[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. I am so glad that you are here. Welcome to church, everybody. Welcome to High Ridge Longview. In case no one else has told you yet today, I. I'm glad you got up this morning. I'm glad you made your way to church. And I believe God has something special to speak directly to you today. I feel like every time we open up God's word, I think something good is gonna happen. God's gonna speak something to me that I need to hear.
Not that you need to hear. That I need to hear. Come on, somebody. That I need to hear. And so this morning, I wanna take our attention and turn it over to the book of numbers.
Numbers. Chapter 14, if you wouldn't mind. Numbers. The class I wasn't very good at in middle school, numbers.
In case you've noticed, as you walk into our. Our. Our. Our lobby here, you. You'll notice we have four big signs up on the wall. They say, no God, find freedom, Discover purpose and make a difference. And then in just in case you didn't understand, it's more than just a few signs we put up on a wall. I want to make sure that we understand. What does that mean? Because what we put on our walls shows what we value.
Now, I don't know what kind of home you grew up in. I don't know what was on the walls of your house. Some of you grew up with. With the ten Commandments on your wall. Where are you guys at? Your mama had a big picture of the ten Commandments. None of you heathens, okay? A couple of you. Okay? I bet some of you grew up with white Jesus on the walls, huh? Mormon Jesus, blonde hair, blue eye, white Jesus. Come on, please.
Let's be historically accurate, people. No, I'm just kidding.
Some of us have pictures of Jesus on the walls. The Ten Commandments. Some of us had a picture of Spuds Mackenzie on the wall or Jose Canseco. I don't know your life.
So some people had a rebel flag on the wall. I'm glad that you're here.
Welcome. Despite what was put on the walls of your home, if it was the latest from home interior or, you know, the graduation photos, it kind of shows what. What you Value. And for those that would put up the graduation photos that says we, we value education. We're, we're proud of our kids that accomplished something. They didn't all end up in prison. I'm thankful for, for that. It's a good thing.
What we put on our walls kind of shows what we value and we value very much that you know God. We spoke last week in depth about what it means to, to know God. That's a critical part of the life of a believer to, to, to not just have an experience with God, to not just know some facts about God, but to have a real working relationship with the King of Kings, with the Lord of Lords, where you're speaking to him and he's speaking to you. It's important that you know God. It's important that he knows you. Scripture says many will come to the Lord in the last days and say, lord, look at all the things we did in your name. And he says, depart from me. Come on, somebody help me finish it. I never knew you.
It's kind of a big deal that you know him. It's a big deal that he knows you, that you have a relationship with your father. We want you to get saved. And by the way, if you are saved, we want you to keep going.
You're never going to reach the end of the depths of your father. You're never going to reach the end of the ability to understand God in his ways. If you, as soon as you think you have God figured out, you realize, I don't know what I think I know.
Albert Einstein had this famous quote, says, when I was 14 years old, I thought my dad was the biggest idiot in the world. My paraphrase, he said, When I turned 21, I thought, he's learned a lot in seven years.
The more you know God, the more you want to know him. And there should be a holy pursuit that happens in each of us as believers. Not to just have a one time experience with God, but to have a deep personal relationship with, with your father. He's calling each of us to know him.
And we as a church want to help you get to know God. Then the second sign that you'll see on our wall says, find freedom. Why is that such a big deal? More than the more than the freedom that we experience as a country. More than just celebrating 250 years free from jolly old England, Shout out to James, who's watching from across the pond.
America.
More. More than that kind of freedom. I'm talking about what does it mean to, to walk in freedom. What does it mean to walk in victory? What does it mean to walk in abundance? What does it mean to walk in the life that God has for his children? What does it mean to not just get saved and not to just be waiting until heaven, but to live God's best for us? Now, what does. What does that really look like? What does it mean to walk in victory and to walk in freedom?
I think many believers know how to project from freedom, but walking in it is something completely different. Being set free.
And this is what we're experiencing in the life of the Israelite people.
God, with an outstretched hand, with a mighty arm, he leads them out of 430 years of slavery to Egypt. Then he walks them across the wilderness. And here in Numbers 14, we find them standing on the precipice of the promised land. God had brought them all this way.
He had delivered them from Egypt, and he was walking them into his promise.
And it seems like they're just about to experience the joy of the Lord, the blessings of God.
God had given them a promise, but then they encountered a problem.
And by the way, you're going to experience the same thing.
Many, many believers have been saved.
They prayed a prayer, they repented of their sins. They asked Jesus Christ to come into their heart, forgive them of their sins. And then they wonder things like, why don't I feel different?
Why didn't I change?
Why can't I get rid of the desires and the things that are going on in my mind? If I'm saved, why didn't God instantly just change me?
And God walks them right up to the edge of freedom and says, trust me, I'm going to give you a promise. I've led you out of slavery, now I'm leading you into the promised land.
I've led you out of sin, and I'm leading you into what's next. God gave them a promise, and then they encountered a problem, a problem, by the way, which they would have to trust God to help them overcome. You're going to experience the same thing, God, you saved me. You set me free. And now God says, I want to walk you into freedom, walk you into abundance. I'm going to walk you into the plan I have for your life. And, like.
But there's problems over there.
I have to deal with issues. I have to deal with my past. I have to deal with the things that got me to this point. God's like, that's exactly the point. Let's start peeling back the layers of that onion.
Walking into the heart Say, can, can I have that, that bitterness, that unforgiveness, that offense, that thing that you had against them, the thing that you, the, the shame, the, the guilt, the regret, the pain of the past.
Make sure you understand this. Salvation changes your future, but freedom deals with your past.
And in order to walk into all that God has for you, not only does he have to bring you out of Egypt, figuratively speaking, but then he has to bring the Egypt out of you. And it's the reason why many believers will get saved, set free, but never really walk in freedom.
It's the reason why people will say stuff like, I, I tried Jesus, I tried church, I tried religion. That didn't work for me.
I didn't get anything. I didn't feel any different. It didn't really, didn't really take for me.
And they turned their back on God and they say, I, I, I believe I'm saved, but I just want my fire insurance.
Let me just, let me just tell you, there's more. There's more that God has for you. There's victory over our yesterdays. There's victory over our past. There's. There's victory over the things that we've struggled with. God has absolute victory for you. And not just in heaven.
Today.
Today.
And so the children of Israel have been led out of slavery, out of captivity. They're standing on the edge of all of God's promises. They're standing on the edge. And here's the good news. God did not exaggerate one bit about what was waiting for them on the other side. He said, it's a land flowing with milk and honey. It's flowing with abundance. You're not going to have to plant the fields. You're not going to have to build the city. I'm going to give it all to you.
And they're standing right on the edge of what God had promised. God didn't have to blow it out of proportion. He leads them right up to the edge and said, there it is, right there.
So Moses, by the way, sends out some spies. He sends out 12 spies. Some of you know the story from Sunday school. And they go and search throughout the land. They come back and they're like, it is true. Everything God promised us is true. But there are, there are some issues. There are some issues that we're going to have to deal with.
Ten of those spies came back and said, hey, it's incredible.
But.
And then two said, what are you talking about?
Remind yourself of all that God has done for us. He gave us a promise. Yeah, it's going to have problems. We have to trust God to walk into those. We have to trust God for victory. We have to depend upon him. If we didn't have to do anything, why would we need God if it was all an easy road?
There are promises from God to help us counter the problems that life brings. God intentionally left them there so they would trust him, so he could work things out of their heart, to get the Egypt out of them, so they could become the people God had called them to be. And the same is still true for me, and it's still true for you. I can be saved and not be delivered.
I can be saved, have my fire insurance, but never walk into the freedom that God has provided for me.
I can be freed from the law of sin and death and never really allow it to get into my mind, to change my identity.
That's why people will say, yeah, I tried Jesus, but I was just born this way.
I tried Jesus, but I just can't get over this. This is my issue. God's gonna have to love me in spite of this. And they never allow the freedom that God can provide to really change their hearts.
So the Bible says that the spies come back. Let's pick it up in chapter 14. And they give them the report of what's happening.
Verse 1. That night, all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
They should. They should be rejoicing. They should be so full of excitement, so full of anticipation. They're like, we're done.
We're done.
We're so done.
What does that mean?
Let me translate it. We're cooked.
They wept aloud. All. All the Israelites, they grumbled against Moses and they said, if only we had died in Egypt.
By the way, this is a common theme that they say over and over, I just want to go back to being a slave. Why? Because it was more comfortable back then. I want to go back to living my old life because at least I knew what to expect. I want to go back to all of the junk that God had to save me from because then it was original. It was authentically me.
If only we had died in Egypt. I'd rather be a slave than have to fight and trust God.
If only we had died in Egypt. Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be taken as plagues, plunder. Like, I've seen your wife and kids, and nobody's plundering that.
They're not a great prize we're gonna leave them with you.
I'm not saying that in third service. They can't handle that. Second service doesn't get offended like third service does.
You know, some of them guys like, oh, my wife's gonna be taken as plunder. I'll have to get another one, dude.
No.
Look at the attitude that they're having, though.
Let's just go back to slavery.
We're going to die.
Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? Can you imagine the heart of Father God hearing his people say that?
Can you imagine what's happening in his heart as he's leading them to the edge of their future of who they were always meant to be, saying, walk into the freedom that I've provided for you.
They're like, we would rather not.
No, thank you.
Just do it for us, God. Just kill the giants.
Oh, let's go back to Egypt.
And they said, we should choose a leader and just go back to Egypt. And then Moses and Aaron fell face down to Joshua and Caleb, the two spies that bring back a good report. They. They fall face down in front of the people. They fall face down before the Lord because they understand.
You have. You have said some things that have caused the heart of God to go to a place that you don't want it to go.
That ungrateful spirit that you have saying, I'm going to just go back to living my old life. That's. That's not something that you want to play around with with God.
So Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Kayla, fall face down. It says they tore their clothes. And they said, the land that we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey. He will give it to us only. Do not rebel against the Lord. Do not be afraid. We will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.
Do not be afraid of them. But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. A bit dramatic, people.
A bit dramatic.
You want us to walk into the freedom that God provides? We're going to kill you. How dare you take our children as plunder like nobody wants your kids.
We're going to go back to Egypt. Then go.
We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. You don't need a leader. It's back that way.
Just walk.
It's amazing to me how we see the story of the Israelite people standing on the edge of the freedom that God had provided.
And it's easy to look at their story and say, what a bunch of morons.
Why? Because we know the rest of the story.
We know that the promised land is not exaggerated. We understand that the promised land is just as good as God had promised.
But I wonder, can we apply that same logic to us if we don't see the other side of what God has promised you?
If you could look back at your life in 20 years and say, oh, if I'd only.
If I only trusted God sooner.
How much time I've wasted with the petty things of the past, living as a slave when God has set me free, what does it mean to find his freedom, to walk in his freedom? How do I get set free from my yesterdays, my hurts and my habits?
How do I get delivered from all that stuff that's plaguing my mind?
I know that I'm saved. Why am I not changed? Why can't I trust God to deal with the giants?
Why can't I trust his promise every time a problem comes up?
Let me just remind you of this. It's not like they didn't have proof.
It's not like they were trusting God for the first time. It's not like they're being naive to all this. Well, I just don't know if we can do that. That's not true.
Remind yourself of what God had done for them.
And while you're doing that, remind yourself of what God's done for you.
God leads them right up to the edge of the promised land. And they say, no, thanks, giants. I'm out.
Fortified cities, we can't do that. Not even God can do that.
And they turn around and say, no. By the way, if you read the rest of the story, they. They say, you know what? We've made a huge mistake. We're just going to go do it. And Moses like, no, no, no, no. Now you're doing it in your own strength.
We're going to do it anyway. They cross the river and take on the first army, Just get completely routed.
Then God's like, I'm going to allow that to happen.
Because about 2,000 or 3,000 years from now, there's a bunch of believers are going to need to hear your story of what happens when you try to fix and walk into the promises of God in your own strength.
Hear me.
The heart was wrong.
There's no trusting in God.
And they turned around and God says, you know what? None of you get to see it. Only the two that believe me. I'm going to show it to them. But for every one of you people, 2 million people that have been led out of slavery, God says, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to give it to your kids because they're going to trust me. I'm going to let them walk in the promises. But you've given up, and now you wander the wilderness for the next 40 years. By the way, that doesn't mean that they returned to slavery. They never went back to slavery. They just never walked into the freedom that God had provided.
I wonder how many believers live right there.
I know that I'm saved, but I don't want God to deal with my issues.
Or maybe you say stuff like, I don't have any issues. If you say, I don't have any issues, that's your issue.
We want to help you. There is freedom that only comes from a great relationship with God, from trusting in him and taking steps that he's going to provide you. We want to help you with that as a church. We value that. We put that on our walls. We want you to find freedom. And here's the good news. We're not just going to say, hey, find freedom. It's out there somewhere. We're going to say, this is how you do that.
Let us help you.
Here's what we know about finding freedom. There's a couple of things I think are important. Number one, freedom begins when we stop romanticizing the past. Come on, somebody.
You'll start walking in freedom when you stop believing the lie that it was really, really good in Egypt.
Now, trust me, I know a lot about romanticizing the past because I have been a Cowboys fan since birth.
I.
I know how to romanticize the past with the best of them. Come on, somebody.
Did you enjoy those three Super Bowls? Should have been four.
I loved watching them raise those banners. I remember. I remember. I was there. Wasn't really there, but I. I remember.
And we could romanticize the past. We look at those huge wins. What we don't think about is the arrests that came with that Cowboys super bowl team. And there was a lot of arrests. There's a lot more than was ever reported because we love our Cowboys, love our football, and just. Shh.
He has a good heart. Let's. He. He didn't mean to murder him.
Did you know that. That Michael Irvin stabbed another player in the neck?
Did you know that?
Most people don't.
He means well. It was an accident.
He has a good heart. The. The amount of Dallas snow in the Middle of that summer. Little booger sugar.
Let's stop romanticizing the past for a moment. Let's recognize the amount of horrible mistakes and pain that was involved in those three Super Bowls, right?
And. And some of us, we. When we. When we look at our past, we do the exact same thing.
We only remember the good times. We only remember the fun.
And we blow this lie up in our minds. I've watched multiple believers do this. Oh, y' all got a chance to party and live your life. I wish I could go back there and live my life over, get a chance to party and have the memories that you guys do. Why? Because we romanticize the past. We do it in the church, by the way, and we call it a testimony. Look what God saved me from. I'll spend the next 35 minutes talking about all the awesome times that I had when I was unsaved and spend the last two minutes like, and then Jesus found me in the depths of my despair.
Come on.
Freedom begins to happen when we see things through the real lens.
When I remember this. This.
This fact that slavery looks attractive when the pain is removed, when I forget about what it costs me, when I forget about how I felt, when I forget about the shame because he's taken it from me, when I forget about the regret, when I forget about those things, when God has taken that from me, slavery starts looking attractive. That's what's happened to God's people. He's led them out of Egypt, and they remembered the food and they forgot the chains.
They remember the protection of Egypt's army and forgot about making bricks with no straw.
They forgot about 430 years of bitter tears crying out to God for deliverance. You forgot about that.
Let me remind you that it's easy to romanticize the past. And if you keep doing that, you'll never walk into the freedom because you'll always be looking back at what you think God is keeping from you.
There is.
I want to put this on the screen. There is a high price to pay for low living, and I want to never forget that. There's a high price to pay for low living. Sin. The wages of sin, Scripture says, is death.
Let's not romanticize the past.
Let's not make Egypt out to be something that it isn't.
It is not your future.
It isn't your home.
You're called for more.
You're better than that.
And here is the power of God speaking to them on the edge of their promise, saying, let me show you what you're capable of. Let me show you how to trust me with these giants and fortified cities. Everything that you need is right there. Now trust me and step across.
And they said, we don't think so.
That looks like work.
Just do it for us, God.
Just do it.
I can't.
God speaks to them because it bothers his heart. When we talk about how great Egypt was, I think one of the things that I struggle with when I look back at my past and I think of so many things that were fun, what I struggle with is kind of separating the fact from was it really fun or. Or that I really enjoy the community that I had, because that really is the heart of it. I enjoyed being around the people that I felt like I fit in. I felt like I had my tribe. I had. I had my. My people that understood me. I could be myself with now, the things that we did, not so good. And I'm thankful that I grew up in a generation that didn't have cameras on your cell phone, because there is zero evidence.
And I paid a lot of money to keep it that way. I'm just kidding.
They talk about bringing back my space. I'm. That's too close.
Too close.
We don't need to see all that.
No, I'm thankful for the community. I'm thankful for the friends, not thankful for what we did and where it went. Unsafe people do unsafe things. But I recognize what my need was, was to half my people. That's why biblical community, by the way, is so critical for us to walk in freedom.
You. You cannot do this Christian life alone. The call of God has always been to take the lonely and put them into families. You're never called to serve God alone. You might stand alone at times. You might feel alone at times.
But God says, I'm making you into a body of believers. I want to put you in a family.
I want you to find your tribe. I want you to find your people. I want you to start encouraging one another. This is where freedom comes from. By the way, I could share with you. So many scriptures. One scripture talks about we have to confess our faults.
And I love the next part. It doesn't say to Jesus. We go to Jesus to find forgiveness. He said, confess your faults one to another, so you can be healed.
I don't like that part.
I want the forgiveness. Let's leave the healing where it is. I'll live wounded.
Lots of believers live that way. Confess my issues to Jesus. Get. Get forgiveness for them. Freedom from it, healing from it.
That might be embarrassing. That looks like work. Just do it for me, Jesus.
Confess my faults to them. For me, it says, confess your faults, one to another, so that you may be healed. God has called us to be in the biblical community. You need it. It's good for you.
Sunday morning experiences are wonderful, but you were called to do more than sit in rows. We, we also sit in circles.
We want you in a group.
Those, by the way, will be. Will be starting in just a few weeks. Most of those were going to be completely full really, really early. So I'm trying to tell you as quickly as possible as. As early as possible.
I want you in a small group. I want you in a group. It's good for you. It's the next step for you.
So we have signups that are gonna be coming in just a few weeks. Those will be launching in September, the second week of September. We also have a group leader interest meeting coming up on August 30th. Some of you, it's like you're called to more, you're called to leadership.
And it's time for you to not just sit in a church and pretend to be anonymous. God's put his hand on your life and it's time for you to lead. You need to be hosting a group. You need to be leading a group is good for you. Come on.
I need to hear a big amen from Paul. He's leading groups. Come on, Paul. That's what I'm talking about.
He texted me late last night, said, please tell him about August 30th. Small group leader interest me. I got you, Boo Boo.
We need to lead.
Look at this. In Hebrews 10, it says, Let us consider how we're supposed to spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another all the more. By the way, as you see the day approaching, as we, as we see the day where Jesus is coming back, we've got a job to do. We're supposed to be grouping together.
You need biblical community. It's good for you. What the enemy has tried to use for evil, the Lord redeems that. And say, let me put you in a, Let me put you in a tribe, Let me put you in a family and give you some friends.
And some of you say, well, I've tried groups before. We just didn't like it. They probably didn't like you either. Try another one. It's gonna be fine.
We have multiple on ramps. We have multiple groups. We would love to have you try a different one.
You'll find your tribe, you'll find your fit. You'll enjoy it. It's good. They need you, and you need them. Come on, somebody. It's good for you.
Finding freedom starts when we stop romanticizing the past. Number two, freedom changes the way that you see your problems.
When you start walking in freedom, you'll start seeing the problems differently.
Several years ago, I was just finishing up my last year of being a youth pastor, and I had a group of teenagers that were finishing their senior year, and it was just kind of a special thing for us. And so I took all my seniors to Six Flags. We had a great time together, just spending one last hurrah as I was just so proud of them. Many of them have gone on to become amazing pastors and leaders and ministers, successful husbands and wives. And I'm so proud of the work that God has done. And I. I have a heart for our youth and a heart to believe in what they can be in their future.
So proud of each of them. I remember there was one particular senior girl that says, you know, pt, this is my last hurrah with our youth. Would you do me a huge favor? Would you get on a roller coaster with me? I'm like, I don't love you that much.
I am not a height, speed, and anxiety person.
That is not for me. I love it for you.
I don't believe in putting my life in the hands of something built by the. By the cheapest bidder with the cheapest materials run by somebody with, you know, 13 mug shots. Like, I. I am. That's not my idea of a good time. Like, I don't.
I trust the Lord, but. But that's, like, pushing it.
And she's like, please, please, please. And the rest of them like, come on, come on. It's one last time. Do it for us. We love you. You're our favorite. No. Okay, whatever. I get on the car, and they're like, oh, we only have one seat open. It's on the front car. Like, cool, cool.
This whole car is filled with all of my high schoolers on their senior year. And I'm sitting in that front car, and I'm like, I hate this. I don't like heights. I don't like speed. I don't need more anxiety.
I have enough for all of us. You could borrow some of mine. I don't need more of that.
And this thing. I mean, she wants to. And at this time, this is the tallest roller coaster, like, in the world. They just built it. I'm like, this is so stupid. This is dumb.
The things I do to suffer for the kingdom of God, for his people.
There must be an extra jewel in my crown at some point.
I remember this thing goes up, up, up, up, up, up, up. Just like forever. I'm thinking the story of like the Tower of Babel, like, this is too high. God never meant for us to be this.
Mexican. People are grounded. We're ground people. We need to be here. People of the earth.
And this thing plunges over that top towards our imminent death. And I am just. I am not, okay? I am white knuckling that thing like it's nobody's business. And let me just tell you, in the, in the front car of that roller coaster, there are two people screaming, but for two totally different reasons.
We're screaming from different places, right? One is screaming out of sheer delight and amazement. All their dreams are coming true on their first roller coaster. One is screaming like a little girl from a deep place of fear.
I am outside of myself, having an out of body experience. I don't want to be here, right? And depending on the lens that you're looking through, you can both be sitting on the same roller coaster, experiencing two different things.
And this is what's happening in this story. This is what happens with many of us when we start seeing problems.
You can see them through the eyes what the Lord is about to do.
Or you can see them through the lens of your fear.
Remind yourself when this problem happens to the children of Israel. They all see the giants, but they see them through different lenses.
Everyone sees the same thing, but through a different set of eyes.
Joshua speaks up and he begins to encourage them, to exhort them, to challenge them. Whatever it takes to try to get them to not do this to the Lord, to not do this to their future.
Don't do this.
And notice this. He never tells them we can.
He tells them God can catch that, catch that.
Because when it comes to you walking into freedom, when it comes to you becoming who all God's called you to be, you can't. But he can.
He can. And the power of our God, we start looking to him, the author and the finisher of our faith. The power of what God can do in my life is exponentially more than what I am capable of in my own flesh. I'm reminded the words of Paul. He says, I put no confidence in my flesh. It's not me, it's Christ that lives in me. He's the one that's done all the work. I recognize that that's an Issue, but not compared to the size of my God. Look at the size of the giants. Look at the size of my God. Are you kidding me? I'm not comparing myself to the giant.
I'm comparing the giant to the size of my God.
There's a different lens that we can see, and walking in freedom helps me to see things through a different lens. I don't see them that way. Oh, we can't do that. Yeah, we can't, but he can.
It depends on how you see it, how you experience it, and what's really going on inside of your heart. Whether or not you can trust God to walk into victory, to fight those issues, to deal with the problems, to fight the giants, or you think it all depends upon you, and I just can't.
I'm going to go back to being a slave.
Cool.
Get to step it.
Remind yourself of this. Freedom doesn't remove the giants. It changes what you measure them against.
Walking in freedom doesn't mean you're not going to face stuff. You're going to have issues.
What do you measure it against?
That's the question.
Here's the third and final thing. I'll close with this number three. Freedom means choosing which voice you're going to believe.
Not only how do you see it, but what are you listening to? Which voice do you believe?
So notice in this passage, there's a lot of people talking. All the children of Israel are screaming and they're wailing and they're, oh, whoa, it's me. God's going to tell me, please take my wife as plunder. Like then you have Moses speaking, you have Aaron speaking, you have Joshua speaking, you have Caleb speaking. On each side of this argument, you have two different sets of voices, a group of people screaming, we can't do this.
You're going to get us all killed.
We don't want to.
God lied to us.
We're never going to change. We're never going to be any different. We should just go back to the way that things were.
And on the other side of that conversation, you have a group of people saying, what are you talking about? Remind yourself of this. It's not for a lack of evidence.
It's not like God hadn't proved his worth to them.
Hear me, saints, it's not like you don't know.
It's not like you haven't seen.
It's not like the power of God over this situation is something that is brand new to you.
They saw when the walls of the Dead Sea stand up and they walk across on dry land. Hmm.
Remember that just a few days ago?
Oh, well, God did that for us. All I had to do was just walk across. Like, dude, do it again.
Look what God has done.
Remember just a few days before that with the firstborn of Egypt just fallen dead. Remember the flies and the frogs. Remember the darkness and the river turning to blood.
I heard something about that, but I don't think God's gonna do it again. Like, come on, are you kidding me? Which voice are you gonna listen to?
Walking in freedom means I'm listening to a different voice.
I'm listening to the voice of faith, the voice of truth that tells me, yeah, it's a problem, but not to God.
I'm a child of God. If he wants me to walk into this, it's gonna be okay.
He's got this. He's going to help me. Their protection is gone.
We will devour them. Don't rebel. Don't be afraid.
Step across.
Walk into freedom.
Here's what I know. You'll follow the voice that you trust the most.
There's a voice of truth telling you stuff like, hey, come away with me today. Spend some time with me.
Get up a little bit earlier and spend some time in your word.
Talk to me today.
Then there's the other voice that says, you're too busy. You got stuff going on. You need as much sleep as you can get.
There's a voice on the other side that tells you, hey, trust me with your finances. Honor me with the first of your paycheck. And there's the other voice. Oh, no, I can't do that. I don't have enough to go around.
You better make sure you protect yourself.
There's a voice that says, hey, it's time to get baptized. Hey, it's time to start witnessing. Hey, it's time to start representing me on your job. And there's other voice. I like to keep work at work.
I like to keep church at church.
I'm a silent witness. Like, that's not a thing.
You're gonna follow the voice that you trust the most.
One of them. We're very familiar with hearing. You've heard it your whole life. But there's a new voice that says you're capable of more than this. You're meant for more than this. You can do this.
There's freedom for you. There's abundance for you. There's blessing for you. Yeah, it comes with problems.
That's why you need to trust me.
So take a step.
Notice this.
When Joshua and Caleb speak, they speak directly to their fears, the fears of the people. And they don't call their fears weakness. What do they call it? Rebellion.
That stirred me when I read that again this morning.
He never says, I understand that you're afraid. I get it. Those are giants. Those are. No, no, no. He says, no, no, no. Don't be afraid.
I know that. I know that. I know that you're fighting fear right now. You know what that is? That's rebellion. Why? Because you know better.
Don't forfeit your blessing.
Don't forfeit the work that God wants to do because it's uncomfortable.
Let him do the work.
The same is true for us. It is never comfortable for God to open up the parts of your heart that you've just tried to let them callous over and begin to deal with your wounds. But, God, you don't understand the wounds of what that last church did to me. God's like, yes, I do. Let me have that.
I don't want to walk in freedom from that. It makes me wiser, makes you bitter.
But Lord, you don't understand what they did to me. You don't understand how much it hurt. Yes, I do, God. You don't understand pain like I've experienced. God's like, yes, I do. You don't know what it's like to be betrayed. You don't know what it's like for people to talk bad about you. Like, have you read numbers 14?
Go read that again.
God understands. He.
He sympathizes with our weaknesses.
But in this situation, he doesn't call fear weakness. He calls it rebellion.
Numbers 14. Look at this. Verse 9. Do not rebel against the Lord.
Do not be afraid.
Do not rebel. Do not be afraid. Do not re. You want to go deeper into your. Into your study this week? Look up that word rebellion that he uses right there. Do a little deep study on what that means.
You won't need a lot of sugar in your coffee. That'll get you going. What does rebellion look like to God?
Here we see they weren't struggling because they lacked evidence, but they had chosen to listen to the voice of comfort, to listen to the voice of their fears, to listen to the voice of the past and said, I'm fine the way I am. I'm going to go back to just being a slave.
They pulled themselves back from their leadership, pulled themselves back from the voice that was telling them, no, no, no, we can do this. They isolated themselves. Let me just remind you, the same is still true for us. Isolation amplifies the voice of our unhealed past and our deepest fears. It makes it louder the more you spend time just with you. Oh, I'm going to get alone, get along with God, sure.
But isolation is not healthy for a believer.
Let me say it this way. If you're the only one that knows your junk, you're in trouble now. Not everybody needs to know your mess, but somebody does. Who do you trust?
Who can you be honest with? Who can you take the mask off with and say, hey, I'm struggling here? And they say, you know what? I got you.
Here's where I'm having an issue. Would you pray for me? Let me pray for you. We confess our faults one to another, so we can find healing. It's the heart of small groups to defeat isolation.
Let me say freedom grows. Where honesty, encouragement, and biblical community meet, there's freedom.
Now, is it going to happen overnight? Absolutely not.
But you're going to find yourself looking back on your life and saying, whoa, I don't feel that anymore.
How do I know that I'm healed? How do I know that I'm walking in freedom over a certain area of my life? How do I know that I'm walking in victory? Is it just not that I act out anymore? I just don't do that same thing anymore? Or is it that later on I'm like, I forgot all about that? That used to be a major problem for me.
Huh?
Here's something I was thinking about this morning as I was spending some time with the Lord in my quiet time, I asked him, said, lord, how do I know that I've really walked into freedom in the area of offenses? Because if you've been in ministry as long as I have, trust me, people say the most horrible, spiteful things to me sometimes, and they're like, well, you can take it. You're a pastor. Like, I'm human.
And I was raised on the south side of the kingdom. I ain't that saved. Like, I still have a part of me that wants to rise up and just slay the wicked.
I understand. When David says, lord, smash and break off the teeth of the wicked. I, I, I, my boy, I get you.
When Jesus says, father, forgive them, they know not what they do. I'm like, that's cool for you. But hey, for me, Father, slay one last time before grace kicks in. Let's see that Old Testament, where, where is that spontaneous combustion stuff. I am for that. Like, I want to. There's a part of me that wants that. How do I. How do I know I'm walking in freedom and victory from the people that have said and done and hurt me so deeply.
And the Lord took me back in my mind to several occasions where I walked in a room and that person was there. And there was no. There's no emotion whatsoever.
I didn't even think about it.
And I could see that person and be like, yeah, there they are. And then a few minutes later, I'm like, wow.
I did not react the way I thought I was going to react. God's like, that's freedom.
That's victory.
I've recognized that there is absolute victory for those that are willing to step into God's promises, even though there are imposing giants. And those giants look like the pain of my past and my regrets and my shame, my hurts, my habits.
What does that look like to you?
Is it lust?
Oh, I just can't get over this. I can't fix this.
Yeah, you can't.
But he can.
I can't fix this. That person hurt me.
I don't know if I want that kind of freedom. I want God to just kill them.
The Lord loves to do more than just save you. He wants to set you free.
And that takes us submitting to his plan and looking at giants through a different lens, listening to his voice saying, you can do this.
Step into my promise.
Only don't go back into slavery thinking that it's easier there because you didn't have to work on you.
Galatians 5:1 says, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
God, why did you save me? So that I could set you free. By the way, not just salvation from something. He's saving you for something.
And there's freedom to be able to do it. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. It's for freedom that God has set us free. He wants us to walk into freedom.
But he says lots of people won't do it because they want to go right back in to be burdened again with the yoke of slavery. It's more comfortable. I'd rather just stay there in my issues and say, that's just the way I am.
God has to love me. It's the way that he made me.
You were born again. Let me just remind you of that.
And there's more for you than living as a slave to your yesterdays.
Remind yourself that this Christian life isn't just about getting out of Egypt. It's about refusing to ever go back.
I will not go back. It was not better yesterday.
So I don't live my life looking back at yesterday and say, remember those great days before? No, no, no, no, no. You know what? I'm excited about tomorrow?
I'm excited about the future that God has for me. Why? Because he's good and the plans that he has for me is good. That doesn't mean there won't be giants. But I serve a good God who's a big God.
I have faith to believe that what he has for me is better than where he's brought me from.
I made a decision to follow him, to trust him. And I hope, I pray, I hope I've challenged you enough today.
You'll look at freedom and say, lord, what is the part of my life you want to set me free from? Is there a secret sin? Is there a hidden sin? Is there an area of my life that I may have asked for forgiveness for, but I've never gotten healing from?
Oh, I sense the Holy Spirit all over that right now. That really hit me hard.
Is there things that you've asked for forgiveness for, but you've never had healing from?
Let me say, that's the thing. That's your thing. The Holy Spirit's highlighting that right now.
It's good for you.
And he's a good God. Hear this. He's a good surgeon.
He's a good surgeon.
But you have to make a decision to follow Christ and say, I'm not going back to my old life. I trust that what he has for me next is good. Come on, somebody. It's good. It's good, it's good. Get your faith up, get your hopes up. Encourage one another. Build up people around you. Like, hey, it's good. God has good things for us. It's gonna be good. Remind yourself God didn't exaggerate the promised land. It was good.
And it's good for you. It's good for me. The saints of old. I remember growing up in church, and every once in a while they'd sing the song, and I liked it because it didn't have a lot of words to it. And I could remember it as a kid, but they would sing, I have decided to follow Jesus. Do you remember? I have decided to follow Jesus. Come on. I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back.
No turning back.
Though none go with me Still I will follow you remember?
Though none go with me Still I will follow Though none go with me.
No turning back. Let me hear you. No turning back. One more time.
No turning back.
Would you bow your heads? Father, we thank you for this incredible time. In your Word, we believe that your word still speaks to us. It's a light to us, it's a lamp to us. It's a sword. Lord, dividing between the joints and the marrow through the thoughts and the emotions, through the different parts of our life that we need divided. Lord, let your word do its work. Plant the seeds inside of each of us that begin to bear much fruit.
But I pray that today would be a day of freedom. Lord, you've exposed areas of our hearts. I see it right now in the spirit areas of our hearts that you say, I want to set you free from that, from the wounds of the past. I specifically hear the Lord speaking to offenses and those that have hurt you and betrayed you. I hear the Lord speaking to us today saying, give me that, give me that, let me help.
I hear the Lord speaking to offenses that have happened from believers between each other and pastoral hurts and from church hurts. And God is saying, you don't have to live carrying that around one more day. Today is a day of freedom and victory and breakthrough. Today is a day of letting go and saying, lord, that doesn't mean that they. That that what they did was right. It wasn't good. But Lord, it means that you are the giant slayer. You are the God that sees and provides all that we need. You're the God that looks at us and loves us too much to leave us there.
You're able to search the depths of our hearts and bring healing and freedom where we thought we would carry this around for the rest of our lives.
Father, you have delivered us from slavery.
Now, Father, I pray that you get that slavery mindset out of us.
We're no longer slaves to sin. Egypt has nothing to offer us.
Let us walk into the promised land.
Let us walk into a life of effective ministry and purpose for the glory of the one Lord. We speak victory and freedom over your people today.
Freedom, real freedom in Jesus name.
And with heads bowed and eyes closed, perhaps you came here today and you're saying, pastor, I don't have what you're talking about. That relationship with the Father, that salvation, forgiveness of my sins, I don't know what that means. I. I want that. I don't know how to do that. My friend, I am so glad that you're here. If you have questions, if you want to meet Jesus, if you want to start a relationship with Jesus, you are in the right place. I am going to help you just like somebody helped me one time. It is time for you to start a relationship with Jesus. For others in this place, you'd say, pastor, I was raised in church. I grew up in church. But I've gotten so far away from God. I've gotten so far. I've turned away.
And I need to come home. I need to come back to him.
I need that freedom.
I need to repent.
I've been a prodigal.
I need to come back. My friend.
Yes, you do. And I'm so glad you're here with heads bowed and eyes closed. I want you to know I'm not going to embarrass you in any way. I would never do that. But you need this moment.
It's time to make a decision.
And if you want a relationship with Jesus, if you need to come back home to him, I want you to pray this prayer out loud with me. I'm gonna lead you in this prayer. You say the words with me. And as a matter of fact, all of us are gonna pray this out loud together so you don't feel embarrassed in any way.
Pray this prayer with me. Just say, jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.
I believe that you came and died, and I believe that you rose from the grave so that I could have life, forgiveness, freedom.
Please forgive me and I'll give you the rest of my life in Jesus name, with heads bowed and eyes closed, with no one else looking around. If that was you and you prayed that prayer, if you meant that prayer, can I just see you look up at me from wherever you are and go ahead and lift your hand. Say, that was me, Pastor. I prayed that prayer. I meant that prayer. Where are you guys at today? Good.
I want you to know that if that was you, I see you, young man. If that was you, you can put your hands down. And there's a phone number appearing behind me on a screen. It's also appearing if you're watching online, if you prayed that prayer and you're starting a relationship with Jesus today, let us help you. Text me. Text the words I prayed to that number on the screen. And I'm going to send you back some things that will help you understand what just happened and what to do next. It's the greatest honor of my life to help people know God and to find freedom so they can discover the purpose that God has for their life and ultimately to make a difference with the time that they have left.
I'm proud of you in the decision that you just made. Thanks for letting us help you.
High Ridge family, go ahead and look up at me if you would. Let's stand to our feet together today as we're just about to Sign off. I want to say a very special shout out to my nephew Asher, watching me. To our friends, the berries, missionaries all the way watching in Cameroon. We love you guys. Come on, let's give a big warm round of applause to all of our friends watching online. It's a big deal.
We have several missionaries from around the world that are watching and tuning in. And we just want to say we can't mention you over the Internet. We can't mention where you're serving, but we are so appreciative of the simple fact you take your life in your hands and you're willing to spread the message of Jesus all around the world where it's not safe.
It's a wonderful thing to be a part of a generous church that's happy to support people like you. It's where your generosity is going. And I want to say thank you. Thank you on behalf of those of you that are willing to stand behind us financially. Those of you that are tapping your phone to give. It's making a massive difference. Please hear me. Thank you. I'm gonna invite our elders and their wives forward. These guys are gonna be available to pray with you. If you're walking through a dark season, if you're struggling, if there's someone in your family that you wanna pray for, we are gonna finish out this service today being available to pray for you. We'd love to take your needs and requests before the Lord. I had someone stop me on the way out of first service. He said, where's that guy that speaks with a British accent? I said, actually, he's in England today. He's actually watching Shout Out King James. What's up, buddy?
Sorry. G', day, mate.
And he said because he prayed for me last week and the thing that we prayed for, like, came to pass the following Monday. I was shocked. I'm like, that's what I'm talking about. So if you're needing a breakthrough, you need God to hear from you, like, come forward. Let's. Let's talk about this. Let's take this before the Father. Watch God do some incredible things for everybody else. Let me pray for you and bless you as we go. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Help them to walk in the freedom that, that only you provide. Help them to walk in all your promises and abundance. Would you bless their friendships? Would you bless their families, bless their businesses, bless their children, their grandchildren? Father, would you bless every part of their life? I pray in Jesus mighty name and all of us said together, amen. God Bless you as you go. I hope you have an awesome week.
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