WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Waters Made Sweet Publishing Date: 2020-02-16T05:00:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/waters-made-sweet/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.120 Exodus 15 verse 23. Exodus 15, 23. Hey Sheldon, I got a request from Abu Dhabi and Dubai that 00:00:14.120 --> 00:00:18.400 could you ask the guy who tapes these messages not to cut off the ending prayer? 00:00:18.400 --> 00:00:39.120 Okay. Honest, I'll show you on my... No, but when we do, he cuts it off. Okay. Exodus 15 verse 22 00:00:39.120 --> 00:00:45.160 onwards. Exodus 15 verse 22 onwards. Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into 00:00:45.160 --> 00:00:51.280 the desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:55.360 came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. That's why the place is 00:00:55.360 --> 00:01:00.400 called Marah. So the people grumbled against Moses saying, what are we to drink? Then Moses cried out 00:01:00.400 --> 00:01:04.440 to the Lord and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water and the water 00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:09.320 became sweet. There the Lord made a decree and a law for them and there he tested them. He said, 00:01:09.320 --> 00:01:13.760 if you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.600 pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases 00:01:18.600 --> 00:01:24.360 I brought on the Egyptians for I am the Lord who heals you or Yahweh Rafa. That's where it came from. 00:01:24.360 --> 00:01:31.160 Then they came to Elim where there were 12 springs and 70 palm trees and they camped there near the 00:01:31.160 --> 00:01:45.320 water. Okay, so I want to talk about how to deal with sicknesses and how to think of healing and 00:01:45.320 --> 00:01:51.080 how to walk in a way that is free of fear today because sometimes while talking about all the 00:01:51.080 --> 00:01:56.880 other things we are talking about we forget that we need to hear about the simpler things of life 00:01:56.880 --> 00:02:03.560 like healing, like being comforted in times of trouble. So that's what I wanted to do today. 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:09.640 So when it comes to sickness guys or disease, here are some principles that I want you to 00:02:09.640 --> 00:02:20.560 remember to operate by. One, learn not to accept or tolerate minor or initial stages. One of the 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:30.820 things that happens to us is we accept or tolerate sickness and disease as a natural part of human 00:02:30.820 --> 00:02:39.960 existence and I want us to stop that because it may be a natural part of the fallen world but you 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:48.960 belong to a different master who even when the old covenant, before the old covenant was given, 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:53.680 even before the old covenant was given, before what happened at Mount Sinai happened, he was 00:02:53.680 --> 00:03:00.440 already establishing his nature by saying that when the million or more people left Israel there 00:03:00.440 --> 00:03:07.920 was no sick amongst them. So even in the Old Testament before the Mosaic covenant was established 00:03:07.920 --> 00:03:14.520 there was already the expression of the nature of God in the statement that when they left Egypt 00:03:14.600 --> 00:03:23.640 there was there were none who were feeble or sick. So this is even before the Mosaic law was given, 00:03:23.640 --> 00:03:35.720 much more so in the New Covenant. So first thing we need to understand is that you got to not 00:03:35.720 --> 00:04:03.400 tolerate or accept initial stages or the ups and downs of sickness and disease as a natural part 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:24.840 of your life. Any questions on that? Because it seems to be such a radical statement to make 00:04:24.840 --> 00:04:32.200 that you're not to accept it as a natural part of your life. But then when Christ was striped and 00:04:32.200 --> 00:04:45.320 his back was plowed open that was radical too. There is a tendency as we grow older or I mean 00:04:45.320 --> 00:04:51.120 I love what they call the cold, the common cold. Why? Because it's a common condition. One should 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:56.440 be susceptible to it, one should accept it, one should live under it, one should have it at least 00:04:56.440 --> 00:05:00.640 once a year, one should go to shoppers drug mart for a flu shot, one should realize that they have 00:05:00.640 --> 00:05:05.920 run out of masks and flu shots half way through the season. These are just natural parts of life 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:14.160 that we say is it's the way the wind blows and yet I'm saying that it may be a natural part of life 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:19.640 but there is a radical stance that we take in our thinking saying it may be a natural part of life 00:05:19.640 --> 00:05:30.280 but Christ did die to make us live differently in this natural life. So it is an extreme position 00:05:30.520 --> 00:05:41.760 but it's an extreme biblical position. That looks like feeling an itch in my tongue and saying that's 00:05:41.760 --> 00:05:47.600 not natural oh God please father I don't want to live with this. Father I'm beginning to feel like 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:52.800 a cold but I don't have to live with this. Oh God I'm getting older but I don't have to live with this. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:57.340 Oh God this is what is happening all around the world but I don't have to live with this. A thousand 00:05:57.340 --> 00:06:01.940 may fall at my right, ten thousand at my left but I don't have to live with this. Oh God there's 00:06:01.940 --> 00:06:06.620 a plague that's coming but I don't have to live with this. It is operating forget even the New 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:19.980 Testament just stand in Psalm 91. It's a radical step we are taking but if nobody takes a radical 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:29.700 step you never know what's radical you only know what's mediocre. Has this teaching progresses? 00:06:29.700 --> 00:06:37.260 Some of your questions will be answered. It's good to have you back. My God Nick had Nick had almost 00:06:37.260 --> 00:06:48.060 taken over. I'm happy that you are glad she's here. I hope you're not speaking for all of us. 00:06:48.060 --> 00:07:05.500 Annette you might want to move to two seats to the right just in case she influences you. Too late. 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:33.820 To learn not to be afraid of the onset of diseases, viruses, plagues, 00:07:33.940 --> 00:07:43.500 etc. Learn not to be afraid. So on one hand we are saying take up a radical position where we 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:52.740 do not just accept as norm the fallenness of the world as having easy influence over us. Guys let 00:07:52.740 --> 00:08:00.700 me just take you back to Goshen in Egypt. Israel suddenly got used to the fact that these plagues 00:08:00.700 --> 00:08:06.460 would not touch them. The first time it was the Nile. They could survive without the waters of 00:08:06.460 --> 00:08:12.380 the Nile but then after that the diseases that struck after Israel grew bolder because they 00:08:12.380 --> 00:08:18.780 realized Oshaq's Goshen is a safe place and that was in the Old Testament again before the Covenant. 00:08:18.780 --> 00:08:26.660 I was watching now we'll go there later. So on one hand do not accept it as natural but sometimes in 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:32.860 our not wanting to accept it as natural we become afraid. Oshaq's I got to do this, I got to do that, 00:08:32.860 --> 00:08:39.140 I got to protect myself, I got to take whatever precaution you think you need to but don't be 00:08:39.140 --> 00:08:44.460 afraid. There is a taking precaution that comes with fear and there's a taking precaution that 00:08:44.460 --> 00:08:50.540 comes with prudence and both are separated by a very thin line but make sure that the caution 00:08:50.540 --> 00:08:55.660 you take comes out of prudence not out of fear because it's such a fine line that you easily 00:08:55.860 --> 00:09:02.980 cross over. There is a fear that comes out of, there is a caution that comes out of fear and 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:09.620 whenever caution comes out of fear it's only a matter of time before it gets you but then 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:13.420 there is a caution that comes out of prudence and the caution that comes out of prudence is different, 00:09:13.420 --> 00:09:27.220 it is wise. And you will find that according to your faith your caution, your cautious response 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:32.740 differs and that's perfectly alright. According to your faith your cautious response differs and 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:37.300 that's perfectly alright because there might be someone who may feel like they need to wear a mask, 00:09:37.300 --> 00:09:41.420 okay wear a mask but there might be someone else who does not feel like they should wear a mask 00:09:41.420 --> 00:09:45.980 because they have enough faith at present to trust God in that area so be it. Don't force 00:09:45.980 --> 00:09:50.540 anyone to, everyone to wear masks, don't force everyone to take off masks because that's the 00:09:50.540 --> 00:09:54.900 other thing that happens. We begin to impose what we believe or do not believe on the rest of the 00:09:54.900 --> 00:10:03.140 people and that ain't right either. So if you think you can step into an area without a mask, 00:10:03.140 --> 00:10:09.020 great be done according to your faith but if you think you need a mask, great wear your mask. 00:10:09.020 --> 00:10:19.340 I can't hear you. 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:42.940 Yeah I get it. So his question is if someone else, yeah sorry, yeah. Yeah his question is if 00:10:42.940 --> 00:10:47.900 someone else sees your sense of freedom it can adversely affect them because they may think okay 00:10:47.900 --> 00:10:53.140 well I can do it too or the converse that they may feel they need to take precautions too and 00:10:53.140 --> 00:11:00.340 so try not to influence someone else, try not to prevent people from imitating you, 00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:04.300 prevent people only, allow people to walk in your faith, prevent them from imitating you, 00:11:04.300 --> 00:11:11.260 prevent them from imitating you but allow them to walk in your faith as in let them come to that 00:11:11.260 --> 00:11:17.220 level of faith only then let them walk in it but don't make them do things because you are doing 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:23.740 it because imitation ain't faith, it's just mimicking. Whenever imitation is without faith 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:32.780 it is mimicking. Imitation is only imitation as in real imitation has faith in it. I have seen 00:11:32.780 --> 00:11:38.180 Moses do this so I Joshua will do it. I have seen Elijah do this well as Elijah I'm going to ask 00:11:38.180 --> 00:11:47.100 for double that. That is imitation but it has faith in it. Mimicking is different. Mimicking is 00:11:47.100 --> 00:11:51.580 when there is no faith in something you just want to do it because well if he can do it I can do it, 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:55.660 I can do anything you can do better. That's only a song it doesn't work. 00:12:08.300 --> 00:12:15.260 Yeah so if it is a group of guys who just want their way do not cater to them. If it is someone 00:12:15.260 --> 00:12:20.740 who is weaker and will be helped cater to them. Never cater to people who impose a way because 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:29.300 they want their ways met. They are spoiled, legalistic, this is the way we do it people. 00:12:29.300 --> 00:12:35.380 Never cater to them but then there are people that are genuinely going to be affected well then look 00:12:35.380 --> 00:12:42.100 out for their benefit first. You have rights but before that you have responsibilities in the kingdom. 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:47.380 Your rights are less important. Your responsibility to another human being is more important. 00:12:47.380 --> 00:12:56.740 Learn not to be afraid of the onset of diseases, virus, plagues. Don't be afraid of the onset of 00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:01.500 it because once you are afraid it is only a matter of time. I often find like this time I have been 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:06.980 traveling like crazy for the last two and a half weeks and everywhere you go you have got coronavirus, 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:13.700 coronavirus, coronavirus and so every time someone coughs and even within 15 feet of your seat 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:22.380 everybody collectively you can hear them going because no one wants to breathe and so I realized 00:13:22.380 --> 00:13:28.380 that at some point I'm joining the chorus too and so I thought to myself this can't be because now 00:13:28.380 --> 00:13:36.700 it's not coming out of a place of anything but fear. Fear always has torment in it. Fear 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:50.300 always has distrust in it and we'll talk about how to get out of the fear. Third, learn to rework 00:13:50.300 --> 00:14:00.580 things. Learn to rework your thinking. Learn to rework your thinking so that when it comes to 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:07.820 diseases and conditions that are hereditary, when it comes to things that are genetic, 00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:18.780 when it comes to things that are diagnosed, when it comes to seasons and times of diseases, 00:14:18.820 --> 00:14:36.100 when it comes to seasonal diseases or allergies, when it comes to missing body parts. I know we're 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:46.260 going really extreme today. When it comes to any of these things guys, begin to think, rework your 00:14:46.260 --> 00:14:51.260 thinking so that you can bring yourself into a place of expectancy and change. Rework your 00:14:51.260 --> 00:14:56.540 thinking so that you can come to a place of expectancy and change. As in some things may 00:14:56.540 --> 00:15:02.300 be hereditary, all your grandfathers had it. Some things are genetic, you just have those genes. 00:15:02.300 --> 00:15:10.180 Some things are diagnosed, the doctors have, you've gone for 14 different opinions and they all come 00:15:10.180 --> 00:15:16.900 back the same. Some things are seasonal diseases where in this season for years you've been affected 00:15:16.900 --> 00:15:21.020 by the same thing again and again. Some things are allergies that you picked up along the way or that 00:15:21.020 --> 00:15:28.220 you already have. Some things are missing like it could be, I don't know, different parts of your 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:36.060 body, maybe something that was removed. And yet I'm supposed to rework my thinking so that I come 00:15:36.060 --> 00:15:43.460 into a place of expectancy from God and change in my body. Really Jacob, how can you go that far? 00:15:43.460 --> 00:15:49.700 Because this is Christ we are talking about and so when you look at Christ then you see that it 00:15:49.700 --> 00:15:54.900 doesn't matter that a man may have been blind from when he was born. It doesn't matter that a man had 00:15:54.900 --> 00:16:01.820 a withered hand. It doesn't matter that parts were missing. It doesn't matter that things were 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:06.540 happening to a thousand on your left and ten thousand on your right. God's response was very 00:16:06.540 --> 00:16:14.580 different and so I'm saying think like God. It's an extreme measure. 00:16:26.900 --> 00:16:27.780 Any questions? 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:35.780 Rework our thinking. 00:16:35.780 --> 00:17:04.460 Yeah, I used to sit next to a girl called Neve, really nice Irish girl and I'd be sneezing over 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:11.180 all over her and she'd say you got a cold and I said no I don't have a cold. That wasn't very 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:14.980 helpful because she would be wiping sneeze off her face and I'd be telling her that I don't have 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:26.860 a cold. So that is not real. The great thing with Abraham is he was 99, he didn't have kids and he 00:17:26.860 --> 00:17:36.220 didn't say nope I'm all good I'm working everywhere. No, he said I cannot bear children. I am important 00:17:36.220 --> 00:17:44.100 but I know what God has said. So you do not deny the reality of your condition but having looked at 00:17:44.100 --> 00:17:52.300 the reality of your condition you are fully persuaded that this is the fact but this is the 00:17:52.300 --> 00:17:58.340 truth and it is the truth because God has said so and it is a fact because the doctors have said 00:17:58.340 --> 00:18:14.420 so. So it's a strange thing, it's not a contradiction. How do you rework your thinking? Just one way to 00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:21.100 rework your thinking. You look at Yahweh in the Word, you look at Yahweh in the Word, who was he 00:18:21.100 --> 00:18:25.100 in the Word of God? How was he in the Word of God? Look at him in the Old Covenant, look at him in 00:18:25.100 --> 00:18:30.340 the New Covenant, look at him through the visible form of Jesus, look at him through the invisible 00:18:30.340 --> 00:18:36.260 expressions of healings and ways that he took Israel through the desert. If you look at Yahweh 00:18:36.260 --> 00:18:41.060 through the Word and if you look at how they lived in Goshen you can begin to change your thinking. 00:18:41.060 --> 00:18:49.860 Goshen was a place where strangely enough though Egypt was being just smothered with plagues, 00:18:50.020 --> 00:18:58.180 Goshen was a place that Israel inhabited where things were very different. I was watching 00:18:58.180 --> 00:19:05.820 Secrets of Egypt Decoded on Smithsonian. Man, the way they explained the ten plagues, 00:19:05.820 --> 00:19:12.460 it made so much sense. Yeah, they didn't, which was fascinating, I was thinking of it this morning. 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:18.700 Yeah, they talked about why the plagues happened but and they have a very reasonable explanation 00:19:18.700 --> 00:19:23.860 for it. Like all the ten plagues are explained scientifically but obviously they couldn't talk 00:19:23.860 --> 00:19:28.380 about Goshen because how can the children of Israel be spared and yet there is a distinction. 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:32.780 You know when you come to this table and you partake of the bread and grape juice you need 00:19:32.780 --> 00:19:40.420 to understand that this when it was first done was, the Bible says, it distinguished between the 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:47.940 sons of Israel and the children of Egypt. This meal actually made a clear distinguishing line 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:54.500 between the sons of Egypt and the sons of Israel. This meal was first celebrated at Passover. That's 00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:58.900 how this started. Every time we partake of this, we're not just partaking of this to remember Jesus. 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:04.820 We're partaking of this to remember the benefits that have been accrued to us because of Jesus. 00:20:18.820 --> 00:20:24.980 So here are some questions that I want to ask you and I asked myself these questions and we've got 00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:30.140 to ask these questions often because our thinking because it's surrounded by the by a world that is 00:20:30.140 --> 00:20:38.860 degenerating, it's very hard for us because of our ears, eyes, nose, hands and mouth to sense anything 00:20:38.860 --> 00:20:45.980 else but a degenerating decaying world. And so you got to ask yourself, does God really keep you? 00:20:46.020 --> 00:20:51.740 Does God really keep you? Sam, you got to ask yourself these questions. You have to take an 00:20:51.740 --> 00:20:59.340 extreme position if you want to thrive, extreme position because around you are situations and 00:20:59.340 --> 00:21:05.420 circumstances that tell you it ain't going to happen and yet I'm saying to you very clearly Sam, 00:21:05.420 --> 00:21:13.300 you have to put your feet down and say here I stand and die. It is your only option. You do not 00:21:13.340 --> 00:21:19.500 have any other options. If that option is causing you to die, some of us will come and help you so 00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:24.860 that you will live again but you have to decide. I draw a line here, I take a stand here and I say 00:21:24.860 --> 00:21:30.780 here I will stand or I will die. You better die and be buried in Vancouver. You've got no other choice. 00:21:30.780 --> 00:21:42.860 Sam understands and a few others understand what I'm saying. So be happy because you ain't 00:21:42.860 --> 00:21:47.500 going to be buried anywhere else for the next one or two years. You better not die because I hate 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:58.700 funerals. Here's the first question, does he keep, does he really keep you? Does he really keep you? 00:21:58.700 --> 00:22:10.500 Number 624, the Lord bless you and keep you. As in the same God who asked Cain, the same God who 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:15.180 said your brother and Cain says am I my brother's keeper and God is saying I am your keeper. To keep 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:20.700 is to become the armor-bearer, to keep is to cover, to keep is to hold safe, to keep is to protect. 00:22:20.700 --> 00:22:29.100 Does God really keep me? You've got to ask this question because the answer to the question every 00:22:29.100 --> 00:22:37.140 day will help you figure out how you can walk with him. Does he really keep you? Is he really 00:22:37.140 --> 00:22:44.740 faithful to number 624 when he says I the Lord now bless you, the Lord bless you and keep you. 00:22:44.740 --> 00:23:02.300 Does he really keep you? Is he really someone who lets his glory be a canopy around you? Isaiah 00:23:02.300 --> 00:23:11.140 chapter 4 verse 5, Isaiah 4 verse 5 it says that I will cause my glory to settle as a canopy around 00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:17.580 those that assemble on Mount Zion and it shall be a shelter from the storm and the rain and it shall 00:23:17.580 --> 00:23:26.340 be protection from the Sun and from heat. Is this God really a God who lets his splendor, his brilliance, 00:23:26.340 --> 00:23:33.900 his weight, his magnificence cover me like a canopy, like a dome. Does it actually cover me? 00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:41.340 Does it actually cover me? Does he remove it sometimes just for the fun of it or does he actually 00:23:41.340 --> 00:23:51.620 cover me? I'm telling you, you ask these questions begin to ponder on it you will find your attitude 00:23:51.620 --> 00:24:05.380 towards life will become different. Third question, does he keep, does he canopy you with his glory? 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:15.660 Yeah, does he keep, does he canopy you with you with his glory? Third question, is he really your 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:21.420 protector and shield? Is he really your protector and shield? Is he really your protector and shield? 00:24:21.420 --> 00:24:33.660 I mean turn to Psalm 91 verse 3 to 7 in the NIRV, not the NIV, the NIRV, NIV is fine too but I just 00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:50.780 want to read it from a different version. Psalm 91 verse 3 to 7. I'm reading from the NIRV. 00:24:50.780 --> 00:25:00.300 He will certainly save you Jacob from hidden traps and from deadly sickness. He will cover 00:25:00.380 --> 00:25:07.900 you with his wings. Under the feathers of his wings you will find safety. He is faithful. He will keep 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:13.100 you safe like a shield or a tower. You won't have to be afraid of the terrors that come during the 00:25:13.100 --> 00:25:18.540 night. You won't have to fear the arrows that come at you during the day. You won't have to be afraid 00:25:18.540 --> 00:25:23.580 of the sickness that attacks in the darkness. You won't have to fear the plague that destroys at noon. 00:25:23.580 --> 00:25:28.620 A thousand may fall dead at your right side, ten thousand may fall near your right hand but no harm 00:25:28.620 --> 00:25:37.580 will come to you. I was flying yesterday from Calgary to Vancouver and shortly into the flight 00:25:37.580 --> 00:25:41.580 the guy next to me starts coughing and now you can see the rest of the cabin 00:25:42.300 --> 00:25:46.220 holding its collective breath and I thought maybe I should do it too because I think to myself, 00:25:46.220 --> 00:25:52.700 father of all the seats, this is the one you could find me right next to this guy and then 00:25:53.660 --> 00:26:00.220 just when he starts coughing the lady behind me starts throwing up and so I'm thinking to myself, 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:05.900 great so I've got someone throwing up behind me and someone coughing next to me and guess what I 00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:12.460 did? Went straight to Psalm 91 verse 3 to 7 and read it again and started to breathe normally. 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:17.660 Took out a Recoli or something from my bag, gave it to the guy saying you better have this nowadays. 00:26:17.660 --> 00:26:22.060 The moment you cough people think different things. Pulled out an extra vomit bag from 00:26:22.060 --> 00:26:26.380 my seat and gave it to the lady behind me and thought to myself, wow Dr. Jacob's doing well. 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:35.100 But I had to go to Psalm 91 verse 3 to 7 because it is very easy to look at things around you 00:26:35.100 --> 00:26:36.300 and begin to think differently. 00:26:36.300 --> 00:26:52.380 Is he really your protector and shield? Is he really your protector and shield? He says I'm 00:26:52.380 --> 00:26:59.500 your exceeding great reward and shield in Genesis 15.1. In Psalm 91, my God, Moses wrote that psalm, 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:05.740 not David. Wow, what a brilliant psalm. Jesus quoted from it. The devil quoted from it I think. 00:27:07.260 --> 00:27:08.540 Must be an important psalm. 00:27:14.940 --> 00:27:16.140 Here's another really 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:25.020 not difficult question, a question that's asked often that I want to ask right now and that is, 00:27:26.620 --> 00:27:29.820 no that's not the difficult question. I'll ask you one more normal question then a difficult 00:27:29.900 --> 00:27:37.820 question. Is healing his nature? Is healing his nature? Is healing his nature? Is healing God's 00:27:37.820 --> 00:27:49.020 nature? Are you convinced of it? Exodus 23 verse 25. Exodus 23 verse 25. It says I will take away 00:27:49.020 --> 00:27:56.860 diseases from your midst. Exodus 15 verse 23. I will not put any diseases on you. Isaiah 53 verse 00:27:56.860 --> 00:28:03.260 5. I was striped so that you may be healed. Is it his nature when Jesus walked the earth, 00:28:03.260 --> 00:28:09.180 was it his nature to heal? Since the best way to find out a person's nature is to look at what he 00:28:09.180 --> 00:28:15.020 does visibly, wouldn't it be great if he looked at God's nature through the visible actions of Jesus? 00:28:19.340 --> 00:28:24.940 Is it his nature? That was the easy question and here's a really difficult question which you get 00:28:24.940 --> 00:28:31.980 asked, which people get asked a million times and the question is, does God allow bad? 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:38.140 Does God allow bad? Does God allow bad? 00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:42.540 Does God allow bad? 00:28:51.580 --> 00:28:53.900 You don't know the number of books that have been written about it guys. 00:28:54.940 --> 00:29:03.340 Sickness has spawned coping mechanism theology. Sickness has spawned coping mechanism theology, 00:29:03.340 --> 00:29:08.860 as in don't know how to explain it so let's come up with a theology that helps us cope with our 00:29:08.860 --> 00:29:13.980 inability to explain it. If you don't know how to explain something, don't explain it. Don't go 00:29:13.980 --> 00:29:21.660 looking for a reason. Go back to some basic truths about God. So let's go back to the basic 00:29:21.660 --> 00:29:31.660 God. So does God allow bad? And we can't walk a yellow line saying sometimes he does, sometimes 00:29:31.660 --> 00:29:39.900 he doesn't, sometimes it's like this. No, either he allows bad or he doesn't. It can't be both. 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:47.900 You can't create some kind of nebulous place that God dwells in where he's sovereign. You never know 00:29:47.900 --> 00:29:50.860 the bad may be so that something good may happen to you. 00:29:53.420 --> 00:29:55.900 Let's go and look at the nature of God to see whether he allows bad. 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:00.700 Matthew 6 13. 00:30:04.620 --> 00:30:10.140 Matthew 6 13. 00:30:10.140 --> 00:30:14.380 Everybody knows this. Matthew 6 13. 00:30:21.580 --> 00:30:23.980 Because all of you are thinking of Job as I'm talking about this 00:30:25.180 --> 00:30:32.300 and Job was even before Moses. Job was shortly after Adam. Job did not, 00:30:33.180 --> 00:30:40.860 let's not even try to justify it. You need to understand that living in the New Testament 00:30:40.860 --> 00:30:46.700 under a new covenant, under a covenant of grace, under a covenant where all your sins are forgiven, 00:30:46.700 --> 00:30:52.620 under a covenant where sin has been paid for, under something called sozo which means rescue. 00:30:52.620 --> 00:30:57.340 By the way, I know I've said this ages ago, but you need to understand that when God says salvation, 00:30:57.580 --> 00:31:03.420 he means rescue. The word salvation comes from rescue. Yeshua means rescue. What is he rescuing 00:31:03.420 --> 00:31:11.820 you from? He's rescuing you from these five things. One, sin. Two, the penalty of sin. 00:31:13.180 --> 00:31:23.580 Three, death. Four, sickness. Five, false doctrine. These are the five things that God has given you. 00:31:23.740 --> 00:31:30.780 False doctrine. These are the five things that salvation encompasses. Sin, 00:31:33.100 --> 00:31:42.700 the penalty of sin. Death, sickness, false doctrine. 00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:54.140 So, I love what Matthew, 00:32:00.060 --> 00:32:03.900 the question is, does God allow bad? Does he allow bad? I'm not even, 00:32:04.780 --> 00:32:08.940 I'm using the word allow because that's a favorite word Christians use to 00:32:09.340 --> 00:32:18.300 politely blame God for things. Does he allow bad? So, here's the question. Matthew 7 verse 9 to 11. 00:32:18.300 --> 00:32:23.420 Can you go there before we come back to Matthew 6, 13? Matthew 7, 9 to 11. Matthew 7, 9 to 11. 00:32:24.060 --> 00:32:35.900 Matthew 7, 9 to 11. I'm going to read it from the message. Matthew 7, 9 to 11. If your child 00:32:36.060 --> 00:32:42.060 asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live 00:32:42.060 --> 00:32:47.500 snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to 00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:52.940 your own children. So, don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better? 00:32:53.820 --> 00:32:58.620 Let me read it again just in case we missed it. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with 00:32:58.620 --> 00:33:04.060 sawdust? Let's put Matt and Rachel into the situation. If Shiloh asks you for bread, 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:09.420 if Shiloh asks you for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If Shiloh asks you for fish, 00:33:09.420 --> 00:33:14.380 do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you and Rachel are, 00:33:14.380 --> 00:33:18.940 you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to Shiloh. So, don't you think the 00:33:18.940 --> 00:33:26.940 God who conceived you in love will be even better? Why do we think God allows bad? 00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:30.380 Which father does? 00:33:37.100 --> 00:33:44.860 It happens, but it happening does not mean he allowed it. Unfortunately, the fallenness of the 00:33:44.860 --> 00:33:51.500 world makes so many things happen. I met some... I can't even talk about it because it would be 00:33:51.500 --> 00:33:57.980 not good. So many bad things happen, but you can't say God allowed it. We got to understand 00:33:57.980 --> 00:34:08.940 the nature of the father. No good father allows bad things. Allow is to give permission for. 00:34:10.380 --> 00:34:15.100 God does not give permission. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 00:34:15.740 --> 00:34:22.220 evil. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We think God gives permission. In his 00:34:22.220 --> 00:34:28.380 sovereignty, he has some strange convoluted plan that gives permission for bad things to happen. 00:34:28.380 --> 00:34:34.620 What kind of dad is this and how can you ever trust a God like this? How is it human? Man, 00:34:35.740 --> 00:34:40.060 I want chocolates too, but I can't eat it in the middle of a sermon. Feel free. I was just looking 00:34:40.060 --> 00:34:44.540 at it and it looked good. Sorry, it just came out. Yeah. 00:34:52.380 --> 00:34:53.980 I have a retort, but I won't. 00:34:56.860 --> 00:35:02.060 Guys, let me assure you that if you think God gives permission for bad things to happen, 00:35:02.620 --> 00:35:06.620 it is impossible to trust this God because he's highly whimsical 00:35:06.620 --> 00:35:12.140 and you never know what he's up to. This God cannot be trusted. 00:35:15.580 --> 00:35:20.460 You got to go with the nature of God, man. You got to go with the nature of Jesus. 00:35:28.540 --> 00:35:29.820 I'm not even going there today. 00:35:29.820 --> 00:35:34.860 Job fits into this in the Old Testament and the New Covenant is very different from the old. One 00:35:34.860 --> 00:35:52.860 cannot live in both. It doesn't. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't change, but if you want to look at God, 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:56.220 always look at Jesus because he's a visible image of the Old Testament. He's a visible image of the 00:35:56.860 --> 00:36:04.620 God. It is impossible to understand the Old Testament without standing with Jesus 00:36:05.660 --> 00:36:09.740 because in the Old Testament they had, just imagine this, I've said this before, 00:36:09.740 --> 00:36:13.580 but in the Old Testament, they did not even have the concept of God as a father. 00:36:15.340 --> 00:36:22.380 In Jeremiah, God is begging Israel, hey, do you know I'm like a father? Even David did not know 00:36:22.380 --> 00:36:32.380 him as a father. And if you remove the fatherhood of God, you've got a very ordinary God who ain't 00:36:32.380 --> 00:36:38.460 the Christian God. And yet he has been a father from Genesis one because he said, Adam, you are 00:36:38.460 --> 00:36:46.540 my son. Israel, you are my son. And yet in the Old Testament, even the concept of God as a father 00:36:46.540 --> 00:36:54.060 is missing. And Jesus came only for one reason to show us the father. So can I negate what happened 00:36:54.060 --> 00:37:02.060 to Job? Absolutely not. Do I know what Satan can do? Absolutely yes. But do I know what Christ did 00:37:02.060 --> 00:37:08.220 halfway through history? Absolutely yes. And therefore do I know where I stand? Absolutely yes. 00:37:08.220 --> 00:37:12.860 Do you know what Job is most known for? His patience. 00:37:15.260 --> 00:37:21.260 It's scriptural. Of all the things that God would pick to exalt Job, you know what he picked? 00:37:22.620 --> 00:37:28.780 That he was a man who was patient and persevered. I'm not saying we shouldn't look at Job and ask 00:37:28.780 --> 00:37:32.300 the questions we are asking like Sam is asking. I've asked the same questions Sam is asking. 00:37:32.300 --> 00:37:37.740 I'm saying there is more to Job's story than the fact that he went through what he went through. 00:37:37.740 --> 00:37:44.540 It is how he went through it. And therein lies something else about Job that should change the 00:37:44.540 --> 00:37:51.500 way we think. Even though he slay me, yet will I trust him? Because somewhere inside, through all 00:37:51.500 --> 00:37:57.900 his lament, the thing that comes through every time is, but this is not the God I know. So what 00:37:57.900 --> 00:38:02.780 in the world is happening to me? This is not the God I know. So why are you talking to me like you're 00:38:02.780 --> 00:38:07.340 talking to me? This is not the God I know. And I know how righteously I have walked with him. 00:38:07.340 --> 00:38:12.940 This is not the God I know. Lament comes not out of anything else, but this is not the God I know. 00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:14.700 Very odd, eh? 00:38:20.380 --> 00:38:26.460 And that aside, there are 65 other books you can choose from to see the nature of God. Job is one 00:38:26.460 --> 00:38:35.500 aspect of it. I don't want to negate Job, but that's my response. And by the way, you won't be able 00:38:35.500 --> 00:38:43.900 to trust God if he permits evil to happen to you. You cannot trust this God then. Because you don't 00:38:43.900 --> 00:38:55.020 know... I mean, if Shiloh thinks that there is a possibility... I've got a video of Shiloh climbing 00:38:55.020 --> 00:39:02.460 up the stairs and Matt at the top of the stairs. And I show it to different people to show them how 00:39:02.460 --> 00:39:07.260 fathers are. And so Shiloh's climbing up the stairs. He couldn't walk then. He could crawl. 00:39:07.260 --> 00:39:11.420 And he's crawling up the stairs and Matt is at the top of the stairs and he's clapping his hands 00:39:11.420 --> 00:39:15.580 and encouraging Shiloh. And Shiloh keeps coming and then he gets to the top of the stairs. And 00:39:15.580 --> 00:39:20.300 what if Matt decided, hmm, maybe I should permit some evil so the boy knows how to roll down the 00:39:20.300 --> 00:39:25.820 steps. And just as he gets to the top of the steps, he pushes Shiloh over and the boy goes crumbling 00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:34.700 down. And Matt's intent is, try it and if you fail, try again. Matt wouldn't do that. I mean, 00:39:34.700 --> 00:39:40.140 as silly as this example sounds, that is what happens to God when we think he permits evil. 00:39:40.780 --> 00:39:44.940 How do you trust someone like that, man? How do you trust a God like that? 00:39:51.100 --> 00:39:52.300 I wouldn't be able to trust him. 00:39:55.980 --> 00:40:01.980 And so what's the devil's favorite trick? To help good Christians who are walking in faith believe 00:40:01.980 --> 00:40:08.940 that God permits evil. That God allows bad things to happen to good people. Do you know how many 00:40:08.940 --> 00:40:14.300 books have been written about it? And do you know who writes these books? Very, very important people. 00:40:15.260 --> 00:40:16.540 Obviously, I'm not one of them. 00:40:19.580 --> 00:40:25.260 Very important people write these books. People that I love reading and listening to. 00:40:25.820 --> 00:40:41.980 Yep. No. Really, not because I can't, Nick. I'll sit with you and talk about it. But if I went down 00:40:41.980 --> 00:40:50.220 that trail, then it would take, it would completely divert us. Plus, all I can say is, 00:40:50.620 --> 00:40:56.940 um, Paul goes and asks God, and then we'll have to examine what was the thorn in the flesh. 00:40:56.940 --> 00:41:01.180 Then we'll have to examine who brought it. And we'll have to examine all that. Plus, 00:41:01.180 --> 00:41:05.420 I don't know why all of us think that we've had great revelations and God is trying to keep us 00:41:05.420 --> 00:41:12.940 humble. Does that too? Whenever, we never equate ourselves to Paul in any other area, except when 00:41:12.940 --> 00:41:20.140 we have sickness. And yet it very clearly says in the scriptures that he had such mighty revelation 00:41:20.700 --> 00:41:26.620 that it was given to him a thorn in the flesh. We just take on the thorn in the flesh without 00:41:26.620 --> 00:41:32.780 any mighty revelations. And we always say, but he was Paul. But when it comes to sickness, 00:41:34.220 --> 00:41:39.260 we have great commiseration with him. Not you and me, the rest of them. Yeah. 00:41:42.220 --> 00:41:46.380 I could go down. Guys, the thing is, I decided to tease this today because we've covered this 00:41:46.380 --> 00:41:51.420 in detail in the past when you were not around or some of you were not born. But I just thought it 00:41:51.420 --> 00:41:56.620 was time to bring it up again, because these are things that lie in the back of our heads. 00:41:57.500 --> 00:42:02.300 I'm stuck here and I'm okay to be stuck here. We got to stop thinking that God allows bad things 00:42:02.300 --> 00:42:05.420 to happen to us. Because if you think that there's no way you can trust him. 00:42:09.180 --> 00:42:14.060 Wasn't this the problem with our dads and moms? You did not know how they would react. 00:42:14.860 --> 00:42:21.580 You brought good results home. It was great. You brought bad results home. You did not know how 00:42:21.580 --> 00:42:36.300 they would react. Same God, no man. James chapter one was towards the end. Every good and perfect 00:42:36.300 --> 00:42:42.220 gift comes from God in whom there is no shadow of turning. Now when you say good and perfect gift, 00:42:42.220 --> 00:42:47.740 where in that is the allowance for evil? Or for that matter, if God is allowing evil, 00:42:47.740 --> 00:42:52.780 how can you even combat it? What are you going to do? What kind of stance are you going to take? 00:42:59.420 --> 00:43:02.300 How are you even going to combat it? 00:43:03.980 --> 00:43:08.380 Who are you going to go to? If God is allowing evil, how are you going to escape? Who will you go to? 00:43:08.780 --> 00:43:10.780 It's such a perverse theology man. 00:43:13.500 --> 00:43:16.380 I want to hate it with a passion and I want this church to hate it with a passion. 00:43:17.180 --> 00:43:19.580 Hate it to the point where it does not exist in your thoughts anymore. 00:43:25.500 --> 00:43:30.540 Learn to see God first as father before you see him as healer, before you see him as provider. 00:43:30.540 --> 00:43:35.020 Learn to see him as father. You get that right man. It makes such a big difference. Because one 00:43:35.260 --> 00:43:41.180 father, he is everything. Once he is healer, he is only healer. 00:43:45.420 --> 00:43:47.660 Learn to see him as father before you see him as anything else. 00:43:49.820 --> 00:43:53.260 Learn to see him as a perfect father. What would your perfect father look like? 00:43:53.260 --> 00:44:00.860 And then multiply it by 1.346 million and you will get a glimpse of what he's like. 00:44:05.020 --> 00:44:08.860 One other. Go ahead. 00:44:24.860 --> 00:44:31.260 So, spare the rod, spoil the child, Proverbs. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 12 and then it says, 00:44:31.260 --> 00:44:37.020 discipline your children. The strange thing about God's discipline is there is no anger in it. 00:44:37.820 --> 00:44:44.700 We cannot conceive that. When we think of spare the rod and spoil the child, 00:44:44.700 --> 00:44:48.540 when we think of discipline, we can only think of the discipline we have received. 00:44:48.540 --> 00:44:54.140 On the best day, there was still anger when our parents disciplined us and God is not angry with 00:44:54.140 --> 00:44:59.420 you. And you have no idea and I have no idea what discipline looks like when anger is not a part of 00:44:59.420 --> 00:45:08.380 it. But this God is not angry with you when he disciplines you. His heart is so ridiculously 00:45:09.020 --> 00:45:12.380 overpouring with love when he disciplines you because he knows it's going to hurt. 00:45:13.180 --> 00:45:18.860 And his discipline is not towards destruction, damage, dissing you, making you smaller, 00:45:18.860 --> 00:45:23.020 diminishing your status. His discipline is towards, hey, I've told you many times, 00:45:23.020 --> 00:45:28.060 I've sent a lot of people, I've tried to interrupt, I've tried to correct you with my word. None of it 00:45:28.060 --> 00:45:31.980 is working. If I let you go any further, you're going to drop off this building and break your 00:45:31.980 --> 00:45:35.900 leg. So before you break your leg, let me quickly haul you back. And by the way, my discipline will 00:45:35.900 --> 00:45:39.180 stop the moment you change because I don't want to lose you. I don't want to destroy you. 00:45:41.420 --> 00:45:46.540 And discipline first happens through the word man. Discipline first happens through people. 00:45:46.540 --> 00:45:52.620 Discipline first happens through God speaking to you in different ways. Discipline where something 00:45:52.620 --> 00:46:00.460 more happens is only after I am deaf and stubborn in my ways continuously. And it is always loving. 00:46:01.260 --> 00:46:06.300 David got it so well that knowing what was coming, he said, God, I would rather fall into your hands 00:46:06.300 --> 00:46:12.460 than into the hands of man because he knows when man disciplines is very different. As a parent, 00:46:12.460 --> 00:46:17.420 my God, all you a child needs to do is cry for three hours and you begin to lose. What three hours? 00:46:18.380 --> 00:46:24.140 20 minutes and your nerves are afraid. Do you know how many cries God hears for the last 6,000 years 00:46:24.940 --> 00:46:27.980 from a whole lot of billion people and he doesn't lose his temper? 00:46:31.420 --> 00:46:36.060 Don't be afraid of God's discipline. Do not be afraid of God's discipline. He's a loving father. 00:46:36.620 --> 00:46:42.220 He does not know how to be anything else. And yet be afraid of God's discipline. It's not pleasant. 00:46:48.140 --> 00:46:53.500 Hey, gosh, should we stop here or should we go on? 00:46:54.780 --> 00:46:57.980 I don't hear a response. Gosh, should we stop here or should we go on? 00:47:01.420 --> 00:47:03.340 Don, if you could put the rest of them in probation. 00:47:10.780 --> 00:47:16.780 Hey, resist conclusions that don't align with God's nature. Resist conclusions that don't align 00:47:16.780 --> 00:47:21.900 with God's nature or God's word or God's expectations, regardless of the preacher 00:47:21.900 --> 00:47:27.180 that you're listening to, regardless of your own circumstances. Resist conclusions, resist theology, 00:47:27.180 --> 00:47:32.380 resist conclusions that do not align with God's nature, God's word or the expectations that God 00:47:32.380 --> 00:47:41.420 wants you to have. Hey, just think of this. Don't you think God wants me to expect him to heal me 00:47:41.420 --> 00:47:46.460 every time I'm not well? Do you think he has any other thought than, hey, Jacob, I hope you expect 00:47:46.460 --> 00:47:52.860 me to do something for you? Isn't that the most natural thing for a father? 00:47:55.740 --> 00:48:01.420 You're in trouble. I hope you come to me. Psalm 55 puts it this way. Call to me in your day of 00:48:01.420 --> 00:48:06.780 trouble so that I will answer you so that you can glorify me. That's so nuts. Call to me in 00:48:06.780 --> 00:48:09.500 the day of trouble so that I can answer you so that you can glorify me. 00:48:17.420 --> 00:48:25.340 Now, the rest of the week, Don is going to tell people he went to the gym and lifted weights. 00:48:30.620 --> 00:48:34.300 Okay, let's go a little further and then we'll stop. I won't be able to finish it 00:48:34.300 --> 00:48:40.380 because we got, I want to break bread also. Guys, here are some causes that we've discussed in the 00:48:40.380 --> 00:48:47.500 past and that I want to bring up again. One, end internal strife in your life. End internal strife. 00:48:48.300 --> 00:48:53.820 If you read Psalm 25 verse 17 out of the message, it doesn't say so in any other version, 00:48:53.820 --> 00:48:58.620 and the message is not trying to just come up with words. What Eugene Peterson did was go to the 00:48:59.180 --> 00:49:04.460 source language, be it Hebrew or Greek, and try to translate accurately from it. So even though 00:49:04.460 --> 00:49:12.620 it's paraphrased, it's actually not inaccurate. And Psalm 25 verse 17, it says, Oh God, my kidneys 00:49:12.620 --> 00:49:22.140 and my heart are at war. When you read Psalm 25, you realize that internal strife causes a whole 00:49:22.140 --> 00:49:27.740 lot of things that don't need to be caused. Internal strife is when you know that you have 00:49:27.740 --> 00:49:31.180 to go a certain way and you're going the other way. Internal strife is when you know what is 00:49:31.180 --> 00:49:34.940 right and you're doing wrong. Internal strife is when you know God is saying something and you're 00:49:34.940 --> 00:49:39.580 not doing it. Internal strife is when you know that this is the path and you're not. Internal strife is 00:49:39.580 --> 00:49:53.180 when Jacob begins to fight internally. Don't let it happen. It ruins your body. Read Psalm 25 verse 17 00:49:53.180 --> 00:49:53.980 from the message. 00:50:01.180 --> 00:50:10.300 My heart and kidneys are fighting each other. Call a truce to this civil war. Keep watch over me. Keep 00:50:10.300 --> 00:50:15.580 me out of trouble. Use your skill to put me together. I wait to see your finished product. 00:50:18.700 --> 00:50:25.500 Hey, when people cause internal strife, run to God, find rest in him. How do you find rest in 00:50:25.820 --> 00:50:33.100 internal strife? Find what he thinks about the situation. You don't find rest. See, when there is 00:50:33.100 --> 00:50:37.660 internal strife happening because of external circumstances, you need to do this. First, you've 00:50:37.660 --> 00:50:44.540 got to ask for peace because God gives you peace. First, he'll give you peace. Why? Because peace is 00:50:44.540 --> 00:50:51.980 good ground for everything that God sows. It is very hard for God to plant anything in the soil of 00:50:52.060 --> 00:50:58.300 your heart when it is in turmoil like a tossed ocean. So you can throw seeds in but they get 00:50:58.300 --> 00:51:03.500 tossed about. The first thing in trouble is to ask God for peace. Have you noticed how the first 00:51:03.500 --> 00:51:09.660 thing Jesus would release upon people when they were afraid was what? Peace be still. Peace to you. 00:51:09.660 --> 00:51:15.900 Do not fear. It's always peace first. So when there is internal strife and external circumstances 00:51:15.900 --> 00:51:21.740 are ripping you, ask for peace because in peace you begin to hear. In peace you begin to receive 00:51:21.740 --> 00:51:27.580 what God wants. Once you have gotten into this place, then begin to ask God for, oh God, you see 00:51:27.580 --> 00:51:35.100 what is happening. What is your opinion on it? You've got to find out what God thinks about a situation. 00:51:39.340 --> 00:51:43.980 And once you find out what God thinks about a situation, you can now choose whether you want 00:51:43.980 --> 00:51:51.180 to walk the way he wants you to, even if it is not beneficial to your own life. 00:51:51.740 --> 00:51:55.180 So, 00:52:01.420 --> 00:52:08.700 once you know how God wants you to react to external pressure and strife, you choose that and you know 00:52:08.700 --> 00:52:12.220 it's going to be okay. This is what God has decided so this is what I'll walk in. 00:52:12.220 --> 00:52:19.180 But Jacob, what if I don't hear God? Well then go ask somebody. Ask Jacob. 00:52:22.700 --> 00:52:27.820 So many times man, I know that if I go into the situation with the way I'm thinking, I'm going to 00:52:27.820 --> 00:52:32.140 have a miserable time because someone let me down or someone jipped me or someone cheated me or 00:52:32.140 --> 00:52:36.700 someone didn't treat me well. I've got to go and ask God, so father, how do you see the situation? 00:52:38.300 --> 00:52:42.860 Once I know how he sees the situation, if he sees, hey they really jipped you, you better stand and 00:52:42.860 --> 00:52:47.820 not let them jip you anymore, then that's what I'll do. If he says they really jipped you, allow them 00:52:47.820 --> 00:52:53.260 to jip you a little more, then I'll go with open pockets. But now I know what God wants, now 00:52:53.260 --> 00:52:59.340 everything is taken care of. And here are the five, big five that you've got to be careful of and 00:52:59.340 --> 00:53:05.820 I think we'll end with that and the rest we'll do another time. The big five that you have to be 00:53:05.820 --> 00:53:12.620 careful of that cause a whole host of sicknesses and diseases that you've got to nip in the bud. 00:53:12.620 --> 00:53:20.620 Fear, worry, bitterness, 00:53:24.620 --> 00:53:26.620 or unforgiveness, 00:53:26.620 --> 00:53:28.620 anger, 00:53:33.740 --> 00:53:38.620 the last one is rejection or self-hatred. 00:53:44.620 --> 00:53:48.620 These are the big five like the animals in Africa 00:53:48.620 --> 00:53:56.620 and these must be fought against. This must not, you mustn't let this fester. Fear, worry, 00:53:57.820 --> 00:54:03.580 bitterness or unforgiveness, anger, rejection or self-hatred. By the way, when it comes to some of 00:54:03.580 --> 00:54:09.580 these, you can begin the process but please don't force people to be healed overnight 00:54:10.620 --> 00:54:16.620 because I used to do that. I used to do that in the old days. I used to do that in the old days. 00:54:17.260 --> 00:54:22.140 Because I used to do that and it's all very nice but it doesn't, you know, you know one can repent 00:54:22.140 --> 00:54:26.540 of unforgiveness but my God to change your thinking after what has been done to you takes time. 00:54:28.780 --> 00:54:36.860 So this can be dealt, all these may need time man, all these may need time but you've got to 00:54:36.860 --> 00:54:41.820 begin the process because this is really good ground for a whole lot of crappy plans. 00:54:41.820 --> 00:54:46.860 And so begin the process. One of the ways you begin this process is by being able to admit it 00:54:46.860 --> 00:54:50.940 first to God and then being able to admit it to somebody else who won't publicize it or write a 00:54:50.940 --> 00:54:56.540 book about your life. And if you can find that then that begins a process where there is fear, 00:54:56.540 --> 00:55:00.300 there is worry, there is bitterness, unforgiveness because of horrible things done to you, 00:55:00.300 --> 00:55:02.780 because of anger, because of rejection or self-hatred. 00:55:03.500 --> 00:55:05.980 Because of anger, because of rejection or self-hatred. 00:55:10.140 --> 00:55:15.100 And sometimes it's not something you carry, it is what you have been bred in. The incubator 00:55:15.100 --> 00:55:21.580 of your life was one of rejection and self-hatred. So many women suffer from it, I can't even tell you. 00:55:23.020 --> 00:55:27.420 The number of women who go through rejection and self-hatred right from when they are children 00:55:27.420 --> 00:55:31.100 started with their fathers and their mothers, went on to their brothers and their husbands, 00:55:31.100 --> 00:55:36.620 went on to bosses and men and pastors. Self-hatred and rejection causes so much harm, 00:55:36.620 --> 00:55:42.300 so many sicknesses and diseases, I can't tell you. Begin the process of healing by first admitting 00:55:42.300 --> 00:55:47.020 it to God and then admitting it to people. And if you haven't, if it takes time, so be it. 00:55:47.820 --> 00:55:51.740 I said I'll close, so let me close. Hey, Betty, you want to do the thingy? 00:55:51.740 --> 00:55:57.740 One of the hardest things for humans to do is to be freely loved by God the Father. 00:55:58.380 --> 00:56:03.260 One of the hardest things for humans to do is to be freely loved by God the Father. 00:56:03.740 --> 00:56:08.620 Partly because it's an alien concept, partly because it requires that you do nothing, 00:56:08.620 --> 00:56:12.620 that you be inactive, that you go into rest and let him love you for no reason. 00:56:12.620 --> 00:56:17.020 One of the hardest things for people to do, for humans to do. One of the hardest things 00:56:17.740 --> 00:56:24.140 for humans to do is to be freely loved by God the Father. Freely loved by God the Father. 00:56:24.140 --> 00:56:30.540 Hardest thing to do. I'm telling you, and I need to bring this up, when it comes to rejection of 00:56:30.540 --> 00:56:36.540 self-hatred, the only way back is through allowing God to nurture you. Allowing God to nurture you. 00:56:39.180 --> 00:56:44.060 Because there are people who've grown up in homes where you were not nurtured, 00:56:44.060 --> 00:56:49.100 really, I'm not into psychobabble, you know that by now, but you were not nurtured. 00:56:51.420 --> 00:56:55.980 Never received a father's love, never received a brother's love, never received a husband's love, 00:56:55.980 --> 00:57:00.780 never received a mother's love. Don't know what it is to be like. Man, I'm telling you, 00:57:01.660 --> 00:57:08.220 sometimes Asian and Indian culture sucks because of it. Especially for women. 00:57:08.220 --> 00:57:11.580 Also for men, but especially for women. 00:57:17.580 --> 00:57:23.420 The only way back is to be loved by the Father. Jacob, what does that look like? Turn to Ezekiel 00:57:23.420 --> 00:57:26.620 chapter 16 verse 4 to 3. 00:57:26.700 --> 00:57:28.620 Ezekiel 16 verse 4 to 13. 00:57:37.660 --> 00:57:42.780 The only way back is to be loved by the Father. Jacob, what does that look like? Turn to Ezekiel 00:57:42.780 --> 00:57:49.020 chapter 16 verse 4 to 13. Ezekiel 16 verse 4 to 13. 00:57:57.020 --> 00:58:02.460 On the day you were born, your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, 00:58:02.460 --> 00:58:07.580 nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloth. No one looked on you with pity or had 00:58:07.580 --> 00:58:11.900 compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open 00:58:11.900 --> 00:58:17.020 field, for on the day you were born, you were despised. Then I passed by and saw you, kicking 00:58:17.020 --> 00:58:22.060 about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood, I said to you, live. I made you grow like 00:58:22.060 --> 00:58:26.380 a plant in the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your 00:58:26.380 --> 00:58:32.060 breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare. Later I passed by, and when 00:58:32.060 --> 00:58:36.220 I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over 00:58:36.220 --> 00:58:41.340 you, and I covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, 00:58:41.340 --> 00:58:45.820 declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine. I bathed you with water and washed the blood from 00:58:45.820 --> 00:58:50.700 you, put ointments on you, I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. 00:58:50.700 --> 00:58:55.580 I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry. 00:58:55.580 --> 00:58:59.900 I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, 00:58:59.900 --> 00:59:04.940 earrings on your ear, and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver. 00:59:04.940 --> 00:59:11.020 Your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, 00:59:11.020 --> 00:59:16.140 honey and olive oil. Learn to be nurtured by God. One of the things I always remind myself, 00:59:16.700 --> 00:59:21.580 sometimes every morning, these are the things, there are five things I say to myself, I hope 00:59:21.580 --> 00:59:26.140 I remember them. I say, Father, I come to kneel in your blood, and the reason I come to kneel in your 00:59:26.140 --> 00:59:33.740 blood is I want to start this day off by being just made absolutely new, free from any vestige of sin 00:59:34.620 --> 00:59:39.740 from the past. I come to kneel in your blood. Father, I come to stand in your presence. I don't 00:59:39.740 --> 00:59:45.020 want to stand here on earth. I want to be able to stand in your presence so that I'm able to see 00:59:45.020 --> 00:59:51.660 here. Father, I come to rest in your spirit. I really don't want to strive and exert myself. 00:59:51.660 --> 00:59:56.300 I want to rest in your spirit. Father, I come to dance in your favor. Throughout this day, 00:59:56.300 --> 01:00:00.700 because you're a good father, I know your favor is upon me. And Father, I come to serve from your 01:00:00.700 --> 01:00:06.140 courts so that I hear what you're saying and I do that here on earth. I remind myself of this every 01:00:06.140 --> 01:00:12.060 day. I come to kneel in your blood. I come to stand in your presence. 01:00:15.020 --> 01:00:21.340 I come to rest in the power of your spirit. I come to dance in your favor. 01:00:23.180 --> 01:00:24.860 And I come to serve from your courts. 01:00:32.140 --> 01:00:36.380 Your takeaway from everything we've said today, even though it was about 01:00:37.340 --> 01:00:42.860 the waters that were bitter and sick and full of pain being changed by the throwing of a piece of 01:00:42.860 --> 01:00:45.900 wood and it was that same piece of wood that was then lifted up on Calvary. 01:00:50.540 --> 01:00:55.580 Your takeaway today, even though this is about sickness and disease, is that your God does not 01:00:55.580 --> 01:01:03.820 permit or allow evil things to happen to you. If that is your God, you will never be able to trust him. 01:01:07.580 --> 01:01:08.080 Never. 01:01:08.080 --> 01:01:16.000 So is there a sermon that awaits where you'll tell us, so why do bad things happen? Yes. 01:01:17.760 --> 01:01:22.480 But we don't deal with why do bad things happen without first knowing that we have 01:01:22.480 --> 01:01:25.040 a good God who does not allow bad things to happen. 01:01:29.440 --> 01:01:31.440 Man, which child can trust a father 01:01:33.360 --> 01:01:37.440 that the child is not sure will not suddenly turn and be evil too? 01:01:38.080 --> 01:01:48.720 And just because you cannot explain a circumstance does not change who God is. 01:01:50.800 --> 01:01:56.400 He shouldn't be your favorite scapegoat to come up with a theology. He is always good. 01:01:58.000 --> 01:02:03.280 Remember one thing guys, you always inhabit what you think. You always inhabit what you think. 01:02:03.280 --> 01:02:10.400 You always inhabit what you think. You begin to think of him as a God who he really is, a God who 01:02:10.400 --> 01:02:17.280 does not allow evil but a God who is a good father. You begin to taste his goodness. 01:02:19.200 --> 01:02:27.040 I love you Lord. What's the next line? Your mercy never fails me. Never fails me. And then 01:02:27.040 --> 01:02:37.200 all my days I've been held in your hands. All my days. This is not a God who says, 01:02:37.200 --> 01:02:42.320 well now that you're two I ain't carrying you. No. All my days. You know what it says in 01:02:42.320 --> 01:02:51.040 Ecclesiastes I think it says, even when my hair grows old and gray you will carry me. All my days. 01:02:51.040 --> 01:03:03.280 What's the next line? All my days. From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head I will sing of 01:03:03.280 --> 01:03:12.080 the goodness of a God who allows evil. Really? How can you do that? You can't sing that song 01:03:12.080 --> 01:03:15.760 if your God is so whimsical. He's like any ordinary Hindu God. 01:03:15.760 --> 01:03:26.560 Terrible if you take Jesus and make him like a normal idol who may be smiling one day and 01:03:26.560 --> 01:03:36.400 maybe upset the next day. This is no yin yang God. And then after that what's the next line? 01:03:37.360 --> 01:03:47.520 All my days you have been faithful. All my days you have been so so good. Then with every breath 01:03:48.800 --> 01:03:54.560 that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God. And then the next line is so cool man. I love 01:03:54.560 --> 01:04:03.280 your voice. Then you have led me through the fire. Not you have put me in the fire. Please there's a 01:04:03.280 --> 01:04:12.800 distinction. I love your voice. You have put me in the fire. Roasted me. No no I love your voice. 01:04:12.800 --> 01:04:23.680 You have led me through the fire. Then in the darkest night you are close like no other. Not oh 01:04:23.680 --> 01:04:28.720 God you led me in there. You're bringing some good out of this. No no no no no no. And then 01:04:28.720 --> 01:04:37.840 I've known you as a father. I've known you as a friend. And I have lived in the goodness of God. 01:04:37.840 --> 01:04:42.240 Your goodness is. I don't like the bridge. 01:04:45.280 --> 01:04:54.000 Goodness of God. Yeah cool. Take it home. May you be a people that always know that your God 01:04:54.960 --> 01:05:04.640 does not allow bad things to happen to you. Then he is easy to trust. You've got to show the world 01:05:04.640 --> 01:05:10.560 man. And if you have any of those books which say why God a good God allows bad things bring them next week. 01:05:14.080 --> 01:05:19.760 No no no the guys who wrote those books are scholars. They are men and women of God. They 01:05:19.840 --> 01:05:26.240 have brilliant stuff to state. But every brilliant person has a few sets of. 01:05:31.200 --> 01:05:31.440 So 01:05:35.360 --> 01:05:39.760 all those guys say a lot of important things but then they say this too and that just points 01:05:39.760 --> 01:05:50.560 everything.