Delayed Obedience | Elder Rose

You're listening to a message to go from ex Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Now, I want to start off by saying, how many

of you, when you woke up this morning, you set

your alarm clock and then there is something called the snooze.

How many have you snooze today? Let me see? Oh, okay,

ninety percent of you are honest. The rest of you, okay,

I have to be honest. I also snooze right extra

fifteen minutes, oh okay. And it's very interesting because as humans,

right understanding human behavior and all that, we know, there's

some things that we need to do, and yet we

put it off, for example, waking up right and waking

up okay, so if you can have the first light,

so yeah, it's always just five more minutes, right, just

five more minutes, and then you know, you're like, okay, snooz,

snow snooze. And sometimes it's like maybe five more later, lord,

you know, or five years later. And okay, let's go

to the next picture. I just want to ask you,

if you know, can you recognize what is this Titanic?

How many of you watch the movie Titanic? Can I see? Okay?

So most of you can have reference to this, right,

I need to check sometimes, you know, because sometimes with

the pictures that I use or the stories that you say,

like huh, this new generation, right, all this gen z Jennofer,

what's that? It's so funny because yesterday the Pengue and

I we were like humming some old songs Christian songs, right,

and our girls are like, what's that? What are you singing? Okay,

so you know reference for this is Titanic. Now, the

interesting story about Titanic is you know it's sank, right,

all of you know it's sank. So funny. The main

character is Jack and Rose. So we have a Jack

and Jill in our church. They are the you know,

church planters in ex Cyberjaya. So okay, So Jack and

Rose didn't happen. Jack and Jail happened. So that the

story about you you know that they launched a maiden

voyage right across the sea and then they hit Iceberg

and they sank. Now what was interesting was nearby as

they sent the distress signal the flares to go up

that very night after they had crashed, there were some

boats nearby, all right, some boats nearby. There was one

called the Californian. It's a ship called the Californian. And

what happened was, initially after they had that crash, they

sent flash signals up. So from the Titanic they sent

it up. Now this ship, they actually saw that there

were flaps coming up, but they didn't do anything about it. Okay,

they didn't do anything about it. And sometimes we have

to ask ourselves, like, okay, how come you know flash

signals is emergency? But of course there were different excuses.

Bear in mind, Bear in mind that the sea was

very icy. Okay, a lot of places were frozen over,

and that's why they hit the iceberg as well. So

it was dangerous to respond to that flas signal. And

what was even more interesting was the captain of that ship,

the Californian, had turned off all radio communication, okay, and

so when the distress signal was called out to all

the nearby ships and vessels because they needed rescue boats

right as it was sinking. They needed rescue boats. They

didn't have enough. If you study, you know the story

of it, they just didn't have enough. And what happened

was one five hundred people died in that from that ship.

That's a lot of people. Now you can ask, like,

could it have made any difference if this ship had

responded to the flat signal or had their communications open,

it could have saved five more likes. I don't know,

but it's five lives important. It is, right, it is

it's you know, think about it, my mom, my dad,

my siblings. That's a family of five, and so it

could have made a difference. Of course, you know they

had different excuses. But now what happened was I mean

for us something to learn from this and where I'm

gonna get it? And you know this is that whenever

we see signals or signs that is calling us to

do something, you know. And the song that we sang

if You're calling me, and every time you sing that songer,

I just wish they didn't put the word ifla. You know. No, honestly,

this is just me and I'm just saying God is

calling you. It's not if he's calling you, He is

calling you, right, It's not like, oh, I don't know

whether God is calling me or not. He is. Can

I tell you that I don't know how you can

choose a song but don't okay other people's song. No,

I'll cheer song. No, no massacred. But I really believe

God is calling us each day right that there are

distressed signals being sent out and the danger is we

might miss the signals. We missed the signals, and worse

off we turn off our coms, we turn off spiritually,

you know, and say yeah, I just need to rest

for the night, and we you know, lives are lost

in the in the ship for this, and so you know,

I had this sense of where this is, where the

Lord was leading me. And I just want to maybe

start off by saying that God gave me this message

two weeks ago, because what happened was I have a neighbor.

I have a neighbor, a family of five, and I've

been praying for them. They're non believers, they're pre believers,

and so you know, she's also undergoing her master's in NBA,

she's doing her MBA, and so she always asked me

for help to go over and to help her with

different assignments and all that. And so every time I

go over to my neighbor's house sometimes I had this

sense of like, Okay, after we talked three hours about

a SIGNM already right, and God is saying I think you,

you know, share share, but godla, right, share the good news,

because that's what we're called to do, right, We're called

to share the good news. And every time there is

a hesitance, like but you know, she'll think I'm weird.

But you know, maybe not not now, Allah, Maybe there's

another opportunity, maybe Christmas, you know, maybe Christmas, and so

that thought lingers, and so we will just have a

good chat and you know, and and then we go

separate ways. So two weeks ago, what happened was I

heard the news that her husband shared with my mom

in law and said that this neighbor suddenly just collapsed

at work. She was under a lot of stress from

her work, and she was also under a lot of

stress from doing her masters, and she just banks on

at work. And what happened was they found that there

was a clot in her brain. And she has not

waken up since she's still in the hospital right now.

And do you know when I first heard that news, right,

I just I was just crushed. I was crushed and

I just had to repent before the Lord, do you know.

And the thought that came to my mind was I

may never have a chance to share God's love to

her again. If she never wakes up, you know, if

she never wakes up, that that's it. I don't know

what kind of eternity she will enter. And so I

really just had to repent before the light. I said, God,

I missed my opportunity. I'm so sorry. God. It really

shook me. It really showed me that this is so near,

so real. It's my neighbor. Every morning we'll say hi,

good morning, type you know of neighbor. And now she's

laying in the hospital and so so she's like in

a semi comma state where she can just open her

eyes and then she will just squeeze her hand. That's it.

That's the only communication she has right now. Whether she

recognizes her family or not, I don't know. And so

so that that birth this message. And you know, if

you really want to take not of what God is saying,

he's saying this delayed obedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. It's

a really ouch thing. And I just want to confess

before you that that's what I experience, a delayed obedience.

It's never you know, sometimes I ask myself, why do

we procrastinate on things like that right. This whole idea

of procrastination is it's not like we sometimes we don't

know what to do, but many times we know what

to do, and yet we don't do it. That is

the danger and the wake up call for all of

us to just have a sense that God, I know

that he's speaking to you right now. There is some

things that he wants you and I to do, and

yet we hesitate, and yet we have many excuses. Now,

if you look into psychology research, I know of you

study psychology right now, why is this psychology of procrastination? Right?

Why do we procrastinate? What do you think is the answer?

Why do we procrastinate? Lazy? I know? Thank you for that?

What else? You don't want to confront the work? I

think I still got time. I think I still got

I thought I had a lot of time with my neighbor,

but turns out I didn't. Right, And what Possess even

said it was, yeah, I think I don't want to

confront this and and that is the idea of it, right. Procrastination,

according to research and psychology, is because there is this

uncomfortable emotions that we don't want to encounter. Right. It

says that we are just trying to avoid the uncomfortable emotions.

So I also ask myself, like, so if I shared

with her, and if she rejected me or she say

don't don't talk to me about these kind of things, right,

how would I I have felt, you know? And so

then I had to say, but it's not about me.

Obedience is really not about my feelings my emotions, right,

it's just saying, God, you said it, I would just

do it. Okay. So let's learn from the word of

God a deeper lesson what he wants to speak to

a different one of different ones of us. I don't

know what is it that God is one thing you

to do. There is something he wants you to do,

you know. And I pray that when we leave this

hall after this, that you will have this sense of urgency. God.

I know there's a friend I need to call right now.

I better call after this. You know you got to

day's holiday, right, don't just sleep loud? Okay? There is

something that God wants us to action upon, right, and

so if you know this, you know God is bringing

some names to your mind right now? Okay? That is

God speaking. If God is saying go and reconcile, go

and forgive that person. That is God's voice right now,

do not delay. Okay, So let's read from the Book

of Numbers. Okay, let's read from the Book of Numbers today.

The main text will be taken from Numbers thirteen and fourteen.

All right, So I encourage you to open your bibles.

Do you know where the Book of Numbers are? Yes?

I know some of you right when you think about numbers?

What do you think about when you think about the

Book of Numbers? Numbers? Lat right, and all of you

a straightforwardsleep? Can I ask you to please don't fall asleep.

Numbers is a very exciting book. Right. I'm not just

gonna read names of tribes or people that you don't know.

But there is a real deep story that God wants

us to learn from this. Okay, now to give you

a context, okay, let me just read a little bit first.

Let's go to Numbers chapter thirteen. Okay, Numbers, numbers, all right?

So okay, before this, do you know what was the

promise given to the children of Israel? Tell me what's

the promise? The promise? Okay. God always starts off with

a promise. He wants to bring us into that promised land.

And do you know what happened after that? What happened

to the children of Israel. Most of them did not

enter into the promised Land. I pray that all of

us will enter God's promise land, amen, because the promise

is given to all his children. You know, it was

given to all his children. But you know that said

fact that out of six hundred thousand people who were

given that promise, only two of that generation entered into

the promised land. Wow, really something for us to take

note of. O. Okay, so they so you will recognize

in even as early as Genesis chapter twelve, that's the

first time God told Abram, right, go to this far

off land, and I will give you this land as

your inheritance for you and your descendants. And then he said,

go and look outside the sky. The stars you can't

even name and number them, but this will be your descendants.

And Abraham at the time, oh year of little faith,

He's like, but I got no kids, right, that's a

human respond but I don't have this, but I don't

have that, okay. And so so that was his response,

and of course God said, never mind, I will give

it to you you want to receive or not, I

will give it to you. But of course, to Abram's credit,

he did receive that promise and it was credited to

him as righteousness. Right, So that's something we can learn

from our ancestor Abraham. All right, So I want to

read a little bit from Exodus chapter three. So that

was a promise given to Abraham. Now who's the person

that was supposed to bring them into the promise? And

what's his name? Moses? You know, the character Moses. And

see God had to remind Moses as well, right, not

just Abram Abraham the time diaryy. So now it's a

new generation. Now I need to pass it on. Tell Moses,

is that you have something as well? Okay, So Moses

Tree eight says this, I have come down to deliver

them them, meaning the children of Israel, out of the

hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of

that land to a good and broad land, a land

flowing with milk and honey. Okay, any lectose intolerant people, Okay,

I think you cannot enter. Probably Lenna, oh you will enter,

and you're haha, but God can reading that imen. Whatever

problems you know, sometimes we think about this land of

milk and honey, we don't know what to think of it. Like,

basically what it means is a very fatile land. Do

you want to go into a land where everything that

you do is successful? Everyone right in the land that

we live in a so so much strife. You know,

you you plant seats, you you do your work, and

it is so much striving and it's so challenging in

your work and your career. But how nice to be

able to enter a land where it's just flowing. You know,

you do have to do much, You just have to

go and read the harvest God has prepared. Wow, I

want that promised land and I want to go into that.

So God already promised the children that you will enter

this land. And if if okay, let's say your parents

tell you, okay, okay, tell me where's the place that

you really want to go? Disneyland, the Child, the Inner

Child and Puss Steven is still there? Anyone else where

else you want to go? Scotland? So specific? Okay? Anywhere

else you want to go go holiday? Like anywhere? Then

can you teach you to militia can go holiday? Or

so you know, and you know your parents only tell you, Okay,

you know next week we're gonna go to Disneyland. Yay. Right.

As children, you you look forward to it, right, But

what about the children of Israel? What is their response? Okay,

so hotly, hotly? Will your children say, oh, but what

if the flights are too expensive? Oh? But what if

you know it rains in Disneyland and we cannot do

the other thing? But what if? Right? Do you respond

that way? Usually know? Right, because you have food trust

in your parents that says, okay, we're gonna go discent landing.

They got it all figured out. So but the problem

with us many times and our relationship with God is

we don't fully trust him because it seems as though

we we don't trust that he's got it all figured out.

And so this brings us to numbers Chapter thirteen. Do

you know that Moses had to send top spies into

the land? Okay, let's go. Do I have a picture

of our spiser? Oh got spizer? Oh cheer, handsome handsome men? Right?

Can you imagine them like, oh, okay, going into that land?

Whose idea was it to send spies into the land?

Moses' idea? I heard Israelites idea. Okay, some people might

think it's God's idea. Why. Okay, let's read a numbers,

chapter THIRTENA, and I'll tell you why. Some people think

it's God. Verse one numbers, chapter thirteen, Verse one, and

the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, send men to spy

out the land of Canaan, which I'm giving to the

children of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers, you

shall send a man everyone, a leader among them. Does

it sound like it was God who sent them? Sounds

like from reading this text, But actually that's why you

cannot read the Bible in isolation. If you just read

this text on his own, you will assume that in yeah,

God is the one who sent the spies. Word. But

you think about it, right, Logically, if I already promise

you a good land, I already promise you to bring this,

will I say? Okay, now you go, and you go

and see whether my words can be trusted or not.

You see where it's coming from the very fact that

if we think that God is asking them to send spice,

it means that I think you don't believe me. H,

I don't think you believe me. So therefore you go

and check it out yourself. Right. And where we get this.

If you read Deuteronomy, you will say that actually it

was the people, when God had already sent word that

you will just go and possess it. Right. The obedient

thing to do is like, okay, let's go when how right?

Not how just when? Let's go right? But the people say, no,

I think we need to spy the land first, you know,

see whether see weather. This is something that we all

like to say, see whether it's good land or not. Okay.

So and then it says that Moses relented because of

the people's cry, and he says, okay, fine, we will

go with this idea. Okay. So this is numbership that

the thing, and so Moses was three send them from

the wilderness of parent according to the command of the Lord,

all of them men who are hates of the children

of Israel, okay, or the twelve men that okay, Now,

let's move on to verse seventeen. Then Moses send them

to spy out the land of Canaan, and sit to them.

Go up this way into the south and go up

to the mountains and see what the land is like.

You see, we like to see things before we believe it. Now,

so see what the land is like, whether the people

who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many,

whether the land they dwell that in it is good

or bad, whether the cities they inhabit are like camps

or strongholds, whether the land is rich or poor, and

whether they are forests there or not. Be of good

courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now,

the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. Okay,

So you know that's what's happening. Now, it's you know God,

Can you take God at his word or not? Let

me ask you that easy to say, yes, la, but

actually to act it out is a very very challenging thing. Right.

So if you look at them, I think there's a

picture with some grapes. Now, let's see ya. Okay. Anyway,

so they actually went in so I So they went

out and spied the land, okay, And then they brought

back some of the pomegranates and fixed all right, is

there a don't have that? Okay? Never mind? Is a

blood picture? Okay? So now, okay, let's read verse twenty five,

number thirteen. Verse twenty five. It says, And they returned

from spying out the land after how many days? Forty days?

It is forty days in important detail for you to remember, yes,

please remember forty Can you imagine going spying out a

land for forty days? It's quite long, right, you'll go

holiday one week, you need two weeks. This one is

extended holiday. No more than one month to spy out

the land. Okay. And they came back all right, okay,

So let's go to verse twenty six. Now they departed, okay,

after the forty days and came back to Moses and

Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel

in the wilderness of Paran. They brought back word to

them and all the congregation and shot them the fruit

of the land. Okay, showed them the fruit of the land.

And they told him and said, we went to the

land where you sent this. It truly flows with milk

and honey, and this is its fruit. Right now. You see,

every time there is God's promise, right, God is true,

He never lies, all right, So the problem is not

the giver. The problem is with the receiver. Promise is given.

God is true, God is faithful, He never lies. But

I think there's always a problem with the receiving n

and I call this the two types of receiver. Okay,

type one, Type one, I will call it. Type A

is the receiver that's called the nevertheless, the never the

Oh yeah, that's my great picture of quite bizarre. Right.

Have you ever seen grapes like this before? I know,

the biggest one you've seen is like the musket green

that will be on right. I don't know how else

to describe the fruit la Otherwise all those grapes are

so funny, but this one they had to carry on

poles between two men. That's pretty heavy stuff, okay. And

they also brought back different types fruits, so they acknowledge

the fact the fact that it truly flows with milk

and honey. So it's like they've seen it, they've seen

the So what is the response when you see something already?

God says, go because I will give you this lenth

but so one type of receiver, and can I tell

you this is the majority majority of receivers are called

the type one, the nevertheless people. Now, let's see what

kind of respec sponds is the nevertheless people response? Okay,

so let's go out Verse twenty eight, they already just say,

you know that the land is full, flowing with milk

and honey. And verse twenty eight. Nevertheless, the people who

dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified

and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anna there.

The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south. The

heat tides the emirits. Okay, all the needs that I

cannonites verse thirty. Okay, before I go to verse thirty,

do you see now that this is a very typical

behavior of the nevertheless type of people. Okay? Why is

because they give all kinds of excuses, all kinds of excuse.

What's the excuse? Number one? People too strong? Okay, people

too strong? Excuses, The cities are two forty five Okay.

Another excuse is these are like giants, okay, giants in

their eyes. All right, So this excuse and what drives

our excuses. So every time, right, something happens and you

find yourself and I pray that there will be an

awareness if you find yourself giving an excuse to say

no or later we have to ask ourselves from what

perspective am I looking at? So, because their perspective is

right they are looking at the people. They are looking

at the people of the land, and they look at

them selves. You see her. There are there are many

ways of looking at things, all right. One perspective of

the majority is I will look at that challenge and

I will look at myself. So conclusion is your challenge

will always be bigger than you. True not, because you know,

let's see what their response is. I'm gonna jump a

little bit. In numbers fourteen. It says right verse thirty one,

let's go to verse thirty one. That's what they say.

They say, But the men who had gone up with

him said, we are not able to go up against

the people, for they are stronger than we. And they

gave the children of Issueal a bad report of the

land which they spied out, saying, the land which we're

gone is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all

the people whom we saw it are men of great stature.

Then we saw the giants, the descendants of nat came

from the giants, and we were like, we're like grasshoppers

in our own site, and so we were in their site.

So this group of people firstly very good at giving

excuses of why it cannot be done. Right. Their perspective

is because they are looking at the problem and they

look at themselves. Think about it, right, when you look

at your challenges, are you looking at a problem, and

then you look at yourself and you do a comparison,

and you're like, okay, I'm defeated. It's okay, forget it,

forget it, right. And what's worse is what's worse is

they spread this lies, They spread the lines what it says,

it says, they spread a bad report among the congregation

right and say, no, I think this land is not

good for us, not good for us. Right now, you

see what happened when when our words that we say

begin to do. You know, they always have power. Whatever

you declare and whatever you confess has power. And let's

see what their confession caused them. Okay, in verse forteen,

Now this is talking about ten spies, right, the ten spies.

They gang up together and they say, okay, you know

this is a bad report. Let's let's make sure that

we don't do this. Okay. Now, So all the congregation

lifted up their voices and cried no. This is all

the congregation lifted up their voices, and the people wept

that night. Hello, the promise was go and take that land,

land or milk and honey, lend where you do not

need to strive. But that night they cried a good news,

are you promise? But because of a majority voices, they

cried that night because they believed the report. They believed

that report. They were the ones that sent out right.

So they believed the report. And then look what happened

next in verse two fourteen verse two, and all the

children of Israel complain against Moses and Aaron, and the

whole congregation said to them, if only we died, if

only we had died in this wilderness, and look at this,

Why has the Lord brought us to this land to

fall by the sword, that our wives and children should

become victims? Would it not be better for us to

return to Egypt? So they say to one another, let

us select a leader and return to Egypt. Now, there's

so many things we can learn from this. So number one,

just be very careful about how you are saying things,

because what you say will affect the entire congregation. Do

you know this is very true in the church, right

If the leaders say let's do this, let's conquer this campus.

You know, we want to reach out to campus students, right,

and then the LSB or ten of them else we've

got twelve technically, so in our ideal model of our

church is you know, there's twelve homes, right, and then

each homes is represented, you know in the LSBO, which

is the local Senior pass's office, is how they govern,

how we govern. And can you imagine ten of them

say no, we cannot take this campus. Why because you know,

maybe they speak mandarine, We don't you see, ah, the challenge.

Maybe it's too far, no parking, maybe we got no

contact there, you know, and you know they look at

us as adults. You know, maybe we cannot geil. I

don't know what excuses could be. But the ten out

of the twelve that's no will usually overpower the other two,

the majority versus the minor. And this is exactly the case.

And what was worse, they roll up the entire congline

and I'll say, the entire church to say no, we

want to go back. Let's let's not do anything about it.

You know, how come it was better better before this.

Let's do the all things that we used to do, right,

if only we died. Worst thinger. They rather die, you know,

they rather die than to go into a lend a

promise given to them land of flowing with milk and honey.

So that is the perspective that they have. And I

think what really really shook me was, do you know

that every time you complain, you're not complaining against Moses,

You're not complaining against the leader, because you're complaining against

the Lord. Because you say, it says here right verse three,

why has the Lord brought? Yes? So ultimately, every complaint,

every grumbling that you have, it's not against your leader,

it's against God. Because I really believe that whoever God

has placed as leader he anointed? Are they perfect church?

All our leaders will? We say no, far from it.

It's not because of the perfection that God chose them,

you know, it's not because of their skills. You look

at Moses. Was he a man of great skills? Was

he like the greatest speaker? He was like, I'm a man,

humble man, stuttering, you said, my brother, if you look

at him by men's standards, nothing to command him. But

God sees very differently. Right. We might look at the appearance,

but God looks at the heart, right, And so I

take this as a principle in my own life that

I will never speak against my leader, no matter how

much I disagree. It's not about heart whether I think

I have a better idea or not. My role is

to be able to submit to my leader. Amen. I

know had to hear a la. But this is something

that God is teaching is it's very real. It's very

very real that we shall never speak against whom the

Lord has appointed, because we are ultimately saying God, I

think you made a mistake. I think you may a

mistake in choosing Moses and in choosing Aaron. I think

it's better because they say exactly that, let's select another leader, right,

they say, less, select another leader and then go back there,

the one that will bring us back to our comfort zone.

I know this is very uncomfortable for us right now. Uncomfortable.

That's why I procrastinate, right these uncomfortable emotions that we

are going through right now. It's like, oh, every time

comes always say the same thing, when always must obey

and yellow. I think because we're so forgetful right that

we need constant remind us that God says what he's

after is not it's not what you think you can do.

But it's just obedience to the Lord. It's not your skill,

it's not your background, it's not your experience. God just

wants you to follow him. We sang the song I

will follow you always all day. I'll follow Jesus. So

let's see. Okay, So now there is the type one people.

Now I want to go to the type two people.

This is the minority people, right, and I call them

the we are well able to people. We are well able.

And let's see where it says that. Okay, Now after

you know, in between the conversation between the twelve spies,

the ten and the the rest of them in verse

thir te verse the t okay, it says Dan Caleb

quieted the people before Moses and said, let us go

up at once. It means immediately, let us go up

at once and take possession, for we are well able

to overcome it. Can you say that we are well able?

We have to remind ourselves we are well able? Right?

And how can how they had this confidence this perspective, Remember,

it's it just not the perspective of the majority. The

ten was the challenge versus me. Right, the giants are there,

you know, can you imagine like if you remember Goliath,

how tall was Goliath really tall? You know? Okay, say

about nine feet? Like, so this is a giant that

you're facing, right, someone that tall, really really tall. Okay.

I've seen some really tall basketballers coming to somebit, and

I'm actually quite scarier because when you straight look up

to them, now, can you imagine like fighting a battle

with them? Right? And so when we look at someone

like that straight away, I will fuuse small already for sure, guarantee.

Like grasshopper okay, and what we what do we do

with grasshoppers? We pluck out their licks? Okay, I conferens,

I confess I used to do that when I was young.

Fuck out and get all that already, Confessor and confessor,

the Lord helped the grasshoppers. I didn't want to kneel, okay,

after that, repent that repent that, okay, So that's what

you think you do the grasshoppers, right, And so they

thought they were like grasshoppers in their own site. But

you see, I like, what what the the right people

have to say? Okay? Now you know that they had

to exchange. Now let's go to numbers chapter fourteen. So

in verse three they were complaining, right, they say better,

let us go back better. You know, we select another

leader to go back now verse five. Now this is

what great leaders do. In verse five, then Moses and

Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of

the congregation of the children of Israel. But Joshua the

son of None and Caleb, the son of Jeffuna, who

were among those who had spied out the land, told

their clothes. Okay, leaders, don't take your clothes, okay, not

in public anyway. It's a sign of repentance. It's a

sign of saying the people have sin. They tore their clothes,

and they spoke to all the congregation and the children

of Israel. And I want you to catch the pattern

of their speech, because this is gonna be useful for

us to monitor our own pattern of speech. Let's see

what they say. They say, the land we passed through

to spy is n exceedingly good land, not just good land,

you know, exceedingly meaning perfect beyond your means, exceedingly good land,

so good? How come you don't want to taste so good?

And he says this in verse eight, if the Lord

delights in us, and he will, then he will bring

us into this land and give it to us, a

land which flows with milk and honey. Verse nine. Only

do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people

of the land, for they are our br Their protection

has departed from them, and the Lord is with us.

Do not fear them. Can you see the stark contrasts

of the way they speak. One is they say the

people are too strong, and then what the Caleb and

Joshua said, they are like our break. I'm gonna, you know,

like piece of cake. I'm just gonna eat them like

a piece of cake. And then they say, you know,

don't fear the people. And evidently the majority had a

great fear of the people. And I love this. Do

you know this is one of God's promise to all

of us. He says, the Lord is with us. You

see their perspective now it's I see, you know, with

the majority majority of us, right, it will always be

the challenge and me so comparison challenge and me thinking

thing challengeing, challenge wins because you are too small. Now

with them, they are a bit different because they say,

oh great, we're gonna look into this land. I'm gonna

look at my challenge, and I'm not looking at me now,

I'm looking at God. When you compare your challenge and God, right,

who's bigger? I hope So I hope that becomes your

reality because sometimes you can still say I think God,

you cannot do this. You know, we limit God and

saying God, you know you must do this for me.

If not, then you're not real. We put God into

a box and you know that his ways are higher

than a waste, his thoughts are higher than your thoughts. Right.

And then we say that God, you must only do

it this way, But God say it's not have a

different plan, right. But I think what's important and I

hope you catch this is friends, when you put God

beside your challenge, God wins. Amen. You must be able

to now see that God wins over any challenges that

you have, over your relationship, over your career, your difficult boss,

very difficult. You're like, oh God, this pauser, but you

got You're bigger. You can change not maybe that person,

by change me, oh even harder. We always prayer, I

got you change everybody else, right, And then God says, oh,

but I want to change you all. I want to

change you to be more like Christ, and you're like, no, no,

no change. Everybody saw that my life is better. God

is saying, no, I put all these difficult people in

your life so that you can be better. Ouch. We

always pray the challenging people go away, right, but God

is saying, no, I put them, you know, Like Paul.

Paul had a torn in his flesh, and he was

a great apostle, great missionary, obey God. Right. Of course,

he had his own history. He was sould before he

became pau but then there was a time of a ministry.

He had this torn in his flash. And we don't

know what it is, ailmen or whatnot, but three times

you pray to the Lord, and the Lord says, it's okay.

My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made

perfect in weakness. So I think what we can get is,

don't look at your thorns, don't look at your weakness,

look at God. Look at God in all your circumstances.

I say, God, You're bigger. And that's why our declaration

now becomes so important. Right, That's why we come into

this time of praise and worship, because we are saying God,

you're bigger. God, you are good. Can you can you

still say God is good when you've gone through a

very difficult, disappointing part of your life. Can you say,

and that is where God is really really ministering to us.

I know sometimes it's the hardest thing, right when something

has wronged you, someone has wrong you, and you're like God,

I cannot when the promise seems very far, let me say, God,

you know I still can say that you are good

because you are with me. The devil will always lie

to you that God has left you. God is no

longer with you, not for for you. But you need

to remember that God says I Jesus came to die

for you and me. He didn't die of vain death.

You know, I was ministering to another couple and this

couple realer reala REALA is trying to change homes because

bonam with a leader. Okay, real a very real. And

so after praying and discussing, right, and we suggested another

homes And then as we're discussing, she's like, oh, I

also bonam with this leader. So then I can you know,

in my mind right, I'm thinking any leader of Songam

or Redela, because the problem is not the leader, no

who's the problem? Oh you say she Okay, I didn't

say anything, right, I did say she or she right?

But many times we think everyone else is difficult, but

actually the truth is maybe we are the difficult one.

Maybe we are the hot one. You know, you have

certain expectations of how things should be, how God must be,

and then we become very heartened, right, and I pray

that we will never never come to that place, all right,

because you know, and you know the story, right, I'm

gonna skip forward. You know that after that, they say that,

after they did all this, now what is the consequence

of this obedience? And there's you know, I say this, right,

that delayed obedience. Right, So they were supposed to just straightway,

going straight away, going take possession of the land, right, correct,

That's what Caleb said, Let's go and straightway take the possession.

Of course the people are like, no, no, let's tale

our leaders. And then after that, you know, you see,

anything that is a delay in our obedience is disobedience.

That's why the title is this delayed obedience is disobedience.

And I like this. Someone just said this recently, you know,

and I thought it was so profound. He says, this

delayed obedience isn't waiting on God. It's making God to

wait on this. When we don't obey, you're saying, God,

you wait, La, Who's God here right now? Me? Oh? God?

When we don't obey the prompting els I did not

obey the prompting that God gave me, I'm basically saying, God,

it's okay, I think I know better than you. My

self is better than you. Right, I think I know it.

I know I have next week. Actually I don't know

if I have next week. I don't know if I

have next week, honestly, right, And so yeah, you know God,

God's just speaking to Mi, La. He's actually this message

is for me, Okay. I hope that he speaks to

you as well. All right, now, there is consequences of

the delayed obedience. Right, Let's read Numbers, Chapter fourteen, Verses

eleven to twelve. All right, so you see our in

verse ten, he says, all the congregens say to stone

them with stones. Now they want to stone Moses Aaron,

And the glory of the Lord appeared. God will come

in right now. And the Lord said to Moses in

verse eleven, how long will these people reject me. How

long will they not believe me? With all the signs

which I have performed among them? Can you feel God's

hearts cry? Can you feel his disappointment? Can you feel

his frustration? I think if I'm got right sorry that

all of you know you and fella, you don't want

to enter the fine. I have that much patience with

my children, It's true, right with others, you know, it's like, oh,

and then this is what the Lord said. This is

what the Lord said in verse twelve. I will strike

them with pestilence, and this inherit them, and I will

make you a nation greater and mightier than them. And

you will read onto notice right that you know as

and this is something remarkable about the leader Moses. He

could have just said, Okila, they deserve it, true or not? Friends,

if you were in God's position, you will say, killer,

they deserve it la right. Already, so many miracle signs

and wonder's forty years bring you out of Egypt, and

yet you still cannot believe me, right, cannot believe. So

the sin of unbeliever is very great. No, friends, the

sin of saying God I cannot take care. The sin

of unbelieved the sin of rejecting God. That's what this

obedience is. I'm basically saying, I'm rejecting you, okay. And

of course Moses pleaded with them. And I like this

because our leaders will always remind us who God is.

Let's read verse seventeen. This is Moses's prayer, he says,

and now I pray let the power of my Lord

be great, just as you have spoken, saying, the Lord

is long suffering and abundant in mercy forgiving iniquities and transgression.

But he by no means clear the guilty, visiting the

iniquity of the fathers and the children to the third

and the fourth generation. This is our God long suffering,

well not must you know, suffering for long long. That's

what long suffering is. Suffer for long despite all the rejection,

despite all the despicable things that the children has said

to him. God and Moses reminded us of who God is,

abundant in mercy forgiving iniquity and transgression. Would you forgive

people like that if you had to lead the children is?

Or would you forgive them? And I thank God we

serve a mercyful God, abundant in his mercy really, you know, friends,

God is so abundant no matter what kind of this

obedience that we have done. Today, God is saying, if

you repent before the Lord, he's abundant in his mercy.

And I thank God that as I confess before him,

he forgave me. Because you read on in verse nineteen,

he says, pardon the iniquity of this people. I pray

according to the greatness of your mercy. Not because they

deserve it, you know, but because God is so merciful,

just as you have forgiven these people from Egypt even

until now long history you know of this obedience. Never mind,

and this is what the Lord said in verse twenty.

I have pardoned according to your word. But truly as

I live, and all the earth should be filled with

the glory of the Lord. Because of all this, men

who have seen my glory and signs which I did

in Egypt and in the wilderness, they have put me

to the tests now this ten times and have not

heeded my voice. They will certainly not see the land

which I saw to their fathers, nor shall any of

those rejected me to see it. I like this verse

twenty four. But my servant Caleb because he has a

different spirit in him and has followed me fully. I

will bring into the land where he went, and his

descendants shall inherit it. Amen. I pray that we will

begin to have this different spirit, or we desire for

this different spirit of Caleb. Do you want to be

different from the majority, because the minority always sticks out right,

even amongst Christians, because these are all Jews. You know,

it does a method whether you just carry the title.

But it's a different spirit that God wants to put

in us. You know that. It says later on right

in verse thirty four, I just want to give you

this thought. According to the number of days in which

you spied out the land, forty days. For each day

you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years,

and you shall know my rejection. God in his justice

he will meet out the consequences. Can I tell you

for every disobedience there is a consequence. One there is

a consequence. And for the children of issue that men,

they missed the promised land. They missed it. You know,

the entire generation was wiped out. Only two six hundred

over thousand men that generation, only two made it. Even

Moses didn't make it only two made it, Caleb and Joshua,

because they had a different spirit in them. Amen. So

then after that rite, you know, it goes on to

say that after that, the children is your right. After

they heard all this, ready that God says, okay, bye bye,

you don't have to go. Ready, they say, now we

want to go. Now we will obey. Now, we'll pack

our bags, Let's go this inlant now right now, now

we will go. And then after that God changed his mind.

He says it's okay, no need to go ready. No,

God says, you don't have to go now go by.

But the children of Israel again, God says, don't go,

then you go. God says, go there. You don't want

to go. Then God says, don't go there you want

to go? Now, Hey, how many of you can identify

with that? How you like me? Man? God says, don't go,

then you want to go? Go says don't go, then

you want to go now? Right? And so they went

and they lost. They lost the fight when they should

have just won if they are just gone immediately, obeying

immediately instead of just saying all these excuses, and then

they miss what God had promised them. Can we miss

God's promise for all lives. Let me ask you that

is it possible for us to miss our destiny in God?

Very very possible. You see. God is so good right

that he has this plan and a destiny and a purpose,

a calling. If you're calling me her, no, he is

calling you. But it depends on how we respond to

that Type A or type B. Are you going to

be the nevertheless always full of excuses or are you

going to be the minority the one that says God

says can I can? God says can because he can

do it, not because I can do it. You see.

You know what Joshua and Caleb say, It was our

God will fight for us. He is with us, He

is for us. He says that don't fear them, only

fear who fear God? You know, in the nec forty

days of prayer, it's all about fear. No, do we

fear God or do we fear people? Right? I pray

that there's going to be a new spirit of boldness

and courage within us right now? Five quick thoughts as

we and you know what is our breakthrough for obedience?

Number one? Friends, I think we need to shift away

from our focus on our feelings. Too many times we

take action or don't take action based on our feelings. Right,

And so God is saying, are you a man of

feelings or are you a man of faith? Christians, I'm

asking you women. Are you a woman of feelings or

a woman of faith? Your actions will dictate that, like,

oh no, I don't feel like it. That is feelings right,

because I don't feel like it right? Ask us to

do something, you know, open up your home for homes.

I don't feel I'm ready, don't feel I'm ready. But

the faith thing is to say, even though I'm not ready,

God is with me, even though I'm inadequate. I don't

know how cook. You know my house is a mess,

But God, if you want to use my house, useler.

That is faith, you know, very different, very different operation mine, okay.

Second contents five to seven says is we walk by faith,

not by sight. Don't let whatever you see because you

don't remember the children the turn spies, They're like, we

want to see how good the land is. So we

are always dictated by our sight. But God is saying, no,

walk by faith. Let everything that we say or do

be by faith. Second point is this Let's begin to

replace our excuses always cannot honor, but with an eternal perspective.

And I want to read to you from Ephesians five.

It says, look carefully, then how you walk, not as unwise,

but as wise, making the best use of the time.

Because the days are these are evil, friends, days are

very evil. Days are very short. Okay, therefore, do not

be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Aymen,

Let's begin to take on an eternal perspective life here.

You think about it. If you're twenty years old, you think, oh,

I got fifty more years to live is very short.

And I don't know if you have fifty years. Honestly

I cannot tell. Right, my neighbor, she's probably about late forties,

very young, still very long. Another way that you know,

we want to begin to grow and be accountable for

our obedience is to share it with someone. And this

is why we have family here, right, We have family

here because we then become accountable to each other. Amen,

this is what it is. We become accountable to each

other for our behavior. Because God is saying that in

the family is where you grow in safety. But you

also grow in challenges, and you know sometimes when your

leaders speak to you warnings but in a loving way,

is for you to grow. Right, So let's begin to

you know, our theme for this year is disciple first.

As a church right and discipleship is very uncomfortable with friends,

It's very uncomfortable for many of us. Most of us

want to say, Okay, I'm eighteen years old. You know,

I don't need my parents anymore. I don't want account

for my life anymore. Then suddenly you come to church

and they're like, okay, can you submit to a leader

who's younger than you? Like what I just try to

get out of the system of accountability. Now you want

me get into it as of accountability. But this is

God's way of protecting us. Right. Let us consider in

Hebrews tend and says, let us consider how we may

spur one another to good works. That's what we are

doing here in discipleship. We're trying to spur each other

to good works, not because we gain anything out of it,

but because you will gain something out of it, because

God is interested in you to transform you, to make

you more into his image. Amen. The fourth point is this, friends,

we cannot do this on our own right. If you

think that, Okay, now I'm convicted. You know I'm going

to do this on my own. Cannot because right after

this right you will, you might just stumble and fall.

We cannot rely on our willpower we have. You know,

I always joke this right. Our worn power is stronger.

I won't do this, I won't do this, But our

will power is just as weak. And so we need

the Holy Spirit. Amen, We really really need the Holy Spirit.

And pray to God and say it is God. You know,

whatever that you desire to do right into righteousness, it

is God, because it is God who works in you

to will and to act according to His good purpose. Amen.

And finally, is this In Hebrews chapter three, verse fifteen,

it says this today, if you hear his voice, and

I know some of you are very in tune right

now with the spirit of God. You are hearing his voice,

do not harden your hearts. Don't harden your hearts. Amen.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

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this week is going to be a good week a

hit for you, God bless