G.E. Patterson... Discouraged

[Applause] in the Book of Numbers chapter 21 if you're not familiar with your Bible just open it at the front go through Genesis Exodus Leviticus and then you'll be that and once you get to numbers turn to chapter 21 read with me the first five verses and when King a rat the Canaanite which dwelt in the south her tailed that Israel came by the way of the spies then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners and Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord and said if thou will indeed deliver this people into my hand then I will utter the destroy their cities and the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites and they utterly destroyed them and their cities and he called the name of the place mouth and they journeyed from mount hor by the way of the Red Sea to compassed the land of Edom and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way and the people speak against God and against Moses wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness for there is no bread neither is there any water and our so low that this light bread will stop right there I want you to focus upon verse 4 they journeyed from Mount hor by way of the Red Sea to compassed the land of Edom and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way now I want you to say this one word what a question mark behind it just look at somebody and ask to see discouraged [Applause] you're really asking them are you discouraged I want to talk on that just a few moments because believe me discouragement is one of the chief weapons in Satan's arsenal that he uses not only to stop the people of God but to hinder their progress and to totally destroy the people of God within I've often compared the Christian journey the life of a believer in Jesus Christ with the journey of the children of Israel as they were born in Egypt and yet there came the day when God delivered them from Egypt but after being delivered from Egypt they had to go into the Promised Land and once in the promised land they had enemies to fight so is our journey that we were born in the Egypt of sin David said behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me so just like they were born in Egypt and became slaves in the nation where they were born we were born in the Egypt of sin until finally one day we heard the liberation message of salvation through Christ Jesus and it does not matter what side of the tracks you were born on it does not matter whether you were born to poor parents welted parents don't even know who your parents were being brought up by somebody else the fact still remains you were born with sin in the heart and that was nobody that could deliver education won't do it money will not do it none of the other so-called false deities can do it the only one that can deliver us Oh wretched man that I am Who Shall deliver me from the body of this death cries out the Apostle Paul but I want you to know that once he was delivered he could say there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus he is the only one that delivers from the chain of sin and bondage but once he delivers us from the Egypt of sin and brings us into the promise of salvation and the gift of the Holy Ghost like the children of Israel in the promised land they could not possess a possession until they defeated the enemy you've got enemies to fight but whereas the enemies were Canaanites and Jebusites and parasites and Hittites and all other candidates you've got to fight against fear you've got to fight against unbelief and another chief weapon that the enemy uses against the people of God you must fight against discouragement God wants his people to be encouraged and not discouraged if you do not have courage not only will you not have the boldness to move forward and possess your possession you lose courage you afraid to go out of the house you'd be surprised to know how many people there are because of what the news media constantly brings before us every day you turn on the television I'll pick up the newspaper you're going find out somebody and maybe it was two maybe it was one and sometimes three or four people were murdered that night previously while you slept and the enemy will make you barricade yourself in the house when the balls and door on doors and so much so that if the police catch fire then you mess up and die cause you couldn't get out of the prison that you made for yourself trying to keep the enemy out let me tell you it does not matter how many murderers muggles rapists thieves assassins are in the street unless the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain you cannot preserve yourself you cannot protect yourself I don't care if you got a 357 hour nine-millimeter 9-millimeter a shotgun a sawed-off shotgun I lose it it doesn't matter what you've got you cannot protect yourself but if God is your protection you can walk around and not only don't have a gun don't have a knife don't even have a fingernail fine but God will let you walk through dangerous places and preserve your life the psalmist one day thinking about the goodness of God said had it not been the Lord who was on our side and then he repeated it had it not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up they had swallowed us up quick the enemy will cut you down quick if God does not preserve your life but if God preserves your life you can walk right through the myths of the cut roots and the gangsters and the murderers and even though you walk right dime God will hide you under the shelter of his wing he'll cover you in his protection so Israel has now in today's text they have come out of Egypt but they are now on that journey to the promised land and they journeyed from mount hor by the way of the Red Sea now you got to understand the mental state they were in which brought them to a point of this courage men they have come through the sea well and good but they now want to leave the Red Sea and journey on toward their possession but because of their reaction when the spies come back to bring that report and ten of the spies talk about we're not able to possess the land because it's true what Joshua and Caleb said yes it's a good land yes they're pomegranates and yes The Grapes of that school of that but that's something else that's over back there Giants and when they talked about the Giants they discouraged the people and God decided that a journey that they could have possibly made in 40 days he said you were in the land for the days and I'm going to make you one day in the wilderness one year for every day so you're gonna wander in the wilderness for 40 years until the caucuses of all of you the above 20 dropped in the wilderness simply because you did not believe God to go up at once to possess your possession and the fact that God sent them around the Red Sea through the land of Edom every day as they marched they wanted to feel that we are now somewhere between the Red Sea and Canaan but as they walked all they had to do was look over and see here it is weeks later I'm still around the Red Sea here's a month I can still look and see the Red Sea in other words they saw every time they looked at the sea they realized but we aren't going anywhere we are out of Egypt but we're not going anywhere and that starts to mess with a person's mind when you start saying now I they told me to go to college and I went I got my degree but I'm not going anywhere I've been on this job five years I haven't gone anywhere I'm still making what I made when I was hired ten years I've been living in this rat infested building I haven't gone anywhere you start getting discouraged when time passes and you still look up and say I haven't gone anywhere we want to feel like that we are making strides that we're somewhere in reach to our ultimate destiny and a lot of times you are really in root in your own course but you don't know it because you cannot see any measurable result but one thing that God does while we are during that period of time and it look like we are not going anywhere one thing we are doing we are learning dog we are in school and we are getting to know the God that we serve it is strange how I listed people talk about how long they've been saved and they don't know God any better now than they did 30 years ago when they got saved they have not profited from mistakes they have not found a mirroring comparison between the people in the scripture and in your own life some folks go to church and the only thing they wait on is for the preacher to get to the hot spot so I can rejoice and it doesn't matter where they go you're not learning anything I just want them to get to that good part so I can jump so I can praise God but you're supposed to learn from the scripture whether we're talking about the nation of Israel or whether we're talking about King David or whether we're talking about any individual or a particular situation you got to learn how to identify when the Holy Ghost says to you this is your Rhema in other words this is where I want you to learn your lesson as you learn your lesson and you see what somebody else who is your spiritual twin in Scripture when you see what they went through and many times right when they were at the part that this helped like giving up they were right ready to receive that promise and you got to understand that what I'm going through is not designed by God for me to drop my head and say I'm not getting anywhere God wants me to identify with somebody else who came to this same point and understand that what he did for them he's gonna do the same thing for you let me tell you something that became very coming just the real comic point 1992 when I was elected to the general Board of the Church of God in Christ and they had a protocol and the protocol really had to do with from the election the people who got the most votes and who had been there the longest and whether they were an officer but since I was the newest person even though my votes were such that carried me somewhere else everybody's rushing as we got in line to go into the main Convention Center so when they got some Russian I just stood back and let everybody fall in well after 1996 I got the highest vote and we had some others that came in and I just decided to take the back didn't matter who it was I make sure every board members in front of me and if they tried to get behind me no you're supposed to be here now so no mm-hmm the Bible said the last shall be first and I'm not gonna I'm not gonna let y'all mess up my mind and mess up anything I'm gonna stay last until them first and and up until this last convocation about three Mondays ago I made sure everybody got in front of me don't take my last spot because the last not the one in the Midland now that's that simple but what am I trying to say to you there are things that God speaks to your spirit there are people that you identify with in Scripture and when the enemy would seek to mess up your mind and tell you you're still right next to the Red Sea you cross through here months ago and you still haven't left to see you got to let him know that God is only bringing me this way not that I'm not gonna reach my destination but he's bringing me the scenic route and anybody know when you're traveling the scenic route is the long way around but even though you take the scenic route you're gonna get where you're going look at somebody and tell them don't take you're not making in its paces God has just taken you the scenic route Oh hallelujah so while you're on the scenic route enjoy the trip listen to what he says here they churn it from Mount hor by way of the Red Sea to compassed the land of edom and the soul the very inert of the people to mind that the heart on the inside there may have been smiling but on the inside you ever find that time when conditions make you have to smile but you don't feel like it on the inside soul of the people was much not just a little bit discouraged why because of the way they already out of Egypt they are delivered from being slaves but they are discouraged because of the way that they have to travel I'm trying to get you somewhere you're saying that mean you're not saying you're out of God has brought you through the Red Sea you've been delivered from Pharaoh the Egyptian army they've been drowned in the sea you own Saints Ryan but even though they were out of Egypt across the Red Sea they were discouraged because of the route that they had to travel to get to where God was trying to bring them I just talked to somebody I don't know who it was but I just talked to somebody you got to understand that the fact that the way maybe wreck it you know how you used to sing I'm climbing on the rough side you know people complain about the rough side of the mountain but do you not know the advantage of the rough side it's the rough side where you have somewhere to rest your foot it's the rough side where you can grab a hole to something and pull your way up if you were coming the smooth side you wouldn't get anywhere the only way you can climb you've got to come up on the rough side don't complain about the way you got to remember that the same God who brought you out promised you where he would take you so since you've got a deliverance in your history [Applause] and you've got a promise in your future now why are you about the routes that God will cause you to take in order to get from your history to your future you've already been brought up there's a promise in your future don't worry about whether he takes you the scenic route the sharp cut on the way over the mountain they got discouraged because of the way I'm almost finished and what did they do the people spake against God and against Moses look at somebody and tell them when you're discouraged learn to shut your mouth [Applause] don't you know that if it were the more joyful times I mean when you're happy the scripture that we use so much and you throw that out everybody you need bless another Lord be upon you I bless you in the name of the law everybody you need when you're feeling good you're ready to bless everybody but when you get discouraged the spouse is in trouble the children in trouble the dog the cat they in trouble anything that come in contact with you when you're discouraged they're in trouble these people were discouraged and they not on to speak against Moses but they spoke against God himself when the enemy gets you discouraged he'll make you speak words that you cannot retract I think I need to say that again when you are discouraged the enemy will cause you to speak words that you cannot retract so when you know you're discouraged this thing to do is just hold your peace just say hey it ran through my mind but but I bet not saved that words that are spoken when you're discouraged they're like a shotgun blast you may apologize when you come to yourself but the person you shot at they already did people speak against God and against Moses wherefore have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness and then look at the attitude there's no bread thee there's not any water to drink and our souls just loathe it we just so sick now notice they first said there is no bread then they later admit that is bread and look at where the bread came from every morning God is ringing it down from heaven and even though God is raining down bread from heaven every morning the fact is they have now developed an appetite for something else in their mind they are looking back to Egypt they've got a taste for onions and garlic and leeks and they said we want some meat and so even though God was giving them everything that they need it raining it down from heaven every morning they said it's God given but we're sick of it and say what you want to a lot of times people when they get to a state of discouragement and they get discouraged or a number of things members will get discouraged and leave church and if you ask them why did you go well had I'm gone where I can get too weird they did just saying preaching the word and sometimes the richest word they've ever heard in that life is slowing all the time but that was a recognition they wanted and since they didn't get that particular recognition they got discouraged somebody who came in church five years after them ended up getting appointed to a position that they wanted and they just got discouraged the bread was still falling from heaven but they focused on something else seeing the body of Christ we've got to be careful that we don't focus on something different to what God calls us to be here father God did not cause us to be here for many of the things that we won't he caused the body of Christ to be the place where people would be saying well the Word of God would go forth that we could grow spiritually he caused the church to be the place where Saints able hallelujah to grow in Christ but then when you get a lot of other things and people their jobs and some jobs pay and others a volunteer and the folk that have volunteered get angry I'm working as hard as so-and-so and all I get is an occasional god bless you and they get in the check and they get dis y'all shall go get quiet sometimes why are you discouraged I got to repeat it one more time and then we're moving look somebody in the eye and tell him why are you discouraged shut up to have this coverage meant and that refusal to close their mouth brought about the next verse which we didn't read and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people and much people in Israel died not really because they got discouraged but because while they were discouraged they said the wrong thing as I close and I've already gone longer than I wanted to let me just remind you of one individual by the name of David David came into a situation that was so discouraging he had just been sent home by a kiss the king of the Philistines home for David at that time was a little village called Ziklag and according the First Samuel chapter 30 when David and his 600 men got back home to Ziklag they found that the Amalekites had visited that camp that they had kidnapped the men's wives and had taken their children and had taken all of our possessions and the Bible says that these men began to weep until they had no more power to weep while they were in a state of anger and discouragement somebody said it's all David's fault why don't we stone him to death when they've got ready to try to stone him to death David decide it I'm not gonna argue with you but instead the Bible said David encouraged himself in the Lord you may be in a situation where it looked like somebody wants to stone you look like others have messed up and they're blaming it on you you got to understand that while they wanted to blame David it was clearly not David's fault it was Silas fault because God had told Saul to kill the Amalekites but when he failed to kill them the Amalekites were yet around to give David trouble but David encouraged himself in the Lord will somebody say preacher how do you encourage yourself not the one you've got to go back into the treasure of your memory go back into your history and remember what God has already done because if you remember what he did yesterday the Word of God said he's the same yesterday today and forever I mentioned this morning at the communion service in Whitehaven we are in a constitutional crisis unless this thing in Florida is soon resolved nobody right now really knows who is going to be the president you've got one side of the country that's saying that whoa I tell you away with these Democrats we we need a new Republican administration and since most African American people traditionally are Democrats you got a lot of us sitting around said oh I sure hope George w doesn't get here but I haven't been bothered about it at all because I was able not only to survive but our prospers when George W as daddy was in the White House God didn't cut off my blessings when Ronald Reagan was in the White House I even kneeled alrights my god when Richard Nixon was in the White House because the thing that I understand is that the same dog that brought our people out back in the time when we didn't even know what it was like to read a Wall Street Journal when we didn't even know what the stock market was about we thought that it was something like the supermarket down the street if God brought us out yesterday I want you to know that when I think of what he did yesterday I'm not worried about tomorrow because regardless of who is in the White House God is still on the throne and as long as God is on the throne I know that everything will be all right so have I go to my seat today I just want to tell you don't be discouraged because if God is on your side everything is gonna work out all right and because I know he's on my side [Applause] encourage [Applause] [Music] [Applause] can you just tell five people I'm intolerant [Applause] [Music] songwriter I'm finished but the song right appear in one day why should I see you discouraged don't remember that one and why should the shattered [Music] and why see you all and in law see the devil will make you want to leave here look at somebody and tell them at any time for you die [Applause] [Music] what geez here's the Porsche he's not some Tammy but a constant a constant friend [Music] [Applause] the spine [Applause] [Music] he watches [Music] he watches me so since I've got this current I see because I said be calm ah [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] he watches come on and give him free [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] everybody's standing [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] somebody today that don't know Jesus if you lost in your sins and you're ready to give your life to the Lord you need to come now one of our elders will take your side and we'll simply explain God's plan for your salvation and in one minute's time you can step out of the Egypt of sin through the Red Sea of his redeeming blood and enter into the Promised Land let's come on the doors open this is your opportunity if you're already saved and want to make this your church the doors open come on now [Applause] I say big Hoss [Music] come on the doors open I see [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you watch [Applause] in just about 30 seconds I'm going to bid the bulk of the audience to be seated but listen to me if you know that you have not received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and if you have received him as Lord and Savior but you're presently without a church home and you believe this is where God wants you to be then when everybody else sits don't you sit but I want you to remain standing and I want you to have the courage to step into the nearest aisle and come down front and join these who already here you never know when you've heard your last message yes you never know so God is saying to you seek me while I may be fine told me while I'm here and the Lord spoke to your heart today and you know it so if you want to make this your church home if you want to be saved while the rest of the audience sits I want you to remain standing and I want you to step in this direction and come and join these who at the altar hallelujah you know who you are that's right then later come on glory to God hallelujah oh it's so beautiful to see Souls coming to the law Lauren listen man oh yes come on and give it fries hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] well you know brother brother Chris Morris has been on musical staff so long until most of us probably forgot that he never joined as a member but he stands with sister Constance his new bride was her grandfather [Music] Elmer this [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] god bless you

Channel: Gordon Palmer

Views: 147,649

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Id: KBDpgahFwWY

Length: 43min 55sec (2635 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 29 2020