Well, praise the Lord this morning.
I've been very blessed and encouraged in the
Lord these last several weeks as I've been
meditating on this topic that I'm going to
share this morning.
The Lord has really just taught me a
lot.
I guess I've said this to several of
you that God has a lot of schools,
ways to teach us through things.
Every avenue of life is one of those
schools.
Children, having children, being married, going to work,
whatever.
God teaches you through every walk of life.
This is one that the Lord first started
to show me with my children.
It was one day they were just kind
of off.
Just kind of, huh, what's going on?
So Andrea, as we often do, we'll talk
in the evenings.
Well, how do you think this went today?
What do you think about this?
What should we do about this?
We talk and mow things over.
We came to the conclusion that some of
the things that had gone wrong through the
day, just little attitudes, little subtle things.
I mean, you know, the average person probably
coming and visiting our home wouldn't have really
seen a whole lot of things maybe.
But little things that just, attitude maybe, or
I don't know.
There's nothing we could really put our finger
on.
We're like, well, how do we deal with
this?
Do we just need to get out the
rod and be extra, extra consistent maybe and
really start off the day right tomorrow in
a big way?
And that just didn't seem really what we
needed to do.
And just in evaluating things, it became very
clear that maybe not the whole problem, but
maybe the whole problem, and at least a
huge part of it, was maybe the atmosphere
in the home that day.
And meaning that, you know, we realize we
have to be careful that when we, we
as mommy and daddy, are at spiritual warfare
in various things, and sometimes that can come
across on our faces.
It's just an intense day.
We're battling.
We're buckling down and maybe on edge a
little bit.
Whatever the case might be.
And we realize, wow, I think that got
transferred to the children so that things that
they shouldn't have to deal with at their
young age, I mean they're four and two,
all of a sudden they're, hmm, we're almost
putting stuff on them, not saying stuff to
them, but just because of how we are.
The atmosphere in the home was not just
a complete, ah, carefree environment for the children.
And I mean carefree in a good way,
where they're not burdened with the adult problems.
The adults are taking care of those, and
the kids have no idea that the adults
are burdened about anything.
And they're just smiling.
They're living under the smiles of mom and
dad, and everything's just great.
Well, I think we smiled a little less
that day, and we were a little less
jovial, a little less joyful probably, and just
a little, just the atmosphere in the home
wasn't quite what it should be that day.
And that was what we came to in
the evening there, and we're like, wow, so
what are we going to do?
Tomorrow, we are going to abound in the
joy of the Lord.
And right from the beginning, we are just
going to be smiling down upon their little
hearts, and they're going to know it, and
we'll see what happens.
And that fixed it.
The next day was not full of spankings
at all.
It was not full of any problems, really.
And it improved everything.
So I learned something, and the Lord began
to, I mean, it was an old truth
brought in a new way, and I started
to seek God about that.
And this is not another lesson to parents.
This is a lesson to all of us
in our personal walk with God.
But you know, sometimes the people of God,
I've noticed, can be like the children were
that day.
Well, you can't really put your finger on
it.
Is it worthy of a spanking, or is
it not worthy of a spanking?
But just a little off.
The joy, the countenance of the children were
just not quite as bright.
And so sometimes people get that way through
observation.
This is what happens.
They get that way, and it's not they're
totally maybe just deserving of a spanking from
the Lord, or maybe sometimes they are, but
their countenance just isn't quite, they're not quite
there.
They're a little off spiritually.
The prayer life just isn't that good.
And their relationships, their earthly relationships, they're a
little off, not quite to part, not quite
the fullness of what God wants.
And it's hard to put our finger on
it sometimes, just like it was with us
trying to put our finger on it with
our children.
And so what I'm going to share today,
I believe, is a root of many things
like that, where you're just kind of off
a little bit.
You don't feel just like a clear, happy
countenance in your heart, or on your face
for that matter.
And there's something just wrong.
And I think a lot of times that
it's like that.
In the example I shared with you, it
was like that because the atmosphere in our
home was actually changed.
But I think sometimes we change how we
perceive God.
We change how the atmosphere for us is.
And so when we think of God, it's
more like, what do you see God as?
How do you think of when you think
of God?
There are many extremes.
One extreme is just a happy-go-lucky
God that doesn't care about really what you
do.
And He wants to bless you with riches
and mansions and cars and planes and trucks
and boats.
And that's one end.
And the other end is God is a
judge.
And He is up there.
And if you step over the line, He's
got a big old baseball bat.
And He's going to crack your skull with
it.
And somewhere in the middle is where God
is.
God doesn't wink at sin.
He does have a big stick that He
uses if people sin.
But He also is a loving and compassionate
and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding
in love and mercy.
And the Bible says that He's smiling down
upon His people.
You see, God wants us to be living
the Christian life underneath His smile, with Him
smiling down His approval on our lives.
And we know it's there.
We just know.
We've got the confidence that the children should
have in our homes that, oh, Mommy and
Daddy, they've never dropped me.
And it's just fun to be with Mommy
and Daddy.
And they are just clear and free.
And they are smiling and happy and joyful.
But, oh, if Mom and Dad kind of
get, hey, they get out the drill sergeant,
Mom and Dad, pretty soon, oh, they can
get some outward compliance.
Thank you.
They can get some outward compliance, but they're
going to be off.
You just know.
You can look at them sometimes.
Like, those eyes are speaking volumes to me.
What is with the countenance of the child?
And so the same thing with us.
Oh, we can be in line, quote-unquote,
outwardly compliant, and going through lots of things,
but do we have the freedom, the full
freedom that Christ died to give us?
Are we walking underneath a God that is
just, wow, smiling down on us?
My children regularly come to me and say,
Daddy, are you pleased with me?
Or, is God happy with us right now?
Oh, it's so important.
It's so important to them.
Very, very rarely, if I don't do this,
will I get a spanking?
No, I hardly ever hear that.
I hear, if I do this, are you
going to be pleased?
And they want that security.
They want us to be just smiling down
approval on their little lives.
They want that more than anything.
That's what they want.
And if we're off, if we're frustrated with
them, it ruins their day right away.
Because, see, what was happening with our kids,
they were doing things, and they were a
little off, and then pretty soon that builds,
and that makes us kind of, why are
they doing that?
And pretty soon, we don't have, we didn't
get out the stick or anything, I don't
think, but still, it was clear that there's
just something different about Mom and Dad.
And I'm sure they can't express it this
way, but I know that was the problem,
because when it cleared up the next day,
it was it, it was done.
Well, God is God, and He is smiling
down upon us, and He is pleased with
us.
The Bible says so.
The Bible says that the Lord did not
choose the children of Israel because of this,
that, the other thing, because they were numerous,
because they were great, they were powerful, nothing.
He chose them because it pleased Him to
do it.
He just set His love upon them, and
it pleased Him to love them.
And so that's why.
God didn't choose any of us in this
room today for any other reason, other than
He was just pleased to do it.
It pleased the Father to bruise the Son
for our iniquities.
So, it's pleasing.
It's a pleasing thing.
And sometimes, you know it, when you get
under self-condemnation, and maybe some of us
have never been under self-condemnation, but I
think, somewhere along the line, you can start
getting under the law, and, oh, wait a
second here, and self-condemnation ruins your day
in the Lord.
It just, you're just off.
And you can't even, and you think, well,
did I sin?
And you can't even think of anything you
did.
But your day is just ruined.
And your week's ruined, unless you get to
the bottom of it, and come to realize,
like, oh, God's smiling down on me still.
And that solves the problem.
That's what it is that solves the problem.
Every time.
And until you realize that, you're just going
to be trudging through the trenches, and you're
not even in a trench.
Consider a baby.
This is the way God made us.
What do you do, parents, when you smile
at your baby?
What do they do to you?
They smile at you.
Their brain can't even process happiness, probably.
I don't know.
They don't even know what they're doing.
But it's a reflex.
You just smile at them, and they smile.
And they do that with almost everyone, usually.
It's just built in.
We're programmed that way.
We are.
If you surround yourself with a bunch of
complainers, you're going to think the day's just
worse than it is.
It just happens.
It just comes on you.
I know if I go to the teacher's
lounge, and I have lunch every day in
the teacher's lounge at school, I'm going to
think the bosses are worse than they are.
I think my bosses are great, but I
only hear complaining every once in a while.
I'm like, huh, I think they're doing a
good job.
I mean, how else are you going to
supervise 1,200 rowdy, rambunctious teenagers and 80
complaining teachers?
I mean, what are you going to do?
I've never had a complaint.
I mean, okay.
Well, anyway, you do that.
We are made to respond to the surroundings.
And so when you look up to the
Lord this morning with your heart, what do
you see God to be like?
Really, in truth.
What is He like today?
Are you like a little child?
I just love to put my hands on
my children's heads.
I just, I love you, I love you,
I love you.
And I just like to smile at them.
And they just like it too.
I tried to get it out of Esther
today.
I said, what does it do when I
smile at you?
How do you feel?
You know, she just kind of gets, you
know.
She couldn't explain it.
I said, do you get sad?
And she just laughed.
She's like, what?
You know.
So, it just does wonders.
It does wonders.
Well, and so I've applied this to parents.
Set the tone with the countenance in your
house.
But see, God sets the tone.
We're not going to set God's tone.
I'm not telling you today to make up
strange ideas about what God is like.
That God's smiling on you when He's not.
But I'm trying to say to you today,
realize the atmosphere in God's house.
God's household.
Realize what His atmosphere is like.
What does the Bible say?
Joy.
What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit?
Read all those things.
And those are the same things that need
to be in your house.
Love, joy, peace, patience.
Gentleness, kindness, goodness, self-control.
Wow!
All kinds of things.
And probably some others.
Love is patience.
Love is kind.
Love is suffering.
It doesn't...
You know, all these great things.
Always trusts, always protects, always hopes.
God is love.
Those are all of His characteristics.
And so I just want to kind of
provide a course correction this morning because we
know that the people in the churches, a
lot of the churches, they have this lovey
God that isn't really love.
This winking at sin kind of God.
And this...
I don't know how they do that.
But they have a false picture of God.
And so we, in an endeavor to have
the right picture, we don't want to make
God out to be this other kind of
God.
The Bible says, Behold, therefore, the kindness and
severity of God.
In Romans 11.
Kindness to you.
Severity to those who fell.
So let's not wipe out His severity.
Let's not do away with that.
But at the same point, let's not have
a thinking of, Behold, therefore, the kindness, the
severity, the harshness, the really severity, and the
judgment of God.
Let's not do that either.
Let's give even balance to the character of
God this morning.
And so I'm going to talk about the
face of God.
The face of God upon God's people.
The face of God is a powerful thing.
It is a powerful thing.
The face of God.
Now we've got to put ourselves into the
Bible mindset this morning of what that means.
I was sharing with a few of you
the other day, I was thinking about that
in Bible times.
When you say, hey, I'm getting to know
somebody.
I'm going to get to know Ryan.
Well, today, what that means is, email, phone,
regular mail, and I get to see him.
But if you say, I'm going to get
to know somebody, back in the Bible days,
the mail doesn't get there in two or
three days.
It probably takes you that long to scribe
a letter.
There is no email, there is no phone.
It's a face-to-face interaction.
That's what it is.
It's face-to-face.
If you know somebody well, you know their
face.
You don't know their penmanship, maybe, but you
know their face.
And it's different today.
We're not a face-to-face people.
It's just not the same.
But the face of God, that's a phrase,
that's an expression, that just means knowing God.
I mean, don't try to get to know
God in an impersonal way, like through email,
in a figurative sense.
Get to know his face.
What he's like.
Get to know his face.
Isn't that different?
Communicating.
I know there's levels of communicating.
The best, face-to-face, for sure.
Next best, phone.
Next best after that, probably email, because it's
quicker.
And then you've got the letters.
And then you've got a courier, or a
messenger, or something like that.
But face-to-face is preferably.
I mean, don't you feel like if you
need to have a really serious conversation with
somebody, I mean something that's deep, maybe a
conflict, something that needs to get worked out,
don't you feel like, I feel like I
need to see facial expressions here.
I don't want to misunderstand this person.
I want to see exactly what's happening.
So it's face-to-face.
That's the best way.
And so the face of God is no
little thing.
It's a thing that God says, no man
can see it and live.
And yet everybody in the Bible is seeking
it.
It's a big thing.
It's a somber thing.
It's a serious thing.
Everybody wants to see God's face.
Everybody wants God's face.
Turn toward them.
Don't turn away your face from Me, O
God.
I'll perish.
That's what the Bible says.
It's a great thing.
It's a high thing.
I think when Jacob met Esau after being
separated for a long time, and he wanted
to have a phrase that would communicate to
Esau how happy he was to see him.
Now Jacob was a little afraid for his
life.
A lot afraid for his life at this
point.
And so he wanted to make sure that
he had to pick one phrase that would
communicate that he's delighted with Esau.
He's happy to see Esau.
Esau, I love you.
And I respect you.
And so what did he say?
Seeing your face is like seeing the face
of God.
And don't think that that was just oh,
he thought of that right at the spur
of the moment.
No, no, he was pondering.
He planned this out.
He's sending droves of head, right?
Alright, we're going to be last.
Hopefully this will appease him.
And he planned this for days, I'm sure
of it.
At least a while.
As he's going, what am I going to
say?
How do you, when you're going to meet
somebody important, somebody powerful, you plan what you're
going to say?
And yes, there's that Scripture.
Don't think about what you're going to say.
Things like that.
But you know you do.
That doesn't mean you get anxious about it.
We do trust the Lord.
But Jacob, I think he was anxious.
The one phrase he could say is seeing
you is like seeing the face of God.
It's a great thing.
It's a wonderful thing.
It's a sober thing.
We look at Numbers chapter 6.
You know when God is giving His people
the high priesthood and the priesthood here, He
tells the priests how to bless them.
And we know what this blessing is.
But what a blessing it is.
If we just look at it in the
context of what I'm sharing this morning.
Verse 22 of Numbers 6.
It says, The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak to Aaron and his son, saying, This
is the way you shall bless the children
of Israel.
Here's how you do it.
Say to them, The Lord bless you and
keep you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you
and give you peace.
So they shall put My name on the
children of Israel, and I will bless them.
That is what God wanted.
I mean, can you picture this?
You've got a high priest.
What blessing, Lord, do you want your people
to have upon them?
What words do you want going through their
mind as they leave the sacrifice today?
What words, what concept of you do you
want them to have?
And here it is.
Raise up your hands and God bless you.
Cause His face just to shine upon you,
be gracious to you.
Oh, let His countenance look down on you.
He's pleased with you.
I will bless you.
And there you go.
Have a great day.
Wow!
You will!
If God's anointed high priest raises His hand
over you and says that, you're going to
have a wonderful day.
Amen.
Can we see Psalm 67?
This is something to pray for.
Having God's face upon you, His countenance upon
you.
Verse 1.
And there's an important reason for this.
It says, May God be gracious to us
and bless us and make His face shine
upon us.
There it is again.
There it is.
Is that your prayer?
Oh, God, be gracious.
Oh, shine down.
Shine that face right on me.
Nice and big smiles, Lord.
That should be it.
And as I said before, the face of
the parents, the countenance of the parents, the
attitude of the parents has a direct effect
on the conduct, the countenance, the attitude of
the children.
And so if God is doing that to
us, what's going to happen?
We're going to have an attitude, a countenance.
Everything about us is going to be a
certain way.
And then what's going to happen?
Other people are going to see it.
So it says here, Make His face shine
upon us.
Verse 2.
That your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise You, O God.
There's no coincidence that that comes right after
that.
May all the peoples praise You.
I can picture the heart of the psalmist
there.
Can you picture that?
You just wrote, May the peoples praise You,
O God.
May all the peoples praise You.
You just get extra.
Yes, all of them.
May the nations be glad and sing for
joy, for You rule the peoples justly and
guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise You, O God.
May the peoples praise You.
Then the land...
I mean it goes on, but then the
land will yield its harvest and God our
God will bless us.
And all the ends of the earth will
fear Him.
It happens like this.
How sad of a thing if God is
smiling upon you and you think He's frowning.
Can you see?
That's just a fire quencher.
That's just an unproductive life.
How about Psalm 31?
There are so many Scriptures.
I did not write them all down.
But there are so many Scriptures about God's
face, God's countenance being upon His people.
Psalm 31, verse 16.
Make Your face shine upon Your servants.
Save me for Your mercy's sake.
Wow!
Make Your face just shine upon me.
Psalm 119.
Make Your face shine upon Your servants.
Teach me Your decrees.
It's just all over.
It's all over.
So it's a great ambition for God's people.
It's an ambition.
It's something high and lofty.
I mentioned Jacob with Esau.
Seeing you is like seeing the face of
God.
This is great!
It's a great thing.
Let's look at Psalm 17.
Seeing the face of God.
Oh, that's what the psalmist is hoping for.
That's what he wanted to do.
The very last verse of the Scripture there,
it says, As for me, I will see
Your face in righteousness.
I shall be satisfied when I awake in
Your likeness.
That's what he wanted.
How about Psalm 27?
Psalm 27, you know there's one thing that
David wanted.
Verse 4, One thing I desired of the
Lord, that that will I seek, that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life.
Oh, to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in His temple.
He just wanted to sit there and look
at God's face.
That was his goal.
That was his aspiration.
Let's look at a New Testament Scripture that
says this, 1 John.
It's the heart of God that His people
be wanting to see His face, to know
Him intimately.
That's what the phrase is communicating.
All the facial expressions, to see the smile,
to know His approval upon His people.
And it says here, in verse 2 of
chapter 3, 1 John, it says, Beloved, now
we are children of God, and it has
not yet been revealed what we shall be.
But we know that when He is revealed,
we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is.
That's what he wanted.
We'll see Him.
Oh, when we can see the Lord.
It's a big ambition of God's people.
It's a big ambition to see the Lord.
How about 2 Chronicles 7?
You know, many times we're told to seek
God's face.
We're told to seek this kind of God,
this kind of relationship with God so we
can see His face.
And there's a condition.
We've got to have that.
If we don't have that, we're not going
to be very successful.
I don't know the full consequences here.
But we need that.
We need to be pressing hard after this
and seeking His face just to see clearly
how He feels about us.
Verse 14, If my people who are called
by my name will humble themselves and pray
and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and heal their
land.
Big ifs there.
There's lots of them there.
We talk about those a lot.
Turning from sin and humbling ourselves.
But seeking His face.
Let's put that in the list too.
Seek His face.
We look at Psalm 24.
Psalm 24.
All these things.
I'm focusing on the Old Testament.
A lot of Old Testament Scriptures here.
But all these things.
The blessing.
That blessing is under the law.
The God's face shining upon you.
This is under the law that this blessing
is given.
And this is a time when a lot
of people in the church who have a
distorted view of God, they don't believe that
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
That He used to be a wrathful God
and now He's a good, gracious God.
But He's been the same.
Look at this.
In the midst of how they view this
wrathful, mean God.
God is just saying, I want to smile
on you.
And I just love you.
And I want you to see My face
and seek My face and know Me.
And now we've got more.
We've got greater promises.
I'm getting ahead, but that's what we have
here.
So, Psalm 246 here, it says, This is
Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek Your face.
Verse 5, He'll receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God His Savior.
That's what it's like when you seek God.
The next verse is, Lift up your heads,
all you gates.
Be lifted up!
Be happy!
Know that God, He's the lifter of your
head.
Lift up your heads.
Seek His face.
Psalm 27, verse 8.
You see if your heart says this, My
heart says of you, Seek His face.
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Are you doing that?
Are you just...
Are you basking in just a smile of
God today?
Just like a child who has just Parents
who are smiling down approval upon them.
Are you doing that with God?
Are you walking in the reality of that?
Psalm 105, verse 4 says, Look to the
Lord and His strength.
Seek His face always.
Seek His face.
Seek to be connected with His face.
Always.
Always seek to have a clear view of
His face towards you.
Is He smiling at you?
Is He frowning at you?
You'll know it.
You'll be walking with Him.
Seek to have that clear of a discernment.
Seek to know that.
There's many scriptures of prayers that are pleading
with the Lord, Lord, don't hide Your face
from me.
Don't do it, Lord, please.
Look upon me.
Hear me, Lord.
Don't hide Your face from me.
And not one person who prayed those prayers
actually ever saw the physical face of God.
Never did.
But they had.
They did though.
They saw it.
They knew His approval.
They knew what it was like.
And I've got a bunch written down here,
but to emphasize this would not be in
line with what the Lord is doing right
now.
But we could look at Psalm 104, verse
29 just to get an example of what
happens when you don't have a view of
God's face, or worse yet, when God turns
His face from you because of sin.
But Psalm 104, verse 29, it says, When
you hide your face, they are terrified.
When you take away their breath, they die
and return to the ground.
And there's many scriptures like that.
Psalm 143, verse 7, Answer me quickly, O
Lord.
My spirit fails.
Do not hide Your face from me, or
I'll be like those who go down to
the pit.
Do you really realize that your Christian life,
the fullness, the walk, the practical everyday walk
you have depends very much on you realizing
that God is smiling upon you?
Or do you need to realize that God's
turned His face away from you and repent?
It's so important.
And if you don't have a clear vision
of God's smile, and He's smiling on you,
and you can't really see a big ol'
smile, you see kind of a little smirk,
or maybe a little half smile, or you
don't really know what you see, you're going
to live this life that's just a little
off.
And you'll probably end up needing a big
spanking.
If my children go like that for too
long, they end up blowing it big.
If they don't do that right away, it
will happen.
Because God is the source of our hope,
our joy, and everything.
And if we lose touch of that, we
can only manufacture and live the remembrance of
the good days when the Lord was looking
down on us in favor.
We can only do that for so long.
And you're going to blow it big.
So seek His face.
Let's look at Psalm 80.
Salvation.
Our salvation.
The salvation.
We are saved by grace.
Grace.
Now, we grew up in churches that taught
some things about grace.
That grace is just this abstract thing that
makes God forget about your continual sinning against
Him and makes Him think that you're pleasing
Him when you're not.
And it's these special goggles He puts on
and He doesn't even see you sin, but
He sees something else instead.
But we know that's false.
We know that all of our ways are
open before God.
And He sees us very clearly.
And we're all going to receive for the
things done while in the flesh.
But in knowing that, let's not forget that
grace is indeed favor.
It is unmerited also.
It is unmerited favor.
That's what it is.
Now, it's not idle in our lives.
It does.
Titus 2.11, our favorite Scriptures there.
It does teach us how to live and
it is an active part of our life,
but it is favor.
It is by favor that you are saved.
Through faith.
Faith in what?
The favor of God.
Do you have faith to realize that God
has favor upon you?
Don't just take this grace.
Oh, it's an abstract religious word that we
have.
It's His favor.
It's God's smile that saves you.
And then the question is, do you believe
it?
You're saved by grace through faith.
That's it.
Here are some Psalms that prove that.
V.
3 of Psalm 80, Restore us, O God,
make Your face shine upon us that we
may be saved.
He knew I've got to have a shining
face to be saved.
I've got to have that upon me, Lord,
or I'm not saved.
So here it's by grace you're saved.
The same Scriptures repeated in v.
7 and v.
19 of this psalm.
Big theme in this psalm.
Practically says the same thing.
But it's interesting as the psalm goes along.
Let's look at the little differences.
V.
7, Restore us, O God Almighty.
Not just restore us, O God.
It's a little more descriptive.
And then look at v.
19.
It's really neat.
It says, Restore us, O Lord God Almighty.
It just gets longer.
I think the psalmist is just growing in
this psalm and just loving the Lord.
Because he knows His face is smiling on
him, and he just can't help but well
up, I think.
That's what I'm doing.
How about psalm 44?
The same thing.
It's this grace.
It's this favor of God that saves us.
And it's very clear.
Psalm 44, v.
3, It was not by their sword that
they won the land, nor did their arm
bring them victory.
It was by Your right hand, Your arm,
and the light of Your face, for You
loved them.
It's the light of God's face that brought
them victory.
Oh, psalm 5.
Such a blessing.
It's amazing how many times I could hear
that song sung and listen to it and
just miss it.
The very...
Wow.
V.
12, the very last verse of psalm 5.
For surely, O Lord, You bless the righteous.
You surround them with Your favor as with
a shield.
I mean, God's favor surrounding you like this
big old shield that brings you victory.
It defends you.
Wow, I saw that.
I was like, look at that.
A shield.
God surrounds us with favor.
How else could it be worded?
It's just surrounding us all over the place.
Favor, favor, favor, favor.
All around.
Like a big old shield.
That's something else.
Realizing that then, what are we going to
be like?
Oh, what kind of people shall we be?
What kind of people shall we be?
If you're having any problems with children at
home, raising them, try this.
This is the best child training technique I
know of.
A smiling, pleasant, approving countenance on the child
that doesn't excuse rebellion.
Oh, people try to do this in the
world and excuse all the rebellion.
Oh, here's a sucker for your crying.
No, no, no, not that.
But the approval and all the rods in
the world won't get your children's heart if
you don't have this in your home.
So, just like children respond to this.
They got clear consciences.
They're happy.
That's how we do too.
Let's look at Exodus 34.
I love these scriptures.
This is the application phase here.
And we're going to apply it.
This is all in the law now.
Almost every scripture so far has been in
the law.
I'm just excited.
I'll stay up here.
I am so excited to get to the
New Covenant here.
But Exodus 34, verse 29.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with
the two tablets of the testimony in his
hands, he was not aware that his face
was radiant because he had spoken with the
Lord.
Isn't that the greatest thing?
I mean, we can just have a radiant
face.
Getting up off your knees in the morning.
Spoke with the Lord.
Wow!
He didn't even know it.
It wasn't something he had to put on.
He had to...
Alright, I got to have a prayer time
now.
And really work it up.
And there.
I better be happy.
No.
He was not under the law when he
did this.
He was not under some law of...
He was just radiant in the presence of
God.
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses'
face...
This is great.
Boy, when people see your face, what are
they going to do?
They saw his face was radiant and they
were afraid to come near him.
Moses called to them.
So Aaron and all the leaders of the
community came back to him and he spoke
to them.
Afterward, all the Israelites came near him and
he gave them all the commands that the
Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
When Moses finished speaking to them, he put
a veil over his face.
But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to
speak with him, he removed the veil until
he came out.
Oh!
He wanted a clear view of the presence
of God.
He didn't want no veil over his face.
He didn't want to see it a little
bit.
He was like, Let me glow, Lord.
I want to see this.
So he lifts that up.
And when he came out, he just told
the Israelites.
And they saw his face.
There it is again.
He's just radiant.
What is this?
Wow.
Moses put the veil.
And then he goes in and speaks to
the Lord.
Oh, wow.
That's just great.
There's a great picture of this.
And we'll read about it in the New
Testament.
This is an analogy for us.
This is not some high and lofty thing
for Moses.
In fact, he was fading.
And then if we could look at just
what God is supposed to do to our
very countenance and our very being.
Turn to the book of Ecclesiastes.
It's just such a blessing that we can
know God and He works in us this
radiance.
Ecclesiastes 8, verse 1.
Who is like the wise man?
Who knows the explanation of things?
Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its
hard appearance.
Oh, the wisdom of God will just brighten
a man's face.
Make it all nice and soft in appearance.
Look at Psalm 34.
This is not just Moses.
This is not just something that happens with
Moses.
A radiance.
Psalm 34, verse 5.
Those who look to Him are radiant.
Their faces are never covered with shame.
Do you see the face of God?
And therefore, have your face just beaming.
Beaming.
Because you know the highest love there is.
You know the greatest measure of approval that
any being can bestow upon you.
Man's approval is just finite because they're finite
beings.
Man's love, as much as you love your
wife, your husband, your friend, it's finite love.
But God's love is infinite.
He's got infinite capabilities to feel emotions.
And His approval is great and those who
look to that approval, to His smiling face,
are radiant.
They are radiant people.
How about Psalm 42?
And I need to read this in the
New King James.
The NIV translation I don't like.
It's the only translation I know that doesn't
put it literally like this.
But Psalm 42, verse 11.
What a blessing.
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
Why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise
Him, the help of my countenance and my
God.
The NIV just says, my Savior and my
God.
I don't know why it says Savior.
But it's the help of my countenance.
God is the helper of our countenance.
Wow!
That's just exciting to me.
He causes our face to be radiant.
He's the lifter of our head.
The helper of our countenance.
And that's repeated in Psalm 43.
Let's read that.
We've got to read verse 3.
Oh, send out your light and your truth.
Let them lead me, let them bring me
to your holy hill and to your tabernacle.
Then I will go to the altar of
God, to God my exceeding joy, and on
the harp I will praise you, O God
my God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
Why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise
Him, the help of my countenance and my
God.
I just like that phrase.
I've been meditating on that for the last
several days.
God is the help of my countenance.
That's really exciting.
That is just a blessing.
Well, perhaps we can finish now in 2
Corinthians and look at chapter 3.
What a blessing all these things are when
we compare the ministry that brought death with
the ministry that brought life.
And compare the law with grace.
You understand, this is a lot of grace.
We've been reading about a lot of grace
in the Old Testament.
But do you know the Bible says that
the law was given through Moses, but grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ.
I mean, the grace has not even been
revealed yet.
The fullness of the countenance of God...
I mean, they just didn't know it.
And listen to this.
This is a blessing.
If we can look in verse 7.
If the ministry that brought death, which was
engraved in letters on stone, came with glory...
and it did.
It came with glory.
So much glory, so the Israelites could not
look steadily at the face of Moses because
of its glory.
Fading, though it was.
Will not the ministry of the Spirit be
even more glorious?
If the ministry that condemns men is glorious,
how much more glorious is the ministry that
brings righteousness?
For what was glorious has no glory now
in comparison with the surpassing glory.
And if what was fading away came with
glory, how much greater is the glory of
that which lasts?
All the Old Testament Scriptures we've been reading,
you can say of those that what is
here now has no glory compared to this.
Compared to the life and the Spirit of
Christ Jesus.
So you can see now why we're saved
by grace through faith.
Can you believe that?
Oh yeah, I can believe that!
I hope so.
No glory.
All that glory.
Moses, all his radiance has no glory now
compared to now.
And how much greater the glory that lasts.
Your radiance doesn't have to fade away.
We can be in the tabernacle that Moses
only went to sometimes when God called him.
We can be there all day long.
All day long!
We're in the Holy of Holies by the
blood of the Lamb.
Today is a day of salvation.
Now is the time of His favor.
Brother Scott put that in my hearing just
before I got up here.
I'm like, Lord, help me remember that at
the right time.
But now is the time of God's favor.
The favor that He's going to surround us
with like a shield that I would say
now He would fill us up with as
well.
Well, verse 16 of chapter 3 here.
Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil
is taken away.
Don't try to view the glory of God
through any kind of veil of unbelief.
Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom.
And we who with unveiled faces all reflect
the Lord's glory are being transformed into His
likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from
the Lord who is the Spirit.
There it is.
There you have it.
That we are radiant.
All who look to the Lord are radiant.
Supposed to be.
Reflecting the glory of God, just like Moses,
but in a greater way.
In a greater way.
And if we could jump down, the last
Scripture I'd like to share is in chapter
4, verse 6.
For God, who said, let light shine out
of darkness, made His light shine in our
hearts to give us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Christ.
Praise God.
I don't know what all that means, but
it's pretty deep.
It's pretty deep.
The face of Christ used to be just
this phrase.
That's neat.
I've been meditating on that a little more
lately.
And we've got all this stuff in our
hearts now.
He made His light to shine forth in
our hearts.
We have the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of
Christ.
Ah, we have this treasure in jars of
clay to show that this all-surpassing power
is from God and not from us.
And it's so true.
It's to show.
We write in Psalms, Lord, make Your face
shine upon us that the world may know
at the ends of the earth that all
the peoples will praise You, that all the
peoples will praise You.
And this is it.
It's God's people seeing God's face and that
reflecting off of them to others and you
just can't veil it up.
Can't veil it up.
So I just pray that God's face would
shine upon all of you.
That He would just turn His face to
you and bless you.
And more than that, you've received all these
blessings that you would walk in it.
You would walk in that place.
Amen.
Well, I wasn't sure when the Lord had
me share this, but he came up with
the Part 2 of the Old Testament.
He brought all the New Testament out for
me.
When I was studying this, I knew it
was all over the Old Testament, but the
Lord just didn't have me go there.
So I was just so blessed.
The Lord's had me seeking a couple different
things.
I think the other's been crying out to
God.
Two things that were brought together in this.
The Lord showed me about fighting discouragement.
And I think, I didn't really know how
to describe that, but I think when Jason
described what his children were like, maybe they
didn't deserve a spanking or something, but something
was kind of off.
And I think the way to think about
it is they weren't abounding.
His kids, they were not abounding.
They were not abounding.
They were just kind of...
And he said, if you stay there very
long, you're going to make a big mistake.
And it's true.
We can't stay there.
And the other thing the Lord's had me
seeking is just being steadfast.
Just being firm.
Unmovable.
Unshakable.
Just being solid and unwavering in our faith.
And I was praying one morning, and God
just showed me about the word discouraged and
how the word courage was in that word.
You know, if something's disconnected, it's not connected.
So discouraged, without courage I guess.
And so the Lord connected the two things
for me and just gave me a bunch
of vision of what our everyday life should
be if we're abounding in Christ.
And what it comes down to is what
Jason shared this morning.
If we're walking in a practical, real way,
every day, knowing that these things are true
and that we have them in Christ, what
Jason was sharing.
And so some little titles I had I
guess for this was Everyday Victory Over Discouragement
or Maintaining Steadfast Faith.
But I think a better title would be
Walking Under God's Blessing and His Smile and
maintaining that walk.
Not just experiencing it every once in a
while, but walking in it on a daily
basis and never leaving it.
Like, steadfast, remaining there.
Knowing you're unmovable and unshakable in Christ.
The Scripture says it pleased God to have
all fullness dwell in Christ.
Well, we know we've been given fullness in
Christ and He's the fullness of Him who
fills everything in every way.
That's what we have.
Are we going to walk in that?
Are we going to walk in that daily?
And what that means is that we're not
going to be falling in discouragement or this
little wavering or this not abounding on a
daily, everyday basis.
The Lord just kind of encouraged me some
practical ways that we can fight that in
our everyday lives and really experience on a
daily basis what it is to walk and
abound in Christ, in the fullness of Christ.
And I just confess and admit for two
and a half years of my Christian walk,
I very often fell into the state that
he described to his kids.
And maybe some of you, that's your experience.
And you just think, well, I guess that's
being a Christian.
Well, I come to realize it's not.
Falling into these times of not abounding.
Well, yeah, you're not disobeying and you're not
sinning against God.
And you don't feel like you love God
any less.
You want to obey Him.
You want to please Him.
But it's just kind of like, you're not
abounding in Christ.
I used to think that was just part
of the Christian walk.
And come to find out, no, the Christian
walk, if we walk by faith in the
fullness of Christ, we should be experiencing unwavering,
immovable, just steadfastness on a daily, everyday, unable
to be moved, unable to be shaken way.
That's what we should experience.
The Lord kind of gave me a view
of what everyday life should be.
And I just kind of wrote it down,
so I'm just going to read it.
You'll probably hear me read this three times
so I can give this picture because this
is what God put in my head and
what He's put in my heart.
What everyday life should be.
My life is perfect today.
I know things are difficult, uncomfortable, and trialsome
on the outside.
My flesh may feel weary, but no matter
what the circumstances are, I know my life
is perfect because I'm absolutely surrendered to God.
I guess I'll add, because God's face is
shining down on me today through Christ.
I know that every single aspect of my
life is divinely ordered and put in a
specific place by God Himself because of His
love for me and because He knows what's
best for me.
And I don't just know it in my
mind.
I'm convinced of it in my heart and
I can feel it in my spirit.
I can be bold today.
I know I'm in Christ.
I have vision today.
I have hope today.
I know how blessed I am today.
The devil cannot touch me today.
I absolutely refuse to be discouraged today.
That's everyday life.
Everyday.
You walk in that.
You can walk in that.
And I'll just testify.
You get your foot on Christ and you
see what Jason preached about this morning and
you make it a reality through a little
bit of faith.
See, Christ makes this a living reality for
every day of our life.
If you're not experiencing this, you just need
a little bit of faith.
And if God puts this work, establishes it
in your heart to walk in, it will
just be a revelation.
Your vision will be adjusted.
You know, majorly change your daily walk in
the Spirit.
My life, the last five months, is not...
I look at two and a half years
of my Christian walk and I was like...
We're not talking I'm falling into willful disobedience.
We're not talking about that.
We're talking about victory in a different way
today.
It's just walking under God's blessing.
1 Corinthians 15, 57.
So I hope to share some practical ways
that we can fight what I'm just going
to call discouragement.
It's not abounding.
When you're just kind of...
You don't feel that.
What I described, that paragraph I just read.
If that's not in your heart and you're
walking in it, some practical ways to get
there.
Jason shared about that, how to get there.
I think it was...
What a blessing of how to get there.
But how to stay there.
How to stay there and fight the devil
when he tries to get you out of
that place.
1 Corinthians 15, 57.
Thanks be to God.
He gives us the victory through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Therefore, my dear friends, stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
In the King James it says, Be ye
steadfast, unmovable.
Always give yourselves fully.
The King James says, Always abounding in the
work of the Lord.
Because you know that your labor in the
Lord is not in vain.
You have a hope.
You know what you're after.
The Greek for that abounding, it's super abounding.
It's like you're not just abounding.
You're not just having a little bit of
victory.
You are super abounding in the work of
God.
You're unmovable, unshakable.
You're above it all.
Because you have the victory.
The devil can't touch you.
I looked up the word discouraged in the
dictionary.
Deprived of courage or confidence.
Depressed in spirits.
The devil can get us discouraged.
He has us exactly where he wants us.
He can get us deprived of courage.
We're shakable.
We're movable.
We're not steadfast.
We're lacking that courage and that faith to
just be steadfast.
And basically, we're wavering in our faith.
Then we're ineffective, unproductive.
Really, God is not going to be able
to effectively, powerfully use us to bring Him
glory.
Because we're kind of out of it.
Philippians 1.20 Paul just shows us how
having courage is attached with bringing Christ glory.
Philippians 1.20 Paul just says, I eagerly
expect and hope that I will in no
way be ashamed.
He's refusing to be ashamed.
He's not going to be ashamed of his
calling.
He's going to be steadfast.
So he knows he will in no way
be ashamed.
But he will have sufficient courage so that
now, as always, Christ will be exalted in
his body.
How is Christ going to be exalted in
his body?
If he has sufficient courage.
If he's lacking in his courage, he can't
know that.
He's not going to know that Christ is
going to be exalted.
If he's wavering, if he's lacking bravery, if
he's lacking that steadfastness, he's not going to
be able to make that boast.
But he knows in Christ he has the
victory.
So he can make that boast.
Through Christ I will have sufficient courage so
that now, as always.
See, you can be used by God powerfully
and effectively to bring Him glory when we're
steadfast.
That's where we need to be in Christ.
Not experiencing wavering and just, what's going on,
sort of.
But super abounding in the work of the
Lord.
So I looked up courage.
The definition for courage.
I was so blessed by this.
What does it mean to have courage?
The opposite of being discouraged, you have courage.
Bravery, that quality of mind which enables men
to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, without
fear or depression of spirits.
Valor, you're valiant.
Boldness, resolution, fortified.
Patience to bear continued suffering.
Everyday life.
Courage.
Deuteronomy 31 says, Be strong and of good
courage.
I just want you to think about if
you're not walking in that every day, you're
not walking in that, experiencing that.
What I read, that every day being encouraged
and staying there.
I know you can look back to your
conversion and find it.
Because it's really easy.
You see, you knew what Christ did to
you.
You had vision.
You had hope.
You knew your life was a wreck.
It was a mess.
You're on your way to hell.
And you're convinced it was the worst way
to live.
You have vision for this new life.
You have courage and boldness.
But we need to stay there.
You know that God is shining down His
favor on you.
You know it.
You know you deserve hell and you still
deserve hell.
But somehow, God pulled you out of the
pit and He gave you eternal life and
fullness in Christ.
You see it.
You know it.
And that's where we need to be, every
day.
Not just upon conversion.
So we need to learn how to stay
encouraged in Christ.
If we can walk in this, the channels
of our spirit, it'll just be open, man,
for Him to flow His fruits through our
life.
We'll be able to hear Him, man, and
give Him glory practically everyday life.
Our communion with God will be sweet.
We will be able to hear Him clearly.
And the peace of God will not just
visit our heart.
It will rule our heart every moment, man.
Every moment.
So we need to be encouraged.
So just a couple practical things.
We need to realize we've walked by faith,
not by sin.
We have fullness in Christ.
It doesn't mean every circumstance of our life
is going to be, everything just fall in
place all nice and sweet.
That's not what it means.
We know we're in a battle.
We are in a battle.
So we can't be deceived by what we
see.
It's mostly probably true.
What we see around us, it's true.
The devil is sneaky, you know.
But this is a battle, and the victory's
already won.
We have to remember that.
We need to stand by faith, refuse discouragement.
The devil's going to try to get you
just to view your life.
You look at the things around you, they're
probably true.
But the devil wants to get you to
not view things the way Jason spoke this
morning, but just kind of be like, well,
everyday life today, you know.
I'm just kind of going along with my
business.
Everything's kind of fine.
Just kind of normal.
But we need to see God's favor shining
on us.
We will get into discouragement if we don't
see that we're part of God's family.
We're serving the King of kings, the Lord
of lords.
We're consuming ourselves with His work.
We know there's no better place to be.
We're a bunch of wretched act sinners.
And God's bought us.
I had this image last night.
It's like we get up every morning and
some horse from the king's, you know, whatever,
comes down.
We sit on top of it.
We get this royal robe and we ride
around serving the King of kings all day.
As we're working for His kingdom.
I mean, do you understand that?
There's nothing normal about that.
There's no everyday life, man.
You are serving Christ.
You're like a vassal in His kingdom.
It's like this glorious thing.
You're serving Christ, man.
And you know you're like one of the
few.
It's not just like, oh, it's me and
a million other people.
No, it's like few.
There's few people who see this.
You are serving the King of kings, the
Lord of lords.
Ephesians 3.10. Look at this.
We're part of God's eternal purpose.
Look at that.
Isn't that normal?
I mean, He's got this eternal plan forever.
And somehow He picked us to be part
of that plan.
His intent was that now, through the church,
the manifold wisdom of God should be made
to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly
realms according to His eternal purpose which He
has accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Look at that.
We're part of God's eternal purpose.
This is nothing normal.
I'll just say that again.
It's not normal.
So don't view your life everyday Oh, just
everyday kind of normal life.
No, I don't care what you're doing.
Maybe you are doing some normal things.
Changing diapers.
Making dinner.
Yeah, we do that everyday.
It's kind of normal.
No, you're serving Christ.
Nothing normal.
You are part of His eternal plan.
And look what it produces.
In Him and through faith in Him, we
may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Then Paul adds, I ask you therefore not
to be discouraged because of my sufferings for
you.
So you just see what it produces.
If you view it the right way, if
you view your life the right way, it's
part of God's kingdom, part of His eternal
purpose.
He's shining down His favor upon you.
You recognize there's nothing normal.
You have power in Christ to have confidence,
boldness, to walk.
And that's everyday.
You can walk in this.
And you don't have to be discouraged about
anything.
Second thing, the devil will show you things
that are true to discourage you.
He's going to remind you stuff you already
know very well to bring discouragement to you.
If he can get you to budge your
attitude just a little bit, he's got you
right where he wants you.
So he reminds you everyday life.
You need to do this.
You need to do that.
This didn't work out the way you thought
it would.
This wasn't exactly how you hoped it would
be today.
You didn't find time to do that thing
or this thing.
Your child did not do that thing.
That thing you wished he wouldn't do, he
did it.
That thing you thought you wished he wouldn't
do, he did it.
It's true.
All these things are true.
They happen everyday.
And so on and so on and so
on.
The devil just shows you all this stuff.
Yeah, it was true.
It happened.
Oh, you really hoped that wouldn't happen like
that today.
But it did.
Now, I really hoped they would just go
in the potty and not on my lap
today.
Oh well.
It happened.
The devil just points it out to you,
reminds you.
We've got to stand firm.
Yeah, it's true.
Great.
Who cares?
No reason for discouragement.
No reason to view it just anything but
a blessing.
So we need to keep our focus firm
and our vision.
We need to remember, I know every single
aspect, every single aspect of my life is
divinely ordered and put in a specific place
by God Himself because of His love for
me and because He knows what's best for
me.
That's why that happened.
That's why it happened.
I know I'm in Christ.
I can be bold today.
I have vision today.
I have hope today.
I know how blessed I am today.
The devil can't touch me today.
I absolutely refuse to be discouraged today.
The devil's an accuser.
I mean, are you surprised that he blamed
that on you, that that happened?
He's a liar.
So we need to remember, we can know
our hearts before God.
We can know.
We can look at our hearts and know.
We can be encouraged and be fortified and
just put the devil right in his place.
He might as well be dead lying on
the ground because the battle's over.
The victory's won.
In Christ, the devil, he's just nothing.
So we can have courage in our trials.
The things that happened that are true, they
happened today.
This stuff we faced today that we wished
wouldn't happen, well, it did.
But we need to have courage.
Have bravery.
Have the quality of mind which enables men
to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness or
without fear or without depression of spirits.
We need to be valiant.
Have boldness.
Have resolution.
Have fortitude.
We need to have patience to bear continued
suffering.
Stand up in faith and be strong in
the power of Christ.
Let us remember that song.
Chris Facey sings, Do you want the power
of Christ to rest on you?
Delight in weakness.
What a blessing.
So we've got the devil's accusing us.
And the third thing that can bring discouragement
that the Lord is showing me is what
if the devil points out something to you
and he's right?
There's something that needs to change.
Maybe the devil accuses you of something and
the Lord confirms it.
Hebrews 12, we need to remember that we
are going to undergo discipline.
God's going to have to deal with us
on things.
Not because we're a bunch of rebels, but
it just says in Hebrews 12 that we're
going to have to undergo discipline.
And so we may very well see some
things that we have to take care of.
Let me just read this.
Let's say you find something that needs to
go.
The Lord is faithful to discipline us and
we know from Hebrews 12 that we will
most definitely undergo discipline.
Consider this in light of your heart.
Just think about where you are.
I'm not talking to a bunch of rebels
today.
I'm talking to people who want to please
God.
You want to obey God.
And He deals with you on something.
Just something that He brings into light that
you need to modify or get rid of.
You know, we want to bring God glory.
So He's looking and maybe He sees something
like, well, when people see that in you,
they just don't get the right picture of
my glory.
So I'm just going to modify that a
little bit or maybe you just need to
get rid of that just so you can
bring me more glory.
And this can be discouraging to us.
I mean, look at us.
We're pressing after God.
We want to please Him.
And then we see something like, oh, this
doesn't please God.
I need to deal with this.
That could be a discouraging thing to us.
And I know me, for two and a
half years, I went in and out of
seasons of self-examination and self-condemnation because
there were little things that I had to
work on.
And I mean, I got knocked out of
the game for days, man, weeks sometimes, just
examining myself and trying to figure out what's
going on.
It brought me into discouragement.
But we need to realize, even though this
is what happened to me, I would think,
how could I have done that?
Oh, I should have known better.
I want to please God.
How did that come out of me?
How did that happen?
That shouldn't have happened.
Or I shouldn't have done that.
What was this thing?
It could bring discouragement.
But we need to remember, this is one
of the places in Scripture, in Hebrews 12,
this is supposed to be an encouraging thing.
The very thing that seems like it could
be the most discouraging thing in our Christian
walk.
I mean, we set our hearts to please
God.
That's all we want.
We get up every morning like, God, I
want to please you today.
I want to bring you glory.
I want to bring you honor.
I want you to use me.
It's like our whole life is after that.
And then, bam, God says, that thing doesn't.
And you want to be perfect for Christ.
You want to be like it.
You want to be like the stamp.
You want to be bringing Him the glory
and everything.
And then you see this one thing.
You get shown like, oh, there's a branch.
You know, I want to lop that thing
off.
That could be like, oh, you could hate
that.
It looks like, it seems like a situation
that would be discouraging because of your hope
to please God.
And then He shows you something that you
need to take care of.
But we need to realize, Hebrews 12, 5,
and you have forgotten that word of encouragement.
This is something that should bring courage to
you.
Not discouragement.
Encouragement.
So, even in something we get rebuked for,
the devil should never be able to touch
us.
You know, it does say there is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus if we are listening to God's
voice.
And He deals with us.
It's encouraging.
It addresses you as sons.
My son, do not make light of the
Lord's discipline.
Do not lose heart when He rebukes you
because the Lord disciplines those He loves and
He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.
Endure hardship as discipline.
God is treating you as a son.
For what son is not disciplined by his
father?
It's just a blessing.
I mean, this is like one of the
most blessed things.
Think about God's face shining on you.
If He's dealing with you, He's saying, I
love you.
You're my child.
You're my son.
You're my daughter.
I'm taking care of you.
I'm blessing you.
I'm helping you because I know you want
to be holy.
So I'm going to do this so you
can share in my holiness.
What a blessing.
I mean, this is like He's teaching me.
He's guiding me.
He's instructing me in His ways.
He's making it so I can bring more
glory in the future.
I mean, how encouraging is that?
So I just would encourage you to fight
that one.
I mean, this is like the number...
If I look back when I had seasons
of wavering in my walk, the first couple
of years of my walk with the Lord,
most of them came because of something like
this that I saw in my life.
I didn't know how it got there.
Something I just needed to modify or change
or work on.
And I just went into this mode of
self-condemnation or just intense self-examination when
I could have just said, Thank you, Lord.
Take care of this.
This is going to bring you more glory
in the future.
Oh well, I don't know how it all
happened or anything like that.
But I just wasn't able to view it
the right way.
And so the devil just came right in,
accused me of some things that probably were
true, and just brought discouragement, rubbed it in
my face, and I was out of the
game for like weeks at times.
I would experience abounding and then blah.
That's not it.
That's not Christ.
You do not have to walk in that
in Christ.
You can experience super abounding all the time
if we know how to fight the discouragement
that the devil tries to bring.
Whether it's from viewing our life in an
ordinary way, not recognizing that we're serving the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Maybe it's, you know, or whether it's from
this, from him bringing discouragement on us because
we have to work on things, because we're
in a season of Hebrews 12.
And it says, Hebrews 12, 11, in the
King James, No chastising for the present seems
to be joyous, but rather grievous.
Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Those who are trained by it, it produces
righteousness.
If we can see it the right way,
this is all about vision.
This is all about seeing it the right
way and walking in that by faith.
It's just having an adjustment of view.
So we know.
So just in closing, just some, David, David
knew what to do.
You know, Psalm 43, 5, Jason shared about
this.
When David was struggling with discouragement, what was
the answer?
He said, Why are you downcast, O my
soul?
What was the answer?
Hope thou in God.
That was the answer.
Put your hope in God.
And we sing the song, He's the Lion
of the tribe of Judah.
Jesus took our chains, broke them, and freed
us.
Now He is our rock, our victory.
He's our strength in the time of weariness,
our tower in the time of woe.
He's the hope of Israel.
If we have our hopes straight, discouragement really
should not be an option for the Christian
life.
It should be nothing we've ever experienced.
And if you are, it's just a little
faith.
It's just a little faith that God can
establish it in your heart to realize.
Hebrews 6, 18, We have this hope as
an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
In the King James it says, sure and
steadfast.
So just what a blessing.
What a blessing.
2 Chronicles 20, 17, You shall not need
to fight in this battle.
Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the
salvation of the Lord with you.
O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not, be not
dismayed.
Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord
will be with you.
What a blessing.
It's all about having our vision straight and
our hope straight.
What did David want to seek?
Psalm 27, Jason shared, David wanted to see,
let me go back there, Psalm 27, 4,
One thing I ask of the Lord, this
is what I seek, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life, to gaze upon the
beauty of the Lord and to seek Him
in His temple.
That's what he sought.
And then verse 8, My heart says of
you, seek His face.
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
His heart was after seeking God's face.
He had a hope.
He had a vision.
And he had boldness to go after it.
He was steadfast.
He knew.
I think the Scripture says he was a
prophet.
I'm not sure.
David was a prophet.
He knew.
In Psalm 17, he said, And I in
righteousness I will see your face.
When I awake, I will be satisfied with
seeing your likeness.
He knew.
He had boldness.
He had confidence.
It says in 1 John 2.28, And
now, little children, abide in Him.
We're talking about steadfast walk, continuing in the
faith, being sure and secure and firm, not
wavering, so that when He shall appear, we
may have confidence and not be ashamed at
Him before His coming.
So David knew he was going to see
the face of God.
That's what he wanted.
And he knew he would see it.
He knew what it said in Revelation.
First thing David wanted, he wanted to dwell
in the house of the Lord.
That's what he wanted.
He wanted to dwell in the house of
the Lord, to gaze upon the beauty of
the Lord, and to seek Him in His
temple.
And he had confidence in that.
And we see, he knew Revelation 3.
He might not have knew that this was
going to be in this book, but he
knew what the end was going to bring.
So he had boldness and vision and a
hope.
The church in Philadelphia, 3-7.
Now, the Philadelphia church, besides Smyrna, they're basically
the best church as far as they don't
get rebuked.
They're persevering.
They're enduring.
They're a picture of steadfastness.
Of steadfastness.
They're enduring.
It says in verse 10, Since you have
kept My command to endure patiently.
I mean, they are just enduring.
They're steadfast.
They're firm.
And look what they get.
To Him who overcomes.
That's to all the churches.
But to Philadelphia, the steadfast church.
To Him who overcomes, I will make a
pillar in the temple of My God.
Never again will He leave it.
I will write on Him the name of
My God and the name of the city
of My God.
David knew.
See, he wanted to dwell in the temple
of the Lord to gaze upon the beauty
of the Lord.
This is what happens.
To Him who overcomes.
To Him who is steadfast.
God is going to let you keep being
what you are.
Are you a pillar?
Does that describe your walk?
Are you unmovable, unshakable, unwaverable in your faith?
The devil can't touch you.
You have victory in Christ.
Is that your walk?
To Him who overcomes, you're just going to
get to keep on being what you are.
A pillar.
Do you have all the qualities of a
pillar now?
Well, it's fitting that that will be your
job in the kingdom of God.
A pillar.
He'll write His name on you and you'll
never go out of there.
You can just gaze upon His beauty the
whole time.
You know, and David said, this is what
I seek.
I seek His face and the revelation.
Again, just a promise.
And this just can get our hopes straight.
That we can look for these things and
not become discouraged.
Because this is for the overcomers.
You know, this is...
See, I don't know all the ins and
outs of all that.
I just know what's reality in Christ.
This should be everyday life.
If you're not walking in it, it's just
a little faith.
You just need to realize the things Jason
shared today.
That God's favor is showering down upon you.
And you have fullness in Christ.
You have it.
The victory is won.
The devil is in his place.
And he can't touch you.
There's no way or reason that you should
have to be just kind of wavering around
or anything less than super abounding in Christ.
Because you know, you have boldness.
And you see, like David saw, Revelation 22,
3.
No longer will there be any curse.
The throne of God and of the Lamb
will be in the city and His servants
will serve Him.
They will see His face and His name
will be on their foreheads.
So we have this hope.
And God's face is shining down upon us.
How should that cause us to live?
And we know that in the end, we
may not see it now even though we
do see it by faith, but we will
see it on that day.
We will get to.
And if we're unashamed, we can have confidence
and be unashamed before Him when He comes.
And know we'll just see Him.
So I just pray that you would experience
that.
That God would establish in your hearts what
Brother Jason preached this morning about having a
clear vision of how God is looking down
upon you and how you can fight the
devil on a daily basis to remain there.
I just pray that some of these things
would be practical ways that you can fight
the devil on a daily basis and just
have it by faith.
Just have it and walk in it and
experience a superabounding, abundant life in the Spirit
where you're just always encouraged and always immovable
and always unshakable and always unwavering in your
faith.
It's possible.
It's everyday reality in Christ.
And we should not settle for anything less.
So I just pray that you all would
experience that and walk in it.
And that I would be being encouraged by
daily testimonies of that in all your lives.