Faith in the God Who Delivers

The United Church of God presents Mark Welch with a sermon titled, Faith in the God Who Delivers. It was recorded October 19, 2011, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It is wonderful to be here in Gatlinburg. It's marvelous to be here to worship the King. And that is the most important thing that we've been doing throughout the week, and as it's been mentioned a few times. This is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Of course, we have the last great day to look forward to, and that has an awesome message. No doubt you have faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ, or you would not be here for the Feast. We do show our faith in God by coming here from various parts of the world. In fact, some of you may have put your jobs in jeopardy to come and worship the King. But why is it good to put your faith in God and in Jesus Christ? I would submit to you it's because they deliver. They deliver. They will deliver for you. If you put your faith in them, they will deliver for you. Now, if you were back home, or maybe even here at the Feast, if you ordered pizza from Pizza Hut, you would expect someone to deliver that pizza, wouldn't you? You would realize that Pizza Hut's reputation was on the line, and that they would want to keep you happy by delivering pizza in a timely fashion. Timely delivery is good for business, and the driver wants a good tip. So he's going to deliver, and you expect him to deliver. You have faith that he will deliver. And if you went to a quality furniture store like Hinkle Harris, has anyone ever heard of Hinkle Harris? How many of you have heard of Hinkle Harris? A few of you have, probably in the North Carolina and around this area. I googled quality furniture stores, and I came up with Hinkle Harris. I had never even heard of him before. How many of you have never heard of Hinkle Harris? All right, well, this is a good advertisement then for Hinkle Harris. If there's anyone here that represents them, please see me afterwards.

But let's just say they are a very good quality furniture, and they deliver on time. So if you ordered furniture from them, you would expect them to deliver the couch as promised. If you went to a Best Buy store and ordered a new widescreen TV set, you wanted to watch the football games, you would also fully expect them to deliver the TV.

Or if you ordered a refrigerator from Lowe's or from Home Depot, you would expect delivery as promised, right? We come to expect these types of things. Sometimes they don't deliver so well. Like, we had a refrigerator that had to be delivered a couple of different times because it had a big dent in the front of it the first time, which the delivery guys didn't even see, and I had to point out to them.

So they don't always deliver as well as we would like.

But God, on the other hand, always delivers.

So you would really expect these companies to deliver on time because, for the most part, they've built a good reputation for reliability, for dependability, and for trustworthiness. Certainly, God has the best record, doesn't he? He has a perfect track record when it comes to dependability, when it comes to reliability, and when it comes to trustworthiness.

Also, we expect our mail to be delivered. And usually it is. Not always, but usually. And we expect FedEx and UPS to deliver on time. We have a certain amount of faith that they will.

So my question for all of you is, how much faith do you have in the God who delivers?

In what ways does God deliver? And as we are here observing this last day of the feast, just before the last great day, can we all really count on God to deliver us into the kingdom?

We are here because we believe this represents God's kingdom, His coming kingdom, and we want to be a part of it. So we do need to have faith, and we need to have greater faith. So today I'd like to share with you five principles that will help us have greater faith in the God who delivers. So if you like titles, you can just call this having greater faith in the God who delivers, or something similar to that. Let's start out with principle number one.

We must all fully believe and realize that no one, absolutely no one, has the power to deliver like the true God of heaven and earth. Now I'm sure you well remember the names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Our children remember these names, and they remember a very exciting story about them. That's right, the story of Nebuchadnezzar the king and the fiery furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was three square cubits and the breadth thereof six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Now I know you're all very impressed that I memorized that first verse. Frankly, I once upon a time knew the entire chapter. I had memorized it for a speech class back at Ambassador College many, many years ago. We actually did it for special music, so I can say that I have done special music. Well, it was a special reading. We got up here about 20 of us, and at Ambassador College we did the entire chapter three, and this story about Nebuchadnezzar and the fiery furnace. Now we all know that there were three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to bow before that golden image, and they knew that the consequences would be that they would be thrown into this burning hot fiery furnace. They said, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us, but if not, know that we do not worship your gods, nor will we worship the golden image. Now these were men who were captive in Babylon. They had faith in the God who delivers. They knew He would deliver one way or the other. They believed He would deliver them out of the fiery furnace alive, but if not, they knew He would deliver them in a more important way. And we'll talk about that as we continue in this sermon. Now Nebuchadnezzar was furious when he heard that these men would not bow down and worship the golden image. So he told them to heat it seven times hotter, and he gave them a chance to back out, but they wouldn't back out. So he heated it seven times hotter, and he had men of Valor throw them into the furnace. And the furnace was so hot that those men who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace, they all died because it was so hot. Let's pick up the story in Daniel chapter 3. So let's all turn to Daniel chapter 3 and ask ourselves, why should we have faith in the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Daniel chapter 3 verse 25.

Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace in verse 25, and he said, Look, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. And indeed, it most likely was the Son of God, or certainly a special angel who was sent.

Verse 26, then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and he spoke, saying, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here.

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire.

And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw that these men on whose body the fire had no power, on whose, in fact, the hair of their head was not singed, nor did they even smell like smoke. Their garments were not affected, and they didn't even smell like smoke. If we get near to anyone who's smoking a cigarette, it smells like we've been smoking a cigarette. Now, these men didn't even have the smell of fire on them. This is how God delivers.

Verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him. And they have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any God, except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation or language, which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap. Because there is no other God who can deliver like this. Now, Nebuchadnezzar had his own gods that he bowed before, and he had his golden images, but he realized fully that there was no God with a little G who could deliver like the one and only God with the big G. He knew that. He understood that. He saw that. There is no one who can deliver like this God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And so the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. And so these men prospered, and God's blessing was with them. As they stood up and as they looked to the rock, the messenger, the angel that was sent, the one who became Christ, they looked to the rock and they were delivered.

God has the power to deliver like no one else. We should fully believe that with all our hearts, with all of our might, with all of our mind, He is supreme in power. He is the Creator. He is the Giver, and He is the Sustainer of life. Every day God sustains your life. He keeps you alive through what He has created, this wonderful creation that we enjoy. We must not take it for granted, but we must realize that God is the God who delivers on a daily basis. Everything that was made was made by the one who became known as Jesus Christ.

Brethren, the word deliver is used in 281 verses in the Bible. The word delivered is used in 287 verses in the Bible. Deliverance is found in 15 verses, and delivering is found in 3 verses in the Bible. Forms of the word deliver are used in a whopping total of 586 verses in the Bible. You might say that the Bible is truly a book about deliverance.

On the feast film that we heard, I think it was Mr. Hanley said that God had delivered time after time after time, in His life. And I know that's how we all believe God has intervened in our lives. He has delivered us time after time after time. In 2 Chronicles 31, we're going to read an amazing account, or we're going to look at some of the verses here, an account that shows that there is no one who delivers like the God of heaven and earth.

2 Chronicles 31, 1. Now, under the faithful and true leadership of King Hezekiah, the observance of God's holy days had been observed in Judah. They had not been keeping the holy days, but Hezekiah was a man of God. He was a leader of God, and he led the people to begin keeping God's holy days. The people had even pulled down and destroyed all the high places that God so despised, and yet Israel had allowed these high places to be in the land for so many years. Hezekiah had them pulled down. Temple worship and tithing had been restored, and there was great joy in the land of Judah.

There was tremendous faith and joy in the land of Judah at this time. And Hezekiah served God with all of his heart, and he and the people of God prospered as a result. There are lessons, obviously, we all need to learn from these examples in the Bible. So in 2 Chronicles 31, 2 Chronicles 31, verse 20, Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. He did what was good, right, and true.

And that's how we all need to be good, right, and true. If everyone in here, and everyone in the United Church of God, becomes good, right, and true, our problems basically are over. God will take care of us in every single way if we will all become Hezekiah. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God in the law and in the commandment, because we are a commandment-keeping church, we believe in God's commandments, we believe in the Sabbath, we believe in the Holy Days, and we observe them.

So in the service of the house of God in the law and in the commandment to seek his God, he did it with all of his heart, so he prospered. In 2 Chronicles 32, verse 1, we see that it didn't take long before Hezekiah was tested greatly. Now, our problems would be over in a sense, but not completely, because even Hezekiah was tested greatly in very short order. King Sennacherib, who was the most powerful king on earth at the time, the king of Assyria, he had already taken Hezekiah's brothers and sisters into captivity, the house of Israel, and he had already taken some of Judah into captivity, and he was wanting to come up and take Jerusalem as well.

In chapter 32, after these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came and entered Judah. He encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem, he consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop the water. He didn't want to make it easy. And my wife and I were able to go through Hezekiah, or as they pronounce it over there, Hezekiah's tunnel.

We were in Jerusalem a year ago last summer, and it was really very inspiring to be there in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem, and to be in this actual tunnel that Hezekiah had built because of Sennacherib.

God is alive, and God is true. These stories are real. They're not fabricated, they're not made up, they're true, and you can believe them. So Hezekiah was looking to God, verse 6, he set military captains over the people. He did what he could do, but trust me, he was looking to God. He set military captains over the people. He gathered them together to Him in the open square of the city gate, and He gave them encouragement, saying, Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor dismayed, before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. Now, he certainly wasn't talking about physical might, physical power. No, he was talking about God, who he knew was on their side. He knew that with God on their side, they had all they needed and more. Verse 8, with him, with Sennacherib as an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord, the Eternal, our God, to help us and to fight our battles. And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, the king of Judah. Now, after this, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, sent his servants to Jerusalem. And this chapter talks about how he tried to discourage the people of Israel. Time and time again, he asked them, who do you think you are, or what kind of a God do you have that will be able to deliver you? And this word, deliver, is used many times. Look at verse 14. Who was there among all the gods of these nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand? Nobody could deliver their people from Sennacherib. He was the all-powerful Sennacherib. No one could deliver their people from Sennacherib, and he wanted them to know that they were no different.

At least, that's what he thought.

So back to verse 14, who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? Therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him. For no God of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand? Now, of course, those are fighting words, and God, I'm sure, didn't appreciate those words. And He also did appreciate Hezekiah's approach.

Furthermore, in verse 16, His servant spoke against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.

He also wrote letters to revile the Lord God of Israel and to speak against him, saying, as the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand. And they called out with a loud voice to the people of Jerusalem. They called out in Hebrew because they wanted them to know and understand that they were about to die unless they surrendered, to frighten them and trouble them, that they might take the city. And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men's hands. Now, because of this, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, prayed and cried out to heaven. They looked to God for deliverance. And the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, every leader, every captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shame-faced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his God, some of his own offspring struck him down with a sword there. Thus the eternal saved, or delivered, Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side. And many brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter. So the God of heaven revealed himself in a dramatic way. King Sennacherib went home with his tail between his legs, and soon he was dead because he defied the one and only true God. And God listened to those who stood up and sought him with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their soul. We serve the same God today, brethren. God has not changed. Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If we will turn to God with this kind of faith and believe in Him, all of us, with all of our hearts, we have nothing to fear. If we look to the Rock, we shall be saved.

So what I'd like to do now is go into the second principle, and I'd like to take a quick tour through the Bible and let's see proof of how God delivers. Again, God has a perfect track record. He always delivers. So the second principle in having greater faith in the God who delivers is to believe and know that God will deliver His people from harm and from evil. God will deliver His people, His servants, from harm and from evil. In the first point, we saw that there is no one like God. There is no one who can deliver like God. Here we see that God will deliver His servants from harm and from evil. I don't have time to go through 580-some verses, so you can do that on your own. But let's go through a few, and I'll refer to some. We all know that it wasn't long before the earth became so corrupt, mankind became so corrupt, that every thought of their hearts were evil continually. But God delivered mankind because of who? Because of Noah. Because Noah was a leader like Hezekiah. Noah believed in God, he trusted in God, and he walked with God.

So God delivered Noah and his family from sure death. Everyone else died except for Noah and his family. God delivered Noah and his family. In Hebrews 11, and we consider this the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, it says, by faith Noah was saved. Noah had faith. Hezekiah had faith. By faith Noah was saved. Hebrews 11, verse 7.

Hebrews 11, verse 7. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen. Remember Noah was told, what, 100-plus years before the floods came to start preparing. He was warned, and thankfully Noah listened and Noah had faith, and Noah acted. He did something. He was a doer of the law of God, not just a hearer. So it was by faith that Noah, who was warned, moved with godly fear and prepared an ark for the saving of his household. He had a godly fear because he understood who God is. God revealed himself to Noah. God has revealed himself to you. You know who he is, so you should act accordingly, just like Noah.

He had godly fear, so he prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith.

Righteousness, which is according to faith. If we have true faith, we will act rightly. We will become righteous. If we turn to the God who delivers and place our faith in him, we will learn to put sin out of our lives, and we will become more and more righteous as we draw closer to God. So by faith, Noah was saved. Now, Mr. Moss talked about Abraham in the Sermonet.

In Genesis 17, let's go there for a moment and take a look at a few verses here in this context, because surely we are the children of Abraham. We are the descendants of Abraham.

We need to look to our heritage. This is our heritage. The word of God is our heritage. God has called us out of this world and shown us his way of life.

In Genesis 17, beginning in verse 15, Then God said to Abraham, As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarai shall be her name, and I will bless her, and also give you a son by her. By her, not by anyone else, but by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of peoples, shall be from her. Now how old was Sarah at this time?

What, 90 years old? She was a little bit past the time of childbearing, even for those days.

Long past. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old? And shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child? And Abraham said to God, Oh, that Ishmael might live before you. Then God said, No! Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants with his descendants, that's you and me, after him. Verse 21, But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year. Then he finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. And then Abraham, in faith, had his household circumcised, as God had told him to do. Now, in chapter 18, verse 11, Now Abraham and Sarah were old. They were well advanced in age, and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. She was long past the age of childbearing. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself. Abraham had also laughed, saying, After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord? My Lord being old also. He was 100 years old. And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? That's a question we should often ask ourselves. Is anything too hard for the Lord?

She was clearly barren, and he was beyond the age himself at 100 years old. At the appointed time, I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. And he said, No, but you did laugh. Now, let's go to Hebrews 11, and let's consider again, did Sarah have faith or not? You know, Sarah's just like you and me. She's like us. She did have faith. Did she have perfect faith? No, she didn't have perfect faith, but she had faith, and she grew in faith. Hebrews 11, verse 11, By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed. No doubt when God told her, you will have a son. She listened, and she began to really believe. Like us, she doubted it first. But God made a believer out of Sarah. By faith, Sarah also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged him faithful, who had promised. She put her faith in the one who promised, the one who always delivers on his promises. God cannot lie. God cannot lie. He always keeps his promises. He always delivers. Verse 12, Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, as also was mentioned in the sermon, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, innumerable as the sand of the sky. I look around and see a lot of people in front of me. This isn't even close to the billions of people, millions of people that have come from Abrahams specifically, but there's a lot. It's a lot of people, and God certainly kept his promise. We all remember Joseph, how Joseph was delivered from the pit that he was thrown in by his brothers, and how God delivered him from prison. God made him second in command in Egypt.

Joseph was a man of God who trusted God, and he also was a righteous man. He set a wonderful example of righteousness. So God delivered Israel because of Joseph's faithfulness, and Joseph was a man who believed that God would deliver as he had promised. In Exodus 3, God shows that he is going to deliver the children of Israel who had been taken into captivity in Egypt because they rose up against the people that God was prospering in their land.

They became slaves. God allowed it. But God also had every intention of delivering them. Exodus 3, verse 7. Exodus 3, verse 7.

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people, my people Israel, who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. I know what they've gone through. I see their pain. I see their suffering. So I have come down to deliver them. God himself was coming down to deliver the children of Israel, to bring them up from that land to a good and a large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Parazites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. So God came down to deliver His children, the children of Israel.

In Exodus, chapter 12, it talks about how God delivered Israel on the night of the first Passover. And we keep the Passover because we are God's faithful people. God is revealed these days to us. We're here at the Peace of Tamarindacals because we are God's faithful people.

Exodus, chapter 12, verse 26, Exodus 12, verse 26, And it shall be, when your children say to you, What do you mean by this service? Why are you keeping this Passover? That you shall say, It is the Passover sacrifice of the Eternal, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and he delivered our households. God is the God who delivers. Over and over and over again, God delivers. So the people bowed their heads, and they worshiped. Everybody worshiped. Song we just sang.

In Exodus, chapter 18, it further shows how God delivered His children, Israel, from Egypt. Exodus, chapter 18, verse 8. Exodus 18, verse 8.

And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Eternal had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Eternal had delivered them. Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. It was God Himself who delivered them. He brought them through the Red Sea. He's the one that destroyed Pharaoh's armies, the greatest armies on earth. He's the one who sent the plagues. He's the one who devastated the land of Egypt. He is the one who delivered His children out of bondage, out of sin, out of Egypt. He's doing the same thing today in our lives. He's delivering us out of sin. He's delivering us out of Egypt. Mr. Cowen in his sermon at mentioned special treasure.

We don't need to go to Exodus 19 because he went there. You can if you want to. We're right there on the same page. But it shows in verses 4 and 5 that God promised the children of Israel that they would be a special, holy nation. They were to become holy even as God is holy. Now they messed up their opportunity. And we'll see that as we go on further into this sermon, that they messed up their opportunity to be God's special people. We must not mess up our opportunity to be God's special people. We're here keeping the Feast of Tabernacles because we are God's faithful people. I had a woman that she said, what's the Feast of Tabernacles? She was talking to her husband. They were walking outside here. She was looking at the sign. She said it like three different times. I felt compelled to explain it to her. So I went over and I spent about five or ten minutes talking to them about the Feast of Tabernacles and why we're here. And they were very attentive. They listened. One day all people will come to know about the Feast of Tabernacles. It sounded foreign to her. She had... what is this? Now she was a Bible thumper, but she didn't even remember the Feast of Tabernacles. We are indeed a special people called out. We've been given knowledge and understanding that God will hold us accountable for. So we have to act accordingly. In Exodus 20, we see the Ten Commandments that God delivered to the children of Israel. He gave us a just and holy law to live by. In Romans chapter 6 tells us that. Romans chapter 6. Go with me to verse 17. Romans chapter 6 verse 17.

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey? You are that one slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. That's not what I wanted, is it? No. Verse 17. That's a good verse, though.

Verse 17. It leads into it. Verse 17. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart. Mr. Fentchel talked about the heart, how we need to prepare our hearts.

You obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered or entrusted. We were entrusted with the laws of God. God entrusted us because He knows we're faithful. He knows we'll keep His laws. So He entrusted us with them. He delivered them to us. We live by them. And as the children said, God's word works if you work it. You have to put it into practice. You have to live by the laws of God. Now, I'm going to toss out some names, and I want you to tell me who these people are. Shamua, Shafat, Ilgal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Amiel, Souther, Nabi, and Ghul. Now, who can tell me? Raise your hand if you know exactly who these men are. Okay, a few of you. Okay, I don't see very many hands. These men are all in the Bible, and you don't remember any of them. But do you remember these two names? Joshua and Caleb.

Okay, now do you know who the other 10 men are? These are the 10 unfaithful spies. Nobody remembers who they are. But we do remember the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb. There's a lesson in that, brethren. If you want to be remembered, be faithful. Turn to God with all of your heart and seek Him. With every ounce of your being, be faithful to Him, for He is surely faithful to you. Had all the 10 men that I mentioned, you don't know their names, but had they been faithful, God would have delivered the Israelites into the Promised Land immediately. Instead, they had to die and wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, even then, God was merciful, and their clothes didn't wear out, and God fed them with manna every day, and God cared for them and looked after them. But those men who were unfaithful, actually the 10 men died instantly, because of their unfaithfulness, God struck them down. But the others who were older had to die in the wilderness, because they did not have faith. They did not trust in the God who delivers. Oh, those men are giants in that land. We're like grasshoppers to them. We don't have a chance. That's not what Joshua and Caleb said. They said, let's go in and let's take the land and let's do it now.

Had they only listened to Joshua and Caleb? In Numbers 21, let's go to Numbers chapter 21. Numbers 13 is where it gives the account of the 10 men. You can find those men if you don't trust me. You'll find them listed in Numbers 13. But in Numbers 21, let's go there, God does deliver the children of Israel into the Promised Land, as He promised, but it took 40 years because of unfaithfulness.

Numbers 21, verse 1, the king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, if you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah, which means utter destruction. God brought utter destruction upon the enemies of Israel. Those who opposed Israel who were now being faithful, God delivered them from the Canaanites. He would have delivered them from all of the peoples of the land had they been completely faithful. But they didn't obey God completely, did they? So they had to suffer because of not doing exactly what God told them to do. The Promised Land of Canaan is certainly a type of the kingdom of God that this feast clearly symbolizes and represents.

Now, we should think of that as we close the Feast of Tabernacles today, that the Promised Land is what we're here about. We're going to enter into the Promised Land, into the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. And we will not only enter in, but we will rule and reign with Christ. Those who are faithful, who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them, they will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years, and then God is going to deliver the kingdom up to... Jesus Christ is going to deliver the kingdom to His Father, and we shall be with God forever for all eternity. So this is an important week for us. It's been a very, very important week. God certainly takes note of the fact that we're all here keeping this feast.

Now, repeatedly, God sent a deliverer like Gideon, like Barak, like Samson, like Jephthah, during the period of the Judges. And through him, or even in a couple of cases, in the case of Deborah and J.L., God delivered His people from their enemies. So there were, in a few cases, when the men wouldn't step up and lead, God used a couple of women. And God delivered the children of Israel through faithful women and also faithful men. God sent a deliverer time after time. But the reason He had to do it time after time is because they would become unfaithful, and then He would allow them to go into captivity. He would allow them to suffer. But then they would turn to Him and repent, and He would send a deliverer. So the period of the Judges is interesting. You can go back and read it one day in the context of this sermon, and consider how God continually delivered His people. We're not going to go to Leviticus 26 or Deuteronomy 28, but you recognize those chapters because here God pronounces blessings and deliverance for the obedient, and the faithful, but He pronounces curses on the disobedient and the unfaithful.

If we are disobedient, God will deliver us up to the enemy. That lesson is also proven in the Bible. If we are unfaithful and disobedient, God will deliver us up to the enemy. But if we are faithful and obedient, then God will continue to deliver us, and give us greater strength and greater faith. During the times of the kings of Israel and Judah, there were times when God delivered His people in very dramatic fashion, such as the time that we already talked about, Sennacherib and King Hezekiah. But also during the time of Josiah and Joash and some of the other kings that at least were good for a while, God delivered them. He delivered them from His enemies all around. Eventually, though, the children of Israel went into captivity in Assyria, the house of Israel into Assyria, the house of Judah into Babylon. There were times when God delivered His children also during these times in Assyria and Babylon, and we talked about one of them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Our children well know the next story, Daniel 6, Daniel and the lion's den. I'm not going to take a lot of time, but I did want to just consider a few verses here. I believe these are true stories. They're not trumped up stories. They're not fabricated. They're not lies. They're true stories. Daniel 6, Daniel was delivered from the power of the lions. Now, this is an amazing story as well, because, frankly, Daniel was such a righteous man that his enemies could not find anything against him. So in Daniel 6, Daniel 6, they couldn't find anything against him. He says he had an excellent spirit. Daniel 6, let's look at that in verse 3, it says, Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him. The Spirit of God was in him, and the king gave thought to setting him over the entire realm. He was going to make him second in command over the entire realm, just like Joseph had become second in command in Egypt under the Pharaoh. But there were people who were jealous. There were enemies who were jealous.

And so they weren't happy about this. So they looked for ways to knock Daniel off of his throne, so to speak. He was well favored by the king. They wanted to destroy him, so they accused him of certain things, but nothing stuck. It says in verse 4, the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful, nor was there any error found in him. This Daniel was a righteous man. He said, they said, we shall not fight any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. And that's when they talked Darius into saying that everyone had to bow down and worship the king, and they couldn't pray and worship as Daniel had always done. Three times a day he had prayed to the God of heaven. And so these men were wanting to destroy Daniel, and so Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. Now we know the story that those who had thrown Daniel into the den of lions, eventually they were actually tossed in, and the hungry lions gobbled him up, and their bones cracked, and they were eaten by these lions, whereas Daniel was there all night long. Remember how the king had fasted for Daniel? I mean, this king had great respect for Daniel. He truly admired him because of the God he served. And so he prayed about it, he fasted, and he came, and he was surprised in a way, shouldn't have been, because he'd been praying and fasting. You should believe, when you're praying fast, that good things are going to happen. Daniel was alive, and so he had those men thrown in who had accused him and who had charged falsely against him, and they were thrown in and destroyed themselves. Now verse 14, let's see, 14.

Well, I already mentioned that. The king was greatly displeased about Daniel. Verse 27, here it says, speaking of God, he delivers and rescues, and he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. The same God that we serve today delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. God delivered his children back to the land of Israel at the time of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel. We don't have time to go there, but he certainly did bring them back into the land. Let's go to 2 Timothy and let's look at a New Testament example and see how God delivered Paul, the Apostle Paul, from all of his persecutions, all of the afflictions that came upon him. This is hundreds years later of the accounts that we've talked about already. God is still alive. God is still the same. He's still acting on Paul's behalf. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 10.

Paul is writing to Timothy, he says, but you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me. Out of all the persecutions God delivered me, I always wondered what happened to those men who said they were going to fast until Paul died, until they had Paul. Paul lived years after that, and I really doubt that those men continued to fast. I think they broke their fast because God delivered Paul from them, his enemies. Verse 12, Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise. That's true for quite a few people in this room. From your very childhood, you have been taught the scriptures. The scriptures are to make you wise. So young men and women live by the scriptures that you have been taught since your early days. Follow them. Continue in them, and be wise, as Paul instructed Timothy to be wise, because all scripture is given by inspiration of God. God inspired the entire Bible, and all the stories that we've talked about today, they're true.

It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. This is really the only book you really need. Not that you shouldn't read other books. I mean, we can learn by reading many, many other books, but this should be primo number one, the one we put first before all other books. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, across the page, verse 17, that the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. Now, it's very likely Paul was delivered from a real lion, a physical lion. He certainly was delivered from the roaring lion, Satan, who devours. But Paul was continually delivered from many, many trials and persecutions that came upon him. Notice verse 18, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. Now, that's what God is doing for you and me.

He will deliver us from every evil work, and he will preserve us for his heavenly kingdom.

We are here because we believe in the vision of the kingdom of God. We're preaching it in kingdom of God seminars around the world now. We have faith in God. We believe in Him. We look to Him. And we believe that the Lord will deliver us from every evil work, and He will preserve us for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. So, brethren, remember these many examples, and there are many, many more examples where God delivers all of us from our trials and our physical problems and things. I remember one time my wife and I were driving home from church, and it was just around sunset, and we were actually coming into Tulsa at the time.

It had been a beautiful day, but it had snowed a day or two earlier, and some of the snow had been melting throughout the day. It was up along the sides. I hit a patch of black ice. I was on it before I knew it was there, and I started losing control, but then I started getting control, and then I hit another patch of black ice. A second patch, before I had it in control, I lost complete control of the car. I was going about 70 miles an hour. I lost complete control of the car. I just let go of the steering wheel, and I just trusted in God. And we went a couple... I don't know how far we went. We went a while. We were going 70 miles an hour, so we went a ways. We were fish-telling back and forth. We were on Interstate 44, and we turned completely around, and we started up this concrete wall that angled on the side on the left side. And somehow, we turned ourselves completely around, and instead of going back into the line of traffic, we stopped right there. All we had was a flat tire. Did God deliver us? I choose to believe He did. I believe God delivered us. All we had was a... well, we had a ruined tire. It wasn't just flat. It was ruined. But that was it. No scratches on either one of us. No scratches on our car. Just a tire that I had to replace. I could have gotten hit by a semi. There's always semis going through that section there. We could have gone back into traffic. We could have rolled over a dozen times.

And God delivered us. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will deliver you if you place your faith in Him. Now, let's go on to a third principle that will help us have greater faith. And that is to realize that the greatest deliverance of all is that of spiritual salvation through Christ. Now, we were saved physically from a horrible accident. But the most important deliverance is that of spiritual salvation. Had we both died then, hopefully we would be in God's kingdom. I believe we would. I have faith that we would. I trust that we would. Not that we're perfect, but God looks at a repentant heart. So we would have been in God's kingdom. We would have been okay. It's been nice living longer, though. I've enjoyed it. I'm grateful to God. We thank Him many times. Not a scratch on either one of us. All right. Number three, spiritual salvation through Christ. Now, we know that God delivered a Savior for all of mankind. He delivered his own Son. In Romans chapter 4, it talks about how Abraham had faith. Let's go to Romans chapter 4. Abraham, our Father in the faith, the Father of the faithful. Abraham chapter 4... Abraham. No.

Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4 verse 19. Romans 4 verse 19. And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead, speaking of Abraham, since he was about 100 years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief. Do not waver through unbelief. Pray that God will give you faith and that God will strengthen you, and that you will not waver in unbelief, because Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. The more we step out in faith, the more faith God will give us. So we need to step out in faith and expect him to give us more faith and pray for more faith. Verse 21. And being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was also able to perform what God promises he will perform. And therefore, it was accounted to him for righteousness. If you want to be a righteous person, pray for more and more faith, and step out in faith. Verse 23. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. Now, obviously, Paul is speaking to those who were living at that time, but he was also speaking to all of us, because God inspired these words and we're reading them today. But also for us, it shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses. Jesus Christ was delivered up to death because of our sins and was raised because of our justification. We are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ. Christ paid the penalty for our sins. The greatest gift we could possibly have is spiritual salvation through our Savior, Jesus Christ, the one who delivers us on a daily basis.

Abraham had faith. He was fully convinced that God would deliver on his promises. In Romans chapter 8 verse 31, there are some very inspiring words here. What then shall we say to these things, if God before us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Remember, God is the God who delivers. He delivers in many different ways. He delivered to us his law. He delivered up his son to die for us. He delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?

God does not like slander and accusations. God hates division and discord. Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and, furthermore, is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Again, on a daily basis, he makes intercession. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for your sake, we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Do you have that kind of faith? Are you a conqueror? Are you a warrior? Do you step out in faith? We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. That's where we get our strength. It is in Christ that we get our strength.

Brian persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God the Father and Jesus Christ. It's revealed in his plan, and we've been talking about it all week.

When we go home, let's take it with us and let's walk in faith. Let's go on to Point 4, Principle 4. Always remember that God delivers according to his will and at his time. Always remember, never lose sight of the fact that God delivers according to his will and at his perfect timing. Again, it's placing our faith in God who knows best. Father really does know best. So we do need to place our faith in Him. Remember, Noah was a long time in building the ark, over 100 years in building the ark. But Noah was faithful throughout that time. God will test us through time. Time has marched on for us. We're much older now than we were in the 50s and the 60s and the 70s when we came into God's church. Many of us.

We're older. Time is marching on, but we're still faithful. You're here.

You're here to worship the King. Noah was a long time in building the ark. God just didn't do it for him. He had to build the ark. Abraham and Sarah were very old when they had Isaac. Now, they had known about this promise long before, but God didn't deliver right away.

He delivered later. Joseph was in prison many years. He could have lost faith. He did not lose faith. He trusted in God. When I was in Pittsburgh, I got to know a quadriplegic there. Some of you know Bob Neff. He's been dead now for several years. It was after United Form because he was so excited that there was a United Church of God. Bob Neff was a quadriplegic. He was 16 years old, I think, when he dove into a pool, and he hit his head, and he paralyzed himself from the neck down.

Bob Neff was an amazing person. I was inspired by every visit. I went away, I'm sure, richer and stronger than ever before because here was a man who was living faithfully, flat on his back, and people were taking care of him faithfully. This man should have died probably in his 20s if he would have lived that long. The doctors said, you know, normally they don't live that long if they're quadriplegics. Remember Superman? He didn't live that long. Christopher Reeves. He lived a while. Bob Neff lived into his 50s as a quadriplegic. God delivered him over and over and over again. He was amazing. He was better on the computer than I was. He did it with his mouth, blowing through a pot, blowing through a little tube. He could manipulate and he could move the figures on the keyboard. Bob Neff was an example of living faith. God did not heal him in this life. He healed him spiritually. He called him in to his truth. And that's what gave Bob Neff hope. It was just, you know, an incredible example. Kewana Ivey and many of you have heard about her. She's paralyzed now from the chest down. She is improving. She's off her ventilator. She is now talking. She is improving. Let's pray for her. Let's even fast. Let's see what God might do.

God might intervene. You know, I was several years ago, back in another area, not in Oklahoma, there was a man that I had counseled with many times. He had some mental problems and I'd spent hours counseling with him and praying about him and his situation. Well, he tried to commit suicide. In fact, he laid on his garage floor by his exhaust pipe, basically all night long.

He should have been dead. He wasn't. He was taken into the hospital the next morning.

And the doctors had no hope. You know, they felt like if he even lived, if he came out of this coma that he was in, he would be paralyzed. No, he would be brain dead, is what they said. Now, I had a lot invested in this person. I'd spent a lot of time with him. I cared for him. I loved him. I prayed for him. I fasted for him. And there's no credit. I get no credit for any of this. But after four or five days, he came out of this coma. And it's been a while. I've lost touch with him now. But he had a sore throat from the carbon monoxide that should have killed him. He walked and talked and got around better than he had before this accident, this suicide attempt. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is powerful. God is mighty. He's almighty. He's all-powerful. If we have faith, perhaps God will intervene. But if not, that's okay.

I mean, I could have handled it had he died. I was certainly grateful that he lived and that God delivered him to life. It's meant a lot to me over the years. I know God delivers. And you know he does, too, because you've seen it in your own lives. Remember, the children of Israel were enslaved for hundreds of years, over 400 years before God delivered them. It's been roughly 2,000 years since Paul thought Christ would return. We're all still waiting 2,000 years.

So God delivers as he sees fit, and God knows best. Place your faith in the God who delivers. And that's why we're here. Principle number five, the last point.

Pray for and believe that God will deliver you into his kingdom.

Pray for and believe. That should be a part of our daily prayer. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Pray for and believe that God will deliver you into his kingdom. God has personally called you. You are his special treasure.

In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, it talks about how we should pray that God's servants be delivered. I don't think we'll turn there. It's getting a little late here. But pray that God's servants be delivered, and pray that God's ministry be delivered, and that we will have the strength and the power to speak the truth in love, but powerfully, strongly, and faithfully. Pray that God will bless the council of elders, and that God will strengthen them, and they will be unified.

And that Dennis Luker, as President of United, will go forward in faith and lead us in faith.

Pray for Melvin Rhodes, who missed at least part of this feast. I talked to him just before the feast, and he is improving. He's getting better. But pray that God will raise him up, and that God will heal him, and that God will restore him, and that he'll bless the council of elders, and Mr. Rhodes is the Chairman on the Council. So the fifth point is to pray for and believe that God will deliver you into his kingdom. In Colossians chapter 1, and we'll make this the last verse, Colossians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. That's what God has done for us. He has delivered us from the power of darkness. From Satan the devil, the roaring lion who is seeking whom he may devour, he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. We're here because we are citizens of God's kingdom, not fully born into the kingdom at this point, waiting for the resurrection, waiting to be changed to spirit at Christ's return. But in a sense, we've been conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of his love because this is what we believe in. We are citizens of God's kingdom, and we have faith in his kingdom. We are ambassadors for Christ even now. Verse 14, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. We have redemption through the blood of Christ. He has forgiven us our sins. And so we walk in newness of life, and we keep the commandments of God faithfully as we strive to serve him more perfectly. So, brethren, again, no one has the power to deliver like the true God of heaven and earth. God will deliver his people from all harm and from evil. The greatest deliverance of all is that of spiritual salvation through Christ. Remember that God delivers according to his will and at his time. And remember to pray for faith, pray for God's servants, pray for one another, pray for those who are ill and need restoration, and pray that God will deliver you into his kingdom. So just how strong is your faith in your faith? That's another question you might ask yourself. How strong is your faith in your faith? There was a faith that was once delivered to you. It was once and for all delivered to you. So how strong is your faith in your faith? The faith that was once and for all delivered to you. Is it strong enough to see you through every trial? Through every problem?

If you look to God, if you look to the rock, God will deliver you. Because God is the God who delivers.