Bon Appetit

Title of today's sermon is Bon Appetit. Bon Appetit. Say a French word. Also Creole, very same. So, Bon Appetit. In 1846, George and his family headed west to explore a new life, an idea called, at the time, manifest destiny. The belief that all the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans belonged to the European Americans. I don't think the Indians thought the same way. And that they should settle on this land. It was actually referred to in the middle 1800s in America as the Promised Land. The Promised Land, as people went from Mid-America all the way to the Pacific Coast.

George was 60 years old. Same age I am. His wife was 44 and they had five children. Along with the Reed family, they left Illinois. A little later than they should have, because they wanted to get there before winter.

They decided to take a shortcut somewhere along the way, since they were running a little behind. Shortcut didn't work. It extended their journey in wagons and horses by a few weeks.

They ended up trapped about a hundred miles short from their goal.

But they ended up trapped by a snowstorm that they could not move. They had to find shelter. And the winter of 1846 to 1847 was a brutal one. The first snowstorm that hit them lasted eight days straight and left four to five foot of snow.

All they could do is try to find shelter. They found some hunting cabins and even put a lean-to. As them and their fellow family reads, and they hold up the entire time. 87 entered that winter and 48 survived. No one over the age of 47 survived that winter. A few weeks into this terrible ordeal, the food was exhausted. After nine days of eating nothing, there was nothing to eat. They had hunted and found whatever they could. They started cutting and boiling skins from their cows, cowhide, and leather, and mixed it in with the water for many, many days. And then the Donner family did the unthinkable.

The year was 1972. Your Guay in Flight 571 crashed in the Andes Mountains with 45 people aboard. 28 people survived the crash, mostly 20-year-old athletes. Facing starvation and death, the survivors reluctantly resorted to cannibalism, eating the flesh of those former teammates and the flight crew who had perished in the crash.

After 72 days on that glacier, because most people figured the plane crashed and killed everyone, but after 72 days on that glacier, 16 people were rescued. Vegetarianism, clean and unclean meat, it was not the question. The human desire to live was, what would you do? What would you do in that situation?

With our bellies full and it's 80 degrees here in Miami today, it's easy to say, isn't it? What we think we would do, what we believe we would do. So what would you do when life hands you the worst it has to offer? I guess I'd say not what would you do, but brethren, today, what will you do? What will you do when life hands you unexpected problems, troubles, and even terror? Do you know? Have you considered it? Or would you just say, well, that could never happen to me? That's an hypothesis that nobody really wants to think about.

As a pastor, I get to experience the highs and lows.

Of all those that I have the blessing of caring for, I get to see the baptisms, the children born, the happy smiling faces.

But I also get to see the lows, the Humberto Mexicas with no chance to survive, unless God miraculously intervenes, which both do not believe He's going to. And as Humberto said, he's over 80. What does He expect? God to let Him live to be 200? Where does it end? I'd like to see Him live 200. I'd like to see Him outlive me. It's not reality. Real life is what we're talking about. And do we realize that those people in the past, in this book, those followers of God, those believers, it hasn't always been good. There's been problems, trials, and they had to see them through, as many of you have had or will have in the future trials and problems. What is the answer? Do you have an answer? You have a belief? You have a faith?

Let's look at a few examples. I'll be reading from the New Living Translation. Let's go back to 1 Kings. 1 Kings. 1 Kings 17. 1 Kings 17. Verse 10, as we find Elijah, a man of God, right? A follower of God, like us. Definitely not a perfect one, but he tried.

1 Kings 17. Verse 10. So he, Elijah, went to Zarephath, and as he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, Would you please bring me a little water in a cup? You have to remember there's been a drought.

God has stopped the rain. Water is very scarce. People, horses, animals, they're dying. It's tough times, difficult times to live through. Would you please bring me a little cup of water? And as she was going, he called and said, Oh, bring me back a bite of bread, too, if you don't mind. Would have been interesting to see her thoughts at that very second. I can imagine mine, you self-righteous. But she said, I swear by the Lord your God, Zarephath was in where Tyre and Sidon was, so this was not part of the Israel at the time. I don't have a single piece of bread in the house, and I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug.

I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die. That's tough times. Very tough times. But Elijah said to her, don't be afraid. We need to hear that a few times. Don't be afraid. Go ahead and do just what you've said. But make a little bread for me first. Oh, boy, I'm thinking what would be going through. Then, use what's left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son.

Well, thank you very much. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, there will always be flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and crops. So she did, as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continue to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and oil left in the container just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

Go with me over another page. 1 Kings 18, verse 8, continuing that story. We're back in Israel now, and here, this obedient servant of God, Obadiah, who served in Ahab's court, but he was doing everything he could to preserve God's way and God's people, and they couldn't find Elijah. They put a bounty on his head. And so, verse 7, let's go there, 1 Kings 18, as Obadiah was walking, he suddenly saw Elijah coming towards him. Obadiah recognized him at once and bowed low to the ground before him. Is it really you, my Lord?

Elijah? He asked. Yes, it is. Now go and tell your master Elijah is here. They've been looking for him for a year, over a year. O, sir, Obadiah protested, what harm have I done to you that you are sending me to my death at the hands of Ahab? For I swear by the Lord your God that the king has searched every nation and kingdom on earth from one end to end to find you. And each time he was told Elijah isn't here, King Ahab forced the king of that nation to swear to the truth of his claim. And now you say, go and tell your master Elijah is here.

But as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you away to who knows where. When Ahab comes and cannot find you, he will kill me. Kill me! Yet I have been a true servant of the Lord. Has no one told you, my Lord, about the time that Jezebel was trying to kill the Lord's prophets? I hid a hundred of them in two caves and supplied them with food and water. And now you say, go and tell your master Elijah is here. Sir, if I do that, Ahab will certainly kill me.

Would you like to do that? Kind of a tough thing to follow what Elijah and what God had told him to do. It's not always easy following God. As a matter of fact, I think it was our high priest that said, difficult is the way. But we can get through it all because he will see us through. Let's go over to 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19. Verse 1.

When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way that he killed all the prophets of Baal. So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah, may the God strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you have killed them. Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah way far south, and he left his servant there. Then he went alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. I've had enough! He said, take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died. Depressing times. A manic depressive, you might say, huh? Just go ahead and kill me, God! He had performed miracles that we could only dream of, and yet had a moment of doubt. Now, I may be the only one in here that will confess to having moments of doubt, but I don't think I am the only one, because we see God's servants. Moments of doubt where we need to be picked up. We sometimes want to whine and cry a little bit, don't we? Oh, that's so easy, and man, it just rolls off our tongue. Look what I've done! God, I... Let's go down to verse 10. Elijah replied, I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty, but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of you, your prophets. I am the only one left, only one left, and now they are trying to kill me. Let's go down to verse 15. Then the Lord said to him, Go back the same way you came and traveled to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, I need you to anoint as hell, to be king of Am, then anoint Jehu, to be the king of Israel, and anoint Elisha from the town to replace you as my prophet.

Have you ever studied that? That simple scripture there? Did Elijah do what God asked him to do? Hmm?

He made Elisha, but he didn't do the other two, did he? He didn't anoint Jehu, he sent somebody. God said, You do it! He didn't take care of the king of Israel. It's a good lesson for us. When we whine and cry to God, and we look at His word, and it speaks to us and tells us what to do, we need to do it. Because look what happened to Elijah. It says translated or transported. He was transported somewhere else. You can't do what God wants you to do. He doesn't want to hear his whining about it.

Because it can always get worse.

And that's what I hope we can learn as the family gut. That's why we pray for each other. That's why we talk to each other. That's why we encourage each other. And that's why we spend time with each other. Because we all need it. I have a man who I just got back, but he doesn't attend with us. He used to attend the church of God decades ago, but he calls me at least two or three times a week just to talk. He suffers from depression, wanted to kill himself, tried to kill himself. And I've been working with him for two years now. And sometimes you just need to say, put on your big boy pants. You know, after a while, you got to get through some of this thing. So hopefully we are working more towards that. As a matter of fact, Bruce, I invited him to your next Bible study that he might go. But it's common for all of us to have issues going through things. And that's why the church is important. That we know we're not out here like Elijah. I'm the only one out here. And then what did he say? No, Elijah, no you're not. In that verse, he said, I got seven thousand here. Never about, don't you? Don't even know. Elijah really needed to have some people he could talk to, spend time with, who had the same outlook and relationship with God. Go with me to 2 Kings 6. I were over in Kings. 2 Kings 6. 2 Kings 6, verse 24 through 29, said, some time later, however, King Benedad of Aram mustered his entire army and besieged Samaria. Samaria was the capital of Israel at the time, not Judah, Israel. And as a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for 80 pieces of silver.

I've eaten part of a fish head before in the Caribbean, because, you know, and I like the lead around, you know, the mouth and the thing there. But some people will eat the eye. Yeah, anybody here eat eyes of the fish? Whoop, we got one hand back there. There's an eye eater back there. Okay. I just, but a donkey's head, one thing it isn't clean, but the other thing, can you imagine 80 pieces silver just because they needed to eat? But this gets worse. And a cup of dove's dung sold for five pieces of silver. Oh, wow. That's tough times, wouldn't you say?

I never had to choose between New York strip and dung. Okay, I've been blessed. You know, anything, it's rice and beans one night, but no, well, would you like some dove dung, or would you prefer the eyeball of a donkey? That's some tough decisions, but they were willing to make it. It shows these were people God was trying to work with, and they had problems, so they rejected God, and so this happened.

Brother, it can get worse than what it is.

And verse 26, one day as the king of Israel, he was the king of Israel. Remember what God offered Jeroboam? He told Jeroboam when they split the North and the South split, that, okay, I'll be with you, and I'll give you everything that Solomon had, and even more, I'll make you richer than hell. I'll give you everything. Just follow me.

And what did he do? He went the opposite way.

So one day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him and said, please help me, my Lord, the king. He answered, if the Lord doesn't help you, what can I do? Oh, that's an encouraging leader, isn't it?

Ah, yes, I have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine. Oh, poor guy! Didn't have any wine from the press to give you. But then the king asked, what is the matter? She replied, this woman came to me. Come on, let's eat your son today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow. So we cooked my son and we ate him. Then the next day I said to her, kill your son so we can eat him. But she has hidden her son. Desperate times? Hmm.

That would be tough times. I'm saying. You remember even Judah at the time of Hezekiah when Sennacherib and the Rav Shaka surrounded the city and they called out and they were hid behind the walls and put a siege. And the Rav Shaka said, oh, let the people here because they're going to end up eating their waste.

They're drinking their own urine. Tough. Tough times even the people of God have had to face.

Let's go to one more. Let's go to Ezekiel. Let's go to Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 5, verse 5 through 10. Ezekiel 5. So this is what the sovereign Lord says. This is an illustration of what will happen to Jerusalem. I placed her at the center of the nations, but she has rebelled against my regulations and decrees and has been even more wicked than the surrounding nations. She has refused to obey the regulations and decree that I gave her to follow. Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord said. You people have behaved worse than your neighbors and have refused to obey my decrees and regulations. You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you. Therefore, I myself, the sovereign Lord, am now your enemy. I will punish you publicly while all the nations watch because of your detestable idols. I will punish you like I have never punished anyone before or after or ever will again. Parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their own parents. I will punish you and scatter you to the winds, the few who survive. Tough!

Now, before you all get depressed and call me this week, let's look at the rest of the story. Because no one knows what you will do until the time's come, until you're face to face with death, right? You've experienced it. Even battle warriors who have fought many, many campaigns and battles have known, even at the worst of time, to freeze. They never thought they would, but all of a sudden they're faced with sure death or some terror, and they just freeze. They don't know why. It can happen to any of us. How would you feel?

You come back from the feast? We have anybody I had a little bit towards the end of the feast. I still got some others, and you know, and you go to the doctor, and he goes, oh, we've got problems, and then he comes out and tells you, you don't have a cold, you got cancer. He throws a C word out. And it's a bad one. How do you handle that? Murder Mahiko had to handle that. You know, they're talking even in America that now one-third, thirty-three percent of all people are going to get cancer before you die, and that they believe that in the next 15 to 20 years, it's going to be fifty percent of the people in America who will die from cancer. That's not an empowering sermon, is it? What about our life? I mean, God's called us to live not only apart, but above, keeping our minds on the things above rather than things on the earth. How can that be? It's kind of like Elijah. I realize after reading Elijah, because Elijah is going to be in the kingdom, and so forth, I guess, but God gave him a lot, but guess what? When God needed him to be that example, he didn't follow through. Elijah sure followed in his footsteps, though.

So we're not irreplaceable, but God expects us to be that light. Christ said, you're the light of the world. You know? Christ said, you're my example. We're the walking, talking billboards for God, not only in what we believe and how we live, but also how we face adversity. And that's sometimes the toughest part, isn't it? Facing adversity, overcoming ourselves, overcoming trials and so forth that we have to deal with. It takes courage to walk with God, and courage leads to incredible faith. And faith? Faith will guide us.

Faith in God has to be more than just words for us. Brethren, people are looking at us. They know us. That's why we're here. We're that example to our neighbors, to who we work with, to our families, to everyone we go.

Our very lives will be tested. Our faith, brethren, must be tested to prove it. Because untested faith is not truly really faith, is it? Because it's like, never really been tested. It's not really a problem.

We know that gold is refined by fire, by heat, right? We've all learned that growing up. And that diamonds are made by extreme pressure. Are we also made, refined by pressure? Our strong faith and true Christianity, brethren, is only exposed by tests and trials. How are we handling them?

I always remember that story about the little boy who was born and raised, and the parents never talked. And it went four or five years. And the parents tried to do everything, took care of him and so forth. So one day he's like five years old, and his mother puts breakfast down, and my boy just talked. He goes, the toast is burnt! She goes, you can talk! Yeah, everything was going right. Well, that's kind of us with tests and trials, isn't it? If we didn't have them, we would just think, oh man, this life is great! Let's just let this thing roll down the road. Don't call me, don't bother me, I'm just enjoying life.

We have the opportunity to show what's inside when things outside are not always the best.

It's something that we have to look at. See, God allows an adversary. We talked about that on atonement. He allows an adversary to what? To pressure us, to tempt us, to test us, to offer us so many times another side. Right? Or the other side? There's more to it. Can you imagine if you had a chance to sit down and talk one-on-one with Lucifer? Imagine how that conversation would go. You know, Lucifer would probably like to tell you his side of the story and the story of his banishment. I don't think it would probably match this one, would it? I remember, oh, it's been almost 20 years ago. I can't remember whether I read the cartoon or I saw it on television or whatever, but we all know the story of the three little pigs, right? This was telling the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. Everybody remember that story? Okay, yeah. Well, here, this cartoon of the story was like the other story, the other side. And so, the cartoon was talking to the wolf because he said he really wasn't the big bad wolf. He's just wolf. And so, they said, well, we'd like to hear your side of the story because he said, well, nobody's ever heard that side. And he said, well, you really have to understand. I'm like Jeff knew he was a building inspector. And so, all he was doing, he was going over to these three pigs' construction site because they had been building lousy houses, so lousy that you could even blow them down with your wind. And he said he was just trying to help have good housing. And all this stuff had come up about how bad he was. And he said, they looked terrible. The houses looked terrible. They were like pig's thighs. And he said, it really wasn't my fault. I just got, you know, everybody spread this story about me.

Can you imagine Lucifer? Bet you he could do the same thing, couldn't he? He could take you back to Isaiah 14, 14, where he said, and he said, all I wanted to do was, all I wanted to do, and you can read in Scripture, was to be like the Most High. Yes! And that, you know, God has given me a bad rap. And God is not really fair. We can all have a story. I've had some. I remember, well, my mother's not going to hear this, so I guess I can say that. But growing up, my mother used to come in and look at my room, and she said, this is a pigsty. This is a worst-looking pigsty I've ever seen. Now, what made her an authority on pigsties? I don't know, but she thought she was.

But I didn't look at it from her side. I only looked at it from mine. Why did I need to pick that up? Why did I, you know, why do I need to make a bed? I'm getting in it again tonight.

Oh, yes. Yes. Well, you can imagine Satan's story. Everything he did, he would make it sound good.

Brethren, we sometimes complain about our lives. It's difficult. It's tough. And sitting and praying, getting choked up with Humberto Mahita. Mahika. No, that's tough. That is tough. But would you want to change places with any of God's favorite special servants in here? I mean, go through. Maybe we can come up, maybe you can come up with a list of somebody. You go, I'll change places with them. I look through here. No, I like my electricity. I like air conditioning. I like driving an automobile and not walking. I like a lot of stuff in here, in this here compared to here. So which would you like to change places with? Job. I'm thankful so far, hopefully not. Obviously, God didn't say, Lucifer, have you considered my servant? My camel. Vicky. Joy, have you considered them? No. I don't want Tim to put my name up there. Yet Job did. And Job went through a tremendous Who would you want to change places with in the Scripture? I think I'll stay right where I'm at. I haven't found that person yet. I'm not a lion's keeper. I don't want to be a Daniel. Okay? I don't want to be a John the Baptist. I got the thing about somebody hitting in the back of the neck, and I just don't really want that. Right? But go with me, if you will, to Job 1.8. Job 1.8.

Job 1, verse 8, a New Living Translation. Then the Lord asked Satan, Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless, a man of complete integrity, fears God, and stays away from evil. And then you know what happens later. Did God throw Job under the bus?

Because that's the best case. Wait a minute. Throw him under the bus. He's all yours.

Wow. I need to reevaluate my complaining. I don't know about you, but I kind of like living in the 21st century. And so I need to make sure that I keep my focus. Because Christ was tempted in all the ways we've been tempted, right? That's what the Scripture says. So He didn't get out without temptations and trials and problems.

And I don't think any of us want to try to go back and take His place.

But He gained experience. We do not have a high priest who cannot, what does it say? Sympathize with us when we go, got these problems, Lord. Help me, Lord. He's been here. Been there, done that. So experience helps us, doesn't it? Going through things, we're able to help other people. I'm amazed how many widows are able to help other new widows where I can't. But they can, because they've been through that. J.W. Marriott said, the stronger the breeze, the stronger the trees. How strong has the breeze been lately? We've had some people with some real issues and problems in the last year here. And hopefully you'll continue to pray for them, and we'll all pray for them, and we'll all be in this thing together.

But we have to stay positive about this thing, because boy, can it get worse. And anybody that says, well, you don't know my situation, please come with me my next trip to Haiti. And you'll see what God's called those people. And yet, this feast from what I've heard and so forth, it was like an amazing... I can't wait till next year, because they got food every day. And they got to see it, and they got to experience things. They just, you know, wow, it was so exciting for them. Now, if you went to that feast, you'd be going, okay. So we need to look at things like Jesus Christ looks at them. It's all temporary. It's all temporal, except for eternity, which is where that's our appointed destiny, for eternity. We sure learn a lot from our trials, because we get to experience them. Can we look at it that way? Because you remember last year, something really big happened, and you were going, wow, that was really big then. It's not that big now.

You know, I'm not as cocky, not as confident, assured as I once was. I'm confident in God, but myself, not so much, because I experience. I've experienced things that made me realize I'm human, and more human than many of you, I think. Because before, I just thought, well, it's not bad, going along swimming. Things hit you, and you realize, I learned a lot from that lesson. God wants us to not just learn the lessons for us, but it's for other people. It's about other people, and that's what we should be able to do.

I want to make sure that none of us are like the sons of Sceva. Remember Acts 19, where they thought they had this form of religion, they looked religious, and then all of a sudden they decided to do something religious, and so they started to decide they'd cast out this demon, and the demon, seven of them there, demon goes, huh, Christ, I know, Paul, I know, but who are you? Wow, I don't want to be that. I don't want to be thrown out naked in the street, but I don't want to do it with six of you either. But this is what, you know, these are things that, it's building experience for us. It's building so that we can relate to other, we can help others. Whether they come to understand in this lifetime, it does not matter.

What matters is they get to see a person of God, how we're supposed to live, and what comes out of us if we speak, if we speak His words. As I wrap this up, I want you to remember nothing else from a sermon. Brethren, it is faith that gives us courage, not courage that gives us faith. Let me say that again. It is faith that gives us courage, not courage that gives us faith. Sons of Scepa walked out there with courage. They didn't have any faith. They just had faith in themselves. We can walk the walk. We can walk anywhere we want to walk. We can do what we want to do because he who is with us is greater than he who is with them. We must know that and walk that walk, knowing it. I love how Denzel Washington said, my faith helps me to understand the circumstances. They don't dictate my happiness or my inner peace.

So just what's going on out here can affect here. We're close to God. We have a relationship with God. We have the Holy Spirit of God. We have God all over us, with us, all about us.

We just have to walk the walk, walk this life. And I guess Christ said it best, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Imagine, you know, in Matthew 4.4, you know who he said it to? He said it to Satan. Satan didn't know anything about food, did he? We don't know that angels eat, never seen Abraham fixed food, but we don't know Lucifer ever ate food. How did he know? He knew what people looked at. Ah! He knew that bread. He knew people loved to eat, right? They wanted their sustenance.

Yet Christ said bread probably laying right before him probably smelled really good. Don't worry. What did he do? He had food inside. He told disciples one time, where did you eat? Oh, I had food you don't know anything about. When troubles come, go to the real food. Go to the sustenance. You feed the flesh with what? Spiritual food? Because you feed the flesh or you feed the spirit. What's it going to be? You know, it's totally up to us. We have the choice. Faith, courage leads to survival, spiritually and physically. We need that faith. That faith will give us courage and then we can survive, whether it's this life, it's the trials of this life, or it's a lack of food in this life. We will survive. Your sustenance, your trust, your faith is right here in God's Word. I have said that for seven and a half years and I hope I will always say that.

So make sure this week that this is your entree and not your appetizer.

Have a great week. Bon Appetit!