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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000046S
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00:05 Sermon #S025 - The Purge - Part 1)
00:19 Pastor Snell: Amen. Numbers Chapter 14 and we're going to begin together at verse number 26, Numbers Chapter 14, 00:29 and verse number 26. Happy Sabbath, Oakwood. 00:32 [ Congregation: Happy Sabbath] 00:34 Pastor Snell: All right. Some of you all look like it's just an okay Sabbath. Isn't it a happy Sabbath today? 00:37 [ Congregation: Happy Sabbath] 00:38 Amen. Tell your neighbor, just give them a fist bump. 00:40 Let them know it's good to be in the house of the Lord today. 00:43 Amen. Amen. Amen. Some of you all, like you're all still tired from last week service. 00:48 I don't know. I got a second win this week. Amen. I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad. 00:54 Amen. Numbers Chapter 14 and we're going to begin to go to verse number 26. 01:00 I just want to encourage anybody that's dealing with worry and stresses 01:03 and you got concerns, anybody besides me got some stress in your life today? 01:07 [ Congregation: Amen] 01:09 Amen. I want you to know that God wants to give you a formula for belief 01:11 and encourage for these difficult times in which we abide. Numbers 14:26, when you get there, just say amen. 01:18 [ Congregation: Amen] 01:20 Now, again, just for the sake of context, for those who are not as familiar with this story, 01:23 Israel has been delivered from the bondage of Egypt. They have seen God do great wonders in the wilderness. 01:31 They got their right to the very verge of the promised land. Moses sent some spies to go and do reconnaissance, 01:38 and they came back and they gave such a faithless report that the people actually elected to go back to Egypt. 01:48 What you're going to read here is God's response to the rebellion at Kadesh 01:54 because there are some implications for us in our time. 01:58 Numbers 14:26, the Bible says, 02:00 "And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, 02:04 'how long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against me? 02:11 I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against me. 02:17 Say to them as I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you. 02:26 The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness.'" 02:34 [ Congregation: Hallelujah] 02:37 All of you who were numbered according to your entire number from how old? 02:43 [ Congregation: Twenty years] 02:44 Twenty years old and what? 02:47 [ Congregation: Above] 02:48 And above except for Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun. 02:54 You shall by no means into the land which I swore to make you dwell in. 02:59 For your little ones whom you said would be victims, I will bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised. 03:09 But as for you, your carcasses shall fall..." Are you all hearing this? 03:14 [ Congregation: Yes] 03:16 Pastor Snell: "In the wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years 03:22 and shall bear the brunt of your infidelity until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. 03:30 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, 03:35 for each of you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know my rejection. 03:45 I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do this to all the evil congregation who are gathered together against me. 03:54 In the wilderness, they shall be consumed and there they shall die. Now, the men who Moses sent to spy out the land, 04:02 who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, 04:08 those very men who brought the evil report about the land died by plague before the Lord. 04:15 But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of the men who went to spy out the land. 04:27 Today, Saints, for a little while, I want to talk to you under the subject, The Purge. The Purge. 04:37 Let's pray together. Father, in this little while, would you please say much. 04:45 Father, we're praying for visitation that is so heavy, that is so strong. 04:50 I pray that you would make your Spirit so dense that we struggle for air. 04:56 Father, I ask that faith will be multiplied in the hearing of the word. 05:01 Father, I pray that we would not just see Israel of old, but may we see ourselves. 05:07 Even more than seeing ourselves, may we see your goodness, 05:11 may we see your power and may we be drawn to a greater level of belief. 05:16 Lord, hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen, 05:22 that Christ alone would be heard. And at the end of our time together, 05:25 may Jesus alone be praised. We ask this in the name of him who is altogether lovely, 05:30 is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Let God's people say together amen. 05:35 [ Congregation: Amen] 05:37 Pastor Snell: And amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord. 05:39 Again, we are talking under the subject, The Purge. I invite those who are watching online, be digital disciples. 05:49 Apple Apostles share the word with those who are on Facebook and YouTube. Church, 05:54 in recent weeks, my wife and I, we have taken our home through a purging process. 06:03 We have cleaned our closets. We have decluttered shelves. We have gotten rid of baby toys and clothes. 06:12 The great thing about a purge is not just what you get rid of, it's the things you begin to find. Once we purged, 06:24 I found neckties that have been lost for years. 06:27 [ Congregation: Laughing] 06:30 It wasn't until I purged that we found money under seats that I didn't even know was lost. 06:37 It wasn't until we purged that we found pictures that we had not been able to locate. 06:43 I remember a few weeks back, I lost my remote control and I turned the house upside down looking for it 06:50 and I couldn't find the remote until we purged. Understand, church, that clutter is never a goal, 06:58 clutter is just a byproduct of living. By human nature, we collect and hoard things that have no value, 07:06 intrinsic or otherwise. The truth is, beloved, once you've gotten to a certain level of clutter in your house, 07:13 you can't organize it, you can't manage it. The only way things get orderly is when you get to a place where you purge it. 07:22 I want to encourage that like us, 07:24 you need to schedule several times a year where you can purge the old so you can make room for the new. 07:32 Can I suggest, church, that before Jesus comes, he's going to take the church through several seasons of purging. 07:41 There are some of us that need a spiritual purge. There are some that need a social purge. 07:47 There are some that need an emotional purge. 07:51 Some of us have gathered so much soul clutter that it made it hard for us to find spiritual things. 07:59 For some of us, we've got so much clutter that we can't find the truth. For some, we can't find faith. 08:06 For some, got so much clutter that we've even lost ourselves in the process. 08:12 The truth is that some have collected offenses along the way. We've hoarded destructive habits. 08:20 Some of us are cluttered with the wrong people, and as a result, there is a spiritual suffocation. 08:27 Some of us feel like the room is closing in on us. Some of us are at a place where we feel stuck in life 08:34 and in the journey. 08:36 The great thing about a purge is not just what you get rid of, the great thing about a purge is what you find. 08:44 In other words, when you begin to declutter some of the stuff that is suffocating your soul, 08:50 when you begin to purge your spiritual life, you might find faith. Some of us might find our prayer life. 08:57 Some of us might find our truth. In fact, some of us might actually find Jesus. 09:04 The good news about Jesus is He's never left the house, He's always been there. 09:10 He's just been waiting for you to clear out some of the extra so that He's a little bit more visible. 09:17 Can you hear me today, church? 09:19 [ Congregation: Yeah] 09:21 Pastor Snell: So today, as we go back to Numbers Chapter 14, I want you to know, beloved, 09:25 that this particular sermon has many lessons on the power of faith. The first thing it teaches us, friends, 09:33 is that if you always forget how, then you'll never have the courage for now. Let me say it again, 09:41 that if you forget the how, then you will never have courage for now. In other words, friends, when you read, 09:50 go home and read Numbers Chapter 13 and 14. In many ways, these chapters represent a change in Israel's trajectory. 10:01 In fact, the rebellion at Kadesh is literally designed to stand out in infamy to shame Israel 10:10 because of their unbelieving culture. 10:13 Now, remember that before they get there, they are just eleven days removed from their time at the mountain of Horeb. 10:21 As they get there on the precipice of the promised land, Moses sends twelve spies to go and do reconnaissance 10:30 and bring back a report about the land. When they come back after the forty days, they testified that what God said is true. 10:41 In fact, they bring back a cluster of grapes so big that it takes two men to carry it back into the camp. 10:50 They testified that what God said is true, that indeed it is a goodly land and in fact, 10:58 it flows with milk and honey. 11:00 The problem with the report is that they focus more on the obstacle than they do on the opportunity. 11:08 In fact, they begin to lead the people into lamentation as they thought about the size of the giants 11:16 and the size of the land. 11:18 In fact, they get to a place where they project their own insecurities, saying that, 11:25 "We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes and so we were in their eyes." Know, friends, 11:33 that everyone with the exception of Caleb gives a negative report. 11:39 In fact, the report is so bad that they decide to elect a new leader and they make the decision to go back to Egypt. 11:49 One of the things this teaches, friends, is that unbelief can spread faster than COVID-19. 11:58 See, friends of mine, I'm just of the place where it shows you've got to be careful who you let inside of your friend 12:07 circle because I believe that if unbelief is contagious, then so is faith. Are you all with me today? 12:15 [ Congregation: Yes] 12:16 Pastor Snell: In other words, friends, 12:18 help me to stay socially distant from cowardly unbelieving folk that don't believe things can change. 12:26 In other words, when folks start talking about how we got to be realistic, 12:31 I'm going to put on a spiritual face mask and I'm praying that the word of God is a vaccine 12:38 and booster shot for the unbelief in the house of God. Are you all with me today? 12:43 [ Congregation: Yes] 12:44 Now, I need you to notice something, 12:45 notice that unbelief peaks right when they're on the verge of crossing over, 12:52 that unbelief climaxes right when they're on the edge of going in. 12:57 I need somebody to understand something critical that when you're on the verge of something, 13:04 you've got to make sure you shrink your friend circle so that you don't get folk that are able to talk to you into going back 13:13 to Egypt. In other words, I know this message isn't for everybody, 13:18 but I know this word is for somebody. Do I have at least 7 folk that are on the verge of something? 13:25 Is there anybody that's on the edge of a deliverance? 13:29 I need to preach to those folk that are on the verge of a spiritual or emotional or a medical or a financial breakthrough. 13:39 When you're on the verge of something, sometimes, you can feel the ground underneath your feet. 13:45 Sometimes, you can hear the sound of abundance of rain. When you get on the edge of deliverance, 13:53 don't you let nobody talk you into going back to Egypt. You've got to surround yourself with folk who know how to pray. 14:02 You need folk that talk faith, that believe faith, that have been there before. 14:08 You need some folk to remind you what God is able to do. Are you all with me today, church? 14:15 [ Congregation: Yes] 14:17 See, I need you to see here in Patriarchs and Prophets, what messed them up? Put this quote here on the screen. 14:23 Why? They literally begin to get to a posture of unbelief. Are you with me today? Here, Patriarchs and Prophets. 14:31 Look at the word today. See, literally says that their unbelief cast a what? 14:38 [ Congregation: Gloomy shadow] 14:39 Cast a gloomy shadow over the congregation, 14:41 and the mighty power of God so often manifested in behalf of the chosen nation was what? Forgot him. 14:49 The people did not wait to reflect. 14:53 They did not reason that he who had brought them thus far would certainly give them the land. 15:03 They did not call to mind how wonderfully God had delivered them from their oppressors, 15:09 cutting a path through the sea and destroying the pursuit of the host of pharaoh. 15:15 They left God out of the question and acted as though they must depend solely upon the power of arms. 15:25 Did you all catch that today? 15:27 In other words, the reason they get messed up, church, is because when they're evaluating the equation, 15:34 she literally says that they left God out of their thinking. In other words, 15:40 as they're evaluating the land and the size of the people, their problem is they're weighing it against their own power 15:51 and capability. That would make sense if their own strength is what got them to this point, 15:58 but the only reason they've gotten this far is not by their might, they've only gotten there by the power of God. 16:07 In other words, Saints, I need you to remember that these people have lived a life of miracle and divine wonder. 16:16 Remember that before they left Egypt, God sent ten plagues and wonders to break the bow of Pharaoh. 16:24 They saw God turn the water into blood. They saw God overrun the land with frogs and lice. 16:32 They saw God kill the firstborn in Egypt and he sent the angel to pass over the homes that were covered by blood. 16:41 They literally saw God open up a red sea and they saw him hold it open and they didn't walk through mud. 16:49 But the Bible says, they passed through on dry ground. In other words, they have seen God send water from a rock, 16:57 they've seen God send manna from heaven. God has been with them in a cloud by day 17:03 and God has been with them in fire by night, and they've got a miracle resume. 17:11 The crazy thing is that when they get to the verge of the promised land, 17:16 do you realize that they ought to be stomping into the promised land? When they get on the edge, 17:22 they ought to be on the other side of the Jordan beating their chests, shouting at the inhabitants, 17:29 saying, "We're coming for you even though you didn't send for us." 17:33 They ought to be shooting arrows into the camp with the Israelite flag on it, 17:38 letting them know it's just a matter of time before we get here. But here they are on the other side, 17:48 quivering and vacillating. Why? Because they have forgotten who brought them thus far. 17:57 What I'm saying to somebody today is that there is a correlation between faith and forgetfulness. 18:05 See, the reason they don't have courage for now is they have forgotten how they got to this place. 18:17 I guess what I want to just say to somebody briefly today is that in the journey of faith, my friends, 18:23 don't you ever forget how far God has brought you to this point. 18:31 [ Congregation: Clapping. Amen] 18:34 Can I say this? That faith is a very uncomplicated formula for us to consider. 18:40 See, there's somebody dealing with an issue today, 18:43 but what I need somebody to know is that you don't have to imagine what God will do. 18:50 [ Congregation: Yeah] 18:51 All you've got to do is remember what God has done. 18:55 [ Congregation: Clapping] 18:56 In other words, you have got to imagine how God is going to fix it. 19:00 All you've got to recall is how God has done it so many times in the past. 19:06 Is there anybody that's got miracles on your resume today? 19:10 Has anybody ever seen God pay bills that you didn't have money to pay? 19:16 Has God ever gotten you financially cleared when you thought you would have to go back home? Has God ever allowed you to walk 19:25 out of a hospital when you had to be wheeled in under an ambulance? 19:29 Has God ever kept your adult kids when they were in their youthful rebellion? 19:35 Can you help those who are grieving? Is there anybody ever sat before the casket with your mom or your dad 19:42 or your husband and your wife and you thought you didn't have enough strength to make it through the next day? 19:49 But here you are 2 months, 2 years, 5 years later and you're still standing by the grace and the power of God. 20:00 Are you all hearing me today, friends? 20:02 [ Congregation: Yeah] 20:03 What I'm saying today, friends, is I don't have to imagine what God will do, 20:07 all I got to do is look at what God has already done. Are you all hearing the word today, friends? 20:14 See, that's why the time Joshua takes over, he says, 20:18 "We got to erect some stones so that we have a basis for remembering what God has done." 20:24 Listen, listen I remember like maybe about a year ago or maybe about five years ago, 20:32 what happened was my family and I, we took our kids down to Orlando so we could take them to Disney World. 20:40 I need you to know, we were some suckers because we went when my daughter was about 4 and a half, 5, 20:46 where she may or may not remember the trip. I remember one day about a year ago, 20:53 we were watching a Disney commercial there on the television, 20:56 and she looked at me with offense and was like, "Daddy, when are we going to Disney World?" 21:05 Now, I had to go ahead and remind her, "Baby, you had already been to Disney World. 21:10 Remember we drove down Highway 75 and we went to the inside of every public bathroom on the highway. 21:17 You don't remember that, do you?" It's crazy, she says, "Daddy, I don't remember." 21:22 What I did was I took my phone, and even though I had a different phone at that time, 21:27 I've got memory in the cloud. 21:30 [ Congregation: Yeah] 21:32 I access the cloud and I began to show her the pictures from when we went to Disney World. 21:37 Every time I swipe left, it was a new memory. I said, "Here you are with The Incredibles. 21:44 Here you are with Minnie Mouse. Here you are with Princess. Here you are as Space Mountain." 21:50 It's crazy, when she remembered that she went, she didn't feel as offended as she once did. 21:57 What I'm saying to somebody today, that you just need to recall. You need to go back to the cloud. 22:05 Go back to your memory bank, swipe left and see how he paid the bill. Swipe left and you'll see how he got you into school. 22:14 Swipe left and you'll see how he fought your battles. Swipe left and you'll remember how he closed the house. 22:21 Swipe left and you'll remember how he healed your body. You don't have to imagine what he can do. 22:28 Just remember what he's already done. 22:32 [ Congregation: Clapping] 22:34 Are you all hearing me today, friends? 22:36 [ Congregation: Laughing] 22:38 See, the second thing that this story teaches us is the danger of faith fatigue. 22:49 Now I'm going to say something you may not agree with. 22:52 One of the things about human nature is that human nature gets tired of walking by faith. 23:05 Can we tell the truth and shame the devil? 23:07 [ Congregation: Yes] 23:09 That walking by faith is uncomfortable. Walking by faith keeps you on edge. 23:15 Walking by faith keeps you without being in control. See, that's not in harmony with the preference of our flesh. 23:23 See, the reason we get tired of walking by faith is we want security of circumstance, not security of savior. 23:37 See, the problem with faith fatigue, friends, is that it leads to miracle disruption. 23:46 You see, church, life in Egypt was not good, but Egypt had one good thing for it. Egypt had knowns. 23:58 In other words, they knew what time they were going to eat breakfast. They knew where they could go to draw water. 24:05 They knew what was going to be on the menu for dinner. 24:09 But understand that they are at a place where after 400 years of slavery, 24:14 they're not in the rhythm of worship or sacrifice or Sabbath. In this equation, their routine is the known 24:23 and Jehovah is the unknown and they have more trust in their routine than they do in their God. 24:31 Are you all hearing me today? 24:32 [ Congregation: Yeah] 24:34 See, what God has done on this journey is that God has willingly allowed seasons of uncertainty. 24:42 In other words, as they're making this sojourn through the desert, 24:47 they are not sure what God is going to do when they get to the Red Sea. 24:53 There are days where they were not sure exactly where the water was going to come from. 24:58 There were days where they were not sure. They could not see how they were going to be fed. 25:03 What has happened is that God has allowed so much uncertainty that literally, 25:09 the rate of the pace feels like it is unsustainable. I need you to understand their mentality when they get to Canaan, 25:18 they think that man, if I can just get to Canaan, everything is going to be okay. 25:25 They thought getting to Canaan was going to be the last hurdle. 25:29 They didn't know they were going to have to believe just to occupy or get into Canaan. 25:34 The problem is they tried to time their faith. 25:40 [ Congregation: Yeah. Clapping] 25:42 They tried to time their faith so that it would go out as soon as they got there to the promised land, 25:47 they didn't realize that they were going to have to believe just to drive out the giants 25:52 and to occupy the land that had been promised. It's crazy because they come over one mountain and there's another. 26:01 They come through one obstacle and there's another. They're at a place where they just want some certainty, 26:09 they don't want to have to turn to the Savior. See, the reason they go back to Egypt, 26:14 friends, is literally because their faith is exhausted. 26:18 [ Congregation: Amen] 26:20 Let me ask you, church, has anybody ever come out of one faith hurdle? 26:25 Or do they have a bigger hurdle waiting right there for you? 26:30 See, there is somebody listening today that's dealing with some faith fatigue 26:36 because there's some of us that are in a place where you're saying, "Pastor, all I want is some certainty." 26:41 You're saying, "I just want some financial certainty." You're saying, "Lord, give me some medical certainty." 26:49 Somebody is saying, "Just give me some relational certainty." 26:52 There's somebody who's saying, "Just give me some spiritual certainty." 26:56 You operate under the belief that once these change, I'll finally be able to rest, 27:02 I will finally be stable, but I need somebody to know that your rest will never be in a peaceful circumstance, 27:09 your rest has to be in the power and the goodness of Jesus. 27:16 Thank you so much for joining us for the Breath of Life Television Ministries Broadcast. 27:21 We hope and pray that today's message by Pastor Debleaire Snell has been a blessing to you. 27:27 Join us next week for part 2 of “The Purge.” You don't want to miss it! 27:33 Hi. I'm Debleaire Snell. Have you ever been in a place where as soon as you start believing big, 27:39 praying big and thinking big, someone told you that you need to be more realistic. 27:46 It was unrealistic for Jesus to say, I'm going to lay down my life and in three days I'm going to pick it up again. 27:53 I would encourage you to put down your commonly held beliefs. And it's time for us to get unrealistic. 28:05 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:36 [END] |
Revised 2022-12-12