John Dalton

Speaker 2: Here's how it's gonna work. Okay. I mean, it's just. We need a minute to lay the game plan out here. I'm going to tell a few jokes. Your past laugh. After that, I'm going to read the Bible and preach a little while. Your pastor say amen. After that, I will give the invitation and your pa's to come forward and get things right. Amen. And after that, I want some royalties on that podcast. All right. Now. It takes a few minutes. We're gonna have a good time tonight. And the Lord to help us. How many even won't think about this for just a minute. I talk for a while. Then I'll get going. But. I've prayed about this, and I really want God to do something tonight. I may have. So. So what needs to happen? I've done this, and I'm sure you have. But if you haven't, let's ask the Lord to speak to us tonight. Okay? That God would do something in our lives. I promise you this. In this church building, there's many of you who have some issues in life you wish would change. So not true. I mean, some hurts and heartaches and things. That's called life on planet Earth. And but God will help us if we'll let him. And I really believe that. I believe many things are not answered because we go through life miserable, but we don't take time to get a hold of the God who can change that situation. And so I'm asking, God, help us do that. And thank you again, Brother Boyd, for having me here. And I do appreciate that. We did get to just see the grandkids and and try to tell them some silly stories and have fun with them and laugh. So they're trying to get me to do some of the things I did with them at the house, but they would lock me up if I did that. I can't do that here. So I'll begin. So this couple was driving down the road, an older couple that I can speak that way now. And he was driving on a road his wife looked like from the car with him over. And he was a real nice gentleman. He said, Sir, I'm sorry, was I speeding or something like that? And a state trooper said, No, no, I'll stop you because your wife fell out. Praise the Lord. I don't. Death. I got to see what kind of audience I got here tonight, you know. Is it is it. The joke is not working. Okay, so. You're on. All right, so can you hear me? All right. So anyway, so then it's another couple. This man and woman have been married for. Hey, hey, hey. Oh, very good. So this man and woman, they've been married for 60 something years. And so they. He was. He was dying. By the way, this will happen. All of us. And he was saved. The preacher had been there and prayed and left the house. The doctor had been there and left the house. The wheels had all been made out. His wife had said goodbye to him. He said, Honey, you just go on downstairs and I'll probably pass away here in a little while and I'm happy and Jesus, and it'll be okay. So she left and he goes, Source pray and says, Lord, thank you so much, Lord, thank you so much for for all the wonderful work. Enough good. And I can sense it right now. Guys, go move. And you know you're not going to get rid of me that easy, I'm telling you. So anyway, he he's laying there praying, thanking the Lord. And for every good thing, you know, and His Lord, I'm fixing to come to heaven to meet you tonight. And I don't think there's anything on this earth I miss. My wife I know will be with me pretty soon, he said. The only thing I might miss, he said, is my wife's chocolate chip cookies. He's a man. I just loved her cookies, Lord. She makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. He's a matter of fact. I can almost smell him right now. He said, I believe I do smell them. He rolled over and crawled out of bed, crawled down the steps, crawled in the kitchen. She had her back to him. She was at the stove. Pull up on the table now some chocolate chip cookies. He reached out and got one. Just about time he got it to his mass and saw him took that spatula. Was a put that down. That's for the funeral tomorrow. We ready for a change of venue? I don't know how these things. But no work on this year allowed. So. Are you with me? You got the wrong one. This man speaks Spanish or English or something. By the way, you'll probably need a hillbilly dictionary to hear everything I'm trying to say, but. So this guy was now don't nobody get offended. By the way, I'm not up to date. I'll say things that I know offend people want to be me, but I just, you know, that was just guy, bro. This bus like a Greyhound bus for rich and famous people. And everybody was pretty and beautiful and they all real fancy. But he was ugly. I mean, you know, and and they get on the bus, wouldn't talk to him, make fun of him. So one day there, he takes them where they want to go and they have a wreck. They all live, but they all get mangled up. Well, an angel or a genie or something appeared. We all do know this is not theologically correct and says, okay, because of this terrible thing, everyone only gets one wish. And so you start to ask, what do you want? Choose that I want to be pretty again is that I want to be pretty again when all the way down the road and all. I was pretty good. And he got to the bus driver who's already ugly. He said, What's your one wish? He said, Make them ugly again. Okay. All right. Some of y'all are awake. So this guy had a racehorse. And he'd always win with the horse. It was an old horse. I mean, it had it run. And every time the horse race, the guy whispered something in his ear. Finally somebody said one day said, What do you say that horse and make him win those races? Is that just a little poem? Roses are red. Violets are blue. Horses lose. Are turned into glue. So it works. All right. Oil. I'm trying to think of us to tell another to get the breach in here. I'm just trying to loosen up a little bit. While I'm thinking, go ahead and take your copy of God's inspired in Infallible Absolutely Preserved Word of God in English language. Go to Joshua, Chapter 14. Joshua, Chapter 14. We've got a microphone thing worked out here. They all want to have some root beer floats and whatever else we're doing. So y'all don't list this word. I'm not gonna let the rumors float, though, aren't they? So, chapter 14. And. I'll tell one more delivery at 14. You'll stay with me. Right. Just a minute. So it's man, woman again. Older woman whose wife passed away. They had a funeral in a little country church, probably a third of the size of this one, and had a little corner that you couldn't hardly get out of. And they had the service and the pallbearers got the casket as it's trying to get out around that corner. The casket hit that corner and they heard a moan come from inside the casket. And they opened it up. Sure enough, she'd revived, and so she lived five more years. And see Dad. And head to service. And getting ready to leave Nepal because go to that corner. Has it stood up? So watch it corner. All right. Let me say this. My personality. I'm humorous, I like to laugh and I've got a lot of stories. Book could be written and I've actually got some I've written down, but. But I'm serious about what Jesus Christ did for me. March 16th, 1975, 17 year old heathen hillbilly God changed my life forever today, and I've never gotten over it. And God's just so good. And so my person that you don't have the same you don't have the same. Everybody's different and all the all just that. Hey, man, we're not like you, really, John. But. But we're serious about the Lord. I mean, and. And I might not like all of it. I might be preaching for a few minutes, but. But. But I might stop right in the middle of it. Take a paragraph or a parentheses, whatever you want to call it, and just talk to you for a minute, because I truly believe this. I truly believe this, I truly believe this. Everybody here is because God wants us here. And are something in your heart or in your life. Mr. Bill, I'm living close to God as I can. I think that's wonderful. But we still need the Lord. And he's going to speak to us. I mean. All right, we ready? I'm titled Our Lesson Tonight A Journey with Caleb. I might say Joshua once walked out, getting mixed up with a journey with Kate. We're going to take a journey with Caleb. Night. We're going to walk through this thing together. All right? So take your Bible. US all. Stand and turn the page. Not page, but chapter 14 of Joshua. Chapter 14 of Joshua. Verse one. And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eliezer, the priest, and Joshua, the son of none, in the heads of the fathers of the tribes, of the children of Israel, distributed for an inheritance to them. By law, it was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine tribes and for the half tribe for Moses had gave it the inheritance of two tribes and a half tribe on the other side. Jordan But unto the Levites he gave, not inheritance. Among them, for the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manassas and Ephraim. Therefore, they gave no part. And to the Levites in the land, same cities, to the alien, with their suburbs up for their cattle and for their substance. As the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did. And they divide the land for six. Then the children of Judah came into Joshua and Google. Caleb, the son of Jeff, who not the killing. I said to him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said into Moses, the man of God, concerning me and the and Kadish. Barnea, 40 years old, was I with Moses? The servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea sent excuse me, the Moses serve, the Lord sent me from California to spy out the land, and I brought him word again, as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, excuse me, my brethren, the that went up with me made it, made the heart of the people melt. But I wholly follow the Lord. My God and Moses swam on that day saying Surely the land wherein their feet have trodden shall be thy inheritance, not children's forever. Because last holy, follow the Lord, my God, now behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as he said, these 40 and five years, and even since the Lord spake this word under Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Now lo, I am this day for school word five years old as yet I am as strong this day as I was the day that Moses sent me as my strength was then, even so as my strength now and for war both to go out and to come in now. Therefore, give me this mountain where the Lord spake in that day. So that hurt us in that day, how the anarchists were there and that the cities were great fans to so be that the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. And Joshua blessed him and gave in to Caleb, the son of Jaffna, Hebron, for an inheritance. And Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jaffna. The king is right to this day because that he wholly follow the Lord God of Israel in the name of Hebron before was. Courageous Aruba, which Arbor was a great man among the Anna camps. And the land had rest. From your father, we ask you. To speak to our hearts. I need you to help me. I know what I'm doing is serious business and know the Word of God. I pray that we handle it correctly. And I know it's a Tuesday and first service like this. We're excited and wanting you to. Have fun together and do things. But. Please don't let us come here and flippantly go through this and not hear from you. I beg you plead, Lord, that you think their heart. Some things that I don't know. Don't need to know. But there are no in a group like this. Always issues and hurts and heartaches. Anywhere. Everywhere. And so I pray your in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. We're going to take this journey together. And you're getting used to me. And I'm getting used to this church and this this group. It's different. And, you know, when you when you pastor, Brother Boyd, you get used to certain things going through it. When you when you go to different churches, you never know. And but but I know this church wants to hear from God, and that's good. And he's laughed at my jokes. So we're friends forever. But I want you to think about this. A journey with Caleb. Now you know this story. If you've been in church, you length of time at all. And I don't want to not put stuff in there, but I want you to think what? I'm going to give you three little things. Help. Number one, here's what I want you to. So, like, trying to draw us in this thing together, like we're all Caleb. You say I'm not only five years out. Well, I don't forget that age part for a minute. This we're all Caleb. Okay, Caleb, catch this. Caleb believed the promise that God gave. Think about that, Caleb. Believe the big thing he's saying here. And we won't take time right now, but later on we'll go back to numbers and read some of the stuff. We know Moses gave him this, but he believed the promises of God. Let me give you just a few verses I've got. Mark, you don't have to turn there because I'll be right back to Joshua. But I marked a couple of verses about promises. God has promised us things and. You read stories and books about, you know, so many thousand promises and all that. And some promises are for individuals, some promises are for nations or things like that. But God does have promises for us. And so let's look at just a couple of these. And I'm tying this in with this. The first two points that I'm giving, by the way, are almost just introductory. So I get to the third point and then we're going to go for the jugular vein. Okay, so look here. So I'm going to give you a first shot. You don't have to turn there, but I've got to mark to 25. He says this and this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life. Do you have eternal life? Have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? And I won't. I won't you let that sink in? Just recently, a priest at a church and somebody came up to me after church and said, they've been down for years about their salvation. The Bible teaches us that whosoever should call upon the name of Lord shall be saved, not flip in prayer. But if you truly trust Him, He gives us what kind of life, eternal life, everlasting life mean. I got shot one time and I know today in the world we live in so much actual shooting and killing goes on. It's sad. But there was a fellow that was I was a pastor at church in eastern Kentucky and what God save in our church, a notorious bootlegger and gambler. And he wanted me to go win all his friends, the Lord, but all of them. One is happy about that as he was. And so I was talking 1 to 2 different times, but one of them we got there and he was drunk and I was trying to talk to him. He got mad and he got up and he said, I'll tell you right now, I was there and Daniel, my friend that got his friend and then right there and I'm going to get it. I'll shoot myself and I'm going to shoot my wife and I will shoot you. And I said, Well, as long as you do it in that order, go ahead. I did say that, but I made sure you didn't get scared. Okay. And then we laughed and put it back to Barb. Another one was talking about losing his salvation. He told me about the promise of God. He kept trying to say something about lose your salvation or not being able saved. And I finally just I said, Well, you quit calling God a liar. And and he boy, he got mad. And Daniel the friend that was like he said he said, pastor, he's packing this. He was packing before his legal packing, you know, Avery. And he said and he started to look. Jesus said, I given them everlasting life. It isn't anything you do or I do. To be saved is the grace of God. And we need to lift that up and say, Hey, thank God for everlasting life. When I got signed, it was forever. And it ain't anything I can do to get it or to keep it. And I know maybe you have family to believe. Definitely. I have family believe differently. But but they need to believe the truth. And so, you know, we need to understand that. So first, Peter, chapter one of our story, let me read this. It says so is this whereby are giving to us exceedingly great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through, lest catch that precious promises. God has given us some promises. I'm still on introductory and this going here. But think about that. God's give us promises that we're going to have a divine nature, God working in our life. You know, don't go around through your life living like the devil, acting like the devil and biting the devil in your house and telling everybody you're Christian. But it's just hard. God will give you the ability to live a life that pleases him. Now we've had our jokes. Now tell a few more, but we've got to get serious every once in a while. Okay. I want you to hear that. All right. So then look here in first Corinthians, chapter one in verse 20, I'm going back I'm going to get to Joshua here in just a few moments. Another verse about promises. For all the promises of God in him. Ah, yay. And in him. Amen. And to the glory of God by us are here. And I am in Romans chapter four and verse 21 says this and being fully persuaded that what he has promised he was able to perform. And I went to that one because that leads us back to Caleb. Kayla bleed the promise that God gave. Now in a little while. If this works and we live long enough. I'm going to talk about that promise and we're going to experience it together. But I want you first just to think. Do you believe that God has given you everlasting life? Do you believe that you have the inspired, inerrant Word of God, the living word Jesus, as in the beginning, was the word. The word with God in the word was God. We have God's word. Do we believe that those are promises God's given to us? Do you believe that if you pray and get hold of God, let God work in your life to catch this. I know the culture. I'm well, let me let me rephrase that. Let me put my parentheses here. I know that we're all evil without Jesus. And I know a little bit of the things that are going on in the world. But I realize that even even though I'm only 64, I'll be 65 in November. I really am more about 87 for where I was raised in Kentucky. Because, you know, we had the five rooms, the path. And I remember walking to the grocery store and asking for the mail and he would walk out and what this little old little building, you know, go through there and close the door and hand me the mail through the proper receptacle to go back. I mean, I lived a life of I don't know, shouldn't probably say television shows, but the Beverly Hillbillies or somebody like I don't know who was or whoever had the train. But anyway, I do want to get your old man back there. It is a different world. But the promises of God. So he believed the promise of God. I want you to believe the promises of God. And I will come back to this. Introduction Number two you're getting really excited. I can tell because you're important. Number two, but I started with 18 points. I don't remember. I've got to keep you with me. I know it's a Tuesday. You're not used to this. You're usually doing something else, so I know we got to keep going. Number two, I want you to see this here. He has a pattern of following his pattern of following the law. So we're with Caleb on this thing. Look at verse eight and Joshua 14. If you're from the South, it's wobbly. But if. But as Holyoke verse eight says, What the Holy Father, Lord. Verse nine. The bottom part he. Holy Father, Lord. Verse 14, he. Holy. Follow the Lord. Matter of fact, he took time. You can go back to Deuteronomy chapter one, verse 36, and says He wholly followed the Lord. I impressed my. Kids the other day. I practiced a few months ago with schools and and I said that word wholly is an adverb. Tell me about how he followed describing how he followed the Lord and he he wholly followed him. Holy follow the Lord. What in the world that mean? Holy follow the Lord. Well, I looked at it and it means entirely, completely perfectly. I mean, he. He when he followed the Lord, there was no hold back. There was no hesitancy about that. The first verse that came to my mind was Peter one verse. Matthew 2658, says that he followed the Lord a far off there could be. Now, listen, we do believe, don't you, that when we hear the Bible, read the Bible, or we're praying or we're hearing preaching and we know God, we've opened ourselves for God to speak to us that He can do it at any given different time. Well, when we wholly follow the law, we can't be always holding back on the Lord. What? Oh, Lord, I'm going to give you this much of my life for that much of my life. And we'll do this. But I'm not going to fall. I'm not going to get in this thing so much that I'm going to look like a fanatic or I'm going to you know, the problem is. Everybody in the world a fanatic today or while looking over kind of we actually now as Christians look normal compared to what they used to say we're not live for God. And so. This pattern of wholly following the Lord. Are you wholly involved in your church? Entirely. Completely, perfectly. Are you wholly involved in reading your Bible? Perfectly. Completely, wholly. Are you are you. Are you giving it all you got? Is it something that's important to you? To many of us. And I say ask too many of us that are saved and save for quite a while. You might have new memories, you're saying? I don't know. But if we're not careful, we know where. It's not that you set out to be deceitful, but I know the verses. I know how to read. I know. But I want it to be fresh. I want it to be what? God. Speaking in my heart. All of it. So you heard about the fellow that you probably have heard these, but most of my jokes are old. If you're older person, you probably heard them. But you heard about the fellow that graduated from college and got his first call to preach. And it was somewhere out in Oklahoma. Oh, yeah. And he went to the ranch out there. It wasn't Roy's ranch, but anyway, he went to a ranch out there and and he showed up and they had one of the worst the preacher was going to preach. The church had the worst snow they ever had in years. And he got to the church and one old rancher, farmer showed up. And he got up, he said, Man, I don't know what to do. So that's the first chance I've ever had and I've never done this for. You're the one who showed up on a what? No, no, Farmer said. Son when I go to feed the cows. And only one of them shows up. I feed that cow. So he's very good. So he got up. He prayed for about 2 hours preaching. And when he come down, he said, Fellas, what do you think? He said, Son. When I go out to feed two cows and one cow shows up, I don't give them the whole load. I mean I mean, we've got to have some practicality here, right? I mean, but we need to give it the whole load. I'm trying I'm asking the Holy Spirit to help me. I feel a little uncomfortable. I don't know why that is, but I want us to I want I want to know that the Lord speaking through us today, that we're hearing the Word of God, that we're being challenged to change something in our life tonight. Is that what I'm doing? Everything right. Then you ought to be thanking God with a hand raised. Thank you, Jesus. I've got it. All right. And because it won't be tomorrow, because we're. And we have to keep working hard. Amen. So our introductory point one was he believed the promise of God. One more little story you heard about the fell. Another fellow that also discovered what these preachers had just been called to preach. They have a ruff and they come to church. Personal revelations. And they got that verse and behold, I come quickly. And. And he said it. Then he forgot his part. And I don't know how he did it. I know now. I used to preach a lot faster. A lot quicker. My wife's always trying to slow me down and slow down because I have to look at. I can't see it and can't remember it. But anyway, God's working on it. And so he did what I told him in college, that when you when you do that, you can't remember your thoughts. You go back, say it again, you know. So he back that up and he said, second and behold, I come quickly and it didn't click. So I tried. The third time he said, Behold, I come quickly. His foot slipped me, fell right off into the lap of the lady. Lady on the front row. He got up. He was embrace. Ma'am, I'm sorry. He says she says, don't worry about it. You told me three times was coming and I should've moved. He he. Warner. He promised to write. So we believe the promise of God. And the pattern of following God. You know, I try to think of some historical things, but Alamo comes to my mind. I think of that. I've read. I've been there. I wasn't there when it happened. Well, let's make that clear. With a matter of fact, when I was there, there were so many tours there that I was very I had read written really read three different books on that. I read Jim Jimbo's biography, Davy Crockett biography, William Colonel Barret Travis biography, plus two or three books on that. And I got there and all and people who are interested, I kind of wanted to go in there and. Feel the thing. You know, I kind of want to go in there and and felt a little bit of what I thought about shooting a few people. I mean, they run through there and play and I thought maybe I should be holy ground, you know, that's what I was thinking. But here's the thing. They wholly followed those leaders when they said, we're going to stay. And I know that's a historical story. That's true. We need that in our life to be holy. Follow the Lord. How patriotic. Mr. John Paul Jones Same things that turned out to believe was he's on the bottom, Richard, to fight in the service. That was the name of the two ships and the surplus, if I'm saying it right, he's outnumbered. The cannons were bigger and more of them than the Bonhomme Richard, and they think it was blown it all to pieces. And you've all heard the saying, I've yet begun to fight, but we missed that. What happened? They had fought so much that John Paul, John Allen actually rammed the other ship. They were actually both going down. He jumped up in his own hand and lashed them together. And that's when the captain from the other ship, I think the name was Patterson, what it was said, do you surrender? He said, I have yet begun to fight. And they fought and fought each other up. And it wound up being them too, because any man left or down are trying to pump the water out because they were going down. He took a cannon, shot the last mass down on the surface, and then he surrendered. He got into it, stay with it. He wasn't going to quit. Here's what a lot of Christians do. And listen, I got so many faults. It's pathetic, but we can't quit. Serving the Lord. Let me just parentheses. I think people here are probably just like they are in Tennessee and and every place else except for maybe a little lingo. Pertinent plumbed in over yonder. I mean, y'all understand that, but I think we probably are. And maybe you, if you get mad is asked the Lord help you and help me. But that's too many. Listen, this is a parenthesis, separate too many people that you and I know and love, or at a church that say they're saved because something happened 3 million years ago that hurt them. The three million's an exaggeration. I don't believe in evolution. Okay. I mean, I've been around this thing for a long time, but it's like whenever they say, say a preacher did something wrong that often. So I'm pretty sure, well, we won't say that, etc.. Say the youth pastor did something or the assistant pastor, or say just somebody in church says or maybe you couldn't get your pew one day. Oh, come on, folks. I mean I mean, all these things happened and maybe your prayer life didn't work out right and something bad happened. And so you get mad and you quit that church. May I ask your question? What are you doing to Jesus? It's not about me. It's not about your pastor. It's not about the other members. If you are saved, you ought to be serving God in the local church. And you ought to have enough backbone, enough love in your heart and soul that you're going to be faithful when other humanoids make mistakes or do something they shouldn't do. You cannot live in this world without some. There's something wrong. You know, the biggest thing in the world is to pull out in front of me when I'm driving and then stop. My pet peeve in all of life. Listen, sometimes you've got to get out. I know. Traffic's busy. I never get upset. Anybody pulls out in front of me except when they pull out and go. I mean, if you go to pull out, go. Now. I had a daddy in, but I'm fixing to get off this prince's. Because I want you to see. I'm just trying to be real with you. Can you take a minute and think about somebody that you know? That's upset about something. Or said that. You know, the culture we're in today. I don't know. The terms was very. Don't offend me or, you know, we're trying to change the language and all that kind of stuff. I don't want to offend anyone, but I don't know why God hadn't changed. And I'll stand with him if I have to die for it. And that's what we need to have in our churches today. Standing. Standing with the Lord. You're not going to have a perfect person or a perfect people. We're going to make mistakes. So when you go to your family, your friends, you talk to him. And I said, well, I used to go to church. And by the way, our family. The way. You know that say they love God's side are saved. But they don't attend church. Don't have don't read the Bible very much every once in a while. Or only found aversion to that thought. Somebody. What do you say? A blowjob? I'm trying to say something. It's like I'm still in my parentheses. I'm trying to say something that'll help us. Don't let that get you from not serving Jesus. You got to get it off of people and get it on the Lord. He is worthy. And don't ever go using those verses in the Bible to talk about You cannot be my disciples if you let you lose that because we're not there unless you leave your father. Mother, we want everything to work out apart because he is worthy of everybody being upset with us. He's worthy. And back to the message. So point number three, the big point of all the night. The one where I put those two introductory things together and we're going to get started on it. One more parentheses. Did you hear about the boy and his mother? Went down to Texas, probably Dallas years ago. And. They've been city dwellers. And they walk in downtown and a guy comes around the corner, he's bowlegged. And the little boy said, Look, man, that man up front, long legs. Back in the day when you could do this, you popped him upside the head, said, Son, don't talk about him. He's probably a cowboy. Racehorses for a living. You don't do that or I'll make you go home. Shakespeare. So a little while later, they come out of a five and dime, and sure enough for him, another bowlegged guy, and he's like, If you bottom up, that and that's it. One more time, we got to go home to Shakespeare for two weeks. Well, he made it for a little while. Then around the corner from a boy and a girl. He was bowling and she would not need me for them because they smell like so many. I mean, they just, you know, you know, he had to say something. He said, man, look at it. And she said, That's it. Took him home. Made him read Shakespeare for two weeks. So you think you behave? Yes, ma'am. They go back out walking downtown, come to bowling a guy, and he goes. Her mother. What manner of men are these? The weather legs in parentheses. That's my last translation. Okay. All right. Point number three. The picture. I want you to see this. The path to the victory. Go back to Chapter 14. I thought I left my verses here, but chapter 14 of Joshua. And look what he says in verse 12. Now. Therefore, give me this mountain. Let me for time's sake. Let me let me remind you, you know all this. And number 13 and number 14, Moses tale God's given on the land. They're sent in to spat out. Tim. We're bad, too. We're good. Joshua and Caleb come back. They all saw the same thing. But Josh and Caleb believe the promise that God to give them. Joshua and Caleb had lived a pattern of wholly following the Lord, and now he's here 45 years later, and he's fixing to get that promise. The path to victory. Well, let's look at some of the things you remember. One, I want us to see this. The picture of the victory was Saul back in number when I saw it. When I read those verses. Caleb. You get that mountain? Go in there and check it all out. By the way, they didn't go in in a spot out to see if they could get it. They wanted to see how they were going to get it. There's a difference. God had already told them it was there, the whole land. And when they got in there, now, come on, you got out. You got to get with me on this thing here. They saw things. They saw those grapes that they had to carry on a stick hanging in between them and the milk and the honey and, you know, the transcribe. Grab all that. You something in your mind. It'd be like. It'd be like a builder seeing his house. God knew how to build a house for a farmer. Seeing his fields and his crops and and seeing what through there. Seeing his cattle and and looking at him and seeing what he's doing and whatever it is you're involved in or painting or whatever. It'd be your dream you want and you've seen it in the distance. And you believe God's going to give it to you. You've done tasted of the fruit of it, if you will. Well, Caleb had that. Lord, help me. But we got to you got to think with me. I want you to think about something that you really wanted. Good and godly, you know? And you believe God had it for you. And you had peace in your heart. God had it for you. And you saw it coming to pass. So. So he saw it. He he had it. He was excited about it. He was ready to take them out. And all the Giants owned all these things. So like. You know, they. In my mind. I always tell my grandkids and kids when they ask me a question about heaven and I'll say something. I know it's silly. So, hey, man, I've got a ranch up there, you know? Now, I don't look here. I want to have a fair is going to be heaven, right? And we're going to be perfect. He's going to be there. But if you ask me what you know, I'd say, man, I got men, I got I mean, the whole planet Mars has turned into a ranch. I don't know. I go, Yeah. I mean, all this kind of stuff and cattle and horses and and. And I'd name off all the kind of cattle and horses because I love I enjoy that stuff and the history of it. But that's me. I've got a good friend lives. Louisville, Kentucky, Pastor Church up there. He's pure city dweller. He's like, man, I wouldn't he's always, how do you like stuff? And chickens and things like that. You know, you eat a lot of it don't. It's a different story, you know. But he saw the picture of the victory. Number two, he's a little too was just not a big moment. He experienced the pain and the patience of delay. Can you imagine? You've got you're not going to get this unless you feel this. Can you imagine seeing something that you believe God wants you to have? And then because somebody else said no or made a decision that cost them. Now, I've got news for you. Caleb was a great man, but he was still a sinner like us. Right? So he had to have faith to forgive people. Faith to believe God was still going to give it to him. You know, we didn't give you a time limit, and we're almost done. But I really tried to help you. I will tell you something. We started Gateway Baptist Church in the year 2000. God led us to do that. And. And we were growing. And about 2000, six or seven, somewhere in the area we had rented the place up to, then they wouldn't sell it to us. And we needed a place, man. And we didn't we didn't know what to do. And. And so I. Was praying I knew was going to have to move. He'd gone up on rent, $500 more or more on the rent. Back then it was like $3,000, which I know there's nothing nowadays, but it was for us. And so matter of fact, this year I came, I came out here and I preached at Harlan and I went out, Brother Sam, for safety. And I said and I remember talking to brothers. I hope I say, I'll say. I'm Dr. David Rowbotham and we were just talking and I said, I told him about this situation. I mean I don't know what the and here's what he said. He said, I for some, you know, he's going to give me that. He said, send me like you need a miracle. And I said, okay, now. All right. So we we come on back. On the way back, I stopped in Arkansas and went there. I told the pastor there about what was going on. Now I'm coming 40 back from here. Arkansas headed to Clarksville, Tennessee, told a guy about it. Sounds me like you need a miracle. Same thing. So I got about 20 or 30 miles from home from car for my brother called. He said guess what he said, How would you like to have that big building on Cumberland Drive? 40,000 square foot church building. It's been empty. They've lost it. It's beautiful, said Martin. See the auditorium? I'd like to hear about it, I said. Oh, you're crazy. That's an asset. I wouldn't even consider that. There's no way we need we need like, like 4000 square feet, you know. He said, Well, I just want, you know, it's it's empty and I don't know what we're going to do with it. So we couldn't afford it. That's a $10 million building. They said no, I think they only want like 2 million for to make a million half a cent. So what's the difference in 200,000 maybe. But anyway. So I come back and two or three my church members know about it. So I went and found the deacon who is a deacon. They told me this deacon wants to dig his house. I said, hello, I'm who told me it was. I said, I just interested your building. So what's your name. He said, Milton. Miracle and last name. Miracle. You got to be kidding. There's no. That was mine. And he said, you order to and I'll send it over to you. And he had to quit Training Day and everything else. And I didn't do it because it wouldn't have been right and legal things and all that kind of stuff. So I called the bank. Stay with me on this. And Bank said, move in as we don't have the money to buy. We've got $70,000 saved up. And he said, well, move in. He said, Go ahead and keep it up and we'll work out something. I said, Well, how much is it? Well, 1.5 million. I called four or five churches and preachers and pastors, and I asked them questions and they all said they supported, you know, and all this kind of thing. And it wasn't. And I've set my church members down and I remember saying, listen, I'm not this is I don't know, there is no way this will work. God works it out. And I don't I'm not telling you that we ought to do it. I said I'd love to try it, but but they wanted to do it. They said, Let's do it. And so it was a joint venture. We voted on it. We prayed for six weeks and we and we moved in that building. And we started running about 200 ways. And people say, I was there about six months. And the guy walked in one night said, you need get your stuff out of here. And we tell him that. Is that about this? I said, no, I made a deal here. No, no. I walked in, paid to me in cash. What? Man, get out. And we had to get out with 30 days, get out. And we went the place that we know the place. Was it rough? Oh, it was rough. It was hard. People come to me in the past. Are you staying? Of course I'm staying. But I understood why they thought that way. I mean, this is our church is not that building. And God's got better plans. But. But I was sick for. 40 years. You know, and all that. But we stayed staid and staged. Democrats get this. In my heart, I remember Prince Lord. Thank you for having me. Have enough faith to believe that you could have given us that life. But you chose. Let somebody else have it. I guess this. The guy that got it six months later was arrested for writing false prescriptions for drugs. I met him at the Wal-Mart, was trying to talk to him. And he said he said, you know, I really believe you should have that building. And I just like. I couldn't answer because I wanted to be Christian. And he said, I really wish I could have had that. Three weeks later, he sold it. Because how they did it, they put it in his name. He was a charismatic type. They sold it to another church, just that we built our building. We paid 300,000. He sold it to another church for $281,000. I saw him again after that, and I voted one another way. What are you saying, Brother John? I'm saying the Lord put it my heart. I believe when I get to heaven, I'm going to be rewarded for believing that God can do that. You ought to read Hebrews 11. Everybody didn't get what they wanted. You won't hear the good news. A few months ago, Gateway Baptist Church, which I turned over to another young man, sold the land we bought for $60,000 for $406,000. So the little building we bought for 4000 for $500,000 and went to an auction and bought a four acre 10,000 square something church for $400,000. I'm with you. I believe God gave us the dream. Hey, I didn't have to be there. They got the mail and they got the church or one just like it. God is good as long time say, even if it don't work out exactly like you think it ought to. He's God. I'm not. He's sovereign. I'm not. You're not. We have got to get it in our mind that he knows what's best for us and we will follow him. So, Caleb, like known as on his experience here, he's waiting to get what God has promised him. The pain, 45 years of waiting and and all these kind of things and giving up. And then number of next, the last little point here, still, there's one more problem with the promise. Look at verse 12 again. Chapter 14. Now. Therefore, give me this mountain. Wherever the Lord spake in that day for that hurt us. And that day that Hannah camps were there, that the cities were great and fast, if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. Going down. It talks about the anagrams again. What are you saying? God gave him the mountain. But the mountains still have the giants in it. Still a defense to walls in it. Let's go. Let's let God help us here. God did not design the Christian life to not be. I don't want to use the word hard, but cost us something. I mean, we're serving a god that's done everything for us. The Lord Jesus gave his life died for us. We can have eternal life and let's not be like the world is and worldly Christians are. If not my Jesus and you're Jesus. It's the Lord Jesus who is holy, holy, holy, and let's quit making our own little gods and and working all these things out. And let's not trying to make life really easy. Listen, you go through your whole Bible. If you read it, you'll find out the disciples. If you remember Apostle, the Apostle Paul said they came to him, said, Man, I had visions and and they're going to wrap you in this and tie you and beat you. We don't want you to go, he said. He said, Well, I'm breaking my heart. In other words, if that's what God wants to get glory for him, he said, I want it to be there. And nobody, I don't think in the right mind, just wants to suffer or wants to go through hard things. But we ought to live in such a manner that God is more important to us and the Lord is more important to us than our earthly things that are around us. And that that he can work. He knows he can trust us, like you did with Joe. And others. So, Caleb, the one on the mountain. He's 85 now. And there's one thing about that. I told her. I think I can tell this here, but I'm 64, 65 and and I'm six foot forward and over £200 weigh over £200. But I was far more country strong. And you understand this. I'm not I'm not trying to. I mean, I was I want to move I can move it, you know. Well, you know what? About two years ago. One of those girls at the Haven teenage girls. I was telling somebody about that tonight. She she got in a squabble with another girl as a director. And so all I did was grab her arms trying to pull them out of the hair. The other girl, you can't grab them and hold them. You know, I'm a man and I got to pull her off that six foot four, £270 and and and you know rough you'll have and I'm holding that girl. She's 14 years old. She looked at me, she said, I'm starving. You think I am? And I said. In my mind. You sure are. You go? Well, it went through my mind. You go with me right in front, everybody. And I'm like, Oh, man. I said, Whoa. And I've realized that I don't like it any felicitous way. But I think, you know, I found that I was a whole lot better back then. I am now for physical things and make it better the more I think about it. But more life does change. But Kayla believed the promise of God. Caleb had a pattern of his life where he wholly followed the Lord. That means you follow the Lord when He did really want to do all the things you're supposed to do. And the pastor asked us to do something that's not biblical. Why don't we follow in? What are we going to fight about? Everything. I'm not saying it happens here, but it has happened in other places. When somebody does something that gets you upset or mad, have you ever heard the verses says when you come to the altar, prayed your brother first, get it right and come back. Pray. See, a lot of us aren't getting our prayers answered because we're not going to do what God says. We've got this me, me, me mentality. God's do. We need to get a mentality that God knows more better about what only. He's the one to give me eternal life. He's what gives me these promises. He's the one who gives me the strength to walk holy and follow him. And he's the one that when the time comes to get whatever the victory might be. You'll give me the strength to take it. And do it for him. Because it's God that does the fighting anyway. Right. Moses found that out. Next, a 1414 God. He was a god of war and fought for him. There's somewhere, and I don't know that I can answer this. Somewhere in that journey of Caleb. And in our journey of serving the Lord. There will be things in our life that the Lord allows. That we really have to wrestle with. And pray about. And work at Boeing works a good word. And put an effort to it because you cannot show your faith apart from your works and step out by faith, maybe with some fear and trembling. But when God gives the victory, He gives the glory. And that's what God wants us to do. I'm fixing to give an invitation and turn out the ball in just a few moments, but I'm trying to wrap it up this way. I believe there's some some of us who guys working on some things in my heart. I'm just an open person. There are some decisions I've got to make, some I've made recently that that may cost me in, you know. How do you say that? Not in an evil way, but I mean, may require some things and I might not want to do or go through or whatever. But I'm praying about it and sensing the leading of the Lord. So if God wants us to do it, we ought to be willing to do it. There could be something like that here. You'll never convince me. I believe in every local church. God puts people in there that for every situation, they're there to help do certain things. They're there. You got to be sensitive to the Lord. Barry has had his brown eyes closed. Thank you so much. For listening. And I all get on this other mike. I wrestled maybe my own self kind of struggled a little bit with some things it because I wanted to be happy and 4th of July weekend all that week and all that kind of stuff and be a blessing. But I really do believe God put this message on my heart because maybe I can't make it clear, but the Holy Spirit can. I want to see promises answered when I pray. I've got a prayer list, but I've also got to answer list and almost be willing to ask people if they have an answer list. Because I did it for years and people tell me they pray about things, but I very rarely do I say, Here's my list. And he answered them. I can go back and look at the time at the time when God specifically and it didn't because I'm anybody is because one day I had no sense they wanted to meet. I need start random God answers prayers. We have a father. He's our God, he answers. And for force. Answer may not always be what I want, but if I'm walking close to him, he'll change my heart to be what it ought to be. Father. I don't know how to pray. I'm try and maybe in my own straight and getting too far into this thing. But please make tonight a special night first night of these Tuesdays I pray they'll all be faithful for the weeks to come and that you'll speak to their hearts and thank you for them being here. Thank you for the pastor with a boy. He's been a friend and I enjoy meeting him more closely this week. Glory. I believe most Christians in this world today that truly Christians want to see you work in our lives, in our homes. I believe most of us have hurt and heartaches. We don't even want to talk about battles. We face young people and old and God. What's happened is, though, when we go through those, we're forgetting that you are with us. That you want to give us victory. If you want to in the summertime. We may not know what it is, but you're wanting to get it to us. Help us, Lord, like Caleb to accept your promise that you'll never leave us nor forsake us. That you'll be with us, guide us steps of a good man and woman to order the Lord. Help us, Lord. Get a pattern in our life that is pleasing to you. That if someone sees us or meets us in our work or situations, that life they know what, who we are and what we'd be and what we believe, what we'd say for them to. And Lord help us to get in that pathway of victory and fight knowing that you're going to give us that victory. Could be someone here, not say tonight. The first step is to get that settled. Could be someone here tonight, bitter or angry about something or someone or upset with someone. Now hold Holy Spirit. You need to reveal that right now, because there have been life laughed at the jokes and we've heard the Bible and we've gotten tired. Our minds wandered here and there. But bring it back and remind you. And that's why they're having a hard time. We'll never, ever have the revival we pray for. If, as Christians, we're not willing to get our faults and our things right with each other. And cry out to you. And I pray you help us do that. When the invitations given. Don't hold back. Come forward. If it's something that someone needs to talk to you about, take care of it. It was just a cry out to the Lord. Take care of it. Don't quench the spirit. Be obedient. We ask these things in Christ name. Amen

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