Peter Tan-Chi - Turn Disappointments to Blessings, Trust God
You are watching Great Commission Church of Christ Changing Lives for Eternity This morning I want to share with you something very important related to disappointment. How many of you have been disappointed at least once in your life? Show your hands. How many of you have been disappointed recently? Please raise your hands. The same number of hands. So you are always disappointed. Praise God. You know why? I tell my children when they are growing up that disappointment is good for the soul. What do you do when you are disappointed? It's really inevitable that sooner or later you're going to be disappointed in your family and the ones you love, it's a matter of fact, please turn to the person next to you and tell the person next to you that one day you're going to let me down.
Tell your neighbor, in fact you should tell your neighbor sooner or later I'm going to let you down. That's the reality. We have expectations, of marriage, of your family, of your career, of your business, of your love life. expectations, but your reality may not match them, and the result is disappointment. This afternoon I'm going to share with you the life of a great man who had every reason to be disappointed. But how did he deal with it? I love biographies, especially biblical characters. You'll notice characters in the Bible. In this Extraordinary series of ours we've been talking about God using ordinary people, in fact even insignificant people. But you'll notice that though none of them are perfect but the point is not them, the point is what God can do in our lives.
This afternoon you are going to learn what God can do when you think you have failed. When you think you have failed yourself and others. How many of you, please be honest with me, are you disappointed in God? Please raise your hands some of you feel awkward raising your hands so if you feel awkward raising your hands so I know what you do what do you do when you are disappointed in God? For some people, what do they do when they feel disillusioned with life? Can I tell you what most people do? We do a lot of counseling. A lot of times they turn to alcohol. They want to numb their pain. For some people, you go to drugs.
For some people, they engage in premarital sex. You know why? They've decided that if this is what life is like, I'm going to give up my moral values. For some, they stopped going to church. For some, they stopped going to small groups. In Tagalog, you call it Tampoo Tampoo. It's a wonderful Filipino word but I've turned it into an American word and it's Tampo. What is Tempo? Tempo is when you're unhappy and you withdraw into yourself, a lot of people do that and you're sulking. Do you understand the word? So tell the people next to you not to be sulky with me! Don't Be Sulky So are you ready to learn about this specific character from the Bible? Are you ready?
Okay, we're going to talk about Moses. Everyone says: Moses. The topic this morning is simple, everyone reads: Turning Disappointment into Blessings. Please note: Disappointment can be turned into blessings if you trust God. One central idea: Turn Disappointment into Blessings. What do you do to become a blessing? Trust God If I see you next week, I ask you what is the topic of your sermon? What are you telling me? Turn disappointment into blessing. How do you do it? Trust God OK, tell the person next to you: Turn disappointment into a blessing Do n't you have a neighbor? Don't you like your neighbor? Okay, smile at the person next to you.
Look at your neighbor and tell them: Turn your disappointment into a blessing and trust God, okay? Okay my outline is simple, we will discuss the three stages of the life of Moses. The life of Moses can be simply divided into three parts. Part 1. Moses thought he was great. He was a prince and he lived in the palace. The characteristics of Moses' life are: secular education. On his own, Moses was impulsive. This is the first part of Moses' life. The second part of Moses' life: He realizes that he is an ordinary man. He runs away. He becomes a fugitive. This is recorded in Exodus 2-4. What did you notice during Zhang's escape? This wilderness experience of loneliness, obscurity, and reflection was the wilderness of Moses, from 40 to 80 years.
The Bible tells us that something happened when he was 80 years old. He discovered that God could turn a nobody into a great person. God can use a person in an extraordinary way and this is what Moses discovered from Exodus 5 to the end of Deuteronomy can you imagine? In one sermon, I will describe the life of Moses as told in the five books of the Bible. If you think I am going too fast, no problem, you can go watch my previous videos. The information I gave about Exodus is still there. remember? We talked about Exodus and you guys went back and learned more about Moses, but in the meantime, today's content boils down to this for you: What can we learn from different aspects of Moses' life?
So how do we present today's sermon message? What is the theme? What can you do to turn disappointment into blessing? Trusting God How do you learn to trust God? You look at the first 40 years of Moses' life and we'll look at the second 40 years from 40 to 80 years old and we'll look at the last 40 years of Moses' life from 80 to 120 years old. Are you ready to learn from this amazing man? OK, let's get started! The Bible tells us... Let me give you a quick background first. There was a change of dynasties. The Jews were welcomed by the Egyptians for a time and then something happened. Historically speaking, there was a change of dynasties. There was a group of people who took over.
The Empire Bible tells us that the new king of Egypt did not know about Joseph. They did not know the history so the new regime did not like the Jews. They saw the Jews as a threat so they introduced oppressive laws. Genocide began from this point on. Killing babies and killing children was nothing new. It started thousands of years ago so there was a decree that all Jews who were born if they were male, they should be thrown into the river and they should be killed and that was the context of when Moses was born as a boy. The Dangerous Bible tells us that these parents decided to do a different thing so they tried to save Moses, you know?
So there was an infant Moses. Later he couldn't hide it anymore, so he took a bulrush box, painted it with stone paint and oil, and put the child in it. He put the box on the bank of the river among the reeds. The child's sister stood far away. How can you imagine this picture? Now Moses was put in a basket. The basket was smeared with stone paint to make it waterproof. They were watching how the basket was going to go down the river. Now this is where you need to learn. When you get frustrated with government. When you get frustrated with policy. When you Disappointed with what happened like this family what do you have to do? Trust God. Do you know why? Because God knows what happened.
The Bible tells us and look at the amazing things that happened behind the scenes. Everyone read: It happened that Pharaoh's daughter came to the river to bathe. It just happened! By chance she saw the basket. By chance she opened the basket and she saw the child. Look! The boy was crying, and everyone read: She felt pity for him. Can you see how God is working? God is miraculous with his timing. Tell your neighbor: Trust Him. Trust God. God is miraculous with his timing. You may not realize it but God is at work. The Bible tells us that His sister was to Pharaoh. His daughter said, "Is it okay if I go and call a wet nurse from among the Hebrew women to nurse this child for you"?
Now you understand in Filipino culture we have Yaya, we have nannies. There is nothing new about this. What did the daughter of Pharaoh say? Pharaoh's daughter said: "Okay, let's call the girl". The mother of the child. The mother of the child became Yaya. Not only that, the Bible tells us that Pharaoh's daughter said to her: Take this child and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages. Can you imagine that? Isn't it amazing that God gets paid to care for your own children? Is God in control? I tell you, He may not seem to be in control, but if you look at the life of Moses you will learn something about our God. Is our God great? Isn't God amazing?
Well, look at this story. What happened was bad. But even when bad things happened, God is still in control. Say it with me: God is in control. So what do you do when you feel disappointed? Trust God, one more time: Trust God Trust God I don't know what's coming into your life It could be bad Trust God, what happened during this time? Well, first of all he was given a name. What was Moses' name? She named him "Moses". Why? Because I pulled him out of the water. So how many of you are called Moses? Put your hands up, Moses. I know one or two, well, you'd better learn how to swim. Moses, out of the water. This is a side comment if you guys don't laugh. That's okay, no problem. Let's read this together: What do we know about what happened to Moses?
This is what happened during that time By faith, Moses... This was the faith of the parents Moses was born and was hidden by his parents for three months because they saw that he was a handsome child and they were not afraid of the king's command which was The faith of Moses (the parents) helped them in their efforts to preserve the life of their children. By faith, this time it was Moses' faith. When he grew up, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. What happened now? Why did Moses decide not to be a prince when he grew up? Well, let's find out why. The Bible tells us that Moses would rather suffer with God's people than enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin.
Ladies and gentlemens, life is about choices. Moses made a hard choice. The Bible tells us, He would rather endure suffering than enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin. Sin can be happy. Don't let anyone deceive you. But sin only brings you temporary happiness. Moses was wise. The Bible tells us that he regarded those who suffered for Christ. The reproach was more precious than the treasures of Egypt, for he desired the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's wrath, for he endured as he saw the invisible Lord. Moses made a difficult choice. Now it amazes me. Who taught Moses about God? Who taught Moses that his identity belonged to God's people and not to the Egyptians? What made Moses go against the culture of his day? What's the answer? What do you think?
Wake up, please wake up the people next to you. I'm asking you a question. What do you think made Moses go against that culture and go against the Egyptians and side with his own people? The answer is? parents. You see, Moses was educated at home. His mother and father took care of him. Although this period may not have been long, the influence of the parents was so powerful that it could overcome the education of the secular world. What do I mean? Let's look at the Bible. The Bible tells us, in the Acts of the Apostles, let's read together: Moses learned all the knowledge of the Egyptians, which was the most advanced civilization at that time. He was talented in speaking and doing.
Moses was trained as a prince. Joseph told Our man was a great warrior. Moses was educated in the best universities of his time. But who was teaching him when he was younger? The answer is? Parents I want to ask parents to stand up. All parents, please stand up! All parents, stand up. Parents, I want to remind all of you that you have the greatest influence in your children's lives. The problem is: many parents don't know how to influence their children. You are not trained to know how to use yourselves. be careful of the influence don't blame the school stop blaming society because you need to take your personal responsibility for your child let me say it again society always tries to influence your child there are no ifs and buts but the only way to protect your child It's the parents who have to take that responsibility. You have to be attentive.
If you don't have a relationship with your children, how are you going to influence them? How will you influence your children if you don't model godliness? So it's important that you understand your responsibilities and now we're going to be running a workshop on how to be an effective parent and that's going to be in July/August and you're going to start thinking about how you're impacting your child today. Got it? You're gonna tell me, Peter, I have a problem, my kids are older. Well, let me tell you, even though they're older, maybe you missed that opportunity. Never despair, you know why? It's never too late to change because you still have an influence, whether you like it or not parents always still have an influence on their children don't you? But don't give up, okay? Amen?
Thank you. Please take a seat. So the Bible tells us, everyone, read: When he was forty years old, he decided in his heart to visit his brothers Israel. Do you understand? When Moses was approaching 40 years old, it was clear that the influence his parents had brought to him when he was very young was effective. He made a choice. Please see his choice. When he saw one of them being treated unfairly, he protected him. The oppressed people took revenge and killed the Egyptian. Moses did something. His motives were good. He wanted to protect the oppressed people. But there was just one problem. You see, it takes time to mature and do the will of God. It's great to have the right motive but you can have the right motive and you can sincerely want to do God's will but you can do it in the wrong way at the wrong time you know what I'm saying?
Moses was impulsive and he thought he could do something and you know what he found? He thought the brothers would understand that God was delivering them by his hand. You see, for Moses, he was going to save his people. So Moses had the right idea. This mother must have taught Moses: Moses, you have to help your people. But Moses failed miserably, in fact he was in pain. When Pharaoh heard this, he wanted to kill Moses. But Moses escaped from Pharaoh and fled to live in the land of Midian. Long story short, Moses became a fugitive. Wrong choice, wrong move. He started to flee, he began to feel lonely. You have to understand, it was not easy to escape from Pharaoh, the most powerful army, the most powerful man. But the Bible tells us that even when Moses was running away, he met a group of women. They were shepherdess.
These women were being subjected to Bullied by Some Other Men Moses was a warrior and he protected these women and they were so impressed with him that they invited him to their home and this future father-in-law was smart hey this guy he sounded cultured so he invited Moses, can you be my son-in-law? You can live with us and marry my daughter so long story short Moses decided to live with this family so what is Moses' job now? Moses became a shepherd. Moses tended the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. One day he led the sheep to the west side of the wilderness to the mountain of God, which is Mount Horeb.
Now let me ask you a question. Can you imagine? What was Moses' daily life like as a shepherd? How many of you have had some experience as a shepherd? Please raise your hand I know why you know why you guys are city boys you are a special group you live in palaces but you don't know what it means to be a shepherd I want you to imagine you wake up in the morning and you now bring the sheep Lead to the pasture, you are looking for grass. What do you hear every morning? Hey, that's pretty cool, right? Let's do it again, isn't it great? Now imagine you do this every day for 40 years. For 40 years that's all you do, you watch the sheep. And you hear them talking to each other: Baa~ for 40 years. What was Moses thinking? Can you tell me? I believe that during this time, Moses must have been thinking that my future is over. This is all I have to do to shepherd sheep for the rest of my life.
You see, from a famous figure to a prince, you have been close to politicians and celebrities. Now you and Bie were very close, my friend. I believe it was during this time in the wilderness that Moses was in the wilderness. He experienced loneliness and obscurity. My friend, I don't know what is going on in your life. But some of you may be going through the wilderness. Your career is flat. Your love life is flat. Your life seems to be at a standstill. There's nothing. That's when you want to give up. You feel like you don't have anything anymore. Can I make suggestions in the future? It's at this time that God teaches you some of the greatest lessons in life. You know why? We need to learn the lesson of silence, the lesson of solitude, the lesson of obscurity.
Some people refuse to go through the wilderness. Just this morning someone told me what was going on in his life. He told me: Peter, I'm teaching the Bible and I'm always on the stage. I remember you telling me that because of what was going on, he reminded me to stop teaching the Bible for a while, stop leading any small groups, and spend time with the Lord. You see, I had forgotten that I told him this and he said, exactly During this time of wilderness experience, I met the Lord and had the greatest intimate relationship with Him. Do you know why? When you are unknown, when no one knows you, when you stop preaching, when you are willing to be nobody, you begin to discover: Who God is, and I don't know if you are satisfied.
If you are no longer given any ministry, you have no job. Position If all this were taken away and all you had was the Lord would you be satisfied? will you be happy? That's why I tell others to cherish their experiences in the wilderness. I remember my own experience, many years ago when I was in the hospital. You know when you're in the hospital room you have silence. You have loneliness. You're alone in this moment. I can hear God clearly telling me what to do and I believe God is speaking to us but the problem is not with God, the problem is that we are too busy and you know why? See what happened to Moses. Forty years later, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses from a burning bush. When Moses saw the vision, he was amazed.
As he went to look at it, the voice of the Lord said: Do you understand? God got Moses' attention through the burning bush. I believe that if the burning bush had happened while Moses was in the palace, Moses might not have noticed the burning bush at all. You see, God wants to speak to us but the problem is not with God, The Problem Is Here With Us We're Too Busy Sometimes You're Not Too Busy Doing The Wrong Things You're Too Busy Doing The Right Things Here's Why The Wilderness Isn't Always A Bad Idea Has God been trying to speak to you? You know, if you lived in a palace none of the burning bush would catch your attention if you were so busy doing your own thing God speaks to us in many ways and we have many experiences, and if you look at history in ca.
How did God speak to Joseph in Joseph's case? do you remember? Joseph in prison, Joseph in a dream, God spoke to Joseph. How did God speak to David? David was a shepherd, but how did God speak to David? He will use Nathan. God uses people. God uses circumstances. He will use all kinds of things to speak to us. The question is: Are you listening? The question is this: God is always speaking, are you listening? Here's a challenge: Are you listening? Do you believe God uses disappointment to get your attention? Is this possible? I think so, so what do you have to do when you're disappointed? Trust God and Turn Disappointment into a Blessing If you are in the wilderness trust God, listen and learn to listen, because God wants to reach out to you.
Amazingly, the Bible tells us this is what happened: The Lord is burning. Moses spoke in the bush ... Let's read together: Everyone read together: Moses said I want to go over and see this great vision. Why wasn't the bush burned? When the Lord God saw him coming to see, he called out from the bush, "Moses! Moses"! If you were Moses, would you be shocked? Then the Lord said... God said: Moses! Moses! Moses said: Here I am! Then He said Everyone read: This is what God was telling Moses. Come not near. Take your shoes off your feet. For the place you are standing on is holy ground. God is telling Moses.
Lesson 101 How do you approach God? He is Holy. Moses personally encountered the living God. What did God tell Moses? God says...Read it: I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses was trembling and afraid to look at the Lord God (LORD, in all capital letters) and said: My people are in the land of Egypt. I actually saw their cry because they were under the control of their taskmasters, and I heard their pain. I knew their pain. God wanted Moses to realize that He is good and that He is loving. The Bible tells us, God told Moses: I know their trouble. Please tell me: I know what they are suffering. What is my perspective? When you think God doesn't know what's going on you're totally wrong God told Moses: I know my people I know they are suffering If you were Moses, what would go into your mind?
Remember, God told Moses I did see their suffering and I saw it and I knew then Moses must have been very happy because God said I came down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them out of the land into a good, A wide, land flowing with milk and honey Now, Ladies and gentlemens, what can you learn about God? God knows our suffering, He knows our pain. God says: I will deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them into the Promised Land. Ladies and gentlemens, if you search the book of Exodus, it is a book of redemption. book, if you remember, Exodus is a picture of how God deals with us. It's a picture of our lives as Christians, how we are bound to sin and bound to the world before we come to Christ. Like the Israelites, they were enslaved by the Egyptians. They couldn't get out. They needed a miracle. God performed an amazing miracle. God had to intervene to take them out of Egypt. This is what God told Moses: I want to come down. I want to save mine.
Ladies and gentlemens, would you be excited if you were Moses? Wow! 40 years ago, that was my plan 40 years ago but I thought it would never come true. You know, sometimes, your visions, your dreams, fade away. Do you have some dreams that you've given up on? Yes or no? You're disappointed, you give up. Well, welcome to the club. This happens to everyone, but God wants to teach us. God told Moses: Moses I'm coming down! Moses was very excited. Except for the next sentence. Do you know why? There was a problem and God said: I want to come down. Moses would have said: Hallelujah! Then God said: So, I will send you... Sorry! You said you would come down. God said: I am coming! I want to send you away! What can you learn about God? That you may bring my people Israel... What can you learn?
I tell everyone when God wants to do something He does it through His people When you ask God to do something and God says: Okay who will God use? you! He's going to use people. Moses was learning. You're going to save these people, right? God said: Right! You, you do it! What would you do if you were Moses? Let me tell you, Moses gave God five excuses. This is amazing! God's Way God wants to do something, but He will do it through His people. Moses said to God: Oh, boss, boss, Lord who am I? Who am I? Lord, look, Moses was The experience of being broken takes time because Moses once thought he was great, remember? How can God use someone? We've been talking about "Brokenness" these past few weeks.
Moses was going through brokenness. Someone was broken. You'll notice that he stopped leaning on himself. He began to realize: I can't do it. Broken people are humble people. They realize that they can't do it. Broken people are dependent people. They are not self-sufficient. Self-sufficient people are not broken. They think they are human. The answer is no, no, broken. Lord, you are. The answer is not me, that is Moses. Moses said: Lord, I who is it? Of course God knows, God knows who you are You're nothing great, I know But God's answer, everyone please read: I will be with you You know, broken, you start to realize, God is all you need.
Notice that Moses gave God five excuses. The first excuse is: Who am I? Excuse No. 2: What is His name? If people ask me who you are, what should I say to them? The third excuse, they don't believe me or listen to me, what should I do? Did you see it? These are all valid excuses. Lord, do you want me to go? I'll go but what if they don't believe me? Are these valid excuses? Sure. Excuse No. 4 I have never been eloquent. I am a slow talker. Now don't blame Moses. The Bible says his words were powerful. Why, 40 years later, did he call me a slow talker? I tell you why. You try to talk to the sheep for 40 years, baa, baa. Eventually you start to realize that I've lost my ability to speak. Moses has lost his confidence. Hallelujah! When you lose your confidence, you know the world will tell you: No, no, you have to have confidence.
Let me tell you that in the Christian world, you have to have confidence in God and not confidence, amen? Have faith in God, not confidence that God is bringing Moses to this point. The real blessings will come. Through your disappointments and failures you are driven to the Lord. Now His last excuse is unacceptable. The Bible tells us, see Look at his last excuse. Lord, send whomever you want to send! Lord, you can send whoever you want, but don't send me. This time God got angry. When Moses gave all kinds of excuses, the only time God got angry was when he disobeyed. Praise God! God Did Not Give Up on Moses Let me summarize God's response to Moses' various excuses. Do you know how God responded to these excuses? God said: I am the answer Even when Moses said: I cannot speak God said: Who made the mouth? Who makes people deaf, who makes people blind? Who made your mouth?
You see, God is telling Moses: Moses, I will be your mouth. Moses, I will teach you what to say. Moses, do you feel you are not strong enough? No problem I will be with you, praise God! He is our sufficiency, Amen! So listen to me, what is the topic of today's sermon? What must you do when you are disappointed? Trust God How do you trust God? Look at God's control of time. His control of time is amazing. 40 years, and another 40 years later. How old was Moses at this time? Let's read this. Moses and Aaron did this; Everyone read: Moses was eighty years old. When God called Moses and Moses responded, how old was he at that time? Eighty years old.
How many of you are 80 years old today? Raise your hand 80 years old. Someone turned 80 this morning and I salute that lady. How many of you are 80? Wow, this is a young congregation. How many of you are approaching 80? You are 60 or 70 years old, can you stand up? People over 60 and 70 years old, I want to ask you to stand up and just admit it! Stand up! 60 to 70 years old, please stand up! Oh my god! Jim! Are you already 60 years old? OK, now listen to me. According to research, the most productive age in a person's life is Can You Guess? Yes, 60 to 80 years old. According to research, the average age of the top CEOs of the world's largest companies is over 60 years old. The average age of Nobel Prize winners is over 60 years old. The average age of the Pope is over 70 years old.
So, my friends, there is still hope for you, OK? My friend, don't retire the best years are yet to come, amen? So praise God! I want to encourage you not to think about retirement, but to take a seat. How old was Moses when he began serving God? 80 years old. So if you are thinking that you are too old to serve God, I want you to realize that Moses started serving God when he was 80 years old. You see, when you trust God, disappointment turns into one. God was telling Moses: Moses, believe me and I will use you. The Bible tells us: Moses and Aaron obeyed the Lord and they went to see Pharaoh. Let me ask you, is Pharaoh easy to deal with? I tell you, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and they told Pharaoh: This is what the Lord God of Israel says to Pharaoh: Let my people go and keep a feast to me in the wilderness.
You see, Moses and Aaron obeyed the Lord God, Pharaoh! Let the Jews go, let them go. What did Pharaoh say? Of course, do you want to leave? Of course you can leave! Is this what Pharaoh said? No. What did Pharaoh say? Notice what Pharaoh said Everyone read: Pharaoh said: Who is the LORD? Tell me to listen to him? Let the Israelites go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let the Israelites go! Today in this auditorium, some of you are like Pharaoh. Some of you may be like Pharaoh. You disobey the Lord, and the reason you disobey the Lord is that you do not know Him. This is Pharaoh. You are Your own boss Pharaoh said: I do not know the Lord, who is the Lord? I actually want to listen to Him?
You see, Ladies and gentlemens, your actions show it, and you can't deceive God. God knows if He is the Lord of your life. I can't see your heart, but God can. That's all I care about. There are people among us. Pharaoh you have to humble yourself and realize I thought I was a Christian but I was not a Christian I thought I was a follower of Jesus all you have is religion Pharaoh was very religious Pharaoh worshiped many gods but what Pharaoh did not have is: He didn't know the true God so Pharaoh just said: I will never obey the Lord. Why? I don't know Him.
So, Ladies and gentlemens, when people don't obey God's Word, you have to go deeper when people don't obey God. It's possible that they have religion, but they don't have Jesus. God knows, this task is going to be hard. That's why. God wanted to use someone. A man who had surrendered completely to Him. Moses was great for the first 40 years, but he wasn't available. Moses didn't give up on his own ambitions. His life, his style. Moses was unavailable even though God wanted to use him. It took another forty years for Moses to be broken, for Moses to be completely surrendered. Now Moses is 80 years old and he is ready to obey God.
Look what happened. The Bible tells us that God used Moses to first meet Pharaoh. God told Moses that you would perform miracles, many miracles to convince Pharaoh to turn water into blood. Frogs came to the earth and lice and flies were everywhere... It was really miraculous. When God told Moses, you tell Pharaoh, these flies will trouble you. You know that flies are filling the land of Egypt except the land of Goshen where the Israelites are. It is amazing that flies obey God. Is God in control? How wonderful! All the Egyptians' livestock died, but God protected the Israelites' livestock. How amazing! Boils, you know boils are painful, but the Israelites didn't have hail, oh my God! hail! Killing people and livestock, but they did not fall on the land of the Israelites. Locusts were everywhere; darkness covered the entire land, except the land of Goshen. How could this be possible?
Let me tell you, isn't God amazing? Let me ask you, can you trust God? louder please! Can you trust God? Is God great? Is God powerful? Look, the firstborn, all the firstborn must die. You know, it's amazing. God told Moses: Pharaoh will be stubborn. He won't let people go until the last plague. What is the last plague? All firstborn will die. Can I ask all firstborn to stand up? All firstborns, please stand up. You know that in every family there is a firstborn. In theory, every family has a firstborn. Now if you have two firstborns in your family, I would be surprised. Hear me, all firstborn. According to the Lord He told Moses: Go and tell everyone, all firstborn, what will happen to you? You will die All firstborn unless... Do you want to be spared alive? Firstborn?
Now I want you to imagine that you were there and the announcement was coming that all the firstborn were going to die and I didn't think they would laugh. I thought they would be scared, right? Do you want to save your life? Here is the solution: Do you want to know the solution? I want to highlight this particular miracle. Do you know why? I want to show you: Trusting God means trusting His ways, you may not understand but you have to trust Him for all the firstborn, please read: This is the solution, for all the firstborn So, Moses called the Israelites The elders came and said to them, "You are to take lambs according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. You must kill the Passover lamb".
Exodus explains that the Passover lamb must be without blemish. Read the next section and take a handful. Dip the blood in the hyssop basin and put it on the lintel and the left and right doorposts. No one of you can go out of your house until morning. What is this instruction? Slaughter the lamb. Put the blood in a basin and use hyssop. Hyssop is a plant. Soak it in the blood. What do you do with the blood? Hit it on the doorpost outside your house. Then God gives a promise. Read it: The Lord will go around and kill the Egyptians. When he sees the blood on the lintel and doorposts, the Lord will pass through the door. So this is Passover. The word comes from this historical event. When the angel of death came to Egypt, when he saw the blood, he would pass over.
Notice the promise that the destroyer will not come into your houses to smite you. You are to keep your ways and yours. An eternal statute for posterity. This is a historical event that is practiced by the Jewish people to this day. Many years ago, I was hosted by a Jewish lawyer in New York City. The lawyer took me to his home and we went through the Passover rituals. Now let me ask you a question, how to preserve it. What is the answer to the lives of these firstborn people? Wake up, wake up, what's your answer? When you put blood on the doorposts these Egyptians died not because they were Egyptians the Israelites were saved not because they were Israel they were saved not because they were rich they were saved not because they were rich they were saved Not because they were good people. They were saved because of one reason only - blood. When I see blood, I pass over.
Ladies and gentlemens, hundreds of years later, 2,000 years ago during Passover, Jesus did that for us. What? During Passover when all the Jews were looking for a lamb to slaughter Jesus chose the Passover day to tell the people: I am the Lamb of God and your sins are forgiven because I will shed my blood. In other words, the devil The power was broken by the shedding of blood. It was because of Jesus. There is no other salvation. It's an amazing story. Moses was used by God to preach the gospel. Do you understand? Ladies and gentlemens, you are saved because of this blood. The Jews are free because of this blood. Isn't God amazing?
Please take a seat. What can you learn now? Here's the lesson: God used Moses to perform these amazing miracles. But what did you notice? You notice one thing. It's not the power of Moses. It's the power of the Lord. It's not the way of Moses. It's not the wisdom of Moses. Everything comes from God, but God wants to use people. God wants to use you. The question is, are you available? You're not available until you learn to be broken The path to brokenness is often through disappointment When you start to realize I'm sick and tired of the way I am I'm sick and tired of making my own choices I surrender to the Lord This is what happens What happened to Moses? Moses realized that he was nothing. Can you imagine all these miracles?
Ladies and gentlemens, Moses would never have known what God could do if He did not obey Him. You will never know what God can do in your life through your life. Unless you obey Him, you will not experience God in your life. The Power in Your Life Working Through Your Life You will not experience miracles in your life working through your life as a rule until you learn to trust God and what does it mean to trust God in obedience? Obey. Listen to me, if you keep telling me that you trust God, you believe in God and you disobey, what are you telling me? You are religious but you don't really trust God. Trust means obedience.
Please note that God used Moses to write the Ten Commandments. God used Moses to write the five books of the Bible and to raise the tabernacle. These are amazing stories. I suggest You guys go back and watch the old videos and listen to those sermons but notice, as we come to the end I want to ask you, what was Moses' greatest desire? What is he praying for? What did Moses pray for? Did you pray just now? Have you ever prayed silently? Well, only one person is praying. Well, praise God! Now listen to me, what are you praying for? You know, what you pray for reveals to me what your true desires are. What you really pray for tells me what your priorities are in life.
Can I tell you what Moses prayed for? You'll Be Surprised The Highlights of Moses' Prayer Moses prayed this way: If I find favor in your sight Everyone reads: Show me your ways for what purpose? That I might know you Moses' prayer: I want to know you and I want to please you. Moses wanted God more than anything else. Please pay attention and read on: I myself will go with you and give you rest. Moses said: If you Do not bring us up from here unless you come with me yourself. You see, Moses prayed: Lord! My greatest wish is: I want you Lord, don't take us out of here unless you come with us Moses prayed: I want you I want to know you I want your presence ladies sir You guys, God gave me this same desire many years ago.
When we started CCF many years ago I said, Lord, if you were not with CCF, I would not be a pastor of CCF. I would not be a pastor of CCF if you were not with us. Can't lead CCF? Do you know why? I learned the most important thing in life is the presence of God, amen? This has been my prayer. I say: Lord! If you were no longer with CCF I wouldn't be here. You know what I pray for? It's God be with you, God be with your families God's presence in your business God's presence in your work God's presence in your ministry Question: God's presence in what you do? You'll notice, you don't see Moses praying until he's 80 years old and that's when Moses discovers that the greatest thing in his life is a friend in God, if you have God you have everything, if you don't have God you have nothing, Look at the prayers of Moses.
Moses has another prayer request after that. Can I tell you his prayer request? He really wanted God. Moses said: I pray... The Lord said to Moses: I will also do what you ask. But Moses said: Please show me your glory. How many of us pray like that now? Lord, I want to know you and show me your glory. Friends, your desire for God is measured by how much time you desire to spend with Him. Your prayer life is. My prayer life is A thermometer that shows us the extent of our thirst for the Lord My prayer is CCF We all really thirst for God We want Him, Amen? Do you want to turn disappointment into a blessing? What must you do? Trust God What does it mean to trust God? You must obey Him.
What does it mean to trust God? You long for His presence, you have to want Him. How can you trust God? How can you trust a man? If you don't trust Him, if you don't love Him, you don't want Him. Moses' final test was his last request. Do you know what Moses' last prayer request was? He wants to go to the Promised Land. Lord, I pray, please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan River, the wonderful mountains and Lebanon. You know, Moses begged God, Lord, help me. I want to enter the Promised Land. Do you know what is so wonderful? But the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he did not answer me. He said to me, " That's it"! Don't mention this to me again. Go up to the top of Pisgah and look east, west, south, and north. For you will not be able to cross the Jordan. God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land.
Now, if you are Moses, your How do you feel? Imagine that for 120 years that has been your goal to bring people into the Promised Land, and then 20 years later God says, I'm sorry, you're not going into the Promised Land. How would you feel? Honestly, how would you feel? disappointment. You see, my friend, your ability to handle disappointment is directly proportional to your closeness to God. If you are close to God, you can handle disappointment. Do you know why? You can say: Lord, that's my dream, that's my hope, but it doesn't matter if you don't give it to me, why? I believe you. What happened to Moses? Do you want to know what happened to him? God told Moses: But charge Joshua, encourage him, give him courage, for he will go before this people and make them inherit the land you are going to see.
In other words, Moses, you will not get the honor. You will not get that. Glory that would be your disciple Joshua Now if you were Moses what would you say? Oh God! What are you doing? Do you lose your temper? Will you be angry with God and say: Lord! This is not fair! I gave you my entire life of 120 years but you refused to let me lead the people into the Promised Land? Moses did not do this. Moses was faithful. The Bible tells us that Moses obeyed the Lord. Moses called Joshua and told him: Be strong and of good courage! Because you will enter with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them. Moses encouraged Joshua: Be strong and courageous!
Look at what Moses told Joshua. Moses said: The Lord will go before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Do not be dismayed. Moses discovered that the most important thing is God's presence. God calls. Moses went and told Joshua: Joshua! Go forward! God is with you and He will not let you fail. Did Moses encourage Joshua? Yes. A true leader will have successors. A leader without successors is not a successful leader. Moses was successful. Do you know why? Moses learned: Lord! What matters is what you want to do not what I want to do that is broken Did Moses enter the Promised Land? How many of you said yes and how many of you said no? How many of you say that Moses did not enter the Promised Land? Please raise your hands, lift them high! Wow!
There are many people. How many of you say that Moses entered the Promised Land? Please raise your hand! Okay, what's the correct answer? Moses entered the Promised Land. Did you know that? I'm not making this up okay let me share with you this is very touching to me I take people to Mount Nebo every year and every year we go to this place where Moses went from the plains of Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah across from Jericho to the Lord Let him see all the land and the LORD said to him: This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to your descendants, but you will not be able to go there. This is what we took. photo. Pictures we took at Mount Nebo God showed all the land to Moses but Moses you could only see but not enter.
The Bible tells us that Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not dimmed and his spirit was not failing. In other words, in terms of physical strength, Moses could still enter the Promised Land. Moses could still lead the people. But God said, No, I have other plans for you. There was no prophet like Moses in Israel. He was known to the Lord face to face. Moses was intimate with God. Moses knew. God He surrendered but did Moses enter the Promised Land? have! Let me tell you, let me tell you. Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and James' brother John, and they went up a high mountain privately. And Jesus was transfigured before them. Read this: Look! Moses and Elijah appeared.
Where did Moses appear? In the Promised Land Did Moses enter the Promised Land? Yes, but not in His time, but in God's time. Do you know this song? In His time In His time He makes all things beautiful In His time We'll sing it later My friend Not all our desires Not all our dreams Not all our ambitions Will come true in this life Many times, you The hopes and dreams will happen but you don't know when for many of us God promises to give you something don't despair, in His time In God's time, Moses entered the Promised Land What about you? My friend, what must you do when you are disappointed in God? Trusting Him, let us pray.
If God has spoken to you some of you have never really met the Lord you don't really know the Lord you can't trust Him but you say: Peter, I realize God loves me, He is trustworthy, His control over time It's amazing He can do anything. I want to trust Him. I want to know Him. If this is your desire I want to pray for you. If you want to have a true encounter with God like Moses did, please raise your hands and I will pray for you. Pray, lift high! Praise God! Lift it higher! This is an extremely important thing because God wants you to meet Him. The only problem is: maybe you are too busy and you don't have time to give Him. So I want to pray for you. When your hands are raised you pray this prayer with me: Raise your hands. High Point, pray this prayer with me:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you. I come to you, broken and humbled. Lord Jesus, help me to know you. I invite you, Lord Jesus, as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life and be my Lord. Help me to obey you. Help me to trust you Father God in heaven. I pray for these men and women who have their hands raised. You know their hearts. I pray for them. May they do the most wonderful thing, way to meet you.
Please stand up quietly. Those of you who have raised your hands, please stand up now, stand up. I want to say a special prayer for you. Those of you who have prayed this prayer, please stand where you are. Please stand. Get up some of you haven't surrendered your life yet If you want to surrender your life now God is speaking to you why don't you get up too? If you want to surrender your life but you haven't surrendered your life yet and you haven't surrendered your disappointment yet you can stand up and I will pray for you too.
Anyone else? Don't resist Him. When God is speaking to you, don't resist Him. Just stand up and say, "Yes, Lord! I'm here", is there anyone else? You know why? This is your moment This is your burning bush moment God speaks to you Anyone else? Praise God! I know that in this moment when you may be silent before God, when you are alone, in the silence, God is very real. Is there anyone else? I want you to surrender your disappointments, surrender your lives to Him, and praise God!
Father God in heaven I thank you for this group of men and women who have shown their intention to give their lives and future to you and I want to pray for them for those who pray to accept you and for those who pray to surrender regardless of their What are the choices and decisions? Honor them, guide them and above all: Lord Jesus, make yourself so real that our disappointments can turn into blessings. Our hopes and dreams may not come true today but Lord! We will not give up hope. We continue to trust in you. It may be now or it may be in the future, but Lord, one thing we know is that in eternity our hopes and dreams will come true. We pray all in the name of Jesus. Amen! Amen!