Apostolic Lighthouse
Memoirs From the Wilderness - Bro Neumann
- Praise the Lord everybody, amen. God bless you, you can be seated, amen. I wanna say, I'm outside of this. I feel like I'm among friends tonight, amen. And there's no better feeling than feeling like you're at home. And it's a good place to be. And I'm just gonna tell you tonight, if you've not made this, you're not made this church family, you're home. You oughta make it your home. It's a good place to call home. Amen. (audience applauding) Neo Show Lighthouse, Happy Solid Church. Good place to call home. Amen. Give honor to, amen. Pastor. Pastor Elder. Somebody called me Elder the other day and I thought, "Who are you talking to?" (audience laughing) Brother Samson, it's so good to see you. Be here with you, my good buddy, brother Caleb Samson. And I wish I could tell you how I was in that office there this afternoon a little bit. And I remember the office back at the other place. There's time for Brother Samson. I went in there and preached a little while for y'all. I had some good prayer meetings in there. I had some good come to Jesus meetings in there. And I wanna say thank you, greatly appreciate you. Mama Samson, I love you, it's good to see you. Good to see you on your feet tonight, praise the Lord. And Sister Stacy Samson's doing a great job with these kids and it's just wonderful to see all this work. It takes work. Look, if you're gonna make it to heaven, it's gonna take work, but you gotta have a made up mind. Anybody gotta made up mind tonight? That's about 40% of you. Anybody else, how 'bout the rest of you? You gotta made up mind. I'm going all the way with Jesus. Come on, I'm going all the way with Jesus. I'm not turning back. Praise God. Hey man, we shaped Brother Zach and Sister Kira opened up their house to us this last time we were up here. I wanna publicly tell them, thank you. I don't see Sister Kira stepped out or something. Anyways, they have good friends, amen, and good church family. In one of these days, we're gonna bring that van back. Brother Samson, and it's gonna be full of people from Hazen, Arkansas, praise God, that hit man. Amen. Just truly, truly blessed of the Lord. I wish my family could be here tonight, but they have other things going on. And I got other things going on too. Last week, it was a week before last. Anyways, my wife's teaching a Bible study tonight. Lady did just come in, her, she got two daughters, two young daughters, and a older daughter, she's maybe 15 or 16. And she told me, she said, I wish I would have, I wish I would have come to church sooner than what I am now. She said, I would have had a better opportunity to maybe turn my daughter around. Her daughters confused, doesn't know. The world's put so many thoughts, and the school system's put so many thoughts in her mind and telling her she's something that she ain't. And she said, I wish I would have had an opportunity. I said, well, you keep bringing her to church and let God give an opportunity. God can turn anything around. Praise God, God can turn anything around. Amen, and so Bible study here a week or so ago, she realized her need for water baptism in Jesus' name. And she said, I don't want to leave until I'm baptized in Jesus' name. So I got a phone call about nine o'clock at night. My wife said, come fill up the Baptist tree, it's ripe. She's ripe, ready to go. And she says she's got to do it tonight 'cause she don't want to die with her being baptized in Jesus' name. I said, it's a good night to be baptized in Jesus' name. Hey man, I love the Lord, appreciate what the Lord's doing. Hey man, I know the Lord is working. Hey man, and it's good to see, it's good to see the Lord working here too. Hey man, the Lord's working here too. Hey man, it's so thankful and got a grateful heart tonight. You mind if I try to croak a little bit? I'm gonna try to croak a little bit. I preach Sunday, preach Monday, preach Tuesday and preach in the night. So, you know, I got a problem. Brother Caleb Sampson said this afternoon, I got a problem. Well, if my wife was here, she said you have more than one, but anyways, we'll just leave that alone. I can't do anything halfway. And so, I determined last night I was preaching and I just want to be cool, calm and collective. I'm gonna tell you what, you can't be cool, calm and collective when the Holy Ghost hits you. Where he's got, there ain't no cool, calm and collective about it. Hey man, and I just let her rip-tater chip. So, anyways, I got a little frog downloads. Hey man, this old song goes like this, praise God. ♪ I've had many tears and sorrows ♪ ♪ I've had questions for tomorrow ♪ ♪ There's been times I didn't know right from wrong ♪ ♪ But in every situation ♪ ♪ God gave us head consolation ♪ ♪ That my trials only come to make me strong ♪ ♪ When I've been in a lot of places ♪ ♪ And I've seen a million faces ♪ ♪ Still, there are times I've felt so all alone ♪ Anybody hear me? ♪ But in my lonely hour ♪ ♪ In that precious lonely hour ♪ ♪ That's when Jesus came and told me I was ♪ ♪ In His home ♪ ♪ Now I can say through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ You what I've learned ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in God ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ But I've learned to depend upon His word ♪ ♪ If you know it, help me sing it ♪ ♪ Sing through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in God ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Oh, I've learned to depend upon His word ♪ ♪ Listen, so I thank God for the mountains ♪ ♪ And I thank Him for the valleys ♪ ♪ I thank Him for the storms ♪ ♪ He's brought me through, you see ♪ ♪ If I never had a problem ♪ ♪ I would know that He could solve them ♪ ♪ I would know with faith ♪ ♪ In His word could do ♪ ♪ But I know that through it all ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in God ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Thank you all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to depend upon His word ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Praise God ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, somebody praise the Lord with me ♪ ♪ Well, praise the Lord with me ♪ ♪ Let us exalt His name together ♪ ♪ Oh, you ought to lift your voice ♪ ♪ And thank God for the mountains ♪ ♪ And thank Him for the valleys ♪ ♪ Thank you, Lord, you're seeing me through it all ♪ ♪ Praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God ♪ ♪ Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ♪ ♪ Amen, anybody ever come through ♪ ♪ Come through a trial ♪ ♪ Amen, anybody face trouble ♪ ♪ He's got, I know, Job said it like this ♪ ♪ Man, that's born of a woman ♪ ♪ That would pretty much include all of us ♪ ♪ And don't leave nobody out ♪ ♪ Amen, man, that's born of a woman is a few days ♪ ♪ And it's full of trouble ♪ ♪ Praise God, but I know the one that can speak to the storm ♪ ♪ I know the one who calms the storm ♪ ♪ I know the one who's in the middle of the trouble ♪ ♪ You know the Bible says, then the Lord spoke again to Job ♪ ♪ Out of a whirlwind, you know what that word whirlwind means ♪ ♪ It means hurricane ♪ ♪ In the middle of a hurricane God's word came through ♪ ♪ And He started talking to Job ♪ ♪ Guess who's in control of it all ♪ ♪ Job, where are you when I called the stars by name ♪ ♪ And I formed the world ♪ ♪ Come on, I was here the whole time watching you, Job ♪ ♪ Praise God, aren't you glad He can turn it around ♪ ♪ God can turn it around ♪ ♪ Praise God, praise God, amen ♪ ♪ Amen, if you have your Bibles with you tonight ♪ ♪ I don't plan on preaching a long time ♪ ♪ Amen, I'm not here for a long time ♪ ♪ I'm only here for a good time ♪ ♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ It takes time though to have good church ♪ ♪ Praise God, it takes time to have good church ♪ ♪ Anybody in a hurry? ♪ Okay, good, all right, praise the Lord. All right, Genesis 28. Amen, we're gonna start reading in verse 16. Amen, Genesis 28. In verse 16 and Jacob awakened out of his sleep. Somebody say, "Wake up." Jacob awakened out of his sleep. And he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place." And I knew it not. And he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it. Amen, amen. You know what two things are? Amen, speaking to me in this is faith without works is dead. But he believed at this very place that God and him had an encounter. He believed it was the very place. Amen, he said, I knew it not, but I'm gonna make this place right here. I'm gonna put my mind to work and my body to work. And he put there some stones and he set it up and he poured oil on it and it was a memorial. It was a memorial. This is none other than the house of God. How dreadful is this place? Amen, this is none other than the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. Amen, for the next few moments, heaven, have a title here tonight if y'all want a title. Amen. Memoirs, Jesus. Memoirs from the wilderness. Praise God. Memoirs from the wilderness. Lord, I love you tonight. I thank you God for this time. God, I thank you for this season. I thank you Lord for this moment. I thank you God for these friends that are gathered here today. I thank you God for this great church. Lord, I pray that your word would come for tonight. God bless the mouth of your spokesman. God, anoint my mind, anoint my heart, anoint my mouth to preach what you have laid upon my soul. God, let it be, let it be. God, let it be bread and strength to the hearers tonight. Lord, let it be anointing unto us tonight. Let it establish us and build us. And everybody said in Jesus' name. Praise God, if you're going to help me preach tonight, clap your hands as you're seated. (congregation applauding) Praise God. Praise the Lord, a memoir is normally something that is written or spoken of or revisited. It's a historical or personal account written from experience, knowledge, or sources. I got a text from my wife the other day who had looked at something and it just stuck with me and I want this, I want this to be something that I refer to often and it is this phrase. People don't decide their future. I think if I were to go through this building tonight and ask the young ones, what do you want to be when you grow up? Hey man, I think we'd get all kinds of answers. And honestly, if you were to look back even in my life and I had to do some reflection on this, if I were to look back at the young man as maybe seven or eight or nine, 10, 12 years old, I wouldn't ever have imagined me standing here in Neosho, Missouri. Never would imagine me being a pastor of a church, being a preacher of a gospel. But this phrase is so catching to me. You don't decide your future, your habits decide your future. And so if you got good habits, come on, if you got a good habit of coming to church on midweek service, you got a good habit of coming to prayer night, you got a good habit of reading your Bible, you got a good habit of finding a place to prayer, you got a good habit. Amen, of listening to preaching and responding to preaching, I guarantee you there's gonna be a future, man that's gonna have streets of gold in it, praise God. You know how you're gonna determine your future by your habits, what you're doing right now. Amen, amen, and so your habits decide your future. If you have a habit of talking bad about the preacher, you got a habit of talking bad about saints, you got a habit about being late, praise the Lord. And I went to meddling and quit preaching. You got a habit of, come on, talking about me first and what I want, your future's not looking real bright. Amen, but you say God, whatever it takes, your will be done, not my will. I'm gonna be on time, I'm gonna be faithful to the house of God, no matter what comes against me. I got my mind made up, come on, you start building habits like that, your future's looking bright, your future's looking pretty bright, praise God. I don't think it was, I don't think it was and through scripture I find this out and have extrapolated this out of the word of God. I don't think it was God's intention as the children of Israel came out of Egypt. I don't think it was God's intention for them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. I believe it was just a few days, it was journey to really get out of Egypt. It was only about 10 or 12 hours and one of the first obstacles that they come up against really is the Red Sea and now they're stuck. They don't know which way to go. Anybody in here ever been stuck? You don't know which way to go and you know what they started doing? The Bible says they started complaining but they did the right thing. They talked to the man of God and said to the man of God, what we gonna do now? You brought us out here to die. Come on, we need some help. Thank God for instruction in your life. Thank God you got a pastor in your life. Thank God you got a preacher. Amen, that's got a rod in his hand and a word in his heart, praise God. And he's connected to God almighty. Man, it was a treacherous place for them to be in. And I don't think the Lord had intended them to wander for 40 years. I believe the scripture was right when he says, I'm gonna take you through. I'm gonna take you through the wilderness. I'm gonna take you through the wilderness. Wilderness was not meant for you to just wander. There's still some things you're gonna have to go through. Praise God, anybody been through something? Look, I'm on the other side of some things. I got a testimony tonight. Thank God I went through it. And I, praise the Lord, I feel my help coming. Come on, there's some stuff we gotta go through. You're not gonna learn patience till you go through it. You're not, come on, you're not gonna learn perseverance till you go through it. You know how faith is built, you go through it. Praise the Lord. Just 'cause it's a wilderness don't mean he left you. Come on, just because you're going through a wilderness maybe a dry spell, maybe a season where you don't feel anything, it don't mean he left you. You just keep doing what's right. God wants to see, come on, we know he's faithful, but are you faithful? Come on, we know he's faithful, but are we faithful? Praise God, so they come through Jacob. Jacob, this setting of scripture, the Bible clearly says and states this, and we see this at this beginning here. Jacob, if you go through and look about, I think it's about 10 or 12 chapters you go through. Look here, you find Jacob doing one thing and he's running. He's running from his home, he's running from his brother. He runs from Laban, he's running from Leah. No, just seven years he worked for the wrong girl. Lord, I don't know if I do, I don't do that. That's a lot of work. And you know where we find Jacob a lot of times in the wilderness, ain't nothing out there. Ain't no dollar general. He ain't gonna go to the store. Stop over in the inn somewhere, it's nothing. You know what he learned? He learned how to get on his face and pray. He learned how to seek God. Come on, you know what else he learned? He learned, there was a time when he was in the wilderness and he learned something from being in the wilderness. I think one of the things he learned is he learned that he had to take his family to Bethel. One sitting in the scripture in there, you read on down through there, he told him, he said, y'all straighten up. I know I'm paraphrasing me, he said, y'all straighten up. Take the jewels off. Take the junk off, that's from yesterday, that's from yesterday year, that's from something behind you. We're going to Bethel. There's a, I had an encounter with God in the wilderness and he did something to me in the wilderness when I needed direction, when I was really, when I was running, I found God and he found me. We had an encounter, y'all wanna go to Bethel. Come go with me to Bethel, come go to me, come go with me to the house of the Lord. Amen, I believe that the Bible gives us some other insight to some things, or Jacob learned in the wilderness. One of the things he learned, hey man, he learned I ain't gonna let you go till you bless me. Come on, he understood something. If I'm gonna get through something, I don't, I can't give up in the middle. I can't, I can't give up in the process of it. Hey man, I don't know if y'all ever wrestled all night. In this setting of scripture, the Bible says he tarried all night. He worked all night, he labored all night and he didn't get anywhere until the morning broke. And he woke up and he realized, man, this is the house of God. This is none other than the place. Come on, I'm gonna come back to this place and I'm gonna make a monument right here in the wilderness where God touched me, where God talked to me, where God gave me instruction. I ain't giving up, I ain't backing down. I gotta go through some things. - Praise the Lord, I'm about to make a trip to the wilderness. We're about to make a trip to the wilderness. Anybody in here ever been lost in the woods? Once or twice, that's fun. Before on X, before on X, you just kinda went out there and went after it. And I learned how to look at the landscape, learned how to look, come on, you look to things that were focal points and I remember that particular place and I remember that pretend this looks right and this looks right and you can get your bearings back and you can make it back. I'm gonna tell you what, it's a different world. When you get out there by yourself, man, I would submit to you tonight, there's people in here you probably feel and you get left alone sometimes. Sometimes you feel like you're all alone. Sometimes people can't even walk out on you. Amen, stuff can't even happen to you. You just empty, you're lonely. You got nothing and you feel like you're in the wilderness. I got news for you tonight. Amen, that's a good place for God to start talking to you. Amen, that's a good place for you to, you know what God told Moses, he said, "Tell the people to stand still "and watch the south east." I know you're between a rock and a hard place. I know Pharaoh's army's coming, but God's still got everything in control. You stand still, don't move, stay where you're at. God'll move for you, God'll come through for you. Here's something you gotta learn in the wilderness. He's still got a ride, he can stretch over your sea and part the water. Hey, he's got it, I needed God to do that for me sometime. I needed God to just move for me sometime. Come on, anybody know God, I need you to move. I need you to work on my behalf and you feel like I'm in the middle of the wilderness. What do I do, where do I turn, where do I go? Amen, you know what God wants you to do? Look, if you feel like you're in the wilderness, don't turn it into wandering. Come on, don't turn it in, don't murmur and complain and get into molly grubs and God don't care about me and pastor don't care about me and the church don't care about my needs. You don't turn your wilderness into wandering. Well, I guess, come on, 40 years? 40 years? I got even, even in 40 years, the cloud, the cloud never failed. The fire by night never failed. Can I talk about manna? From heaven, that was fresh every morning, never fail. Never fail, come on, there's a God that's teaching us something. I got a word that's fresh for you every day. I got a fire that'll guide you by night and a cloud that'll guide you by day. I'll never leave you or forsake you. There's some things you gotta learn through the wilderness. You can't learn it if you don't go through it. Praise God. You know, you gotta go through the wilderness to get to the promise. Hello, you gotta go through the wilderness to get to the promise. A lot of folks want the promise right now. We live in a microwave world. Plug it in, 20 seconds, done. Thank you very much. Drive through this, drive through that, get this, get that. They got drive through attorneys. Just make sure you pay. We live in a blabbit and grab it, name it and claim it. Whatever you want, get it right now. You know, that's the way Esau approached his birthright. What can I get right now? Oh, that birthright's ain't nothing to me. I'm hungry, I want it right now. And you know what God said? Jacob have a love, but Esau have a hate it. There's something about Jacob that had a tenacity of sticking around. I'm gonna wait till I get it. I'm gonna keep, I might be going through a wilderness, but I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna receive it. I'm gonna obtain it. Come on, he ain't walking right today because God touched him. And he changed his name. No longer cheater, no longer supplanter, but power. With God. You know what he had? He had a don't quit. He had a don't give up. I know it's a wrestling match all night. But you'll get the power if you keep going through. Hey, it's God. How about this? Their clothes never got old and their shoes didn't wear out. Hey man, that'd be great. I wonder if they stayed the same size. I guess that manner was a good diet plan, huh? Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Not ever wearing out a pair of shoes or a pair of clothes. It's Bible. Come on, some of y'all, I want you to start thinking about this tonight. Think about the things God brought you through. Come on, start thinking about it. Start recollecting. Some memoirs from the wilderness. Can I tell you, he's never not once failed me. Praise God. He's always been a provider. He's always been a keeper. He's always been my helper. He's always been my buckler and my shield. He's always, come on. He's always, always, always. God don't ever diminish. He gets better and better and better and gooder and gooder and greater and greater. Praise the Lord. I want to bring this to you. This is something interesting. Exodus 17, Exodus 17 and 3. It says the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses and said, "Wherefore is it that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt "to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" Of course not. Okay, he didn't bring him out there to die. But if you go to Numbers chapter 20, you find the same, almost the same exact things, the same exact words. And this is what the words are. And "warfore have you made us to come up out of Egypt "to bring us into this evil place. "Is it no place of seed or figs or finds "or of pomegranates? "Neither is there any water to drink." Now you know the difference between Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 is about 40 years. And you know who's talking in Numbers 20? It's the children. Man, this will breach all day and twice on Sunday. It's the children of those that came out the first time because God said because they didn't believe. And they didn't, come on, there's two things that brought him through the wilderness. It was faith and obedience. And because they had lack of faith and they wouldn't obey, God said I'm gonna destroy their carcasses in the wilderness. You better quit talking about how much God, come on, if God's been good to you, don't you negate anything God's done. Your babies are listening. Come on, your babies are listening. Are they saying the same things you said when God brought you out? God forbid I start talking about how good Egypt was. God forbid I start talking about how good slavery was. It wasn't good, it wasn't comfortable. The devil's a hard task master. I got it better in the house of God. You gotta, you gotta watch what you say to your babies. 40 years. I wonder what mom and daddy talked about. You know, my parents came out of the world and I didn't know anything about it. But my dad never once has told me how good it felt to get drunk, never once has he told me how good it felt to get high and run out with the guys. I was Egypt and so I wanna show you this. This is what they say. Brother, can you put that up there for me? This is numbers 20 and verse five. These are the children. This is 40 years later. These are the children that are saying this. Wherefore have you made us come about Egypt? It's almost verbatim. What mom and daddy were talking about. Okay, here's what else. Bring us into this evil place. God intended them to go through the wilderness to get to the promised land. Not wander for 40 years. So this is what they said. There's no place of seed. You don't find that in the first time. There's no place of figs. You don't find mom and dad talking about that the first time. There's no place of, there's no pomegranates. It tells me this. There's some other thing. Come on, there's some things in there. I know it's black and white and red all over. But in that word, there's some things in there. A man that are said to us today. For examples that are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Come on, mamas and daddies. The world ain't got nothing. Hey man, we gotta watch what we say. Our babies are listening. Is their language gonna become our language? How do they know about the pomegranates? How do they know about the figs? How do they know all this? How do they know? So I wrote this down. I wrote this down. What are your children saying? You know what I want my children saying? God is great, greatly to be praised. He's good all the time. Yes he is. Thank you mom and daddy for raising me right. Thank you mom and daddy for not glamorizing the world. Tell him he is better in Egypt. It ain't better in Egypt. It ain't better in the world. Can I get a witness here tonight? Getting drunk and getting high and being stupid and doing dumb things. It ain't worth it young people. Stay in the church. It's the best thing you can do. It doesn't matter if they walk out. Stay in the church. Hey man, somebody give me a good nod at least. Nice job. That's good preaching brother Newman. Just 'cause it's a wilderness. Don't mean you need to turn it into wandering. Praise God. Hey man, they had to go through the wilderness. Hey man, I wanna bring some other things to your attention here tonight. Abraham, where did Abraham walk? They want nothing there. But God told him, I'm gonna make you a great nation Abraham. Wait a second, I don't even have any kids. Say what? Keep on walking Abraham. You know what it was accounted under him? For righteousness. Faith, it was. And he didn't see a city. He didn't see buildings. But the Bible said he looked for a city that have foundations. Whose builder and maker was God? You know what that tells me? He learned something from the wilderness. If God gave me a promise, I can keep on walking, honey. I can keep on plowing. I can keep on going through. It's coming. The promise is coming. (audience cheering) Hey, y'all gonna have a baby? Say what? I'm 99 years old and Sarah's 90. Say what? And Sarah's. You gotta be joking me. Come on, that's what they were. And they walked up and said, you laughed. No, I didn't. Yes, you did. You know what the Bible says in Hebrews? Amen, this is what they say. They believed him who was faithful. Come on, they believed in him who was faithful. And it was hope against hope. It was all against all odds. You know what they learned in the wilderness? You keep trusting God and he'll bring it to pass. Come on, I know you're 90 and I know you're 99. But there's gonna come a seed from ya. Amen. This is what Moses had a burning bush experience in the wilderness. Take off your shoes, you're standing on holy ground. Come on, see what's going on here. And he talked to God and God gave him. You know where he was, he was minding sheep. He was someplace where he shouldn't have been. Hello? What are you doing here, Moses? Uh, I got, I got, I got a promise for you. I got people you gotta lead. I got a plan for you, Moses. What are you doing out here? And here's something he learned from the wilderness. When God starts talking to you better listen up. Come on, when God starts talking to you better listen up. And so, so he goes back, he makes his way back to Egypt. And this is an interesting part of this story. I know, I know I'm kind of jumping up. Y'all here with me still? Good, my throat's not with me, but here we go. Huh, the Bible says as he lingered, he lingered, and he stopped by and in, in the way, and in being in a place of overnight staying. And the Bible says this Lord sought to kill him. The Lord sought to kill him because he failed to do one thing. And that was circumcised his son. Come on, there's one thing he learned in the wilderness. The covenants first. Don't forget the covenant that God established with you. And you know what that means to us today? Amen, you still gotta cut away the flesh. You still gotta cut away the flesh. This flesh shall not glory in his presence. There's gotta be a shedding away. You know what that says? It's repentance has gotta take place. There's something you can learn in the wilderness. If you wanna go into the promises of God, you gotta shed the flesh. You gotta repeat. You wanna walk into God's promises? This flesh plant cannot glory there. You gotta shed that way, it's gotta be. Gotta cut it away. He's got God serious about his promise. Are we keeping up our end of the deal? Praise God. Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph. Joseph the pit that Joseph was thrown into was in the wilderness. He's in the wilderness, in the middle of nowhere. You talk about a guy who wanna revenge. Them jokers threw me in his pit, and they lied on me, and they... I got dreams and aspirations, and what am I doing in the wilderness? Hello, let me talk to somebody tonight. God's got a plan. There might be some things you gotta go through. There might be some things you gotta learn. One of the things you gotta learn is how to keep his coat. There was an evil woman that tried to take his coat. They falsely accused me. That's one of the things you're gonna have to learn in the wilderness, keep your mouth shut. Well, I went to Metland again. I want God's promises, but I wanna talk about all the stuff that's going wrong. Keep your mouth shut, God's got a way of making it happen. Come on, God's got a way of lifting you up out of that pit. Come on, bring it you out of prison in God's time. He's trying to work some things out of you, and work some things into you. It's okay to go through the wilderness, learn something while you're there. Praise God. Joseph made it through. Raise the Lord. You know, it's David. You know what David had to learn in the wilderness? How to defend the sheep? A lion and a bear came. And he learned how to, man, I don't, anybody in here ever kill a lion with your bare hands. (dramatic music) He wants you. We think we're tough. (laughing) Brother, if I see your mountain lion up there, I'm gonna shoot it. I'm not gonna go over there and say, "Hey, kitty kitty, hey." He, the Bible says he grabbed him. He grabbed him by the jaw and went there, the bear and the lion. I don't know if I wanna mess with that. You know what he knew though? He knew those sheep that I'm watching are not my own. (dramatic music) And I'm protecting them babies. You're not coming in here and stealing some sheep. You're not coming in here. You know what he learned? He learned how to protect something that didn't belong. Look, this church belongs to everybody, everybody that's in here. We're all a part of the church, but we gotta get it in our, come on, we gotta get something in us that says those children, those children. We gotta protect those babies. And we got, come on, this path, that's my pastor. That's my leadership on the platform. Devil, get your hands off this church. Devil, get your sleazy little self out of here. You don't belong here. We gotta get the spirit of David that rises up and say, no, you're not welcome in here. I'm defending what's here. I'm defending what's clean. I understand we call it, we say my church. Would y'all like to go to my church? I understand, and I get that. There's a certain amount of possessiveness that comes to that, it's God's church, but it's my church too. Praise the Lord. That's why we don't spit and chew gum in here. (congregation cheering) That's why when we walk in here, we respect the house of God. We don't play football in here. That's my church. It's a clean place. It's a holy place. It's worth protecting. It's worth, come on. It's worth fighting for. It's a place like Jacob said, not other than the house of God. He learned that in the wilderness. He learned that in the wilderness. He learned how to survive in the wilderness. He learned this in the wilderness. Even though all my brothers are back home and they all got lined up to get anointed and he was still anointed king. I'm sure the oil was still dripping off of them. He didn't go from the wilderness to the palace. After the anointing, he went back. And in the midst of all his brothers being anointed by the prophet Samuel, you know one thing you had to learn? Jealousy's not gonna be in my life. I'm not going, oh Lord, help me right here. I'm not gonna let jealousy rule in my spirit and God had to work some things. I know you're anointed king, David, but there's some things you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to learn how to use a sling and you're gonna have to learn how to play a harp. You're gonna have to learn how to get some dedication towards God in the wilderness, in isolation by yourself. I know you're anointed. There's some things I gotta work out of you before you get to the palace. Chase like a dog. Chase like a dog. Saul wanted to kill him. And it's a dangerous place that I read in that Bible where the scripture says that an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul. That's a dangerous place to be. And David the whole time, he comes in there like just minding in a little bit as I'm a play. He even called, he didn't even, Saul didn't even recognize David. And then he wanna pin him to the wall. And David escapes and you know where he runs? He runs back out in the wilderness. Living in caves, living in dens, living in the hills, isolated, knowing he's got the anointing on me. Amen, and here's one thing David learned. God, it's in your timing. God, it's in your timing. I'm not gonna touch the man of God. I'm not gonna lay my hands on God, un-God's anointed. Come on, and that also means putting your mouth on God's anointing. Don't put your mouth on him. Don't put your hand on him. We oughta support him, we oughta lift him up. That's what they're here for. You know what, he learned? God's still in charge and in control. And I may not like it, but it'll come. He learned to wait on the Lord. I will wait upon the Lord. I will call upon the Lord for which come, my help cometh from the Lord. God's my helper, not man. God is my strength, not a sword and a spear. God is my light and my salvation, in whom shall I fear. Though 10,000 rise up against me. God will be my buckler and shield. He learned how to trust in God in the wilderness. - Praise the Lord. Elijah requested to die in the wilderness. Man of God, it doesn't mean, it doesn't mean preachers are exempt from going to the wilderness. Being in a desolate place. Man, there's times I failed there. I would submit to y'all tonight. There's times that I was in the ocean. You know, Elder, you know, both y'all know. I spoke with you about some wilderness time, myself. But I'm here tonight. And we're in a new building tonight. And God's still good and he's still pouring out. Listen, you know what I can turn in my mind? I'm not quitting. I gotta go through the wilderness to get. I'll keep on going. I'll keep on pushing. I'll keep on pressing. Somebody say it's gonna be worth it all. - Praise the Lord. Elijah's really depressed. Now, if you, look, I don't know if you've ever done this, but I've done this before. I've gone home after preaching and thought, man, they didn't hear anything I said. I pull the cover up over my head and I'm just like, "Man, I feel like a failure." Thank God for a great wife. She come, baby, you did all right. Thanks, honey, you know, you can lie to your friends, but don't lie to me. Come on, preach your face this too. We're not exempt from feeling this way, but you know what it was? It was Elijah, amen, and he was in that wilderness and here's what happened. And that ain't your common, feed him. Anybody been fed by an angel? It took a wilderness to feed him by an angel. And that man, and he's sitting there laying down and that angel comes and has to wake him up. Get up. Look, if you got an angel trying to wake you up, you better wake up. He just rolls over, eats a little bread, drinks that wine, goes back to sleep. Like this happens every day. Hey, wake him up again, come on, get up, man. And you know, you know what's crazy about this? That next time he gets up and eat, that food that he ate lasted, it was strength for 40 days. I'd never eat anything like that before. And you know what? He learned that in the wilderness. God's my provider and God will take care of me. Come on, and he'll send his angel. Come on. And the Bible also says this, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the cave, praise God. He talked to me when I was low and he spoke to me when I was down and in the middle of the wilderness, the word still came and it lifted me up and it pulled me out. And I can carry on the work of the Lord. Now he's God, a memoirs, memoirs from the wilderness. Don't you know, hey man, let's say come to the music tonight, I'm through. Don't you know the Bible says, Isaiah, Isaiah prophesied, Isaiah prophesied. There's coming a man one of these days. It might be a while. Matter of fact, there might be a few hundred years. There's coming a man one of these days. And he's gonna look like a wild man. He's gonna have a leather girdle around him. He's gonna look crazy. He's not gonna be fitted and formed. Oh, prim and proper. He's not gonna look like everybody else. He's not even gonna talk like everybody else. Matter of fact, he's gonna look like the prophet's old. He's gonna be a wild man and he's gonna be in the wilderness. And you know what, he's gonna be hollering. Prepare you the way of the Lord. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare you the way of the Lord. Make his pass straight and the forerunner of Jesus Christ comes from the wilderness. And he starts paving the way for God Almighty, who put on flesh, who became flesh. And he even came out and saw John. And he said, come on, behold the Lamb of God, which taken the way the sin of the world. Look what's happening in the wilderness. Here comes salvation. Here comes strength. Here comes God Almighty. The legend of whose shoes I'm not even worthy. Turn loose. He must increase. And I must decrease. What did you go out, Jesus said, what'd you go out to see? I'm gonna tell you what, he wasn't no re-checking in the wind. He was as bold as a lion. You generation of vipers. Left, warns you to flee from the route to come. Bring forth fruit, meat to repentance. And Jesus even said of John the Baptist, there's not been a greater, not a greater born. And John the Baptist. You know where that comes from? It comes from the wilderness. Look, God's got a plan in your wilderness. Come on, can I preach you a little bit more about wilderness? You know where the 5,000 were fed. Praise God. He made a miracle come from really nothing in the middle of nowhere. Come on, I've, I've felt that I've seen it before. Some things have happened. Come on, brother, some things have happened. That came out of nowhere. Sometimes it's come a, sometimes I've seen those things happen, brother Samson. In the middle of really just despairing. The loneliness. Praise God. Jesus was even led of the spirit into the wilderness. Tempted of the devil. You know what we get in the memoirs from Jesus Christ while he's a wilderness? A man shall not live by bread alone. You mean I gotta go to the wilderness to learn that? Yeah. Ha ha, but when you get it. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord. Thy God, him only shalt thou serve. There's only one sovereign God sitting on the throne. What I've learned from the wilderness, he's my provider. I can't live by bread only, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Oh Lord, there's some things that I've learned. I don't, we don't have time tonight to go through the things that I've learned through the wilderness, but I'm just gonna put it in a nutshell. God can do it. Come on, God can do it. If you feel like you're there, you just keep on going. Go through it. There's some important lessons to learn. You look back and you write some memoirs. Oh, come on, has he been faithful? (somber music) Okay, there's four or five of you. Has he been faithful? Come on, has he been good? As we stand tonight, one of those other things that we find from Jesus being tempted there in the wilderness is this. And this is, this is great. The Bible says it was coming and tempting to me. Taking them up to a high pinnacle in the temple. Cast thyself down. Show them all the wonders of the world in a moment. This is what, this is what the Lord said. Get thee behind me, Satan. Get thee behind me. I know I'm in the wilderness. Some of y'all need to get that in your crawl tonight. You just get, you get, get behind me. I got a God that's for me. And if God be for me, who could be against me? I got a God that's my provider. I got a God that's always looking out for me. I got a God who's always, come on. He's my buckler, shield, strong tower. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth in and is safe. If God be for us, who could be against us? I got more for me than's against me. Get behind me, Satan. This is what happens. This is what happens. As it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. And this is an interesting part. It says this, then the devil leaves him. The devil leaves him. That's great. And angels come and minister to him. Where was he at? In the middle of the wilderness. I'm gonna tell you tonight, angels can come. It was already said here tonight. Angels can come and start ministering to you. You get some determination. You get some determination like Abraham and Moses. You get some determination like Jacob. You get determination like Elijah. Come on, this Bible says we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witness. And I would venture to say in this building tonight, let me see your hand, has God done it. There's a witness, there's a witness. Come on, there's a witness. There's another witness. There's another witness. Come on, there's witnesses all over there. We are compassed about with so great a cloud of witness. You ready for a miracle? You might have to go through the wilderness to get it. But he can take five loaves and two fishes and feed thousands. (upbeat music) Raise your hand. Anybody going through something tonight? Anybody going through something tonight? If you're not, if you're not going through something tonight, you will go through something. Can I encourage you tonight? You get there, if you're not there already, you just keep going through. Come on, you just keep going through. If you need some determination, I implore you, come down to this altar. If you need a God to stir up some stuff in you, God, put some, don't quit in me. God put some stamina in me. God put some, stick 'em in me. God put some, don't back down in me. Come on, he's done it before, he can do it again. (upbeat music) ♪ Your love is full of truth ♪