hello my friends i'm pastor stephen
brooks welcome today to morning glory
our midweek bible study i'm so happy
that you're here today and i want to
invite you to join me today in god's
word we will be in numbers chapter 14.
we're going to talk about the 10 trials
that israel went through while in the
wilderness praise the lord let's
remember also that as we examine this
today
we need to be mindful that we as
christians on our spiritual journey also
face the exact same
10 trials and we want to
get through them so that we can get into
the promised land and possess
and do everything that god
has
pre-prepared for us to accomplish praise
god all right so let's pray heavenly
father as we jump into your word we ask
that your holy spirit
would unveil
your word to us so that we can walk in
it
and take it and put it to use and put it
to work in our lives father we thank you
for
victory
over every temptation over every test
over every trial we thank you for grace
to go in
to our full inheritance we give you the
praise in jesus name let's all say amen
numbers 14 verse 19
moses is interceding to the lord on
behalf of the people of israel
pardon the iniquity of this people i
pray according to the greatness of your
mercy
just as you have forgiven this people
from egypt even until now
then the lord said i have pardoned
according to your word but truly as i
live all the earth shall be filled with
the glory
of the lord now listen very carefully to
verse 22
because all these men
who have seen my glory and the signs
which i did in egypt and in the
wilderness have put me to the test now
these ten
times and have not
heeded my voice
they certainly shall not see the land of
which i swore to their fathers nor shall
any of those who rejected me
see it
very very interesting now my friends
as we look at this today we do
understand from
the biblical study of perhaps what we
could call typology understanding old
testament types and shadows
and the reality of what that means for
us as new testament believers
yes we understand that
in
in so many ways it was not possible for
moses to bring them into the canaan land
why
because if he could have done so
that would have meant that the law was
all that was needed and and there's no
need for jesus because they got into the
land of rest
just through the law alone but that's
not possible we know that
moses is a representation of the law but
you cannot achieve god's best for your
life you cannot
you cannot
work with the lord without his grace you
cannot come into his rest without his
grace so that's why there was another
leader joshua a real a real person but
the per joshua was a he was a type a
symbol of christ
and christ is able to take us into our
rest our full
inheritance praise the lord and of
course we know the name joshua
is
is really translated the same name as
jesus
yeshua praise god
and we see this as well let's take a
look at this verse very quickly john
chapter 1 verse
17. for the law was given through moses
but grace and truth came through jesus
christ so the law was given through
moses and moses could not get them into
canaan land
so we need god's grace praise the lord
and there's grace for every trial
now
as we look at this keep in mind that
israel
failed
all 10
trials
but my friends you're going to
pass through i even see you passing with
flying colors and i see you
being a christian
who
utilizes the grace of god
and goes across the jordan into the
promised land
and you possess your inheritance
[Music]
you know there's so much that we could
talk about even how
he had several tribes even before they
crossed the jordan into the canaan land
they said oh the other side uh the east
side of the uh of the jordan we'll just
take this land over here you have so
many christians that are willing to
settle for a partial inheritance instead
of getting god's best they're just
willing to accept good and
we want to go all the way yes it takes a
greater push a greater commitment uh and
a a willingness to be obedient but in
the end
the results
and the eternal impact are well worth it
praise the lord
um
i think it's also important before we
start talking about the ten to remember
also that
when the israelites were encountering
these various trials
we do have to acknowledge that it was
actually the holy spirit leading them
into it
not to set them up for failure but to
set them up into a place where they must
learn the trust in god and if they will
trust him
and have the right heart attitude they
will see
god
bring them through and also faith will
develop but so often
we know that they were not cooperative
with that so
uh really these various difficult
challenges
were designed by god to be stepping
stones
but israel i think turned them so often
in the stumbling blocks we understand
that the cloud
was a guide for
the nation of israel that was the holy
spirit working there in in and through
that cloud sometimes people
describe it as being two distinct
elements such as the cloud by day fire
by night but it's really just one it's a
fiery cloud and so during the daytime
you see the cloud over the
the the tent area of the
the tabernacle and as well as over the
people and so when the cloud moved you
moved with the cloud because out in the
desert
the sinai desert in the summer it can
get literally
140 degrees fahrenheit so you need that
air conditioning system that's up there
you better move with the cloud or you're
going to get real hot
and so god had this all covered and at
nighttime the cloud would be illuminated
with fire there would be fire in the
cloud but it's still the cloud so it's a
fiery cloud
and that fiery cloud would keep uh
predators away lions they all uh
primarily hunt at night i know there's a
lot of nature videos of lions being busy
during the daytime but uh lions are
primarily nocturnal just like all cats
are and so night times are very
dangerous but that that would be a
spectacular sight to see that fiery
cloud at night and you would also know
that the the neighboring small nation
groups nation states they could see that
too
and uh
they would be very uh troubled by a site
like that and
would let israel pass on so if the cloud
stopped they stopped if the cloud moved
they went with it so the lord was trying
to lead his people through the holy
spirit through the cloud experience not
to
bring them into something they couldn't
handle but to lean on the lord and to
learn his ways
so it was really only moses that knew
the ways of god uh the children of
israel were taught the commandments of
the lord but they never really
understood
what
god's heart was but moses spoke face to
face
with the lord praise god praise god all
right let's talk about these ten trials
number one
the number one trial they faced and the
first trial that any christian faces is
opposition from the world and what i
mean by that is the temptation to go
back to the world because when you leave
egypt pharaoh says hey we've noticed
that you left why don't you come back
we've got all the leeks and onions and
the melons and all the things that you
used to like not only that not only do
we have vegetables but we've got all the
sin that you used to enjoy
and egypt was a type of the world system
pharaoh was a type a shadow of satan
and they had left that and come out of
that and they were out of egypt but i
think we could rightfully say that egypt
was not yet out of them
and as christians there's that
temptation to want to go back to the
ways of the flesh that were unhindered
and unchecked before we gave our hearts
to christ and uh the world you know
throws all of these things that perhaps
gripped the child of god previously have
you have alcohol and you have drugs and
you have sexual immorality and you have
bars and you have parties and you have
all this stuff
that the world says hey we're still out
here and we'd love to have you come back
and so you have to continue on with the
lord but so often the israelites they
would get upset at moses and they'd say
no but we need to go back we've had it
out here we want to go back to egypt
so
you have to just realize i i'm never
going back i'm not going back to sin i'm
totally completely done with that that
is permanently cut off and that's
something that you maintain
because the devil
he'll try to dangle those things still
out there to you even if you've been in
the faith for quite some time so
i think there are some areas he realizes
hey they're gone in this area but other
areas he'll he'll still work with
certain scenarios and temptations and
everything but just make a firm decision
in your heart i never no matter what i
face or go through i'm never ever going
back to sin i'm not going back into that
lost world thinking that the answers are
out there somewhere the only answer is
in the lord jesus christ and complete
faith and trust in him praise the lord
all right so that number one trial
opposition from the world and its
temptations to lure you back to it
number two
the number two trial they ran into was
the bitter water experience and this
happened at mara
and the children of israel they were
they were in this place where now
there's water that's available but they
can't drink it
and
the bitter water can speak to us of
bitter experiences that we go through as
christians
and we think that's not that's not fair
that's not right that's not just and
perhaps it wasn't maybe you were lied
about maybe you even lost a position
because somebody lied about you so you
had a bitter experience or you had a
disappointment you applied for a job and
you really really prayed about it and
you thought surely god is in this and
you didn't get the job or something like
that or
just a number of things that as we go
through life can be
mara type experiences where you taste
the water and it's bitter well what was
done
in that time to heal the water they
threw
a tree
into the water
through direction of the lord and they
threw the tree into the water and the
water became sweet and the tree
represents the cross
of christ i wouldn't doubt one bit the
tree they threw in there even looked
like a cross
my friends just take it to the lord take
it to the cross
jesus
while he was anointed with the oil of
joy
he also knew uh deep errors uh areas of
sorrow that he had to pass through he
knew bitter experiences he knew
betrayals he knew
what it was to be slandered and lied and
you're not able to defend yourself and
you really see the character of the lamb
in christ
where he was very meek very uh very
gentle person praise the lord so yes we
have these things let us just take it to
the cross and realize that god is bigger
and that the meek shall inherit the
earth praise god
so
don't let bitter experiences make you
bitter
that's what happened to them they got
real bitter you know um bitter people
even look
they even look bitter
um
wow stay away from that
praise the lord now the next trial they
ran into
that they failed was the trial of hunger
and
this thing of not having the food that
you want or not having the gratification
of being able to eat what you want can
represent
economic trials and challenges
that the lord will allow you to go
through
so that you develop
trust and faith in him and this wow
this is very very
important praise the lord
there can be seasons in your life where
you don't have the breathing room
financially that you would like and
perhaps you're tithing and you're
operating in biblical principles and
you're
you're using good stewardship and so
forth but you still you still don't have
the liberty financially that you would
uh prefer what do you do during times
like that do you make demands to god do
you get angry do you get frustrated no
you just stay with the word you keep
working the word
and you walk in in the character of
christ even during times of what we
would call hunger
praise the lord you know
there was a great prophet of god a very
very godly prophet who talked about the
time when he was young in ministry and
the lord was really teaching him
reliance
upon the lord for his personal needs now
you know in
in ministry if if i'm leading
the ministry i i myself i can't carry
all of the needs of the ministry it's
too much for one person it's too much
for me so i have to share the needs of
the ministry but so often when it's
something that's personal i have to use
my faith just like you have to use yours
and so this dear prophet he was being
taught by the lord that he has to use
his faith and trust god for his personal
needs to be met
and he said that one day he and his wife
were home
and they had no food and they had no
money but he said he knew of a christian
minister that if he called him that
minister would certainly help him out
because that man was very compassionate
so this prophet said you know i thought
about going over there and just picking
up the phone and calling him and i knew
instantly my stress would be over with i
would have some he'd give me some money
i'd go out buy some food and to be over
with just like that
and he was thinking about making the
call and the holy spirit spoke to him
and uh here's what the lord said
if you touch that phone and make that
call i'm through working with you
whoo now doesn't mean he's not saved
doesn't mean he's not anointed it just
means in this area where god's trying to
teach him
uh if he disobeys and picks up that
phone and tries to become his own god
well if god's not going to do it i'll
get it done you joe off i'll for sure
get it done see that's you trying to
assert god and you're trying to be god
and
if you there that this is stuff that's
very very important and you learn it
during times when you're hungry
[Laughter]
praise the lord
wow and i've had those times i learned
that when i was early in ministry if i
had personal needs
even if the needs were
were there in the sense i don't have
enough money do not wave a flag and tell
people that
because if you don't look to the lord
you're going to have a couple things
take place number one you could you
could end up trying to manipulate others
and now you're dropping little hints
because you you're trying to get over to
them that you need some help and uh
you're trying to do it in a subtle way
but that's all in the flesh and that's
wrong and if you do that then god's not
gonna he's not gonna step in and do what
only he can do because you're trying to
now work this stuff out in your own
strength and your own ability and that
is over and over what the israelites did
while
uh you can also get into a place in
these areas if you don't trust him when
you're hungry
you can get into areas where you'll
you'll literally
humiliate yourself you'll do things that
are stupid that
if you had dignity and strength there's
no way you would grovel and beg or
humiliate yourself like that
and so
you know this is why we must
trust the lord in these areas of
personal need
now some of you have been watching me
for years and years hundreds of messages
as you've seen on the internet and quite
often i share about the needs of the
ministry but in the hundreds of programs
you have ever watched me
speak to you through the lens of the
camera have you ever heard me say um
hey anybody out there i just need you to
know uh could you buy me a cheeseburger
you know i don't have any money me and
pastor kelly uh we ate the last we ate
the last box of ramen noodles last night
please somebody help me out no
no
i've never done that
and also as you can tell i uh you know
i'm not really eating ramen noodles i
mean i do like ramen noodles i love
japanese food but um no god's taking
care of me praise god that's because
i've learned to put my trust in him oh
these things are critical
and as we know
israel
they never got that right they just
failed in that area okay let's move on
praise the lord glory to god the next
thing which is more difficult than
hunger is thirst
while hunger can certainly get your
attention thirst if you've ever been
extremely thirsty you know it's a it's a
craving on a different level i have
almost died before because of lack of
thirst i got out in the desert and uh
got lost and uh almost died the grace of
god i got out of that situation but i
was right on the edge where i wasn't
sweating any more anymore my body
couldn't it didn't have any
anything left in me to push out even
when it was 100 and probably about 132 i
think
and uh so i i know what it's like to
have an extreme thirst when you do
anything for a drop of water
what does thirst represent
well they encountered it and thirst
would represent
dry
and boring times
seasons of your life that you have to go
through
which is why scripture says be ready in
season out of season because it's not
like fireworks are going off all the
time
i mean you could be right in the middle
of revival but still you know uh
as wonderful as everything is you can
have you can have down times and you're
like lord what's
not what's going on lord not too much
going on you know uh
uh even even in in a place where
miracles are happening
you can actually
if i can say this respectfully it's
almost like you could even get used to
miracles oh that's just another person
getting out of a wheelchair oh that's
just another deaf person having
receiving their hearing have to be very
careful with these types of things of
how you deal with
thirst
and i believe the best way to deal with
uh dry or what we would even call boring
times is just worship and that's the
reason you have that down time that's
the reason uh perhaps god's given you
this season and you can't run run run
right now because of the
various factors you have in your life
maybe your parents have gotten older
maybe you got to take care of your
parents and that is demanding a lot of
your attention you can't you can't do
all the exciting stuff or something you
have a maybe somebody's sick and you
you're the one that's got to be there
for them and so you're not out you know
in the life of the party anymore what do
you do when you're thirsty you worship
and if you'll do that you'll also
realize there are times when the lord
himself still
is thirsty remember when he was on the
cross he said i thirst
and i think today that one of the things
he thirsts for
is praise he wants people to praise him
see
when we worship he is the living water
and he is our life but when we praise
him we actually quench his thirst so
thirst can be an okay thing but we have
to we have to deal with it properly um
and of course the israelites
did not do that okay let's move on to
the next one uh the fifth trial that
they ran into was idolatry
and you know the classic story of the
crazy
golden calf even as aaron tried to
explain it to moses well
you know moses you know it just all
happened so fast you know we just had a
bunch of gold come together we threw it
in the fire and this this thing just
came out
[Laughter]
moses like oh is that right
yeah i'm going to make you we're going
to grind at the powder i'm going to make
all of you drink it mmm oh lord have
mercy what a mess
but potentially it doesn't necessarily
have to be a
golden calf again that's the connection
to egypt and the longing to go back to
what they knew and all the cardinality
mixed in with that
but it doesn't have to be
a golden calf or something that you
really bow down to literally get in
front of it bow down and lift your hands
up to it but it has the potential to be
anything that would just push the lord
to the side and say lord i love you i
worship you but in this area don't
interrupt me or disturb me in this area
well jesus should be able to walk in at
any time he's the king of the universe
he is the almighty creator without him
we would be lost so
we always have to have him number one
i do have a friend i haven't seen him in
a while he's gotten he's gotten uh
pretty old but um you know some years
back he uh he told me that when march
badness rolls around which is uh ncaa
basketball finals
where all the teams around the country
uh converge and play and you know you
then you get the final 16 and then the
final eight down to the final four and
then you know who's going to win the
whole thing well he said to me when
mark's madness rolls around nobody
interrupts him he shuts everything down
for the whole month and does nothing
but stay glued to the tv watching the
the basketball and you know on every
channel he's got to watch every single
game and he follows it
i said well i said now what if the lord
wants to visit you during march
and uh what if he wants to grant you a
divine visitation he said well he said
nobody interrupts me in march
uh well
he actually during one of the uh one of
the games he ate so many um
uh you know the chicken wings he had
ordered a whole bunch of them to watch
the game and he ordered a bunch of real
super hot ones from domino's pizza or
somewhere like that he ate so many
chicken hot wings they had to take him
to the hospital
so i i thought it was the funniest thing
in the world because
uh his march madness got interrupted
while
you're talking borderline you see what
i'm saying golden calf stuff here
uh watch out particularly with him
because he actually had a calling
to the prophetic
and could have slipped into a deeper
level because i've sat next to him
before and he was he's picking up
supernatural words of knowledge just
kind of sharing things with me he would
say like uh stephen this is what i'm
getting from the lord and he he would be
right on
um
but he never he never
got control of these areas
and uh
maybe never will bless his heart good
man yes great potential prophetically
yes
but um certain areas
a little bit there like the israelites
just never quite got it figured out in
those areas and thus never got into
the canaan land that god had for them
praise god let's move on number six
complaining about
the circumstances okay
and uh
you have to realize that if you are a
person that complains
you're going to lose favor quickly with
god
and you're going to need his favor
it's very very hard to fulfill
your destiny in the canaan land without
the favor of god matter of fact you
might not even get across the river
of the jordan into the canaan land
without some favor you're going to need
the blessing the blessing is the
empowerment to prosper
but favor is what positions you for all
of those empowerments
so that you can appropriate it and go do
what god has called you to do
so watch out for complaining you'll lose
favor with god you'll lose favor with
with people nobody really wants to be
around a complainer except for other
complainers hmm that's a bad company to
be in
now this uh statement i'm about to make
it's actually not in the bible
but a prophet one time actually heard
the lord speak this to him don't curse
the darkness light a candle
now i think somebody made that statement
you know quite some time back and in
history it became kind of a famous
statement so it's not in the bible but
actually a prophet uh was in a very
negative circumstance one one time and
he said well lord what should i do and
he said the lord actually told them that
don't curse the darkness light a candle
in other words stay in faith and don't
complain
because complaining
is
an exp it's an expression
of unbelief
and you had you had the ten spies that
gave the evil report
and it spread
fear and unbelief throughout the entire
congregation of israel but you had the
two spies joshua and caleb that had they
had a different spirit and that
different spirit is faith they had the
spirit of faith and they actually said
hey
we not only can do this we can we can go
do it right now we can go up right now
and take this
and
the negative report of the spies was so
damaging
and it influenced the people so much the
people actually wanted to stone
joshua
and caleb
so
think about that of how detrimental all
of this complaining and negativity can
be it can keep you out of
your inheritance we must
be careful to avoid it
number seven
the seventh trial that the israelites
faced
was
they were always unthankful
and unthankfulness
is really one of the first steps
towards backsliding towards going away
from god we see this in scripture in
romans chapter 1
and in verse 21
because although they knew god they did
not glorify him as god nor were
thankful but became futile and their
thoughts and their foolish hearts were
darkened so we have to be very very
careful that we are always praising god
thanking god for every good thing and of
course we can't help but be mindful of
the ten
uh lepers that were healed by the lord
jesus christ and in luke chapter 17
verse 15
it says and one of them when he saw that
he was healed returned and with a loud
voice glorified god and fell down on his
face at his feet giving him that would
be jesus thanks and he
was a samaritan so i'm not saying that
jewish people are unthankful but i am
saying in this real life story that
happened in the ministry of the lord
jesus christ nine of those people were
jewish and not one of the jewish people
came back that was healed not one of the
jewish lepers came back and thanked the
lord but the one who did
he was not a jew he was a samaritan
now i do know some
jewish people that are very very
thankful to the lord
in constant praise to the lord but this
is something that ancient israel
struggled with and the lord would do
incredible miracles for them and uh he
would give them manna miracle food they
they ate angels food
and they weren't
they were not thankful for it they were
not thankful for it the lord would rain
down quail
and they would they would take it and
they were not thankful for it you know i
remember when i was in college i was
talking with
a dear brother and he and i had a
question
is it actually
scriptural to thank god for our food
every single time we eat
and uh now that might that might seem
like an easy uh question to answer like
well sure you you should but he he said
you know stephen i'm gonna i'm gonna
research my bible he was getting the
bible degree he said i'm gonna research
my bible see what scripture says
particularly in the new testament
and he came back to me the next day at
the cafeteria while we're having lunch
and he sat down with me and he said look
at this when the apostle paul was on
that ship that was driven by the storm
and they're out there for 14 days with
no food then finally paul said we're
going to have to eat because god has
shown me what's going to happen we're
going to need our strength because many
of you are about to go for a swim we're
going to have a wild ride and he said
you're going to need your strength so
they took bread and he prayed over it in
front of all of the men and blessed it
and of course we know jesus would pray
over food and bless it
but he said look stephen there it is in
the bible i said well from this day
forward i'm praying over every single
meal i ever eat glory to god hallelujah
amen
he's probably been doing the same thing
too amen hallelujah god made him into a
real good preacher praise the lord
all right so we always want to be those
who have thankful hearts just
continually praising the lord
be very careful when you really desire
something then god gives it to you and
you thank you for about a week or two
weeks and then it's all over with
don't do that always be thankful every
time i get into my vehicle and i didn't
get it last week or the week before
every time i get into my vehicle i say
lord thank you wow
thank you for my vehicle god i thank you
that you gave me this vehicle praise you
lord hallelujah
amen and because i'm so very thankful to
him for it i take good care of it i keep
it clean and so forth
but it means a lot to me and
i've always done that with my vehicles
and the lord has always kept me in a
very nice chariot praise god be thankful
be thankful don't let that be a trial
that you stumble over praise the lord
number eight
the number eight trial was that of
gluttony
and the children of israel struggled
with the areas of the flesh when god
rained down the quail they just went
wild and they're eating it like crazy
and god was god got upset
and the bible says a lot about these
areas of control and i know in church
circles in evangelical type church
circles is actually celebrated
to
be a big eater and um i think we have to
be careful in these areas everybody has
a different body frame a different body
structure
big bones small bones tall short
everything in between
but my friends you have a set body
weight that god gave you
and you have to stay within that now
think about god's wisdom you have to
stay within the parameters of how he
created your body in order to accomplish
your assignment
okay
so you know i'm five foot ten and a half
so uh that indicates several things to
me one i do not have a future career in
the nba as a center
okay
because if you're not at least seven
foot tall uh that's probably not where
you're going to be at and so god gave
you your body on purpose and you need
your body to be where god
has centered it to be in order to
accomplish what you're supposed to do
and if you let that go and you break
those parameters you could you could be
in some areas where
you may not be able to do everything
that god told you to do in the land of
canaan
so you're gonna have some giants to kill
and some battles to fight and you're
gonna need your health and your strength
so take care of yourself it doesn't mean
that you have to be a fitness guru or
something like that but watch out for
these areas that even in the church can
be celebrated see i grew up down south
and um at every lunch and dinner
at my grandmother's in all all during
the summer me and my brothers would stay
uh full time with my grandparents and
they had that old southern hospitality
uh mindset my grandmother did where uh
you have to have the double portion uh
stephen would you like a double portion
uh uh grandma i'm full no no no no you
got a little more room and the next
thing you know you you have to eat
because you it was that mentality that
you're not a real man unless you just
gobble down mountains of food
so
so you had some real men with some uh
real big belts praise the lord
and uh i'm just saying let us glorify
the lord in all that we do because we
need our health hallelujah you might
want to be
uh like
some of these saints of old that went
past a hundred kept on going amen i
believe that's a actually
a truth that the lord is restoring back
to the church and that would be
the fullness
of the days that the lord has decreed
for us so take care of yourselves watch
out for the area of pleasant food we do
live in a western culture
that how can we say
uh
that celebrates food to a degree where
you almost think like uh like like the
experience is going to be like divine
well
i can certainly appreciate a good steak
i can certainly tell the difference
between good food and food that uh uh
i'll never eat there again okay but we
need to consecrate our appetites to
the lord
glory to god okay let's move on number
nine it's very very important
and i'll say this
in these areas of trial and temptations
the ones that are spiritual are the ones
that god responds to so much faster
than any other there are the areas of
the flesh things you can do in the flesh
you know god
god realizes okay i'm i'm gonna have to
work with them in this area but when you
get into areas of what i would call
spiritual sins you have to get it
you have to get that under the blood and
repent real quick because the lord deals
very differently in these areas of
spiritual sins and i want to talk just
for a moment about number nine criticism
against
god's anointed leadership
the children of israel
were not just every now and then
criticizing moses they were almost
constantly criticizing him and that
wasn't enough they not only criticized
moses they took full aim at aaron also
and they let him have it they just
they're criticizing
so often and then believe it or not
aaron
and miriam teamed up against moses
and they forgot
hey
that's the guy
that's talking to god
face
to face
my friends uh ministry is very
interesting
the fivefold
ministry offices of apostle prophet
evangelist pastor and teacher they are
grace gifts and when christ ascended on
high he gave gifts unto men those are
ministry gifts
they're given completely by grace
and so it is given by the
selecting and choosing of christ himself
and
if something is not
right
my friends don't criticize um
even if even if things are really
getting off the rails the train's
starting to run off the rails well get
off the train
but do so peacefully and don't
don't just smear and
slander and
do something like that against a man of
god you want to be very very careful
that you honor the lord in this area
because every preacher no matter how
anointed you think they are
they have a human side
and let's go back 50 years
jerry savelle
said that the wonderful the esteemed
bible teacher
jerry savelle said that he was so
influenced by kenneth copeland because
kenneth copeland's ministry revealed to
him the truth and the integrity of god's
word on a level he had never seen before
and it was the turning point of his life
and
god had so sovereignly designed
brother jerry's ministry that his
ministry was going to be
connected through covenant relationship
with kenneth copeland
and so
jerry said that all he ever saw
for like the first year or so
would be
if kenneth copeland came in and preached
or you know did a conference the church
and he would see that preaching and he
would see that anointing and he would
see the power of god upon kenneth
copeland's life
and that's that's the only
element that he knew of kenneth copeland
was the anointed man of god
but then the lord instructed jerry
savelle and his wife to move the fort
worth because they would be joining up
with kenneth copeland
and they're going to be doing some
ministry together and jerry savelle is
going to be writing the tape ministry
for kenneth copeland and so forth
and jerry said something very
interesting that the lord told him three
things
before he moved to fort worth and the
lord said i need you to know these three
things because you're about to go
assist and stand with kenneth copeland
my servant so he told him these three
things and one of those things was
the lord said to him when you go to fort
worth
you're about to see the human side of
kenneth copeland
and how you respond to that
determines how far you will go with him
wow my friends please understand that
there's the ministry and there's the man
and behind the ministry behind the
raising of the dead behind the anointed
preaching there's still a man that when
that anointed when that anointing lives
yes he's still a christian he's still a
believer
but when that anointing lives
he's very very much human or if it's a
female minister she's very much human we
have to be aware of these things
particularly if you're privileged by god
to have access
to a great man or woman of god
and uh that that is a great honor to
have access but with that access you
have to understand
that even though you see their humanity
do not mistake that
for uh
some type of justification that you now
have a right to criticize them or to
speak against them because they're not
perfect no
that's very very careful so
just be careful in this area
of speaking against ministers kenneth
hagin
many years back prophet kenneth hagin
talked about the time that
he was teaching a sunday school class
and all the men it was a men's sunday
school class
and one of the one of the men in the
class asked a question and said uh
reverend hagin pastor hagin what do you
think about that minister who's been in
the newspaper
he said do you think that guy is
deserving of all the trouble or
something like that that he's in and
kenneth hagin said
yeah i agree i agree that he's in
trouble and he's he's he's done wrong
said something basically like that
well uh kenneth hagin said he didn't
really think anything about it uh but
later that night when he went home his
wife was somewhere else in different
city but he was he went home
and when he went to go to sleep that
night he laid on the bed but before he
laid on the bed he
turned the light out
he put you know with the back in the old
days you just had a light bulb and a
light bulb cord you pulled the cord the
light goes out so he pulled the cord
light it went out and he laid down and
he said the light went right back on
but it wasn't the light wasn't coming
from the light bulb it was coming from
god
and jesus came into the room
and said and said who are you
to judge another man's servant
and kenneth hagin said lord lord what do
you mean and the lord spoke again said
who are you to judge another man's
servant and suddenly kenneth hagin knew
what was going on
and uh it was he said well lord i didn't
judge that man he said you did
he said you did judge him does he work
for you
and getting to say he said oh no lord he
doesn't work for me he works for you
then he said you have no right judging
him
and so i'm just saying be careful
because a lot of times you can see
humanity
and kenneth hagin said that in that
vision jesus actually said if you knew
the the pressure and stress he has been
under behind the scenes
you would in no way judge or speak
against him but he said i know what he's
going through and he has done better in
that situation than what most people
would do most would have collapsed so um
these these are things we just don't
always know but
if you make these type of mistakes there
are spiritual mistakes and the lord
judges much faster be very quick to get
those things under the blood of jesus
the lord takes it very very seriously
and unfortunately that was something
that ancient israel
stumbled over many times which was
criticism against god appointed
leadership praise god that doesn't mean
leaders can't uh
make mistakes or we can even have some
bad apples uh we know of well the story
of balaam in the bible and he really
went crooked but you have to understand
balaam at one point had a tremendous
walk with god and he was an extremely
powerfully anointed prophet
but he had an achilles heel and the
enemy exploited that and um
balaam ends up compromising
and basically loses his life uh shortly
thereafter
he was even killed by the israelites in
battle so uh
the lord knows how to remove those that
need to be removed but let us be very
careful in the way that we speak praise
god concerning these things because
moses was spoken against by miriam
and aaron primarily by miriam who
stirred that up and she got hit with
leprosy
and so the lord took it very seriously
praise god let's be careful in that area
and finally number 10 which was the big
one
the primary trial that they just flopped
on oh and it happened at the worst time
it happened in kadesh barnea there they
were just right on the edge
and the border of the land of canaan and
they totally blew it on the number 10
and that's unbelief
wow
um
the ten spies
had so
troubled the people of israel with their
evil report and i i'm sticking with the
king james version on that one it
literally calls it an evil report this
is not a bad report or a negative report
no this was evil
what they did and it spread like
wildfire through the people almost like
a pandemonium of fear and hysteria of
fear
and uh
oh it's not good and they're right on
the edge and that's you have to
understand the context when joshua and
caleb are saying we can go right now
in other words we're right here let's
get this fixed we're right there now's
the time and nope
it didn't happen
and so they went from being so close to
40 years of wandering in the wilderness
lord have mercy and so it is impossible
to please god without faith you must
believe the lord's word you must go
forward in faith not doubting but
trusting the lord and the goodness of
the lord that god has a good plan for
your life praise god so stay on track
stay in your specific lane and exercise
faith in your lane to do
what god has called you to do and god's
grace will be there you'll get across
that jordan
and some of you have already crossed it
you're you're in the land and you're
killing giants and you're going to town
uh but i'm just saying as long as we're
on this earth also we still realize that
we are in this area of the valley of the
shadow of death
the valley of the shadow of death that
david referred to is not the place of
hell it's actually the place within the
earth of sickness and disease and lot
and
death and poverty and murder and all
these awful things and we have to walk
through this hallelujah but the lord is
with us and i see you my friends uh
accomplishing what god has called you to
do amen so stay sharp and watch out for
these 10
areas that israel succumbed to but which
we must conquer
not only externally but also internally
so that we can go into the land
and
and fulfill our calling praise the lord
let me pray for you heavenly father i
pray for those that are watching that
they not
uh
get to kadesh barnea and be so close
and then pull back because of unbelief
lord let him go all the way trust you
hallelujah we thank you that faith comes
by hearing and hearing
by the rhema of god father let your
people have a rhema today a fresh word
that is tailored made for them that
causes their spirits to leap with joy
and their hearts to surge with faith and
trust in you we thank you father that
this is so important that man shall not
live by bread alone
we are spirit beings we are not just
human organic creatures but father we
live by every word the preceding word
that comes out of your mouth and that is
the rhema word
oh god feed us
feed us oh god with the hidden manna so
that we might accomplish
our assignments on the earth we give you
praise in jesus name
amen praise god if you're watching
today's program and you have never
committed your heart to jesus christ
he's waiting on you right now to receive
you
into his heart and to grant you eternal
life
and forgiveness of sins and redemption
from the cruel taskmaster the devil
himself
the for the picture of pharaoh from the
olden days right now if you want to get
right with god escape egypt and pharaoh
pray this prayer
jesus
come into my heart
i give my
life to you
wash my sins away
write my name
in your book
of life
thank you jesus for saving me now
lead me and guide me from this day
forward
in your name i pray
amen
and amen woo glory to god
welcome my friends those of you that
just prayed that prayer welcome to the
family of god
and don't ever go back to egypt
and of course you know i'm not talking
about the literal egypt and i actually
want to go to egypt sometime and uh you
know visit the pyramids and uh do all
the you know this uh cool sites in egypt
praise the lord go up what they call
mount sinai although i don't think
that's the real mount sinai that's a
different story okay let's take holy
communion together
amen
i think the real mount sinai could be in
modern day saudi arabia some people say
it's uh the mountain called jabel l laws
um
but that's that's fun history stuff
we'll talk about that some other time
right now grab some unleavened bread
some grape juice let's pray father we
thank you
for the bread and juice we consecrate it
and set it apart as holy
right now through this prayer and we
thank you that this is now the flesh and
the blood of jesus the father as we
receive
the flesh of christ
we
look at the israelites with great
respect
and great love because
they were under law
and it just was never going to happen
and that was part of that
realization that it was not complete yet
but father we thank you for christ and
grace
and by your grace and strength
we not only are able to obey your
commandments we're able to go up and do
what you've called us to do
thank you father god we receive the body
of jesus
we thank you for grace and truth we
thank you father god for victory over
every trial in jesus name
amen let's receive the flesh of christ
praise the lord
hallelujah
father thank you for the blood of jesus
we thank you father god that in
uh in so many of these areas like the
israelites we have certainly uh tripped
over what was supposed to be stepping
stones as well
we've also stumbled in various areas and
lord we thank you that you never gave up
on us and you never will so we keep on
going and we thank you lord that you're
going to
keep working with us and developing the
mature image
and character of christ within us so
father we celebrate the blood of christ
we proclaim his death until he comes
because it's through his death that we
have all of the benefits of the new
covenant and that now that we're in
christ we're tied into the blessing of
abraham
father we thank you father we pray also
that you would bless the jewish people
that you would bless israel that you
would bless jerusalem and that
many jewish people would come to know
yeshua as the true messiah
and savior of the world because there is
no other messiah beside yeshua of
nazareth and father we thank you for
jesus his shed blood oh god we give you
praise he is our joshua he is the one
that takes us into the promised land
hallelujah thank you father in jesus
name we pray
amen let's receive the blood of christ
praise the lord
hallelujah glory to god my friends thank
you for watching today
enjoy your week
and watch out for these uh 10 areas
[Laughter]
and use them as stepping stones to go
from glory to glory faith to faith
and also i see you going from strength
to strength
thanks for watching i'll see you back
next time bye