Sermon #S025 -
The Purge - Part 1)
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Pastor Snell: Amen. Numbers
Chapter 14 and we're going to
begin together at verse number
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26, Numbers Chapter 14, and
verse number 26. Happy Sabbath,
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Oakwood. [
Congregation: Happy Sabbath]
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Pastor Snell: All right. Some of
you all look like it's just an
okay Sabbath. Isn't it a happy
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Sabbath today? [
Congregation: Happy Sabbath]
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Amen. Tell your neighbor,
just give them a fist bump.
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Let them know it's good to be
in the house of the Lord today.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Some of you
all, like you're all still tired
from last week service.
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I don't know. I got a second win
this week. Amen. I'm glad, I'm
glad, I'm glad, I'm glad.
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Amen. Numbers Chapter 14 and
we're going to begin to go to
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verse number 26. I just want to
encourage anybody that's dealing
with worry and stresses
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and you got concerns, anybody
besides me got some stress in
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your life today? [
Congregation: Amen]
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Amen. I want you to know that
God wants to give you a formula
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for belief and encourage for
these difficult times in which
we abide. Numbers 14:26, when
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you get there, just say
amen. [ Congregation: Amen]
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Now, again, just for the sake of
context, for those who are not
as familiar with this story,
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Israel has been delivered from
the bondage of Egypt. They have
seen God do great wonders in the
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wilderness. They got their right
to the very verge of the
promised land. Moses sent some
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spies to go and do
reconnaissance, and they came
back and they gave such a
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faithless report that the people
actually elected to go back to
Egypt. What you're going to read
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here is God's response to the
rebellion at Kadesh because
there are some implications for
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us in our time.
Numbers 14:26, the Bible says,
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"And the Lord spoke to
Moses and Aaron saying,
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'how long shall I bear with this
evil congregation who complain
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against me? I have heard the
complaints which the children of
Israel make against me.
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Say to them as I live, says the
Lord, just as you have spoken in
my hearing, so I will do to you.
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The carcasses of you who have
complained against me shall fall
in this wilderness.'"
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[ Congregation: Hallelujah]
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All of you who were numbered
according to your entire number
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from how old? [
Congregation: Twenty years]
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Twenty years old and what?
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[ Congregation: Above]
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And above except for Caleb, the
son of Jephunneh, and Joshua,
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the son of Nun. You shall by no
means into the land which I
swore to make you dwell in.
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For your little ones whom you
said would be victims, I will
bring in and they shall know the
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land which you have despised.
But as for you, your carcasses
shall fall..." Are you all
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hearing this? [
Congregation: Yes]
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Pastor Snell: "In the
wilderness. And your sons shall
be shepherds in the wilderness
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forty years and shall bear the
brunt of your infidelity until
your carcasses are consumed in
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the wilderness. According to the
number of the days in which you
spied out the land, forty days,
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for each of you shall bear your
guilt one year, namely forty
years, and you shall know my
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rejection. I the Lord have
spoken this. I will surely do
this to all the evil
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congregation who are gathered
together against me. In the
wilderness, they shall be
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consumed and there they shall
die. Now, the men who Moses sent
to spy out the land, who
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returned and made all the
congregation complain against
him by bringing a bad report of
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the land, those very men who
brought the evil report about
the land died by plague before
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the Lord. But Joshua, the son of
Nun, and Caleb, the son of
Jephunneh, remained alive of the
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men who went to spy out the
land. Today, Saints, for a
little while, I want to talk to
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you under the subject, The
Purge. The Purge. Let's pray
together. Father, in this little
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while, would you please say
much. Father, we're praying for
visitation that is so heavy,
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that is so strong. I pray that
you would make your Spirit so
dense that we struggle for air.
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Father, I ask that faith will be
multiplied in the hearing of the
word. Father, I pray that we
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would not just see Israel of
old, but may we see ourselves.
Even more than seeing ourselves,
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may we see your goodness, may we
see your power and may we be
drawn to a greater level of
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belief. Lord, hide me in the
shadows of the cross that Jesus
alone might be seen,
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that Christ alone would be
heard. And at the end of our
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time together, may Jesus alone
be praised. We ask this in the
name of him who is altogether
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lovely, is in the name of Jesus
that we pray. Let God's people
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say together amen.
[ Congregation: Amen]
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Pastor Snell: And amen. You may
be seated in the house of the
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Lord. Again, we are talking
under the subject, The Purge. I
invite those who are watching
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online, be digital disciples.
Apple Apostles share the word
with those who are on Facebook
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and YouTube. Church, in recent
weeks, my wife and I, we have
taken our home through a purging
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process. We have cleaned our
closets. We have decluttered
shelves. We have gotten rid of
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baby toys and clothes. The great
thing about a purge is not just
what you get rid of, it's the
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things you begin to find. Once
we purged, I found neckties that
have been lost for years.
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[ Congregation: Laughing]
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It wasn't until I purged that we
found money under seats that I
didn't even know was lost.
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It wasn't until we purged that
we found pictures that we had
not been able to locate.
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I remember a few weeks back, I
lost my remote control and I
turned the house upside down
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looking for it and I couldn't
find the remote until we purged.
Understand, church, that clutter
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is never a goal, clutter is just
a byproduct of living. By human
nature, we collect and hoard
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things that have no value,
intrinsic or otherwise. The
truth is, beloved, once you've
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gotten to a certain level of
clutter in your house, you can't
organize it, you can't manage
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it. The only way things get
orderly is when you get to a
place where you purge it. I want
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to encourage that like us, you
need to schedule several times a
year where you can purge the old
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so you can make room for the
new. Can I suggest, church, that
before Jesus comes, he's going
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to take the church through
several seasons of purging.
There are some of us that need a
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spiritual purge. There are some
that need a social purge. There
are some that need an emotional
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purge. Some of us have gathered
so much soul clutter that it
made it hard for us to find
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spiritual things. For some of
us, we've got so much clutter
that we can't find the truth.
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For some, we can't find faith.
For some, got so much clutter
that we've even lost ourselves
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in the process. The truth is
that some have collected
offenses along the way. We've
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hoarded destructive habits. Some
of us are cluttered with the
wrong people, and as a result,
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there is a spiritual
suffocation. Some of us feel
like the room is closing in on
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us. Some of us are at a place
where we feel stuck in life and
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in the journey. The great thing
about a purge is not just what
you get rid of, the great thing
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about a purge is what you find.
In other words, when you begin
to declutter some of the stuff
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that is suffocating your soul,
when you begin to purge your
spiritual life, you might find
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faith. Some of us might find our
prayer life. Some of us might
find our truth. In fact, some of
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us might actually find Jesus.
The good news about Jesus is
He's never left the house, He's
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always been there. He's just
been waiting for you to clear
out some of the extra so that
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He's a little bit more visible.
Can you hear me today, church?
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[ Congregation: Yeah]
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Pastor Snell: So today, as we go
back to Numbers Chapter 14, I
want you to know, beloved,
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that this particular sermon has
many lessons on the power of
faith. The first thing it
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teaches us, friends, is that if
you always forget how, then
you'll never have the courage
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for now. Let me say it again,
that if you forget the how, then
you will never have courage for
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now. In other words, friends,
when you read, go home and read
Numbers Chapter 13 and 14. In
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many ways, these chapters
represent a change in Israel's
trajectory. In fact, the
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rebellion at Kadesh is literally
designed to stand out in infamy
to shame Israel because of their
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unbelieving culture. Now,
remember that before they get
there, they are just eleven days
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removed from their time at the
mountain of Horeb. As they get
there on the precipice of the
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promised land, Moses sends
twelve spies to go and do
reconnaissance and bring back a
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report about the land. When they
come back after the forty days,
they testified that what God
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said is true. In fact, they
bring back a cluster of grapes
so big that it takes two men to
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carry it back into the camp.
They testified that what God
said is true, that indeed it is
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a goodly land and in fact, it
flows with milk and honey. The
problem with the report is that
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they focus more on the obstacle
than they do on the opportunity.
In fact, they begin to lead the
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people into lamentation as they
thought about the size of the
giants and the size of the land.
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In fact, they get to a place
where they project their own
insecurities, saying that,
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"We were like grasshoppers in
our own eyes and so we were in
their eyes." Know, friends,
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that everyone with the exception
of Caleb gives a negative
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report. In fact, the report is
so bad that they decide to elect
a new leader and they make the
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decision to go back to Egypt.
One of the things this teaches,
friends, is that unbelief can
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spread faster than COVID-19.
See, friends of mine, I'm just
of the place where it shows
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you've got to be careful who you
let inside of your friend circle
because I believe that if
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unbelief is contagious, then so
is faith. Are you all with me
today? [ Congregation: Yes]
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Pastor Snell: In
other words, friends,
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help me to stay socially distant
from cowardly unbelieving folk
that don't believe things can
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change. In other words, when
folks start talking about how we
got to be realistic,
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I'm going to put on a spiritual
face mask and I'm praying that
the word of God is a vaccine
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and booster shot for the
unbelief in the house of God.
Are you all with me today?
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[ Congregation: Yes]
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Now, I need you
to notice something,
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notice that unbelief peaks right
when they're on the verge of
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crossing over, that unbelief
climaxes right when they're on
the edge of going in.
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I need somebody to understand
something critical that when
you're on the verge of
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something, you've got to make
sure you shrink your friend
circle so that you don't get
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folk that are able to talk to
you into going back to Egypt. In
other words, I know this message
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isn't for everybody, but I know
this word is for somebody. Do I
have at least 7 folk that are on
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the verge of something? Is there
anybody that's on the edge of a
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deliverance? I need to preach to
those folk that are on the verge
of a spiritual or emotional or a
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medical or a financial
breakthrough. When you're on the
verge of something, sometimes,
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you can feel the ground
underneath your feet. Sometimes,
you can hear the sound of
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abundance of rain. When you get
on the edge of deliverance,
don't you let nobody talk you
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into going back to Egypt. You've
got to surround yourself with
folk who know how to pray. You
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need folk that talk faith, that
believe faith, that have been
there before. You need some folk
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to remind you what God is able
to do. Are you all with me
today, church? [ Congregation:
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Yes] See, I need you to see here
in Patriarchs and Prophets, what
messed them up? Put this quote
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here on the screen. Why? They
literally begin to get to a
posture of unbelief. Are you
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with me today? Here, Patriarchs
and Prophets. Look at the word
today. See, literally says that
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their unbelief cast a what?
[ Congregation: Gloomy shadow]
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Cast a gloomy shadow
over the congregation,
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and the mighty power of God so
often manifested in behalf of
the chosen nation was what?
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Forgot him. The people
did not wait to reflect.
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They did not reason that he who
had brought them thus far would
certainly give them the land.
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They did not call to mind how
wonderfully God had delivered
them from their oppressors,
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cutting a path through the sea
and destroying the pursuit of
the host of pharaoh.
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They left God out of the
question and acted as though
they must depend solely upon the
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power of arms. Did
you all catch that today?
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In other words, the reason they
get messed up, church, is
because when they're evaluating
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the equation, she literally says
that they left God out of their
thinking. In other words,
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as they're evaluating the land
and the size of the people,
their problem is they're
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weighing it against their own
power and capability. That would
make sense if their own strength
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is what got them to this point,
but the only reason they've
gotten this far is not by their
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might, they've only gotten there
by the power of God. In other
words, Saints, I need you to
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remember that these people have
lived a life of miracle and
divine wonder. Remember that
00:16:16.97\00:16:24.91
before they left Egypt, God sent
ten plagues and wonders to break
the bow of Pharaoh. They saw God
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turn the water into blood. They
saw God overrun the land with
frogs and lice. They saw God
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kill the firstborn in Egypt and
he sent the angel to pass over
the homes that were covered by
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blood. They literally saw God
open up a red sea and they saw
him hold it open and they didn't
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walk through mud. But the Bible
says, they passed through on dry
ground. In other words, they
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have seen God send water from a
rock, they've seen God send
manna from heaven. God has been
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with them in a cloud by day and
God has been with them in fire
by night, and they've got a
00:17:11.33\00:17:16.33
miracle resume. The crazy thing
is that when they get to the
verge of the promised land, do
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you realize that they ought to
be stomping into the promised
land? When they get on the edge,
00:17:22.94\00:17:29.04
they ought to be on the other
side of the Jordan beating their
chests, shouting at the
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inhabitants, saying, "We're
coming for you even though you
didn't send for us." They ought
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to be shooting arrows into the
camp with the Israelite flag on
it, letting them know it's just
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a matter of time before we get
here. But here they are on the
other side, quivering and
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vacillating. Why? Because they
have forgotten who brought them
thus far. What I'm saying to
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somebody today is that there is
a correlation between faith and
forgetfulness. See, the reason
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they don't have courage for now
is they have forgotten how they
got to this place. I guess what
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I want to just say to somebody
briefly today is that in the
journey of faith, my friends,
00:18:23.70\00:18:31.27
don't you ever forget how far
God has brought you to this
point. [ Congregation: Clapping.
00:18:31.31\00:18:34.01
Amen] Can I say this? That faith
is a very uncomplicated formula
for us to consider.
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See, there's somebody
dealing with an issue today,
00:18:40.65\00:18:43.95
but what I need somebody to know
is that you don't have to
imagine what God will do.
00:18:43.99\00:18:50.13
[ Congregation: Yeah]
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All you've got to do is
remember what God has done.
00:18:51.19\00:18:55.10
[ Congregation: Clapping]
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In other words, you have got to
imagine how God is going to fix
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it. All you've got to recall
is how God has done it so many
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times in the past. Is there
anybody that's got miracles on
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your resume today? Has anybody
ever seen God pay bills that you
didn't have money to pay?
00:19:10.88\00:19:16.45
Has God ever gotten you
financially cleared when you
thought you would have to go
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back home? Has God ever allowed
you to walk out of a hospital
when you had to be wheeled in
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under an ambulance? Has God ever
kept your adult kids when they
were in their youthful
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rebellion? Can you help those
who are grieving? Is there
anybody ever sat before the
00:19:35.47\00:19:42.91
casket with your mom or your dad
or your husband and your wife
and you thought you didn't have
00:19:42.94\00:19:49.82
enough strength to make it
through the next day? But here
you are 2 months, 2 years, 5
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years later and you're still
standing by the grace and the
power of God. Are you all
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hearing me today,
friends? [ Congregation: Yeah]
00:20:02.16\00:20:03.67
What I'm saying today, friends,
is I don't have to imagine what
00:20:03.70\00:20:07.67
God will do, all I got to do is
look at what God has already
done. Are you all hearing the
00:20:07.70\00:20:14.28
word today, friends? See, that's
why the time Joshua takes over,
00:20:14.31\00:20:18.41
he says, "We got to erect some
stones so that we have a basis
for remembering what God has
00:20:18.45\00:20:24.95
done." Listen, listen I remember
like maybe about a year ago or
maybe about five years ago,
00:20:24.99\00:20:32.39
what happened was my family and
I, we took our kids down to
Orlando so we could take them to
00:20:32.43\00:20:40.24
Disney World. I need you to
know, we were some suckers
because we went when my daughter
00:20:40.27\00:20:46.68
was about 4 and a half, 5, where
she may or may not remember the
trip. I remember one day about a
00:20:46.71\00:20:53.15
year ago, we were watching a
Disney commercial there on the
00:20:53.18\00:20:56.65
television, and she looked at me
with offense and was like,
"Daddy, when are we going to
00:20:56.69\00:21:05.06
Disney World?" Now, I had to go
ahead and remind her, "Baby, you
had already been to Disney
00:21:05.09\00:21:10.17
World. Remember we drove down
Highway 75 and we went to the
inside of every public bathroom
00:21:10.20\00:21:17.74
on the highway. You don't
remember that, do you?" It's
crazy, she says, "Daddy, I don't
00:21:17.77\00:21:22.08
remember." What I did was I took
my phone, and even though I had
a different phone at that time,
00:21:22.11\00:21:27.58
I've got memory in the cloud.
00:21:27.62\00:21:30.22
[ Congregation: Yeah]
00:21:30.25\00:21:31.99
I access the cloud and I began
to show her the pictures from
when we went to Disney World.
00:21:32.02\00:21:37.96
Every time I swipe left, it was
a new memory. I said, "Here you
are with The Incredibles.
00:21:37.99\00:21:43.97
Here you are with Minnie Mouse.
Here you are with Princess. Here
you are as Space Mountain."
00:21:44.00\00:21:50.84
It's crazy, when she remembered
that she went, she didn't feel
as offended as she once did.
00:21:50.87\00:21:57.38
What I'm saying to somebody
today, that you just need to
recall. You need to go back to
00:21:57.41\00:22:04.99
the cloud. Go back to your
memory bank, swipe left and see
how he paid the bill. Swipe left
00:22:05.02\00:22:14.76
and you'll see how he got you
into school. Swipe left and
you'll see how he fought your
00:22:14.83\00:22:21.64
battles. Swipe left and you'll
remember how he closed the
house. Swipe left and you'll
00:22:21.67\00:22:28.31
remember how he healed your
body. You don't have to imagine
what he can do. Just remember
00:22:28.34\00:22:32.38
what he's already done.
[ Congregation: Clapping]
00:22:32.41\00:22:34.15
Are you all
hearing me today, friends?
00:22:34.18\00:22:36.15
[ Congregation: Laughing]
00:22:36.18\00:22:38.22
See, the second thing that this
story teaches us is the danger
00:22:38.25\00:22:49.93
of faith fatigue. Now I'm going
to say something you may not
00:22:49.96\00:22:52.87
agree with. One of the things
about human nature is that human
nature gets tired of walking by
00:22:52.90\00:23:05.25
faith. Can we tell the
truth and shame the devil?
00:23:05.28\00:23:07.85
[ Congregation: Yes]
00:23:07.88\00:23:09.52
That walking by faith is
uncomfortable. Walking by faith
00:23:09.55\00:23:15.59
keeps you on edge. Walking by
faith keeps you without being in
control. See, that's not in
00:23:15.62\00:23:23.87
harmony with the preference of
our flesh. See, the reason we
get tired of walking by faith is
00:23:23.90\00:23:37.08
we want security of
circumstance, not security of
savior. See, the problem with
00:23:37.11\00:23:46.19
faith fatigue, friends, is that
it leads to miracle disruption.
You see, church, life in Egypt
00:23:46.22\00:23:58.63
was not good, but Egypt had one
good thing for it. Egypt had
knowns. In other words, they
00:23:58.67\00:24:05.71
knew what time they were going
to eat breakfast. They knew
where they could go to draw
00:24:05.74\00:24:09.04
water. They knew what was going
to be on the menu for dinner.
But understand that they are at
00:24:09.08\00:24:14.22
a place where after 400 years of
slavery, they're not in the
rhythm of worship or sacrifice
00:24:14.25\00:24:23.46
or Sabbath. In this equation,
their routine is the known and
Jehovah is the unknown and they
00:24:23.49\00:24:31.30
have more trust in their routine
than they do in their God. Are
you all hearing me today?
00:24:31.33\00:24:32.63
[ Congregation: Yeah]
00:24:32.67\00:24:34.57
See, what God has done on this
journey is that God has
willingly allowed seasons of
00:24:34.60\00:24:42.21
uncertainty. In other words, as
they're making this sojourn
through the desert,
00:24:42.24\00:24:47.62
they are not sure what God is
going to do when they get to the
00:24:47.65\00:24:53.22
Red Sea. There are days where
they were not sure exactly where
the water was going to come
00:24:53.25\00:24:58.69
from. There were days where they
were not sure. They could not
see how they were going to be
00:24:58.73\00:25:03.80
fed. What has happened is that
God has allowed so much
uncertainty that literally,
00:25:03.83\00:25:09.54
the rate of the pace feels like
it is unsustainable. I need you
to understand their mentality
00:25:09.57\00:25:18.08
when they get to Canaan, they
think that man, if I can just
get to Canaan, everything is
00:25:18.11\00:25:25.12
going to be okay. They thought
getting to Canaan was going to
be the last hurdle.
00:25:25.15\00:25:29.46
They didn't know they were going
to have to believe just to
occupy or get into Canaan.
00:25:29.49\00:25:34.93
The problem is they
tried to time their faith.
00:25:34.93\00:25:40.34
[ Congregation: Yeah. Clapping]
00:25:40.37\00:25:42.37
They tried to time their faith
so that it would go out as soon
as they got there to the
00:25:42.40\00:25:47.28
promised land, they didn't
realize that they were going to
have to believe just to drive
00:25:47.31\00:25:52.81
out the giants and to occupy the
land that had been promised.
It's crazy because they come
00:25:52.85\00:26:01.66
over one mountain and there's
another. They come through one
obstacle and there's another.
00:26:01.69\00:26:09.46
They're at a place where they
just want some certainty, they
don't want to have to turn to
00:26:09.50\00:26:14.74
the Savior. See, the reason they
go back to Egypt, friends, is
literally because their faith is
00:26:14.77\00:26:18.67
exhausted. [ Congregation: Amen]
00:26:18.71\00:26:20.21
Let me ask you, church, has
anybody ever come out of one
00:26:20.24\00:26:25.78
faith hurdle? Or do they have
a bigger hurdle waiting right
00:26:25.81\00:26:30.49
there for you? See, there is
somebody listening today that's
dealing with some faith fatigue
00:26:30.52\00:26:36.22
because there's some of us that
are in a place where you're
saying, "Pastor, all I want is
00:26:36.26\00:26:41.66
some certainty." You're saying,
"I just want some financial
certainty." You're saying,
00:26:41.70\00:26:48.97
"Lord, give me some medical
certainty." Somebody is saying,
"Just give me some relational
00:26:49.00\00:26:52.44
certainty." There's somebody
who's saying, "Just give me some
spiritual certainty."
00:26:52.47\00:26:56.04
You operate under the belief
that once these change, I'll
finally be able to rest,
00:26:56.08\00:27:02.15
I will finally be stable, but I
need somebody to know that your
rest will never be in a peaceful
00:27:02.18\00:27:09.89
circumstance, your rest has to
be in the power and the goodness
00:27:09.92\00:27:16.10
of Jesus. Thank you so much for
joining us for the Breath of
Life Television Ministries
00:27:16.13\00:27:21.67
Broadcast. We hope and pray that
today's message by Pastor
Debleaire Snell has been a
00:27:21.70\00:27:27.01
blessing to you. Join us next
week for part 2 of “The Purge.”
You don't want to miss it!
00:27:27.04\00:27:33.92
Hi. I'm Debleaire Snell. Have
you ever been in a place where
as soon as you start believing
00:27:33.95\00:27:39.82
big, praying big and thinking
big, someone told you that you
need to be more realistic.
00:27:39.85\00:27:46.59
It was unrealistic for Jesus to
say, I'm going to lay down my
life and in three days I'm going
00:27:46.63\00:27:53.23
to pick it up again. I would
encourage you to put down your
commonly held beliefs. And it's
00:27:53.27\00:28:05.31
time for us to get unrealistic.
(Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:28:05.35\00:28:36.08
[END]
00:28:36.11\00:28:51.13