair. It was his pride, amen. And he had this long flowing hair, and he was riding his little uh uh vehicle there and his uh in his little uh artillery carrier, his little jeep, and he was riding along. And he got himself caught in the bough of a tree. I wonder who caught him right there, amen. And he got himself caught and he was just hanging there, and guess who came by? Joab. And David had said, Deal gently with my son, and Joab looked at Absalom, and I think he looked at him with remorse. Why? Because David, if you would, when Joab brought Absalom back to David, and then he burnt his field, and then he brought David back and Absalom together, and then Absalom turned on David and turned on the kingdom. By the way, one of the things you learn is you don't turn on Joab without him retaliating. And the Bible says that Absalom was hanging up in that tree, and Joab took three darts, and these weren't little darts like this, these were darts, amen. And he took three darts and thrust him through with his heart and killed him. The thing was grievous unto David. Very grievous. But it didn't stop there. Look, if you would, a little bit farther, and look at 2 Samuel 19. Stay with me. 2 Samuel 19. See, brethren, we could be great assets to each other. We could be great hindrance with what we choose and decide to do. 2 Samuel chapter 19. And again, there's nobody in here tonight that's discouraging me. This is not a crisis management situation or anything like this. It's for us to look at ourselves tonight as God wants to do more for us and more with us. And I'll tell you in a minute, 2 Samuel 19. And in 2 Samuel chapter 19, there's another man here that maybe you've heard about and maybe you haven't. It goes on in verse 19 where David's crying, Absalom, Absalom, my son Absalom, and he goes on down through that thing. And there's another man, if you would, uh look down a little bit further. And notice if you would uh verse 22. Verse 22. And look at the statement David makes. And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of who? Zurii. Now there were three sons, if you remember, Joab, Absalom, and Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, but Asahel was already dead. And look at really quick carefully at that verse, and look what he says. Verse 22. Abishai in verse 21 and just said, the son of Zurih answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the Lord's anointed? And look what David says to Abishai, one of the brothers. And David said, What have I to do with you, ye what? Sons, plural. Who's the other son? Joab. That ye should this day be, say it? Now wait a minute, he didn't say adversary. He said adversaries plural. So you know what he's looking at there? He's looking and saying, You know what, you sons of Zurih? And I think in his mind he's thinking, Joab. What am I to do with you all? This day you're your adversaries, you're opposing me. Shall there be any man put to death this day in Israel? Now the question is, uh, why was it that he felt like they were opposing? Look at chapter 19, look at verse 13. Verse 13, look at it. Verse 13. And say ye to Amesa, this is David speaking to Amesa, art thou not of my bone and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, he's talking to Amesa, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of who? Please look up here. David was frustrated with Joab. And David looks at Amesa and said, Listen, here's what's going to happen. You are going to be in the place of Joab. And I believe at that point in time David had had it with Joab, and David was to the place where it was a hindrance to him, so he decided that Amesa was going to be the captain. Now, if you know the story and you read it, Joab takes care of that situation like he takes care of everything else. Look at chapter 20. Look at chapter 20, stay with me. And look if you would at verse number 4. 2 Samuel 20 in verse 4. You say, man, how does this apply to me? It will in a moment. 2 Samuel 20 and verse 4. Then said the king, this is David speaking to Emesa, send me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present. Now Emesa goes out to uh to assemble them, and there's a there's a war that goes on, and uh Abishai is told to go on out after that warfare that's going on. And look at verse 8, stay with me. When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amesa went before them. Look what he has on. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girdled unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened. You know what he did? He had the general's outfit on, he had the captain of the host outfit on, and it was Joab's garment, upon his loins and the sheath thereof, and as he went forth it fell out. And Joab said to Amesa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amesa by the beard with the right hand to do what? Kiss him. But Abasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand. So he smote him therewith in the fifth riddle and shed out his bowels to the ground and struck him not again, and he died. Now the idea is this, brethren. David had someone close into him. And David's discouragement was that that person close into him was had his own agenda and was doing his own thing. And where Joab, even though he's a great warrior, please look up here. Where Joab was a great warrior, Joab was also a discouragement. Or you say, how do you really think David felt about it? One more scripture, 1 Kings chapter 2. And there's no doubt how David feels about it. And then let me talk to you a little bit tonight. 1 Kings chapter 2. 1 Kings chapter 2. And you say, you know, we've studied this maybe a little bit before, preacher. I know we have, but I want you to see this, my brethren. Here is a successful kingdom. Here is a successful organization, and God put this in here for a reason. Look at 1 Kings chapter 2, and he's speaking to Solomon, who's going to take over. And look at the thing, the first thing, the very first thing. Let's just read it in context, and you'll see the very first thing that he starts to deal with personally here. Verse 1. Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die. And he charged Solomon and his sons, saying, I go the way of all the earth. Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a what? A man. Be a man, Solomon, and keep the charge of the Lord thy God. By the way, there's a message. You want to be a man? Keep the charge of the Lord thy God. Here's the charge. Walk in his ways. Keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments, his testimonies, and is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself, that the Lord may continue his word, which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee, said he, a man on the throne of Israel. Verse 5. Moreover, he's going to give him specific instructions now. Thou knowest also what who? Joab. First one he mentions. Joab, the son of Zurih did to me. And what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner, remember he killed him, the son of Nur, and unto Amesa, remember he killed him, the son of Jester, whom he slew and shed the blood of war and peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. Verse 6, he says, point blank, do there according to thy wisdom, and let not his whorehead go down in the grave in peace. You know what he says? Get rid of him. Now I make this statement to say this. David had great success, brethren. Please look up here. David had great success. He conquered the Ammonites and the Philistines and the Moabites, and he conquered king after king. He conquered the Edomites and God gave him success and God preserved him. And brethren, I'll tell you something. Yes, David made some mistakes along the way, but there was a situation there where Joab weakened him and discouraged him. And it was obviously on his mind because he got to the place where he said, Joab's out, Amesa's in. And then Joab took care of that situation. Now again, I want to be careful tonight because what I'm looking at this situation is this. I'm not looking and saying, in my heart and mind, please look up here, who is my Joab? What I'm I'm looking at is, who am I a Joab to? I'm not looking out here and saying, Joab, if you're here, you know what I'm looking at? Joab, if you're here. And who, Doug, are you discouraging? And who, Doug, are you hindering? And who, Doug, are you saying that you're weakening somebody's hands? And they're discouraged. And what are you doing to somebody, Doug, that's that's discouraging them from walking in the way hereto they've never been before? Brother, what we're supposed to be doing is encouraging each other to go farther in the way of faith and keep on going and not turn back and get to the place where wherever God leads us, we're gonna follow. I submit this to you. I've watched different churches and I've traveled a little bit, I've seen just a little bit. Most of the time when discouragement comes to a church, it does not come from the outside. It does not come to the world, from the world, from our kind of church. May I tell you what? You come to church Sunday morning. You come to church Sunday night. Many of you, if you can't, you come to church Wednesday night. You're involved in this, you're involved in your giving, your children are involved here. I mean, so many of you have so much committed and wrapped up in this church. It's not like you're trying to be worldly. You know who'll get us? If we beg, we'll get ourselves from the inside. It'll be that we develop a scorning type of attitude. A selfish type of attitude. And we won't be willing to look at ourselves anymore and say, who am I a Joab to? All we'll look at is, who is a Joab to me? Who is hindering me? Who is causing me that I can't go any further? You know what the best thing to do? Stop. Just stop right there and say, now wait a minute. Who am I being a Joab to? Is there anybody I'm discouraging? Is there anybody I'm hindering? Because we ought to esteem the other things that other men have more highly than ourselves. I ought to look at the things that you have and say, Am I helping them or hindering them? Is the attitude that I'm giving out something that helps them or hinders them? Is my demeanor and my counselance something that's helping or hindering? Hey, you know, every once in a while it's good for me before I walk into my house at night, after maybe a day where there's a bunch of things that happen and everything, it's good for me to go somewhere and sit in my car and say, now, God, I need to dump this on you before I take it home and dump it on my family. I need to dump this at your cross before I take it home and dump it on my wife. I need to dump this right there, casting all my cares upon you before I go cast all this in a byproduct on my children. Because if I'm not careful, I'll hinder them. Or I'll hinder my family when I walk in the door. You know, we gotta get away sometimes from the mentality that, well, you know, uh, my family's hindering me, and you know, I could serve the Lord without distraction. We need to be careful about that. My wife and I were just up at uh Brother Randy, or two of you in here somewhere? We're just up with uh Brother Turner's church, Foothills Baptist, and we were, Brother Turner asked my wife and I to come up, and we we went up for a Friday and a Saturday, and we went up to uh Lake Arrowhead. That's kind of nice. Oh, you know, an interesting study of man and woman. We walked in the room that was set up for us at Lake Arrowhead, opened the curtains. I looked out and I said, hmm, lake. And went back and my wife looked out and said, Oh, what a beautiful lake. I said, Yeah, it's a lake. And she said, No, look at it. I said, Yeah, it's a lake. She said, Isn't this romantic? And I said, Yeah, it's a lake. And we were up there for a specific purpose. The pastor asked us to come up and talk to some couples about leadership, husband and wife, and working as a team in leadership. And one of the things I really thought about and contemplated and looked at, and while I was speaking to them, I was I was looking at myself about some of the moods that we create in our in our home, in our marriage. And I thought, I looked at myself and I thought, what mood am I creating that's hindering my family or hindering my wife or hindering my marriage? And what mood am I? You say, preacher, you're being pretty self-reflective. That's why we all should be. We all should look at ourselves and examine ourselves. You know what we have a tendency to do a lot? Examine everybody else. We have a tendency to look and say, Well, that's the reason I'm not, and this is the reason I'm not. And that if that wasn't there, that wouldn't, that's the reason I'm not. Well, we ought to start with ourselves and say, I'm the reason I'm not. If I'm not, amen? And we were up there and we were talking about some of the different things that uh, if you would, can can hinder. There's no doubt that sometimes if we don't learn, that we create stumbling blocks in those around us, and please look up here. Sometimes it's those that are closest to us. Guaranteed, guarantee, the men of this church, many of you, most of you, with your commitment, I believe, it's not gonna be that you get caught with something in the world. I hope not, anyways. Most of it, it may be someone that's very close in. That might stumble us. You ladies in here. It's probably not gonna be somebody out there. It may be somebody right in here that if you're not careful, you get bitter at. You know, better yet for us to look and say, who am I causing to be bitter at me? And what am I doing and what can I change? Hey, isn't that song said it's me, it's me, it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer? Not my what? Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Sometimes when I think about these messages, you may say, Yeah, but the preacher was talking about so-and-so tonight. No, the preacher was talking about himself. Because I want to look and say, there are things that we want to do for God as a church. There are things that we want to do for God as a family. There are things that my wife and I want to do for God after our family's grown up and after they go off, and maybe they get married and go on. There are still things that my wife and I want to do for God, and may I look at you and say this to you. I don't want to hinder her from being what she needs to be, women in her early 40s, and we want to last this thing till we're 65 and 70 years old, and I don't want to put anything in my mouth that would cause her to get bitter or not, what I'm doing in my garden for God. So I need to look at myself and say be careful to not be a judge. And put it right back on me. Then it's important for her to communicate back to me. To talk to me. And it's important for us to talk to each other. Hey, brethren, please look up here. When we clam up and we stop communicating, we got problems. You can't have a church this size with everything that we do together on a weekly basis and go one month, and if we just stop talking with each other and say, well, that'll make everything okay, that'll make everything worse. Amen? Absolutely. You say, well, man, there's this person in this church that just really, you know, well, you know what? As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with say it. Amen. You say, well, well, what if I got someone that I can't live peaceably with and I went to them and I'm trying not to be a stumbling block to them? What do I do then? The Bible says to avoid contentions. Well, what does that mean? Avoid them. Well, what do you mean? Avoid them. Well, if you can't get along with someone, avoid them. Rather than casting stumbling blocks all the time, please look up here, avoid them. But don't tell anybody else. Hey, you know what? Would you pray for me? I'm gonna avoid this person because we don't get along with me. I just really like you to pray for me. No, no, no, no, no, no, I shouldn't have said it that way. I'd probably just put a stomach block in front of somebody. Would you please no, I didn't say it now. That was for the men, for the rest. Would you please be quiet and keep that to yourself?

unknown 45:57

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 45:58

And work it out between you and that person and agree that you disagree and leave it. Because you don't need a bunch of people joining your side, anyways. What difference is it going to make? Better just to learn about it and pray about it and keep it quiet and not get involved in a gossip circle. Whether you be woman or man. Say amen, man. When you look at this situation here, David had so much, if you would, success. But three times he said, What do I have to do with you, ye sons of Zurii? Why are you adversaries? Why are you opposing me? He said, This day, though I be king, just after Abner died, he said, I'm weak. And these sons of Zurih, they're too hard for me. And then he even tries to replace Joab with Amesah. And then he does this. At the end, he sees he's just got to go on. And finally, he gets to the place where he tells his son, You be careful. Take care of Joab. You know what he did to me. You know what he did to Absalom and Abner and Emesa. But it's like a thorn. Brethren, I'm not looking and saying there's somebody in here that's a thorn to me, because right now, when I lay my head tonight on my pillow, there's no thorns here. I mean that. I mean, do you have anything that you're praying about? Oh, sure, we all do, don't we? Don't we have decisions that we all have to make? Sure, we all do. But there's nobody a thorn when I lay down. My more concern is this when I lay down. God, who have I been a thorn to? Who have I been poking? Who have I been hindering? And look at me. If you're in here tonight and I'm at fault, why don't you privately set up an appointment with me and come and see me so I can learn? Oh, you say you won't learn while I'm trying. You see, it'd be good to give me the benefit of the doubt. And give me a chance. I've been around this church five years and I talked to you six years ago. Hey, you know what? Six years is a long time. I've read some scripture since then. God might have done something to my heart. And maybe I'm better able to receive. You say, why are you saying this, preacher? Because if I put myself as a leadership example to you and say, I want to open myself up this way, then why don't you? I say, you know, what if someone hurts you? Faithful are the wounds of a friend. And that's how we grow, and that's how we stay together as a church. And that's how we go on, and that's how God takes us to places in the way that we've never been hitherto for because he looks down there and says, you know what? Oh, there's those disciples down there, and they've had some problems, and they can have some outings with each other, and all down there, and there's the there's no uh so down there who's now poor with you women, and he's gonna rebuke people in the book of Galatians with not working out. There's no one situation over in the book of Acts, and back in the old chest with everything, and you look at the waterhouse and send them over, and it looks to themselves, and give them an example in my book, why don't they get together and working out so I can put my power over the book and use them in the ground of what it's a ministry in the hip, and two people arguing with each other each other or fighting with each other, and I don't know what we find in the Bible, and nobody wants to give them, and nobody wants to give the Bible, you might be hiding that ministry get together and work that's together, and get it to get to the point where God can look down and strike me. I want to take you places where you've never been.

unknown 49:42

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 49:43

I can't see everything going on in church. Why did you know so-and-so is this so-and-so? I I don't know. Let so-and-so and so-and-so work it out. If they got a good attitude and a good spirit, they'll be able to work it out. Oh no, you don't know that one, they can't get along. Then avoid each other. And not draw up sides. Not get the children on sides. Let the children have a chance. If anybody's ever been against me through the years that I've been pastoring here, I'll tell you this: I've never turned my children against them, never. Let me say it again. If anybody's ever been against me at this church and and and bit at me in some way, shape, or form in the in the 13 years I've been pastoring here, or going on 13 years, please look up here. I've never sat down with my children and tried to turn my children to the place where they're against that person. Oh, they may sense something as they get older and wonder what's going on, but I don't sit down and and have roast church with my children because I know it will affect them, and have roast person and say, now, you've got to watch this person because they're this or there or that. I'm not gonna poison my children for making them looking around growing up in church and being a part of church, and then my second starts this small, but that's a bit, and then gets this big looking above, and we poison our own children if we're not careful because we're unwilling to look at ourselves and say, It's me, it's me, it's me, O Lord. Well, I know a situation where your child said this or this. My children say a lot of things that even surprise me. Sometimes they say things, and I look at Patty and I say, Did they get that from you? And she'll look back laughing and she'll say, I think they got it from you. And we compare notes and make sure that they didn't get it from us, and if they do, then I want to go to them and say, Daddy's wrong. Give them a chance to go on and be a part of church until they're 60 or 70 years old. Man, wouldn't it be great for our children to start in the nursery and go all the way through and stay in church until the rapture? Wouldn't it be great for them if the rapture doesn't come to start in our nurseries and go all the way through and we're already with the Lord in the air and already gone out of here, absent from the body and present with the Lord, and they're just carrying on behind us? It won't happen if they see a bunch of Joabs. That won't happen if they see a bunch of Mrs. Joabs. Say amen. Won't happen. We need to look at ourselves and say, you know who's going to hinder this work? Well, I know we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, against principalities and powers. But brethren, who do they use? They'll use us against each other. If you're here visiting here tonight, you may say, wow, man, I'm not going back there. This church has got a bunch of problems. If this church had a bunch of problems, I wouldn't be preaching it this way. If there is a bunch of problems out there, it's not because they've all come to me and they're all blown up and out of out of proportion. Please look up here. I'm glad I can come to you as a church and say, here's a situation, let's deal with it, let's look work with it, and let's call this preventive maintenance so we go and look at our attitudes and keep them to where we esteem each other higher than ourselves. And look at each other with respect. And look on the things of others rather than on just on the things of ourselves. And brethren, please look up here. We all get selfish once in a while. We all get selfish once in a while. You say, how do you know when you're getting selfish? Just analyze your prayer life. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. That's getting selfish. Doesn't take long. I mean, nothing wrong with saying, Lord, there's some things that I need, but brethren, there's nothing wrong, too, with saying, now here's my list, Lord. Would you help so and so in their ministry? And would you help so and so? They asked me to pray for them for this, and and God, I'd ask you to help them with that. And Lord, I just have a prayer list that includes others. Others. Statement. I'm excited about being pastor of this church. I'm excited about what God has for us in the future. God's been opening my mind, and I think we've got some direction for the future. We've got some things that we'll be talking to you about as we come up to July and come up to the time when we start our new fiscal year and some of the business things that we need to do. I'm excited because I know this, brethren. Please look up here. God's not done with us. God's not done with us as long as we will go in the way that He has set before us heretofore, even though we've not passed that way before. Because I've not passed that way before, please look up here. I'm one to be a little cautious. If you've not learned anything about me yet, you will probably hear sooner or later that the preacher is slow sometimes in making decisions. Let me let me just, hey, if I have a fault, sometimes I am slow. I like a person that makes decisions. I like a person that makes decisions too after they've heard the whole matter. And after they got before the Lord and thought about it for a while and making sure of what they're doing. Amen? You see, it's easier to uh it's easier to out second guess the coach of what he should have done in the ballgame, amen? Well, if the coach would have done this, would have done this, would have. Oh yeah, that's easy to do. It's easy to second guess decision, but I'll tell you what, I'd rather, and I hope you don't mind, I'm kind of a slow mover. I I pray about things for sometimes for years before we do them. I think I'd rather be faulted for that than be a sprinter and sprint out there and say, oops, this isn't it. Sorry. And sprint this way. Oh, you know what? Sorry, that's not it either. Hey, guess what? Let's try this way, guys. Let's sprint over here. And and that's not it either. Sooner or later you're gonna say, I'm gonna stay right here until he sprints around and find out what he wants to do. Yeah. I'd rather it be, okay, we've been waiting. We've been watching. Waiting to the place where I'm tired of waiting. Man. And I say, okay, we've we prayed, we thought. Brethren, it looks like this may be the direction that God wants us to go. Let's go cautiously, and when we go, everybody goes with us. I got some things upcoming that I think are exciting. We've been praying about a few things. I've been fasting about a few things. I think I need to fast about a few more things. But one of the things I've been looking at is, Lord, if this church and our children and our ministries are going to do more, please, what changes have to take place inside of me? I've talked to the church these last couple of weeks about, on Sunday morning, about the heart of God. If there's anything I'm studying right now, I realize this. I need as a leader, I need as a husband, I need as a father, I need as a friend to have more of the heart of God within me and all his attitudes. But brother, until it seeps in, we can't get it. But once it seeps in, it doesn't mean we instantly have it. It means sometimes we have to wait for God to develop that within us. And I hope tonight, in this message, even though we didn't shout a whole lot, and even then we didn't go out and, you know, glory to God, hallelujah. Not all messages are like that. Some messages you say, it was quiet tonight. Please look up here. A quiet time in the church doesn't mean it was a dead time. Sometimes a quiet time means some people are introspectively thinking about the scriptures and thinking about themselves. And every once in a while there's an amen said, but it's better when we walk out and we're saying, Yeah, what about that, Lord? What about that in my life? Who am I being an asset to? Who am I encouraging along? Or who am I stumbling? What am I doing that's hindering? But we don't go out of here like this. We don't go out of here with our shoulders slumped over and oh, I'm a terrible person, oh, I'm a terrible this, oh, I'm a terrible that, oh, I can never be this, oh, we can never do that. That's a that's a that's a former generation children in the in uh the wilderness. They whine, they murmur, they complain, they call themselves, they said we'd be like grasshoppers in our own side and in the side of the others. But we don't need a grasshopper mentality of what we can't do it, we can do it through Christ. We can do all things through Christ, but every once in a while we need to look at ourselves and say, what do we need to do to shorten this thing up and make this quality of this thing better so God can lead us to places hitherto far we've never been? And once we get out there, we won't repent at the side of the water and it won't fall apart because we went too quick in our own way. We want to go God's way in God's time. We want to go with God's attitude in our heart, and that when we've got out there, and we get out there farther and farther and farther for the Lord and doing more and more for Him, it won't fall apart and it won't crack because God makes everything consist. Now, you say, you're talking about the whole church. Well, narrow it down to your life, to your ministry, to what you're doing for God. My heart's desire tonight is that fruit may abound to your account. That we as a church will go on and be what God wants us to be. And I want to say this to you. We're not finished here. There's more God wants us to do. There's more God wants us to reach out to. There's more that God wants to take us towards. And please look up here. I'm excited about that. I'm cautiously excited. I want to tell you some of the things, but I'm gonna hold off. Oh yeah. Why? I want to be cautious. It's not secret. It's not top secret locked in my desk drawer stuff. It's locked up here. And I'm trying to get God's mind on what we do next. And then you know what I do? I talk to some of our leaders and I listen to what they had to say. I talk to some different people. I try to look diligently to the flock and know the state of the herd. Know what's going on in it, know what we can accomplish. And then when we get out there too far and we make a mistake, and like we read tonight, we cut off an ear. It's good when God reaches down and takes that ear and says, Well, you made a mistake. Here, you don't you'll need that. And puts it back on. Amen? I think I've possibly cut off heads before, and God says, Here, you're gonna need this here. Put this back on, just right there. That's good. Yeah, Doug didn't know what he was doing. He's growing, just everything's fine. Here, your head right there. In fact, I'm gonna screw it on better than it was before. Amen, right there. We've all done those dumb things, haven't we? Isn't God good when he picks up on our mistakes and and and puts them back together again and makes it so we don't blow people's lives apart and blow situations apart and make people bitter. I don't want to do any of that. Brother, I'm not down here to lead people to bitterness. I'm down here to lead people out of bitterness. We're down here to lead people into their potential, not to not to kick them out of church. I want them in church. You know, I remember years and years and years ago, every once in a while, because I heard other guys say it, I'd say, yeah, and if you don't believe this and you don't want to follow this, there's the doors. And they swing both ways. Oh, I said that one time, and God says, What are you saying that for? Who are you? What are you trying to put them out or keep them in? And I thought, yeah, where am I getting that stuff at? And I think the Lord said, Not from me. I said, Yay, Lord. So I began to change my attitude a little bit. You know what I say now? Man, if you don't believe this and offends you, just come back. Keep growing. We're not trying to kick you out, we're trying to keep you in. Man, give us a couple times and grow a little bit. Not trying to push people out the door. We want them to come in and grow. Man, eat the chicken, spit out the bones. Don't spit on the rest of the food, amen. But stay and grow. We're gonna do something for God. Say we already are. We're gonna do something bigger, greater. For our Lord Jesus Christ. He is worth it. But it starts with our attitude. I'm gonna give an altar call to me. You know what's gonna happen? Some people are gonna go, no, I don't have to go down there tonight. Everything's fine. Please look at me, and I'm finished. Ah, I told you I'd get out early. Close. I'm gonna get you out five minutes early. Look at me. Better for us to tonight go before the Lord and say, Lord, if there's a blind spot in me and I don't see it, and I'm weakening somebody or discouraging somebody close into me, whether it be a spouse or a child or somebody I'm working with, and and don't, don't, don't, don't, if you got it low with self-esteem or you got a problem with that, grasshopper type of thing, don't just let those things flood in. Be careful. Don't go out here depressed. But honestly, Lord, if there's some areas that I could do better on with my influence on the others around me, one of the things I don't want to do with all the seeming success that you've been allowing our church and our ministries to have, what I don't want to be, is I don't want to be a Joab in there. So God, rather than me looking around and seeing who's Joab's to me, I want to see who I might be a Joab to someone else. And then, Father, you show me and begin to work on me and begin to work on that attitude with me so I can be one like an Abishai, trusted, even though I don't agree with everything. But not a Joab. Please, tonight, my brethren. Let's all stand. And let's not leave and go back out the back doors yet. Let's just stand and stretch. You've been listening for a minute. And the preventive maintenance tonight, it's not so much crisis, but the preventive maintenance tonight is to look at ourselves. And may I say this, please look up here. Maybe rather than start in the church, if you're married, start right there. Or if you've got a close friend, maybe that you're an encouragement to, start right there. Don't begin to look at the big picture. Look at the smaller picture first. Say, Lord, how have I been a discouragement? Or how have I been maybe did some things or said some things that were taken maybe in a way that I didn't mean, but they were taken that way. And how can I get those things right? And how can I learn? I want to grow, Lord. And start right here with me. Right now, as a as a dad, I'm looking at my children growing up, getting older and older. Now I'm starting to have some children that now it's not just children there that I'm gonna have sooner or later, I'm gonna have some adults in my home. I've got a couple already, and it's it's a little bit different now. And and I want to make sure that I'm not a discouragement to them. God didn't give me those children to put a stumbling block in front of. God didn't give me those children to say, be fruitful and multiply. Bear fruit, and that your fruit may remain and have a good taste about church. With your heads bowed tonight.