Perishing despite the Promise - Bro Jesse Howell 7-2-2023

Story is good to be in the house of God this evening. We have

felt the spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost, for sure, no

doubt. I wish y'all would have just shouted right on. I hope about

halfway through y'all on said, man, we should have shouted blade training thought

in the middle of it. Uh, you can be turned into. We're

gonna read two places you can be turned into. Exitus chapter number three,

numbers chapter number twenty one. Quickly, before I get started, I want

to say, we do miss our pastor, the Man of God. I

have great confidence in him. He is my role model. I missed the

present of my mother in this house tonight. Uh. God is good though,

and we missed them terribly. They are pillers that we look to,

and we are forever great and thankful for them. Exodus chapter number three.

For our first reading, We're gonna start in verse number seven, and the

Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in

Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters. For I

know their sorrows, and I have come down to deliver them out of the

hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land into

a good land and a large, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Unto the plays of the Canaanites and the hit Tights, the Amor rights the

Parasites, and they have ice and the jebyah side. So I want to

read, I want you to remember that passage right there, those two verses.

That's the promise. That's God's promise to these people. I'm gonna bring

them up out of this land into a land flowing with milk and honey.

We're gonna, We're gonna, We're gonna run over to the Book of Numbers,

chapter number twenty one, starting in verse number four. I really feel

like the Lord has laid this on my heart. I really it is by

prayer that someone would get something here tonight that would would have a life changing

decision and all life altering happening verse number four. The twenty first chapter the

Book of Numbers, and they journeyed from Mount Or by the way of the

Red Sea to compassed the land of Edim, and the soul of the people

was much discouraged because of the way. So we read it. We read

in Exodus the promise and why and why they're why they're journeying because God's taken

them to a land flowing with milk and honey, and a large land.

That's not the wrong. But so this is why they're journeying. This is

why they're they're uh, they're journeyed from Mount Lord by the way of the

Red Sea to compass the land of Edom. And the soul of the people

was much discouraged because of the way verse number five, and the people spake

against God and against Mooses. Well, that just took a really strange turn.

Wherefore have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?

For there's no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul loathed

this, loathed this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the

people. They bit the people, much of the people of Israel tide.

That is the that is the perishing. So we have a promise and we

have a perishing. And I want you to remember those two points as we

get started here. Would you raise your hands across the house ask the Lord

to have his perfect way in this service. Has he already has? God?

Thank you for the spirit of the Lord God. We asked that you

would touch these people that you may have brought together in this place. God,

we asked that you would be with him, God, that you would

be with our hearts and our minds. God, let him see you and

Nord bell, but I let him see your love, great suniversity. God.

We asked that you would touch each one and give them exactly what they

means. God, we ask for the the holy good that comes. Then

anointing to pray to your God be asked in the name of Jesus, who

God for our stands, who gave his hall in your son Jesus name,

we prayed, Amen and Amen. As I get started this morning this tonight,

brother, I wanna, I wanna wanna mention something here, and I

want you to remember this as I preach. The children of Israel's journey to

the Promised Man is a parallel to our journey to our promised land. And

I wrote down these ports quickly as I sat on my helps this afternoon.

Number one, I want you to remember these seven points, these seven these

seven parallels. Rather Pharaoh would be in our day, he would represent Lucifer

and the evil task master of this generation. Number two Egypt represented sins Bondage.

Number three the wilderness in which they traveled through represented life's journey that we

travel through. Number four. Canaan, the land the trimmed into represents Heaven.

Number five. The Israelites represents the human race. They represents us traveling.

Number six. Moses represents God's Word or oracle. Now we have the

Bible is God's word, and our pastor would be the the oracle of God.

So so Moses represents God word. If you notice, any time God

wanted to speak to the children of Israel, he would speak to Moses,

and Moses would speak to the to the children of Israel. And God has

spoken to us through the Word and through our man of God. Number seven

God, what does God represent? God represents the God who was and the

God who is, and the same God that that was with the children of

Israel back then, if the same God with us this night. I want

to I want to talk for a little bit this to night. The lie.

But the Israelites are journeying through the wilderness because they have been a promise

to land flowing with milk and funny, which we read in our first text,

actually just three seventy eight of the promise. By this time, er

the priest and Moses erin. The priest, Moses's brother and their sister Miriam

have died and still wandering and the wilderness looking for their promise. There,

they're still wandering around. They say, God, we know that you told

us that you had a problem. You promised us the land. We're holding

to the promise, but but we're wandering through this wilderness. And verse four

of numbers chapter number twenty one tells us how that told us that the day

to day began to take its toil. They became discouraged because of the way.

That's what it said, that that because of the way, they became

discouraged. So they have such a great promise and it's such a a land

ahead of them that that's such great things to look forward to. But because

of the way and because of the weight, they become discouraged. So the

first mistake that I want to point out is they let themselves get discouraged.

But it didn't stop there, and it often don't oftentime, when we feel

when we fill ourselves on the slippery sloop of discouragement, it on in there.

It just it just gets snow. It's snowballs affecting it's bigger and bigger,

and by verse five they're speaking against God and the man of God.

So he started out with a little bit of discourage. But because of the

way, we don't understand why the way is. It's taking this long,

and while we had to go around this way, and while we had to

walk around this one, and while we had to walk around this land,

and we could have stayed here. They had food here, they had wills

here, but but we gotta keep walking around and and I don't know why

that wasn't it. So they got discouraged because of the way, and they

begin to begin to turn on Moses and God, and they begin to ask

Moses, why did you bring us out here in the wilderness to die?

What kind of foolish question is that? They knew full well that Moses had

their best intention, did their best interest in mind of that that he hadn't

brought them out there to die. What he did bring them out of was

easier. They're barnage and taskmasters, and Pharaoh beat him and the flicking them

day. That's what he brought him out of. But they're so soon forgot

to cause they let discourage to take hold in their heart. But in the

cause. They took their eyes off the promise of a better land and began

to focus on the things around them, and they left the vision of their

future get a little bit cloudy. They begin to get discouraged. The Bible

tells us of a man that was almost in this situation, Kingdom, the

future king of Israel. David. Here he he he almost got to this

point, but because he had a fighter's heart, he refused to let his

story in that way. First Samuel, number First Samuel, chapter number thirty

is the account of David and zick Lagging. You bottle readers will know,

right, laer, I'm headed David and zick LaGG When when the Analytites burned

the city, they took their wives and their children captive. They burned their

city with fire. But and we read where David was was greatly distressed because

his warriors and his body man they wanted to stone him. For Samuel thirty

and first number six reads, and David was greatly distressed for the people's faith

of stoning him. I want you to remember that greatly distressed. David was

greatly distressed for the people's faith of stoning him. Because the soul of all

the people was grieved, every man for his sons, for his daughters.

But David encouraged himself into Lord. So you tell me there's nothing you can

do about your discouragement. I said, that's for hardy beasos. David was

distressed, but he was not discouraged. He lard was stacking up, but

he was not discouraged. He refused to bide out to the plant, but

he had. And we will get discouraged like the children of Israel, if

we let ourselves get in that situation. We refuse to encourage ourselves in the

Lord, if we refuse to think on good things and bringing to remember itance

the goodness of the Lord and the promises of God. So that children of

Israel began to complain and blame God. They said, there's no water out

here. We loathe this light bread, we despise it. We ahorred.

Now this is what many supposes to be manna. They said it tasted like

honey, but they hated it. I love honey and bread, but they

hated it. They have hoarded and they're marched into their promise of Canaan.

But because distress, which turned into discouragement, they speak against God and accused

Moses of bringing them to the wilderness to die. We get to our texts

now and God sends fiery serpents among the people. In Verse six of our

text tells us that many of the children of Israel died, many of them.

And I want to preach for just a few moments of your time tonight

on perishing despite the promise. All how tragic that was such a promise in

hand. They begin to act foolish and they died in the wilderness. They

had such a promise in front of them. And we shake our heads at

the children of Israel. I can't believe after all that God did for them,

everything that God brought them crewe and they got discouraged, and they begin

to talk about God and the Man of God. We shave our heads and

life all they had so much to gain, and we also now will promise,

and we also have so much to gain, and so many throw it

away. And it don't really matter that Moses was their leader at this time,

and it don't matter that he was their pastor, because they had such

a powerful testimony. But what God had done for them in bringing them out

of volage of captivity, and you can have a pastor like brother how and

you can have a truck's family and like the bettle one. And if you

left the cavil get the best of you, then get in me your mind

in a van of you must I staid, when you begin to play with

your soul and you think that you can still inherit the promise, when you

ben getting cut off and married me, when you didn't get the doing of

things on your pass home and you bank that season and you're thinking you still

have the partis of God, I said, you're throwing away. You're right,

the truth embarrassing, Oh the prodis God can give you head and earth,

and if you can, you can throw it away if you so choose

to do. Me and God and the wilness grasping the prov they held the

promise in their minds. We hold the provise in our hands, this lovely

word of God, that we have a lad that's bearing. Indeed, where

we need your son, for the lamb of God is alike, and we

call it a lad. We've got to have more perseverance than to complain and

blame God in the middle of God. When the battle gets hardened, the

world gets a little LOLd. How shall we do in the days of the

horsemen if we came there with the footman. We're on our way in the

days of the horseman. But we ain't there yet. Yeah, we face

some persecution and some evil, but but we ain't thereing. After God send

the serpents and meeting did then the people realize, Hey, we better ask

bothes to pray. And let me tell you something, moms and dads,

and I'm pre into myself. Don't wear until the serpent is big to a

baby and you're holding a dying babies in your hand to ask God to help

you. Don't wait till the steak of sinners good. Don't get till your

families and die your need before you bring. If you want God to be

on the bear on the big days when you need most, you're gonna pray

on the little days. Get hold of God in the easy time where the

goods the baby and God his presence, and when you need his power he's

there. But God in his abundant and never family mercy. Just fight the

evil, talking the evil actions. When Bolis praise, God makes the way

of healing and escape from the problem. God instructs Moses to make a fiery

serpent, and he does so, he makes it out of brass. And

God explains to Mooses, now who's whoever would look upon the praising serpent would

live. And once again, when it seems like God is a speaking direction

to you, he probably speaking through his word. He probably wants you to

pick his word up and read his word, because that's word he speaks to

you. All. He's speaking through the man of God, and we must

listen. So Moses would put the serpent of brass on a pole, and

I suppose it was sifted up in the air where everyone could get a three

hundred and sixty. They briefs you path of it, a three hundred and

sixty to green few everywhere that gary little throw. Everyone around the serpent could

look at it and say, there it is. If you're standing this way,

there it is. And if you're standing this way, there it is.

The holes of the whole congregation could see it. And what amazing mercy

when we deserve to die because of our actions, every that's one of them

deserves to die out there and at the surpentvites every last point of them.

But God, it is in for a mercy, give Moses a way of

escape, and when we deserve to die because of our actions and the things

that we've done are trampled under foot opportunity after opportunity which God has given us,

and we revert back to our own ways, and God gives us a

mercy. Dropping tomorrow we find ourselves doing the same thing. God. It

is in for a mercy made away. We have a promise in this generation,

just as the children of Israel did in theirs. Jesus was lifted a

high on the cross for all the world to see, and whosoever believed in

you were not pears. We can't choose life and choose the promise by looking

to Jesus and across the valhod repenting to sit in the holy lifestyle is all

the requirement there, he is. All we had to do is repent.

I clothed and can we please stand is and I'm gonna read just a few

more scriptures, And I wanted to stand for the reading of the word.

When we get us all tonight and begin to play sof me John three sixteen,

we all know it. We all know it, for God's so loved

the world that he gave it all in the God's son that whosoever believeth in

Him, shouldn't I perish, but have everlasting life. The everlasting life is

our promise. We have the promise of heaven, mentions, golden streets,

and kat the pearl, and most of all, getting to see the Savior

of the world and the one who gave you this promise. Second Peter three

and nine. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as Sunday and counsel

likeness, but it is longs ushering to us word, not willing that any

should parish, but then all should come to repetance. You don't have the

parish holding to a promise you've got. You've got so much in this building,

so many people there behind you. You can do it. We can

make it. We can stand from you. Have a power of a pastor

that that can get the mount of God for your soul. You're holding a

promise in this church. You have so much to look forward. These offers

are open if any of you feel like coming to prey. It is not

God's will that any should parish. That's why he sent his son into this

world to die a cruel awful to him. Don't parish with such a great

promise. Jesus didn't come to the world and give us life blood in vain.

He has promised us a better life and a whole if we didn't do

it till the year Matthew twenty four thirteen. But I heat that door.

I'm to the end of Saint shall be saved. And if in this life

only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. Ask God,

free my mind, Lord of illustration. We've got to make it to

our promise. We have to have a mad on mind, and we will

come with me. Make it to the landow that has promised, make it

to heaven the mass for sign. Take cheeses chi the master slee my shine.

Before before that you all to wear only trim bything to be turned as

the soul truth strove names being learned from Moya the same same jes soul the

world body again size, I'll take cheese, Take try those way the games

and say I t I'll take cheese, take try learning pleasures and see the

gate and hear the mass shame the world which bring the peggy mel return times

to be away steeds, and I have done that when home my earthly treasures,

and I have been away to be, just to remember. And I

try those earthly bedrooms when you see the days, and that's say the world,

try the day.