“God Keeps His Word”
Matthew 24:25 NKJV See, I have told you beforehand.
Matthew 24:25 CEV But I have warned you ahead of time.
Jesus is simply saying, “What you are hearing, you have heard before…”
Ahead of time, God tells us what is going to happen so that we can prepare for it.
How many of us know that if we will put our faith in God’s Word we will win every time?
2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Romans 8:37 NKJV Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ahead of time we are told not to worry because it keeps God from being able to work in our lives, but we still worry.
Ahead of time, we are told about the dangers of strife, but we still give in to the temptation to get frustrated and lose our cool.
This happens because during the times of pressure, even though we know that God will always cause a good outcome for us, we still are tempted to give up and quit.
Psalms 34:19 NKJV Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
We know this truth, so why do we quit and give up short of the victory?
Perfect Example from Mark 4:
Jesus teaches the disciples about the sowing of the Word and that the enemy will come and try and steal the Word out of the hearts of people.
Mark 4:13 NKJV And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
They all heard the message. Jesus then decides to go to the other side of the lake and there arose a great storm and they all got afraid.
Jesus was giving the disciples a living example to follow; a lab class if you will. They just had the theory taught to them and now they were going to have a lab, so they could see it in operation.
Mark 4:35 NKJV On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”
The disciples thought that because Jesus was asleep, He did not care.
Jesus, however, was resting on the power of God’s Word. They became afraid, woke Jesus up, He rebuked the storm and then rebuked them for not doing the same thing.
Mark 4:40 AMPC He said to them, Why are you so timid and fearful? How is it that you have no faith (no firmly relying trust)?
God did the same thing for the Children of Israel when he warned them that Pharaoh’s heart was going to be hardened, and that Pharaoh would attempt to “outdo” God. But God will not be “outdone.”
Jeremiah 17:5-8 NKJV Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. (6) For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. (7) “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. (8) For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
shrub in the desert = tumbleweed (KJV)
Wikipedia:
A tumbleweed is the above-ground part of a plant that, once mature and dry, separates from the root and tumbles (rolls) away in the wind. Usually, the tumbleweed is the entire plant apart from the roots, but in a few species it is a flower cluster.[1]
- Tumbleweeds have no roots.
- Roots grow for two reasons: Good soil and good water. (Word and the Holy Spirit)
James 1:5-7 NKJV If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (6) But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
The Children of Israel would love God and Moses and celebrate every time that the Lord would show up and deliver them but when the pressure would get turned up some, they would become afraid and would want to stone Moses and return back to the bondage of Egypt.
This type of mindset did not start in the wilderness, it started while they were still in Egypt dealing with Pharaoh.
A tree planted by the river of water doesn’t depend on the weather to take care of it.
Very Important Truth:
The truth that we need to see for our lives is this: that some of the same things that happen to carnal Christians will happen to spiritual Christians. Spiritual Christians can potentially experience some of the same things that the world goes through (job layoffs, etc.)
What is the difference? Being rooted and grounded in God and His Word is what enables you to come out victorious on the other side.
Your roots run deep into the soil where the environment is not affected by the turmoil that may take place on top of the ground.
Remember, there are two younger men who are watching all this interaction with Pharaoh and how the people responded. They are Joshua and Caleb.
God tells Moses ahead of time what was going to happen with the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and instructed Moses to tell the people exactly what was going to happen.
For the first few times, Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
God never initiates the hardening of someone’s heart. That person does by their will and decisions. (Same as having a tender heart towards God)
Eventually, however, Pharaoh persisted in his resistance and rebellion and God was forced to remove the restraints around him and the Bible will say that God hardened his heart.
Exodus 5:1-2 NKJV Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” (2) And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.”
Pharaoh thought that he was god and God was challenging this in him.
1 Peter 5:5-7 NKJV Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” (6) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, (7) casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Proverbs 3:34 AMPC Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners, yet He gives His undeserved favor to the low [in rank], the humble, and the afflicted. [Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5]
Exodus 4:21 NKJV And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Exodus 7:22 NKJV Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said.
Exodus 8:15 NKJV But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said.
Exodus 8:32 NKJV But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.
Exodus 9:34-35 NKJV And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. (35) So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses.
God removed the restraints and Pharaoh’s heart. God began to cooperate with the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart. God allows it to run its full course.
Exodus 10:1 NKJV Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him,
Exodus 10:20 NKJV But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
Exodus 10:27 NKJV But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
Exodus 7:3-5 NKJV And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. (4) But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. (5) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
Some people can get so crazy in rebellion against God as Pharaoh did, that it begins to turn the heart of Egyptians.
Exodus 9:16-17 NKJV But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. (17) As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go.
When leaders rebel against God, we do not have to fear and get upset. God will take advantage of the rebellion of people to cause someone to hear the Gospel and God get glory!
Joshua 2:9-11 NKJV (Rehab speaking) and said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. (10) For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. (11) And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
Moses and Aaron told the Children of Israel everything that is going to transpire and they received it and worshipped God.
Exodus 4:28-31 NKJV So Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. (29) Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. (30) And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. (31) So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
It was time to move from the theory in class to the experience of the lab.
Then after Pharaoh and the taskmasters of Egypt increased the pressure on the Children of Israel, the worshipping quickly turned into anger and bitterness against Moses. Even Moses got caught up in the moment and forgot what God had told him.
Exodus 5:19-23 NKJV And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.” (20) Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. (21) And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (22) So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? (23) For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”
The Children of Israel went to try and negotiate with the devil about their situation and it made it worse.
Moses doubted, BUT He ran to the Lord to address the situation.
We must realize the difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubts come to us all.
Whether you choose to receive those thoughts and change your belief is when it becomes unbelief. Unbelief is based on a willful decision not to believe something.
Mark 6:5-6 NKJV Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. (6) And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.
Notice that to address the unbelief, Jesus went about teaching. Hearing and being taught the Word of God is what will help you get out of doubt and unbelief.
God always wants you to reason with Him, not the world.
Isaiah 1:18-19 NKJV “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. (19) If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;
Moses runs to God with his doubts and God reminds Moses of the promise and what He swore to do in covenant with Abraham. That is what God will always do for us when we are in a time of doubt.
The thoughts of failure may be coming, but if you will go to God with it, God will always remind you of the promise that He made in His Word in order to give you something to combat the doubt.
God’s response to Moses’ plea to God:
Exodus 6:1-9 NKJV Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” (2) And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD. (3) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. (4) I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. (5) And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. (6) Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. (7) I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. (8) And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD.’ ” (9) So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.