We again this afternoon rallied round the spread table of God and he blessed us with his word. The God we serve is one, and we could attest to that, following the trend of the sermons. It takes faith to walk with God.
SCRIPTURES: Genesis 15:13, Exodus 6:5-8, 1Corinthians 10:1-2,24, John 17:17, Ephesians 5:26-27, Luke 24:49, 1Corinthians 10:5, Psalm 106:24-26, Numbers 14:26-30, Psalm 106:25, Psalm 23:4, Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Psalm 106:24, Numbers 14:23, Hebrews 3:7-15
Abraham, our father of faith at a point when he was looking up to God for a child, God spoke to him that his descendants will sojourn in a strange land for 400years, what a message for one seeking just a child! We love to claim the blessing of Abraham, but we don’t want to go through the process of Abraham. Brother, the blessing of God is Election, not any material things.
The promise of a seed came to pass and Abraham gave birth to Isaac and Isaac to Jacob, and then we have the Israelites, and truly they sorjourn in a strange land, and when it was God’s time, when they were to come out, God gave them three things;
- A Prophet
- Signs and Wonders
- A message.
Among these three, the message is the greatest of all, God gave the ‘prophet’ and the ‘signs and wonders’ because of the message.
In this Laodicea age, God did the same, gave us the three things, but most people have misunderstand God by prioritizing signs and wonders or the prophet more than the message.
However the same message that brought out Joshua and Caleb was the same message that brought out Korah and Dathan. A lot of people only claim to have believed the message, the message is not in them. God knows what to do and how to prove every one, he has processes for everyone because the purpose of bringing them out is to take them in. And in taking you in, you have to be fit, and in being fit, you have to be proved.
WHY DID THEY SPEND 40 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS
- God wants to show them his power: These men were given birth to in Egypt, they don’t know their God, but he needed to wash them, so God took them through the process of the wilderness.
- For them to trust him: He needed them to know that in their journey, he is their sufficiency. Just like we know the meaning of fellowship, all we need in this journey of faith is God and God alone.
- To prove what is in them: And that is why you and I are still on earth. Until we squeeze an orange, we will never know its taste. God took the Israelites through the wilderness so that he can prove what is inside of them. Yes, God is omnipotent and All knowing, he knows what is inside of you, but also God is just, so he will allow you to manifest what is inside of you.
The measuring rule of God to know your spirituality is not with the material things you have, you don’t measure the love of God to you by the money you have.
There are three processes to the promise land, or three processes of salvation:
- Justification: This is God picking you out by love out of many, he made his choice by picking you. And this is the first step, and guess what, we don’t stay here, because it’s a journey to the promise land. Justification is not the promise land, it is a process to the promise land, so move on. God took the Israelites through the Red Sea for water baptism and he made them to see his wonders, but that still wasn’t the promise land. You don’t stay with miracles and rest your eternity on that.
- Sanctification: After God took them through the sea for water baptism, he gave them the law to sanctify them. The truth has always being the tool in God’s hand to sanctify his own, it will not change. And for the truth, it has to be complete to be the truth. Jesus Christ is the truth, and you cannot have half Jesus, it’s either you have the truth or you don’t have, you cannot have 90% truth and claim to have the truth. God sends his servants to us, so we are not to criticize the word when it is coming to us, we shouldn’t be raising agitation that the pastor is using us to preach. Those words are for us, appreciate it rather than fighting. This sanctification is the second process and very important stage in the journey, but it is not still the promise land, yet many stumble at this stage.
The journey of faith is you and God, and that is what fellowship is, it is two fellows in the faith’s ship. You shouldn’t rely your salvation on your husband or parents, it’s an individual race. William Branham said two million people left Egypt, but only two entered the promise land. The Bible records that God was not pleased with many of them and that is why he overthrew them in the wilderness. Everyone going to that promise land will go through that wilderness test, and your entering the promise land is determined by your success or failure of the tests. They could not make it to the promise land because though they all drank from the same spiritual rock, the word they heard did not mix with faith in their heart. Watch you life! The hearer is not justified, but the doers. Because you left denominations doesn’t mean you have gotten to the promise land. We have to be careful in this journey of faith, looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith. You don’t take any man as a masterpiece, Jesus Christ is the masterpiece.
Don’t because you are predestined misbehave, every child of God is predestined to conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. There is really no one on earth that is not predestined, Judas was predestined to do what he did. But there’s a life that’s expected from you when you’re predestined to God. God was the one that brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and he was still the same person that overthrew them in wilderness. While praying, also watch!!!
WHY THEY COULD NOT ENTERED
- They murmured: it is better to ask, if you don’t understand whatever than murmuring in your house, murmuring against the servant of God is murmuring against God. They murmured against Moses, but God said they murmured against God.
- They rejected their God’s given guide: To every sheep of God, there’s a shepherd, else the sheep will go astray. Every sheep needs direction, God leads his sheep through his given shepherd. Every shepherd has a stick, and that stick serves two purpose: first, as a staff to lead and direct us as we go along the way; and second, as a rod to chastise us when we’re going astray.
- Rebelliousness: This is having their way outside the instruction of the Holy Spirit. A rebellious soul will always sow evil seed in the church. Korah and Dathan rebelled against Moses, and God cut them off.
- They believed not his word: Faith is an important factor while walking with the Lord. A double minded person cannot see God.
- They provoke the Lord: You don’t familiarize yourself with the Spirit of God, don’t let anything rise in you that will make you take him for granted, He is a consuming fire.
Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is the promise land in the New Testament, and we have to pass through all these processes in order to be able to get to the promise land.
The purpose of God for bringing you out is to take you in to the Holy Spirit and seal you up, and until that is achieved, don’t stop. Keep running, let your testimony be the one you’ll give at the end, not the one you are giving currently. And the grace of God will keep us to the end. Amen!