God will never, never leave us. Even when God brought Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, He was always with them in the cloud and the fire.
Psalm 48:14
14 For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death.
We are not alone. Even when it looks like it, we are not alone. God will be with us always, even until death. This is a very encouraging scripture.
Matthew 1:23
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Even if we walk through the darkest valley, God will be with us.
In the Old Testament, God was with Israel as a pillar of cloud and fire. In the New Testament, God is with us as Savior and Emmanuel. God sent His Spirit to be with us always.
Sometimes when we are in the midst of a long trial, we feel like we are all alone. But God is with us. Remember the story of Israel. There was a shorter way to get through the wilderness, but God took them the long way because of the army of the Philistines. God knew that if they saw that great army they would be afraid because they had no training. He knew they would run back to Egypt in their fear, so he took them the long way.
Why does God take us on a long journey?
1. To protect us from the enemy’s attack
2. So that we are not tempted to go back to bondage
Many people go to church to receive praise or to be encouraged or to feel lifted up or to receive comfort. But the message in the church needs to bring conviction and healing (which is not always comfortable). That conviction should cause you to cut off your flesh. If you never hear a convicting message in the church, you will die and go to hell. You must repent of your sin. You cannot take your sin to heaven. Church is the place to cut off your sin, to cut off poison from your heart. When you go to church, your spirit should be cleansed and strengthened. Church should be the place where you open your eyes to see and hate evil, when you see your sin and deal with it. If you only go to church to receive comfort or praise, you are never going to overcome your sin. If you don’t overcome your sin, you will not go to heaven.
In the wilderness, the children of Israel had to retrain their minds. They were slaves in Egypt, for 400 years. They had to retrain their minds and hearts. They had to overcome their old thinking and habits and sin.
Those who didn’t overcome their sin and old habits and old mentality died in the wilderness.
If you don’t overcome your sin, you will die in the wilderness. The church is like the wilderness, the place where we train ourselves to trust and follow God, where we see God’s provision and presence.
There are corrupt people inside the church, those who try to poison us against God like Korah and the others who rebelled against Moses. There are those who nag and complain against God and the leadership. There are those who lust and covet and live perverted lives and steal and challenge God’s authority.
The wilderness is symbolic of the New Testament church.
Miracles happened in the wilderness. Salvation happened in the wilderness. They saw the presence of God and heard His voice. People also committed sin in the wilderness. They desired their old lives, old foods. Those who refused to repent were under God’s judgment in the wilderness.
God wants to purify the church. We need to allow Him to work on our hearts. Why do you go to church? To get clean. Then why do you go to church? To stay clean. Being clean is a continual process. Church isn’t a place just to “feel good” but to get healed and cleansed and changed.
Salvation means, “become clean.” Repentance means, “become clean.” Those who refuse to cut off sin and poison will go to hell.
Why are you in a long trial? God is protecting you.
God wants His people to take off the clothing of slavery. If you continue to walk in the mentality of your old life, of slavery, you will not make it to the Promised Land. God wants to clean His people, to make you holy and pure.
What will happen to those who continue to challenge God and refuse to repent?
Numbers 14:20-24
20 Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— 22 because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.
Where are you spiritually today? Are you ready to cut off your sin? All of it or part of it?
Those who didn’t trust God died in the wilderness. Those who nagged and complained died in the wilderness. Those who desired their old life and old ways died in the wilderness.
Cut off every sin in your life. Don’t despise this time of wilderness and trial in your life. Use this time to cut off every sin from your heart and become the true bride of Christ that God desires for you to be.
God bless you,
Pastor Sun East