Exodus is the book, the chapter is chapter
14 and I want your undivided attention for
these next few moments as we discuss a
vital subject and we're going to start reading
in chapter 14 verse 1.
Would you look at it with me?
Choir look along, worship with your giving and
let's read chapter 14 verse 1.
Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the
Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi
-haharoth between Migdol and the sea and they
are to encamp by the sea directly opposite
Baal-zephan.
Pharaoh will think the Israelites are wandering around
the land in confusion and hemmed in by
the desert and I will harden Pharaoh's heart
and he will pursue them but I will
gain glory, you could turn that fan off
please, for myself through Pharaoh and all his
army and the Egyptians will know that I
am the Lord.
So the Israelites did this.
When the king of Egypt was told that
the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials
changed their minds, by the way that's about
the tenth time they changed their minds, about
them and said, what have we done?
We've let the Israelites go and have lost
their services.
So he had his chariot made ready and
took his army with him.
He took 600 of the best chariots along
with all the other chariots of Egypt with
officers over all of them and the Lord
hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
so that he pursued the Israelites who were
marching out what?
Boldly.
Notice that, who were marching out how?
Boldly, but not for long.
The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen
and troops pursued the Israelites and overtook them
as they encamped by the sea near Pi
-Ha-Ha-Roth opposite Baal-Zephon.
As Pharaoh approached the Israelites, as Pharaoh approached
the Israelites looked up and there were the
Egyptians marching after them.
They were terrified and cried out to the
Lord.
No longer marching out boldly, now they're scared
to death.
They said to Moses, was it because there
were no graves in Egypt that you brought
us to the desert to die?
They're ready to die already.
What have you done to us by bringing
us out of Egypt?
Didn't we say to you in Egypt, leave
us alone, let us serve the Egyptians?
It would have been better for us to
serve the Egyptians than to die in the
desert.
Moses answered the people.
I want you to divide the next little
narrative into four little parts.
Moses answered the people, do not be afraid,
say that with me, do not be afraid.
Stand firm, say that, stand firm, in other
words in faith, and you will see the
deliverance the Lord will bring you today.
The Egyptians you see today you will never
see again.
The Lord will fight for you.
Here's the third one, you need only to
be still, say that, you need only to
be still.
Then the Lord said to Moses, why are
you crying out to me?
Say that, why are you crying out to
me?
Tell the Israelites to move on, raise your
staff, stretch out your hand over the sea
to divide the water, so that the Israelites
can go through the sea on dry ground.
I want to talk to you, look up
here for a moment now, I want to
talk to you about a very important subject.
I want to talk to you about growing
up.
I want to talk to you about maturing.
I want to talk to you about getting
out of baby stage and moving into a
growth cycle with God, so that we are
mature and not like children perpetually.
This is a very important subject because maturity
and growing up is important physically, emotionally and
spiritually, very important.
And just like emotionally, you don't grow up
automatically.
You can be 40, 50, 60 years old
and be a baby.
Emotionally, mentally, you can act like a baby.
This is why a lot of marriages have
such stress and strain.
It's because one or both are acting like
children.
Sometimes the children act more grown up than
the parents.
Now, I want you to notice by the
name of this message is a very strange
title.
You can get it in tape at the
end of the service.
Maybe you need to listen to it once
or twice or give it to someone.
It's called Never, Always, Sometimes, Not Now.
Never, Always, Sometimes, Not Now.
Say that with me.
Never, Always, Sometimes, Not Now.
And those are categories of speech and action
which we'll talk about in a moment.
Even though the Israelites were God's people and
had been saved by the Passover night.
You know the context of this story.
We read chapter 13 when we took communion
on Tuesday night.
Chapter 13 is one of the most important
chapters in the Old Testament.
It gives the instructions for the Passover night.
Why were the Israelites saved from the destroying
angel?
For only one reason.
What was the reason?
When I see the blood, I will pass
over you.
That became the first month of their religious
year.
The new first month.
And the month, the year had begun in
the fall and now would begin in the
spring with Passover.
And we know that's all a type or
a shadow or a symbol of Jesus Christ
who came to shed his blood as the
ultimate and only cure for sin.
To take away the sins of the world.
Well, after 10 plagues had hit Egypt and
Pharaoh kept changing his mind and hardening his
heart, the 10th one took the firstborn away,
except for the Israelite firstborn.
If they did what God said, which was
to take a year old lamb without defect
or fault, slay it, pour out the blood,
take hyssop, put it in the blood and
then put the blood over the doorpost.
And God made a promise.
When I see the blood, I will pass
over you.
And that night also began the feast of
unleavened bread.
And we know that they marched out of
Israel, out of Egypt.
And that was the first time they were
a nation.
The nation of Israel begins with Passover because
they went down 430 years before, just a
handful of Jacob's family, his sons and extended
family.
And now they came out on Passover night
as a nation.
Not only that, God gave him favor with
the Egyptians and they spoiled the Egyptians, the
Bible says.
They took all their gold and silver and
valuable things because God gave them a combination
of fear and respect among the Egyptians.
So the Egyptians said, take what you want,
just get out of here.
We can't take it anymore.
The land has been devastated.
Even though they were God's people and they
had been saved, quote unquote, that doesn't mean
they were mature.
In fact, they were babies.
They were immature.
You know what immature people do?
They fluctuate.
One of the sure signs of immaturity in
all of us is fluctuation.
In other words, they fluctuated.
They were marching out boldly, weren't they, it
says in the Word of God.
Why were they marching out boldly?
Because there were no problems.
They had been set free, the plagues had
come, Passover night.
But the minute they see Egyptians coming after
them, which God permitted, God was setting up
a situation where He would show how strong
He is at the Red Sea.
Do you think they understood that?
No, they were babies.
Babies under pressure, immature people under pressure do
one of three things, or all three things,
which is pictured by how the Israelites reacted.
The first thing they did was they got
into fatalism.
That's a sign of immature people.
The minute problems come, they give up the
ghost and say, we're going to die.
That's the first thing they said.
Smith, they said, we're going to die.
We're going to die.
It's over.
We're going to die.
Weren't there good enough graveyards in Egypt?
Now we're going to die.
God's done all this for them, and just
because they see Pharaoh and his chariots coming,
we're going to die.
It's over.
We're going to die.
That's what we do when we're immature.
We give it up.
We get, you know, into fatalism.
It's all over.
I'll never get through this.
Life is ruined, as if there's no God,
like He's never helped us before.
But that's a sign of immaturity.
They did another immature thing.
They blamed Moses.
Moses, didn't we tell you?
That's one of the sure signs when we're
immature.
We blame people around us for our own
hardship.
We have to vent, and because we're immature,
we blame people, usually leadership, sometimes a husband,
a wife, sometimes a mother-in-law, whoever.
Moses, didn't we tell you to leave us
alone when you came with all of this,
let my people go stuff?
Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone?
Imagine how God felt when He heard that.
See, immaturity is a very painful thing to
God, just like it is to parents who
have immature children, snippy little children or immature
little children, who give up the minute there's
a little hardship, who quit, who then blame
others because they just can't take a little
pressure in life, as if you're going to
get through life without pressure.
Kevin, can you be a cop without pressure?
Come on.
Can you get through the police academy without
pressure?
What in the world in life can you
do without pressure?
But immaturity, you just blame someone.
Moses is the problem.
Moses, why did we have to listen to
him?
And then finally, they said something which must
have been a sword into God's heart.
They said, you know what?
It would have been better if we stayed
in Egypt.
Why do we have to obey God and
go worship Him?
We had it better back there.
Imagine, after all God did for them, imagine
how God felt.
That's how God feels with our immaturity.
Imagine some of the things we say when
we're immature.
How painful they are to others and to
ourselves.
How many marriage counseling sessions I've done, where
I heard what a husband and a wife
said to each other, because they're babies.
They're absolutely babies.
They can be 50 years old.
They're babies.
The minute a little pressure comes, they go
overboard.
Well, we're going to see a little bit
about growing up, but I want to talk
about the counterpart to emotional immaturity, which is
spiritual maturity.
Just because you're a Christian and quote, been
born again, doesn't mean that you grow up.
In fact, we all start as babies, don't
we?
The only problem is some of us stay
as babies.
Paul writes to one church and says, when
I was with you, I had to give
you milk.
I couldn't give you meat.
You know why?
You're a baby.
You don't even have teeth.
You haven't developed anything.
In fact, if I was with you, I
still have to give you milk, because you're
babies.
You're immature spiritually.
See, brothers and sisters, when we get born
again and become Christians, a process begins, which
is called maturation or maturing or growing in
the Lord.
If we use God's means, if we eat
the right food, exercise properly, if we go
according to God's word, we will mature, but
not everybody does that.
Some people stay perpetual babies.
They've been in the church 40, 50 years.
They're babies.
Why do you think there's so few laborers
for the cause of Christ?
Why do you think Jesus said, the fields
are ripe unto harvest, the laborers are few?
Why do you think pastors and churches across
the land are short on workers?
Because people are immature, and immature people only
want what they want when they want it.
So how are you going to get workers
when they're always in a mood?
Because that's another sign of immaturity.
People are always in moods.
Somebody said something.
I would have stayed in the prayer band
or the choir or ushering, but you know
what?
Someone looked at me wrong.
Well, let me get this right.
They crucified Jesus, but somebody looked at you
wrong.
Oh, I follow that.
But babies are like that.
Babies get thrown off by any little comment.
There's cliques in the choir.
I can't stay in the choir.
There's cliques, and I'm not in the clique.
They're babies.
Just babies.
You don't reason with people like that.
They're just babies.
Babies always find a reason to do what
they want to do.
They're children.
Spiritually immature.
Now, what people do when they are little,
children do when they're four or five, can
be cute.
Even at five or six, kids can say
certain things.
But if somebody's acting like that at 20
or 22 or 19, 25, you got a
problem.
It's very painful.
It's painful for parents to have children who
are immature, who do the wrong thing at
the wrong time.
It's painful to be a grandparent and have
your children having their children and still see
immaturity in them.
I'm sure that's so.
In other words, never growing up, because growing
up isn't automatic.
You might grow up physically, but you can
remain a baby for a long, long, long
time, fluctuating one day one way, the next
day another way, saying inappropriate things, having a
snippy little mouth, having a little mood, pouting,
fooling around.
Just, you know, what's cute when people are
little, it becomes very painful and irritating at
times.
It's like when I was preaching at 12.
A baby started to cry.
They started to take a baby out in
the last row.
I stopped them and said, how old's your
baby?
They said a year and a half.
Nobody cared.
We all took the noise for a little
while and the parents pulled them out.
But what if she started crying?
Feola's my secretary today.
She's helping in so many ways.
What if Feola started crying and we had
to carry her out?
People would say she wouldn't stop.
And then you see one of the altos,
you know, Natalie gives her a bottle and,
you know, they just take Feola out.
You go, wait a minute, wait a minute,
I've got some deep problems.
You say, no, they just did that to
that kid.
I know, but that's a year and a
half.
This is someone in their 20s.
Very painful.
This is why more people don't know about
more about Jesus because of the immaturity of
God's own people.
This is why blessings are missed.
And this is why people aren't involved in
service.
Because, for example, you can't work for Jesus
if you're given to moods.
Oh no, how, in other words, most of
the other people in the world are in
moods.
How would you get them out of a
mood if you're in a mood yourself?
Right?
So, so, but babies go in moods.
They like to do something.
Some days they're all psyched up.
The only trouble is don't get excited.
Tomorrow they won't want to do it because
they're immature.
Immature people only do what they want to
do when they want to do it.
And you can't do anything in life.
How would you raise a child that way?
You only fed the baby when you felt
like it.
You only got up in the middle of
the night when you felt like it.
How many know there'd be a lot of
starving children?
Now, one of the signs of growth, maturity,
is categories, are categories.
One of these, these signs are categories of
action and words that you understand, you understand
what the categories are.
And the categories are never, always, sometimes, not
now.
What I mean by that is, as we'll
see in the story, there are some things
that mature people never do.
They never do.
There are some things a mature person, just
a child, they did it, but now they
just never do that.
There are some things that they always do.
They always do.
They, a mature person, shall we say, can
never, never forgets to pay their bills because
they know the consequences.
Right?
A mature person always takes care of their
personal hygiene.
They didn't care as a child.
They walk out with all stuff hanging out
of everywhere there and, but, let's not get
nasty, but you know what I mean.
But as an adult, you don't sometimes take
care of your hygiene.
You always take care of hygiene.
You don't sometimes pay your bills.
Do you Blanche?
You sometimes forget to pay, but you never
forget to pay your bills.
Then there's other situations that are more complex
in life that bring out your maturity, which
is, when is it not a right-wrong
situation with never and always?
When is, when is, like, when is it
a choice between good options, but there's a
best thing to do at the moment?
That's another sign of maturity.
Because there's so many things under the sun
to do, as we'll find out, one of
the signs of maturity is to choose what
that moment calls for.
The wisest thing to do.
It's not right and wrong.
It's just, you know, like, like, like talking
and listening.
Listening is in the Bible.
Talking is in the Bible.
When do you talk?
When do you listen?
Well, only mature people learn when to talk,
when to listen.
We're all learning about that.
And then finally, not now, sometimes God gives
unique opportunities and the only way to take
advantage of them is to change your course,
even what you're doing, even though what you're
doing is excellent, excellent.
But God says to you, if you're sensitive
and mature, stop doing that.
It's not the right thing right now.
So let's start with never.
As they came out of Egypt and they
were acting like babies, Moses started to teach
them and talk to them.
And the first thing he said to them
is, do not be afraid.
I would like you to know today that
the first sign or the most, one of
the most important signs of spiritual maturity is
you can never be afraid.
You can never be afraid.
Not most times not be afraid, not sometimes
not be be afraid.
You can never be afraid.
No place in the Bible is there ever,
ever any allowance for fear.
I want you to know today that it's
impossible to serve God and grow up if
you're going to have intermittent seizures of fear,
anxiety, nervousness, biting your nails, worrying about tomorrow
when you don't even know if you'll wake
up and see tomorrow.
It's impossible to walk by faith and live
in fear.
It's impossible to please God and have fear.
For the Bible says God has not given
us a spirit of what?
He has not given us a spirit of
fear.
And don't say fear is just anxiety and
worry and, and I don't know, don't, don't,
don't even go there and just say it's
something you're passing through.
It's an attack of the enemy.
It's something demonic.
It's something that's not of God.
For the Bible tells us that these same
people who came out of Egypt, they never
saw the promised land, the mature adults, because
of fear.
The spies came back and gave a bad
report about the land, that there were big
armies and strong opponents that they'd have to
face and because of fear they began to
doubt and they missed.
For 40 years they missed God's will and
had to wander in the wilderness.
You know what fear does?
Fear destroys faith.
Fear grieves God.
Fear forfeits the blessing that God has.
Fear is deadly.
Cancer is nothing compared to fear, although they're
finding out that fear can lead to cancer.
Isn't that amazing?
Anxiety and fear just messes you up.
No matter how bad it looks, the first
rule of spiritual maturity is that we can
never be afraid.
You can never be afraid.
No matter what you see, no matter what
you hear, no matter how it seems, God
wants to bring us to a place of
maturity where we know who He is and
what He has promised.
And you say, Pastor Cimbala, that's easy for
you to say.
You don't know my situation.
Well, how about this situation?
Do you got a worse situation than this?
Listen to where David came to in God.
God is our refuge and strength and ever
-present help in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth
give way and the mountains fall into the
heart of the sea, though its waters roar
and foam and the mountains quake with their
surging.
We will not fear, Psalm 46, 1 through
3.
David says, even if the earth begins to
crumble and the mountains fall in the sea,
then God must be up to something.
But that's okay.
He's got everything under control.
We will not be afraid because God is
with us.
Can we put our hands together and affirm
that God is with us?
You can't be afraid and serve God.
You know, when you were little, you're afraid
of sleeping alone.
My children were afraid.
They went through stage.
Some of them, they wanted somebody to stay
in bed.
Stay in bed.
Just stay with me, Daddy, until I fall
asleep.
Then there's...
Okay, they're kids.
Then keep the light on.
You know, there's some people, when they're kids,
they...
Well, maybe when they're adults, they can't sleep
without the light on.
Why?
They're afraid.
I used to be afraid going to the
basement of...
on Parkside Avenue, of that house when I
was a kid.
It was dark.
Afraid.
Afraid of this.
Afraid of that.
Well, when you're a kid, you say, yeah,
that's okay.
But when you grow up, you're not afraid
of the dark.
Afraid of sleeping alone.
Afraid of this.
Because you've grown up now.
Same thing spiritually.
When you're afraid, you're out of God's will.
When you're afraid, when we're living with anxiety
and fear and nervousness and tension, something is
wrong between us and God.
Satan has gotten some wedge in there because
it's impossible to serve God.
There's one never in life that you've got
to remember.
You never can be afraid.
Never.
Not for a second.
Because what God was saying, listen, as I
bring this part to a close.
What God was saying, He wanted the Israelites
to think, now wait a minute.
I sent Moses to deliver you.
I sent 10 plagues that you saw on
Egypt.
I divided you apart from the people that
I sent the plagues on.
Because if you read carefully the record in
Exodus, God set a mark and a division
between the land of Goshen, where the Jews
were, Hebrews were, and Egypt.
I sent 10 plagues.
Then on Passover night, I gave you instructions
on how to be delivered from the death
angel.
I told you how to slay a lamb.
And I let you out.
And I gave you favor.
I delivered you.
And I brought you out.
And I gave you favor with the Egyptians.
They'd given you all their gold and silver.
And then when you left, I put a
cloud during the day, so you'd know that
I was before you.
And then at night, so you could know
I'm with you, I gave you a pillar
of fire.
And now because you see a few miserable
Egyptian chariots, now you want to die and
go back to Egypt?
Is that what you think of me?
After all I've done for you, you think
I'm going to let you fall in a
black hole and be destroyed?
How would any parent feel if their child
acted like that?
And how about you, my brother?
How about you, my sister?
You weren't looking for God.
God was looking for you.
How many say amen?
While we were yet sinners, who died for
us?
Christ Jesus.
And every sin you've ever committed has been
washed away.
Better yet, like a woman who goes to
our church, who had three or four abortions
before she became a Christian, there's not one
record of one abortion up in heaven.
Not one record of one sin against any
of us.
All because God loves us so much.
And He gave us a new life through
Christ Jesus.
And He gave us His word and His
promise.
And He said He would never leave us
nor forsake us.
And He put His Holy Spirit in us.
And He's given us the Bible.
And Jesus went to prepare a place for
us.
And He said, I will never leave you
nor forsake you.
And then we're going to be nervous and
afraid, because it looks bad?
And there's some anthrax in the land?
Oh, come on.
How many believe we serve a mighty God
who can take care of us?
Come on, let's put our hands together and
thank the Lord.
And thank the Lord.
No, you can't be afraid.
When you make decisions, when you're afraid, you'll
miss God's will.
You never make a decision when you're afraid.
Never.
You can't tolerate fear.
Mature people know that letting fear exist in
their life is like playing with anthrax virus.
It's like handling letters that have been affected
by it.
That's what mature people know.
Immature people say, yeah, but I'm afraid.
And they feel sorry for themselves.
As if, as if that's some kind of
out.
Now, the first rule for maturity is never,
you never be afraid, because God's done too
much for us to let us go now.
Oh, praise God.
Come on.
I mean, after all God has done for
us, He's going to let us, He's going
to let us go now.
But it's not just never, it's, it's, it's
always.
The Bible tells us that Moses said, stand
firm.
In other words, i.e., trust God, stand
firm, have faith in God.
It's the other side of the coin of
never fear, always believe, always have faith.
Mature people grow up not into seasons of
faith, days of faith, high moments with God
in a meeting where they believe, but then
24 hours later, they have no faith for
anything.
That's, that's immaturity.
Either God is real and can be trusted
or He's not.
And maturity, spiritually speaking, means that we come
to a place where our foundation is, we
can wake up in the morning and say,
you know what?
Praise God, He's with me today.
Hallelujah.
In fact, goodness and mercy are going to
follow me today.
How do you know that?
Where do you see that?
All the things going on in the world?
Yeah, because His Word says, surely goodness and
mercy will follow me.
Praise God, He's going to help me today.
Yeah, they're laying off people on your job.
Well, I can't change that.
But one thing, no matter if they lay
me off or keep me, God's going to
be with me.
He's going to help me because the Lord
is with me.
So, this has to be a mature development.
Remember, you can't grow overnight.
Oak trees aren't made overnight.
Certain gifts and things can happen from the
Spirit in a moment.
Healings can occur in a moment.
You can get saved in a moment.
But growth, no, it's a process.
And God wants to develop faith in us
above all things.
That's the only thing Jesus marveled at when
He was on the earth.
He never looked at Matthew and said, what
a smart little guy I have here as
one of my disciples.
You never hear that.
Or He never looked at anyone and said,
what a kind person.
You never hear Him say that.
But when He saw faith, look in your
concordance one day.
Get a concordance.
Look at all the times faith is mentioned
in the New Testament.
All the times Jesus said, behold, I have
never seen such faith like this in all
of Israel.
Your faith has made you whole.
Only believe.
Did I not tell you when you pray,
you must believe?
Believe, believe.
Have faith.
Isaiah said it hundreds of years before in
Isaiah 7, 9.
If you do not stand firm in your
faith, you will not stand at all.
Listen, Isaiah 7, 9.
If you do not stand firm in your
faith, you will not stand at all.
We stand by faith.
So immature people, they're standing for a moment,
but they're going to trip again because their
faith fluctuates with how things seem.
While mature people are able to say with
Paul, I know in whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he is able, praise
God.
They could throw me in the slammer, whatever
they do.
God is with me.
God's going to work this thing for all
things work together for good to them that
love God.
Brothers and sisters, we're going to have great
chances to witness to people in the days
and months should the Lord tarry to come
with this ongoing war and terrorist threat.
How are we going to witness to people
strongly who are bothered by fear if we're
afraid ourselves?
How are we going to help people if
we're nervous?
I'm not talking about just talking the talk.
I'm always trust him.
I will always trust him.
I'm not going to fluctuate up and down.
See, there's some things that always have to
happen if we're going to be mature.
And that's why Paul says at the end
of his first Corinthian letter, stand firm in
the faith, be men and women of courage,
be strong.
And then the beginning of his second letter
to Corinthian church, he says in 2 Corinthians
1.24, it is by your faith that
you stand firm.
So if we're going to grow up, we
have to ask God, God, I want to
never be afraid.
Bring me to that place where I don't
walk in anxiety just because I hear some
bad news or I see some things happening
that are that are a little bit out
there.
I am not going to live.
I'm not going to panic.
How many want to come to the place
where we live above fear?
Wave your hand at me.
Come on, wherever you are.
I want to live above that.
I mean, what a heartache that must be
to God to see the kids, see his
children afraid.
Ask any parent.
Come on, go over to Wanda and Warren
and ask them if they saw their kids
not being able to learn at school because
of being distracted by fear and anxiety.
Ask them how they would feel.
Ask Jerry and Leroy Legions raising their children
if they saw them all nervous and biting
their nails.
How do you think that makes a parent
feel?
How do you think God feels when we're
afraid?
And he has already said, I'll never leave
you.
Are you kidding?
I'll put you around.
I'm going to watch out for you like
a father pitieth his children so God will
have mercy on his children.
You've got to always believe.
Never fear and only believe.
Now let me close.
There's another distinction which is more subtle because
it's not so black and white, evil and
good as fear and faith.
And that is, the Bible says there's a
time for everything under the sun.
But one of the signs of immature people
is they do the wrong thing at the
wrong time.
What they're doing is not wrong.
It's just the timing that they choose is
so wrong that it makes everybody awkward and
can even be painful.
In other words, when you meet someone who's
very, very smart, like if you would meet
the Secretary of State Colin Powell and you
would meet him, you wouldn't start saying, you
know what Secretary of State Powell, I want
to talk to you about international affairs.
I got to tell you my opinion on
this.
Probably be better if you say, how are
you, sir?
Tell us what's happening around the world.
Wouldn't that be better?
In other words, immature people talk when they
should listen and they listen when they should
be talking.
They get led astray by people who don't
have a clue, but since they're immature, they
should be speaking up themselves.
Or for example, the Bible has contradictory commands.
And how do you know when to practice
one or the other?
For example, the Bible says that we should
talk to our children and reason with them
along the way, right?
We should teach our children, right?
The Bible also says, spare the rod and
what?
So what should you do?
Should you talk to your children or should
you beat them?
That's another illustration of my message.
I'm on a roll, I'm telling you.
So what should you do?
Should you beat your children and say, spare
the rod, spoil the child?
Every time a kid gets out of hand,
just whoop them.
Or should you just say no?
The Bible says reason, talk with your children,
let me talk with them along the way.
Well, what should you do?
Probably both, right?
But when do you ping and when do
you pong?
When do you do one, when do you
do the other?
Immature people just have a knee-jerk reaction.
They just do one thing.
They're not going to wait and pray and
ask for wisdom as to what's the best
among two good things.
They just do one thing, like my late
father.
He wasn't a lot into talking and reasoning
with me.
His policy was just, let me whoop that
little boy.
You know, he did talk to me sometimes.
He always used to tell me, I don't
know what he thought the meaning of this
was to me, but maybe you heard your
parent tell you, before he would whip me
and he would whip me, he would say,
he'd say, you're right, he'd say, I love
you and this hurts me more than you.
And I would go, oh, yeah?
Well, why don't I just do it to
you and then, well, you can really feel
it.
Let me spare you all that pain.
So when do you spank?
When do you talk?
See, only wise, only mature people try to
differentiate that.
How about churches that are immature?
See, there are churches that think unless it's
noisy, you're not having church.
Because the Bible says, make a joyful noise
unto the Lord.
Doesn't the Bible say that?
So anytime there's a lull and there's a
lack of noise, the minister gets nervous, the
people get nervous.
So Jonathan, help me.
So if somebody's preaching and he said, and
the Lord said, that God is faithful.
And thank you.
And he could do that all day.
You know that, right?
So the minister, if he hears nobody, just
everyone quietly listening, he'd say, y'all don't
want to hear me preach.
Come on, somebody say amen.
In other words, if it gets quiet, then
God's not working.
It's very immature, right?
Because the Bible also says, be still and
wait a minute, make a joyful noise and
be still.
Which is it?
Depends.
But immature people don't want to know that.
They just want to know.
They want a formula.
There are some people who worship silence.
You go to their church and there's no
noise.
Nobody can praise God.
Nobody can lift their hands, even though it's
in the Bible.
Immature.
Just making another kind of single category when
God has a wonderful cord and a variety
of things that he says, I want you
to respond to me depending on what I'm
saying.
For example, some things are good, but if
they're done at the wrong time, immature people
can hurt someone.
For example, what's your name, brother?
James.
Stand up, James.
See, if I meet James and I go,
James.
I don't remember meeting him.
Hey, come on, James.
Give me a hug.
What's up, brother?
Hey, how you doing?
Everything's fine.
Good to see you, man.
Good to see you, James.
You may be seated.
You say, is that a good thing to
do what I just did to James?
Wouldn't you think that's good?
Am I correct?
What if he just found out five minutes
ago his mother died?
Would that be the right thing to do?
No.
Why wait?
You just told me it was the right
thing to do.
Isn't it good to greet someone and say
I love you, brother, and what's up?
No.
It's the timing.
But immature people don't want to know timing.
They just want to know.
You know, it's like recreation and work.
Let me say something to you young people
that are here.
There's a place in life for recreation, but
there's a time if you go to school
and you want to develop your mind and
not be just an airhead, you've got to
study and read.
But immature people, they're not going to study.
They're not going to discipline themselves to read
anything because they feel like working out or
playing or doing whatever.
That's a sign of immaturity.
No balance, no finding out what the divisions
are in life.
It's just, yeah, but recreation is good.
It is very good.
But if it so absorbs you that you
have no time for other good things, then
you fall into another realm of immaturity.
So God has to teach us.
How do we learn this?
Moses, listen, as I close, the musicians are
coming.
Moses says to the people, God's going to
fight for you.
Just stand still.
That's all you have to do.
Did they fight all their battles that way?
How did they fight, let's say, the battle
of Jericho 40 years later when they went
into the land?
How did they fight Jericho?
Did they stand still and were quiet or
did they march around and shout?
Well, wait a minute.
After Jericho, did they fight other battles like
that, like the battle of Ai and some
of those other battles?
Did they fight marching around and shouting all
the time?
Did they do that?
No.
They went out and fought.
When they fought the Amalekites, Joshua fought in
the valley and up on a hill, Moses
lifted his hands up and Aaron and Hur
would hold his hands up and they would
actually fight like this.
Then someone says, yeah, but I read in
what happened to King Jehoshaphat.
God said, just let the people sing and
I'll give the victory.
That's the way God gives the victory all
the time.
Just sing.
Sonny Argonzoni and I met a minister out
in California one time and he said, God
has shown me the new way to win
the loss.
Just get on a high place overlooking LA
or San Francisco and just sing over the
city.
Look in the book of Acts and see
if they ever did that.
In other words, there's a time to sing.
There's a time to be still.
There's a time to fight and strain and
keep in the name of the Lord and
pray, grit your teeth and say, I'm hanging
on to God no matter what.
How many know life has all different kinds
of battles of all?
And it's a sign of immaturity to just
say, this is the formula.
This is what you do.
You just praise God.
No, you intercede.
Oh, okay.
Let's just intercede.
No, sometimes you praise God.
That's why in a meeting you have to
be sensitive to the Holy Spirit because there's
a time to just be praising God, thanking
God.
There's a time to be still.
Then there's a time to just worship him
like right now, just thinking how good he's
been to us.
Would you lift your hands with me, everyone?
You're not embarrassed, are you?
To lift your hands up to God.
Could you praise him with your mouth right
now?
God, we praise you that you are with
us and you're going to divide things for
us and show us what to do, and
we're not embarrassed to lift our hands.
The Muslims are praying five times a day
out loud, prostrate, and we're going to not
lift our hands.
Never, Lord.
We will lift our hands as long as
we have breath to you and pray.
We bless your name.
One last one.
So do you get it?
Never, always, sometimes.
Depends.
Got to walk with God.
That's how you grow up.
Mature people are able to distinguish between the
better thing to do.
Last one.
Not now.
Sometimes God opens the door for ministry or
for a miracle, and even though you're doing
something very wonderful, he tells you to stop
it, because although that thing is very wonderful,
it's not the thing you need to do
now, and if you don't change and do
what he tells you, you miss the whole
thing.
Where do we get that from in the
story?
Well, after Moses got through talking to the
people, listen to what God said to Moses
and the people.
Why are you crying out to me?
Now, brothers and sisters, I dare you to
find too many places in the Bible where
God tells people to stop praying.
Look, you won't find too many.
Religion began when men began to call on
the name of the Lord.
God is rich in mercy to everyone who
what?
Calls upon him.
The Lord says, call upon me in the
day of trouble and I will what?
And I will answer you.
He says, when you call, I will answer.
Jesus said men ought always to pray and
not to give up.
So prayer is as sacred a subject as
you'll find in the Bible outside of Jesus
Christ.
But here God says to Moses, what are
you praying for?
What are you crying for?
Tell the people to move and stretch out
your hands.
Stop praying for a second and do what
I tell you to do, because when you
stretch out your hand and the people move,
the sea is going to open.
In other words, there's a time to pray
and then there's a time to do it.
For example, let's go back to Faola.
If Faola says to the Lord day after
day, Father, I want you to use me.
I want to be a blessing to people.
God, use me in the gifts of the
Spirit.
Use me in praying and encouraging people.
Use me in winning others to the Lord.
And she prays that and then she prays
the next day and she prays the next
day.
She never leaves her house, just goes to
work, prays, never talks to anybody, never steps
out, never calls anyone on the phone.
Well, how would that work?
There's going to come a moment where God's
going to say, I've heard your prayer.
Now call this person and say, you know
what?
I saw you on Sunday and you look
a little down.
May I pray for you right now in
the name of Jesus and I want to
give you a verse that's on my heart.
In other words, there's a time to pray
and then there's a time to do it.
And many times we hide behind, I'm praying,
I'm praying, I'm praying, when God says, it's
right to pray, but when are you going
to do what I told you to do?
When are you going to say what I
told you to say?
You see, brothers and sisters, serving God involves
risks.
And sometimes by just talking about, well, I'm
praying about it, what our secret code language
is, I'm afraid to take a chance.
So I'm going to keep in the safe
place of just pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.
And it sounds spiritual.
Who's going to rebuke you when you say
you're praying, but I got, I got to
tell you something.
It's great to pray, but that red sea
would have never gotten opened unless the people
started to move and Moses stopped praying and
lifted up his staff and the sea parted.
Maybe you're here today and God is calling
you to a ministry like you've never had
before in your life.
And you're afraid to step forward.
Do you think that I don't know what
you're going through?
Do you think I've never battled with that
in my life?
Well, for someone who's never gone to Bible
school and who was brought into the ministry,
the back door kicking and screaming at times,
do you think I don't know about these
things?
Do you think I've never fought this battle
and played games with myself and said, well,
I'll just pray about it, pray about it.
And God's telling you, yes, but I've heard
your prayer.
Now go through the door.
I've opened call that person, start that ministry,
step out in faith and do what I've
told you to do.
Don't hide behind the veil of I'm praying,
I'm praying.
There's a time to pray, but then there's
a time to step out and do it
in the name of the Lord.
How will you never, how will you ever
know, how will Blanche ever know and Josh
ever know what God can do when they
pray for someone unless they pray for someone
and not just pray by themselves?
How will she ever know what God might
use, how God could use her mouth if
she's alone, not talking to anybody, just praying
about it?
No, there's a time to pray and then
there's a time to step forward.
Say, I'm going to do it.
Let's pray right now.
Father, I've been conscious all day long today
that you brought people in here that you
want to use in a greater way, but
some of them are actually not able to
discern some of these things of never, always,
sometimes, but especially this last one, Lord, not
now.
There's certain times for action.
There's a time to lift our voice.
There's a time to take a risk.
And by your spirit, because I am limited,
I'm just a frail human being.
You're here.
Your presence is like a gentle cloud among
us.
And I ask you to speak to people,
Lord, that you are prodding, like I used
to battle with you and almost hid behind,
well, I'll pray and I'll pray, and you
were telling me exactly what to do.
And I was afraid.
But we're not afraid today because you're with
us.
You're not going to hurt us.
And no weapon formed against us can prosper.
If you're here today, I'm not going to
even try to clarify what I've said.
If some part of this message has your
name on it, the fear, the faith, the
perplexing difficulty of making choices among good things,
or maybe this not now business where God
is talking to you to step into a
new place in him, but you've been afraid
and been covering up with some spiritual talk
like I'm praying about it, but you've been
praying and praying and God's heard your prayer.
So when will you do it?
When will you do it?
Maybe there's somebody who has a call to
ministry on their life, call to the pastor
and call to the mission field.
And now God's telling you, take that step
that I told you to take, because you
just can't pray, pray, pray.
You've got to pray and do.
If this message has been an answer to
you in some area of your life and
you know that today you want to just
start afresh with God, growing, growing, becoming more
like Jesus, who had perfect never and always
and sometimes and not now.
Jesus understood all of that perfectly.
If today the Lord has been talking to
you, would you just stand where you are?
You're a Christian.
You love the Lord.
Just stand.
You want us to pray for you.