Moving Forward in Faith

It's also a tremendous blessing to keep God's Holy Days, to know the truth of God, to understand God's plan of salvation for each and every one of us. Obviously, the spring Holy Days begin that wonderful plan. Jesus Christ is our Passover. He's the Lamb that shed His blood for us. His Father so loved us, He gave His only Son to die for us. So these days are so rich in meaning. We kept the night to be much remembered with one another, and we did remember how God led the children of Israel out of Egypt. How He led them out of bondage. How He led them out of slavery. How He restored them.

You know, God is a God who delivers. He will deliver all of us in due time. God is a wonderful God. We know that God worked with the children of Israel as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Great I Am, the One who became Jesus Christ. We know He laid His life down for us in due course, according to God's plan, the Father's plan. The Father and Son are completely united. They work together and complete unison. If you've seen one, you've seen the other. We know that we've only seen the Son. That is mankind at this point, but He reveals to us the Father. So God's so marvelous in working with us. He's given us the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It's seamless. So much truth being revealed to us as time goes along. We know from the Bible that God's plan was for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea, and they were to move right on into the promised land of Canaan. Of course, this was a land that was to picture the ultimate promised land, the Kingdom of God to be established on earth where Christ and the saints of God would rule and reign for a millennium, for a thousand years. But of course, something got in the way big time back at the time of the Exodus. What was it that kept the Israelites from possessing the promised land immediately? What got in their way? Let's go to Hebrews chapter 3, and let's consider what God tells us in His Word so that we might understand fully what God is doing in our lives today and what He was doing in the lives of the Israelites back many years ago. Hebrews chapter 3 will begin reading in verse 7.

Hebrews chapter 3 verse 7, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me, tried me, and saw my works for forty years. Remember, the children of Israel had to go into the wilderness. They had to wander for forty years. Instead of going immediately into the land of Canaan, into the promised land, God required because of their sins. Again, the problem was with the people. They had to learn lessons. So they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. He says in verse 10, therefore, I was angry with their generation, and I said they always go astray in their heart. It's the way of mankind, humanity, the weakness of the flesh. Paul said, O wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from this body of death? And this was Paul after he was converted for many years. It's no wonder the Israelites were having problems at this time. He says, I was angry with that generation and said they always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways, so I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest. Paul goes on to say in the book of Hebrews, Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. So he's warning us. He says, Beware, that there is not an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Today is our day of salvation. Today is the time that God has called you and me out of bondage, out of sin, out of slavery. This is our time. God is speaking to us.

He wants us to understand. He wants us to learn these lessons. We must be careful that we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is very deceitful. Satan is our enemy. He's the ruler of this world, this present age. He's the great deceiver. He will tempt us. He will hurt us if he can. And certainly he does because we all pay a price when we sin. Be sure your sins will find you out. You know, the scripture is clear about that. There are consequences. And yet God is so merciful and so gracious that He is a God of love and restoration. So we can take great comfort in knowing that and understanding that. But we should be careful that we will not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. While it is said today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion. Again, this is our day of salvation. We can't afford to allow our hearts to be hardened at this time. There's greater judgment upon us and upon you and upon me. So we do have to take this to heart. For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? It was nearly all, wasn't it? Now with whom was he angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who did not obey? Notice verse 19, where we get the answer to the question that I asked earlier. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. We must have faith, especially at times like this. We must look to God for strength, for courage, and for faith. We need to know again that God will give us that help. He will give us that strength. He will help us through every trial. So, brethren, the Israelites could not enter the Promised Land because of unbelief, because of a lack of faith, because they were afraid to simply trust God and do what he said. So what did he tell them to do? What did God tell them to do when they came to the Red Sea? Do you remember they were crossing, or they were coming up to the Red Sea? They saw Pharaoh. They saw Pharaoh's armies, the most powerful army on earth. So do you remember what happened when the children of Israel left Egypt and Pharaoh was pursuing them? They were seemingly trapped at the Red Sea. There was nowhere to go. Water before them, the most powerful army behind them. The people were frightened, and Moses told them to stand still and see the salvation of the Eternal. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Moses certainly had faith. He had seen God work with all those plagues that happened in Egypt. God delivered them from Egypt. Moses saw his power firsthand. He saw many signs. He knew that God would deliver them. But I find it interesting what God then tells Moses. Let's go to Exodus chapter 14. Let's go to Exodus 14 and consider what God is telling all of us today. We must not allow our hearts to be hardened. We must hear God's word. Exodus 14, verse 10.

And when Pharaoh Junir, the children of Israel, lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, to the Eternal, to Yahweh. Then they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? They blamed Moses. Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Remember, they were in harsh bondage in Egypt. Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still. He says, Don't be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. Moses did have faith. He did trust in God. He did believe in God. The Eternal will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. Don't worry. Don't be afraid. Trust in God. But notice the Eternal, what He says to Moses. Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. God doesn't want us to stand still. He wants us to move forward. He wants us to do our part because surely He will do His. He will deliver us. But we do need to do our part. We do need to go forward. We need to go forward in faith, believing and knowing that God will never leave us. He will never forsake us. And ultimately, He will give us victory. He will give us victory over sin. He will give us victory over Satan. He will give us victory over our flesh. He will give us total and complete victory if we will trust in Him.

So He says, Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Verse 16, But lift up your rod, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. What a miraculous event! Can you imagine crossing the Red Sea on dry ground with the water on every side and Pharaoh closing in? Just the magnitude of what was happening. I'm sure we don't get the full picture in our hearts and minds what was going on here. He says, Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. In verse 18, When I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. No, God again shall prevail. God is supreme.

Nothing happens unless God allows it. And the Scripture says that all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. So we have to believe that. We have to believe that somehow, some way, all things work together for good. And that's if we do our part and we move forward in faith, if we trust God.

You know, God again loves us. He loves Sandy. I know I believe in my heart that we will see Sandy again in His kingdom. I believe that. I trust that will be the case. So we need not fear.

We need to have faith and trust God. You know, God loves us all more than we can imagine.

And God is going to provide.

So God is telling us today, face your fears. Face your fears and go forward toward the promised land, toward the kingdom of God. Don't lose sight, because you are to walk by faith, not by sight.

You know, that's what the countdown to Pentecost is all about, too. Learning to walk in the Spirit. We've already begun that countdown. We're to walk in the Spirit. We're to have faith in God and know that His Spirit will guide us and direct us. And again, will give us victory. So we need to move forward in faith. So as God's spiritual Israel today, we are to go forward in faith. And that's the title of my sermon, Going Forward in Faith.

Baptize members who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them have been given victory over sin in a sense, already, because it's pictured in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. When we take the wine at Passover, we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Every year, we rededicate ourselves to our calling, to our commitment.

We have been granted repentance from our sins. God grants us repentance. He forgives us. And we move forward in faith, not fear.

So having already observed Passover, having taken of the symbols of unleavened bread and wine, we have renewed our covenant with God the Father through His Son.

Having put leaven out of our homes, we have been observing the days of unleavened bread. Hopefully you made it through the days without any physical mistakes. In other words, no Dunkin' Donut shops.

I remember one time, it was during the days of unleavened bread, and my mind was on a lot of different things. I whipped in to get some gas, bought an ice cream sandwich. I was going down the road, took one bite, realized what I had done. There's leaven in those cookies there, you know? So I rolled the window down and spit it out the window.

Sometimes we physically slip up. During the days of unleavened bread, it's a reminder that sin is pervasive. It's around us. It easily besets us. If you made a mistake physically, not so important when we spiritually mess up. Of course, it's more important, but we all do that too, don't we? There's not a single one of us that's perfect. Only Jesus Christ, our sacrifice, was perfect. We have to always keep that in mind.

So we go forward in faith. You know, when we come out of the watery grave of baptism, we're told to walk in newness of life. And so today, we walk in newness of life. Again, we go forward knowing that God will live in us through the power of His Spirit. These days of unleavened bread help us learn lessons that we need to learn to have living faith, so God will allow us to go in and possess the Promised Land, the Kingdom of God. So we keep these days of unleavened bread, and then we go on to Pentecost, and then to the Fall Holy Days. And it all pictures God's glorious and wonderful plan of redemption, the eighth day, not just for us, but ultimately for all mankind, because God is not willing that any should perish. Of course, we all have a choice. We all have a choice in all that, of course, but He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And God is gracious. God forgives us. God will be with us. He understands our dilemma, and we can have faith in Him. Today there are so many things that people are afraid of. We're afraid of thieves. We're afraid of murderers, of rapists, of thugs, of bullies, even sometimes our bosses, sometimes men, sometimes maybe more our bosses, depending on who they are. But there are many things that people are afraid of. There are all kinds of phobias in the world. Fear is very real, you know, and it can consume a person, and it's very difficult to even know how that is if you're not struggling with it yourself. You know, if you don't have that going on in your own life, just thank God for that, because I know firsthand from many people I've spoken to, it's a very, very difficult thing when fear overtakes a person, and there's a phobia that they don't understand. You know, some people are afraid of even coming out of their homes, and that's a real fear that people have. Some people are afraid of the darkness. Others are afraid of the light. You know, there are so many different types of fears. Today's world is certainly not a world without fear, but a world filled with all sorts of fears. As we all know, the Millennial reign of Christ will be a wonderful time of peace, a time of prosperity, and it will be a time of great faithfulness.

And as the Millennium progresses, it will become a time without fear.

Imagine for a moment a time with no fear whatsoever. Imagine, just for a moment, just let's pause for a moment to imagine a life and a world without any type of fear.

It is difficult, isn't it? There's a song about that, I think. It's hard to do. But that's what the Scripture tells us. There will be a time like that. God's Kingdom will be a world without fear. Let's go to Micah chapter 4. Oftentimes, we would read this.

During the days of a letter or during the Feast of Tabernacles. But I think it's appropriate today to consider what we have to look forward to. In Micah chapter 4 verse 1, let's notice this. And again, these days also picture going into the Promised Land, in a sense, as I've already mentioned.

They point to the Fall Holy Days, of course. And if we don't learn the lessons of the Spring Holy Days, if we don't learn the lessons God wants us to learn now, we're going to dread the fulfillment of the Fall Holy Days. If you think about it, that's when Christ is returning. That's when it's going to get very difficult upon the earth.

We need to be faithful and trusting God. We need to learn the lessons of the Spring Holy Days that we might be prepared for the fulfillment of the Fall Holy Days and Christ's return.

So in Micah chapter 4 verse 1, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Eternals' house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion, the law shall go forth. God's law is not done away. In fact, we picture putting sin out of our life during these days. The law is in effect. So the law, again, will be established. It will go forth out of Zion and the word of the Eternal from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples. He will rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares. Their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. It will be a glorious time, a wonderful time. It says going on, But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. Notice that. No one will make them afraid. There will be wonderful peace for all people. No one will make them afraid. For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Eternal our God for ever and ever. So we can trust that there is a day coming when there will be no more fear, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more crying. We look forward to that time. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 10. Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 10. Here it says, Therefore do not fear, O my servant Jacob, says the Lord, the children of Israel. It's talking about the again spiritual Israel. It says, The Eternal nor be dismayed, O Israel, not just spiritual, but physical Israel in a type. For behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest, and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid. No one will make him afraid. That certainly has not been fulfilled.

There is a lot of fear in the land of Israel today. We don't know what will happen tomorrow. So that day is coming. It's not here yet. God's kingdom during the millennium will be one of peace and tranquility. In many respects, it will be a stress-free environment. We don't have a stress-free environment today. Won't that be nice when it will be a stress-free environment? What a world it will be when we will be free from the fear of war. There will be peace among nations. There will also be peace in communities. All the communities around us, there will be peace. We will be free from the fear of crime, free from hostility, free from terrorism. There will be peace in families, peace in our relationships. We will all be free from the fear of rejection, from the fear of abuse. We will have true inner peace and freedom from the inner turmoil. All of us suffer to one degree or another. We are all human. We all suffer to one degree or another. And we all have to realize that we're all in this together.

So there will be a time in God's kingdom in the millennium when there will be no fear until Satan is loosed. Satan will be loosed at the end of the millennial period. Then fear will once again enter. It's no wonder there's fear today because Satan is the ruler of this world.

As I mentioned, he is the great deceiver. So we have to be always on guard, but with God's help, we will be given victory even over Satan the devil. Remember, resist Satan and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. So what are we going to do in the meantime until Christ returns? How can we be freed from the turmoil caused by fear now? Do we just have to live with it until the kingdom of God is a reality? Yes, I believe we do to a point. Yes, I believe we do. All of us do. It's a reality that we are a part of. So we have to be realists. We have to realize, no, this is not God's kingdom. We have to understand it. That's why we should long for God's kingdom. We should long for his kingdom. We should pray fervently for his kingdom for a better time, a better age. But how can we at least cope with our lives today? How can we overcome fear and replace it with a measure of living faith?

Are you now ready to go forward? Are you ready to possess the Promised Land?

Are you fully prepared? Are you ready? Are you ready to inherit the kingdom of God? Good questions for us to ask, to consider.

Now, I'm going to mention some people's names, and if you know who they are, feel free to raise your hand.

Do you know who Shumuah was? Shumuah. Does that name strike a picture of who this person is? He's mentioned in the Bible. Okay, how about Poutiel? How about Ghul? These are real names, and they're in the Bible, but I'm not surprised that you don't know who they are. You've read their names. If you've read the Bible, you've read their names. Egal, Gadiel, Gaddy, Amiel, Sethar, Nabi. These are all in the Bible.

Ten names that none of us remember, even though you're students of the Bible.

Who are these ten men? Ten men, ten Israelites, Israelites that have something very important in common. They're mentioned altogether, and again, we don't remember them, but we remember two people that were with them, and I'll bet you know who those two people are. That's right, Joshua and Caleb.

Joshua and Caleb were the two faithful spies. The men you don't remember were the unfaithful ones. Okay, they were the ones that said, these men are like giants! We can't go in and take the land. They're too huge! We're like grasshoppers!

We can't possibly go in and inherit the promised land. It's impossible.

They're too strong. They're too powerful. They'll kill us! That's what the ten men said, all in unison together. But what about the faithful men? What did Joshua and Caleb say? Did they not say, together in unison, let's go up at once and take possession of the land, for we are well able to overcome it.

Now, do you think it was because Joshua and Caleb put trust in themselves?

Was that it? Of course not. We must not put trust in ourselves because that's what the ten men were doing. They were putting trust in themselves. They knew they weren't strong enough for those giants, but they forgot that they had someone on their side that was much greater, much more powerful, and would surely deliver them.

Joshua and Caleb had faith. They had faith. They believed. They moved forward. They said, let's go up at once right now.

Let's move forward. Let's possess this land.

Let's let God fight our battles for us. We will do our part. We'll move forward. But God will give us victory. So, no doubt, that's one of the very best examples of faith in the Bible. The example of Joshua and Caleb. And, you know, they were all on the very verge of entering the Promised Land.

They could have easily gone in. God would have given them victory right away. They did not have to wander for 40 years.

That was not something God was requiring of them. It only happened when they had a lack of faith.

When they didn't look to God and trust in Him.

And that's easy to do, isn't it? We're all human. It's easy to do to lose sight.

That's why we have to walk by faith and not by sight. Again, that's not easy to do. And remember, brethren, take heed lest you fall. Take heed lest you fall.

We're all subject.

We're all frail. So, we have to understand that. We have to know that. We have to believe that.

But we, too, are on the verge of inheriting the Promised Land. I don't know how long it will be. You don't know how long it will be. But we are closer now than we've ever been to Christ's return.

He is coming back, I can assure you of that. I know He's coming back. He is going to establish His government and His kingdom beginning upon the earth. It will expand, of course, throughout all eternity. The Father will come back. There will be a new heavens and a new earth. Again, we don't know the time when the Father will send His Son back to this earth. But we're on the verge. We are on the verge, all of us.

We long for that day. Frankly, Sandy's next moment will be in the kingdom. It will be in God's kingdom.

We live on. You know, we have to fight the good fight. You know, God will be merciful to us as well if we fight the good fight. You know, She was faithful to the end. We must be faithful also to the end.

So, brethren, we are all observing these days of Passover and Unleavened Bread. We all have something in common with these 12 men that I've just talked about. The 10 who are unfaithful. The 10 who are faithful. We are all on the verge of inheriting and taking possession of the real Promised Land. Not the land of Canaan, but truly the kingdom of God. We are on the verge. We must not lose sight of that destiny that God has for us. We must not lose hope. Hope is something that is not a cross your fingers type of hope. Hope in the Bible is an anticipation of something that will surely happen. It's anticipating. We don't hope Christ will return with our fingers crossed. We know He will return. We anticipate that He will return. And we have great hope in Christ's return. It fills us with joy to know Christ is coming back. So in a very real sense, we are all spying out the Promised Land right now.

We are spying out the Promised Land. We're talking a lot about God's kingdom and what it will be like. Every year during the Feast of Tabernacles, we focus on it. Some of us for 50-plus years, we focus. Not quite there 50, but 41 or 2 or 4. It's, I think, 44. So some of us have been around quite a while. So we've been spying out the Promised Land.

We've been checking things out. We're waiting for the kingdom of God to be established.

So we do need to have more faith as we look forward to Christ's return. It's easy to be fearful and to lack faith in a world such as ours today. Again, Satan is the ruler of this world, and he has deceived the whole world.

Out of the billions of people on earth today, a very small number have living faith. In the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, many don't even believe in God today, and it's becoming worse. I mean, the world is not getting better. It's becoming more permissive. It's a frightening time to live.

We know that Satan broadcasts in fearful moods and attitudes. He desperately wants us, who are among the firstfruits, to lack faith in God and to become discouraged by the trials and tribulations of life. It's a fact.

Let's face it, not a single one of us has perfect faith. None of us do. We all lack faith to some degree. On the other hand, we have God on our side.

And that leads me to three principles that I'd like to share with you in regard to taking possession of the Promised Land.

Three principles as we consider that God will give us victory and will give us the Promised Land. The first principle is to always remember that He who is with you and with me is much greater than anyone or anything that is against us.

You know, Satan is nothing but a pawn in God's hands. He can only do what God allows.

God is supreme.

God is supreme.

So we can trust that He who is on our side is much greater than anyone that can come against us. We can have faith and believe that and trust that. We can realize that fear is something that God's servants have had to deal with since the mankind was created, since Adam and Eve. All of God's servants were afraid at times. We're all afraid at times.

In 2 Samuel 22, verse 5, 2 Samuel 22, verse 5, here it says, When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. This is David, of course. He's talking about when the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. They overwhelmed me.

So we need to let God fight our battles. Again, God will give us victory, but we need to trust in Him. Now, I find 2 Chronicles 20 to be an amazing chapter of faith. It speaks to all of us as God's people today. It's a wonderful example of God's people pulling together against an enemy many years ago. So let's turn to 2 Chronicles 20, and we'll actually read quite a bit. So please turn to 2 Chronicles. Let's go through this together, and let's consider the example of Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel at this time. We have greater understanding. We have greater knowledge today in God's church. We've been faithfully keeping God's Holy Days, some of us for 50 and 60 years, and you can't find anywhere in the Bible where that took place.

A faithful bunch of people, they lost sight of God's truth. You know, there were very few good kings in Judah. There were none in Israel that were truly good kings, faithful kings. I think there were only four in the house of Judah that were faithful. They lost sight of keeping God's commandments, His laws. They went into captivity because of it. So it's my belief that God does truly look to us.

He loves us greatly because He sees greater examples of faith today than He's ever seen. He's never seen such faith in a group of people. Think about it. There's nowhere in the Bible that you can show me people that have hung in there this long 40, 50, 60 years. I don't think we consider that enough. I don't think we think of that enough.

You know, God is giving us victory. He has a church. It's a small flock. We've gone through many trials. But we have a lot of survivors that have hung in there. And they're setting an example for the young people among us. And we should keep that in mind. We should take great comfort and encouragement in knowing that.

So 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Let's go there for a moment. 2 Chronicles chapter 20.

Notice in verse 1 that it happened after this that the people of Moab, with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, they came to battle against Jehoshaphat. So here we have real people wanting to kill the Israelites.

Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria. And they are in Hazar on Tamar, which is in Gedi. And Jehoshaphat feared. Okay, Jehoshaphat feared. We all fear sometimes. But what did Jehoshaphat do about the fear that he was feeling?

Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Eternal, and he proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah. He proclaimed a fast. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord. And from all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Eternal. As never before, they came to seek the Eternal. Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court, and he said, O Lord God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? And do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in your hand, is there not power and might so that no one is able to withstand you?

He understood that the one who was on his side with the house of Judah was much greater than the Ammonites. Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever? Abraham was called the friend of God. He was a man of faith as well.

Even so much so, he was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, a type of the father and the son. A wonderful type for all of us to draw strength from. He says, verse 8, And they dwelt in it, and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, If disaster comes upon us, sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this temple, and in your presence, for your name is in this temple, and we will cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear, and you will save.

And now here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Sayre, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them. Here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of your possession, which you have given us to possess, to inherit.

O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us. Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. We look to you, God, to deliver us. Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, their children, they stood before the Lord. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, the son of Zachariah, the son of Benaiiah, the son of Jaiel, the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.

And he said, Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehazaphat. Thus says the Lord to you, This is a word from God himself, Do not be afraid, nor dismayed, Because of this great multitude, For the battle is not yours, But it is God's battle. Tomorrow go down against them, They will surely come up by the ascent of Ziz, And you will find them at the end of the brook, Before the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourself, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.

This was a time when God said, Just stand still. Sometimes God does that. He's merciful. He does that. Usually He wants us to go forward. But there are times when, if we're not able to move forward, He will still be there for us. He will help us. So stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, Who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, For the Lord is with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, Worshiping the Lord.

Then the Levites and the children of the Korahites, Stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, With voices loud and high. They sung with their voices high, So they rose early in the morning, They went out into the wilderness of Tekoa, And as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established. Believe as prophets, and you shall prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, He appointed those who should sing to the Lord, And who should praise the beauty of holiness. And they went out before the army, And were saying, Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.

So we see them unified together, Everyone doing His part. Some were singing, some were praising, All were having faith and trusting That God would deliver them. Now when they began to sing and to praise, The Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Sayre, who had come against Judah. And they were defeated, for the people of Ammon and Moab Stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Sayre, To utterly kill and destroy them.

And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Sayre, They helped to destroy one another. So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, They looked toward the multitude, And there were their dead bodies Fallen on the earth. No one had escaped. No one had escaped. Though God gave them complete victory, Astounding complete victory over a people Much greater than they. And so, humanly, they had no chance.

With God on their side, they had every chance. There was no chance involved.

Utter victory if we trust God, if we have faith in Him.

So I think this is a wonderful example of people rallying together. And that's what we all need to do at this time. We need to rally together. As a church, as a congregation, as the people of God here in Seattle, we need to rally together. We need to hold each other's hands. We need to pray for each other. We need to have faith that God will deliver each and every one of us into His kingdom.

God is for us. He is not against us.

So here we see, again, how important it is to walk in faith. In 2 Corinthians 7, verse 5, here it says, Paul says, For indeed, when we, speaking of Paul and his group, when we were come to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. It's not unusual for God's people to be troubled on every side. It has happened throughout history.

Outside were conflicts. Inside were fears. We're all human. It's normal and human to be afraid at times, but the key to overcoming fear is in faith. It's trusting God. It's knowing where our true strength lies. David and Paul remain faithful in spite of their fears. That's because they always remember that he who is with them was much greater than anyone or anything that was to come against them. How we deal with our fears is most important. It is important. The choices that we make. No, it is important.

In Deuteronomy chapter 7, let's go there briefly. We'll just read a few verses. Deuteronomy chapter 7, we'll start reading in verse 17. Deuteronomy 7, verse 17, Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 17. Here it says, If you shall say in your heart, these nations are greater than I, how can I dispossess them? He's talking to the children of Israel, obviously, about going into the Promised Land. If you say in your heart, these nations are greater than I, how can I dispossess them? He says, you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. That's what we need to bring to mind when we're being tempted to do that. Tempted when we're being tested, when we're being tried. We need to bring these things to mind. That God is on our side to give us victory. The great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstressed arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out, so shall the Lord your God do to all the people of whom you are afraid.

It says that the Eternal your God is going to send hornets among them. He's going to give you victory. One way or the other, God will give you victory. And that's what you need to put your faith in. So allow those lessons in the Bible to come to your mind. Remember how God has always faithfully delivered his people. Ultimately, that's the important thing. You know, God allows some things to happen in this life. We know that. People die all the time. And they have for thousands of years. But God ultimately delivers them into his kingdom. And that's the main thing that we should always keep in mind. Remember that God is always there for us. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You know, they were prepared to die in the fiery furnace. They were prepared to die there. God did not require it at that time. You know, God showed up, and God delivered them out of a fiery furnace. God showed up when Daniel was in the lion's den. God showed up when King David was being chased by King Saul for many, many years. God showed up. God showed up for Joseph when he was in prison.

But, you know, he finally delivered him out of prison. And he exalted him in due time. God will be with us. The Apostle Paul, we know, was beaten and Shadrach many times. He could have died any number of times. He finally did die. A martyr.

He trusted in God to the very end. And that's the important thing, is that we still have faith in God, and we trust in Him. And we look to Him.

God is all-powerful, and with Him on your side, you really do have nothing to fear. Remember what it says in 1 John 4, verse 8. God is love, and perfect love casts out fear. I don't have time to read all that, but 1 John 4, verse 8, then verse 16-18, it speaks of God's love. God is love, and that perfect love casts out fear. So, again, that first point, the first principle, always remember that He was with you and in you, as God lives in those who have been converted, who have received His Spirit, God is greater than anyone or anything that can come against you. Secondly, always face your fears and move forward as a doer of God's laws and ways. Always move forward. Don't allow fear to immobilize you. That's what Satan would want. He would want fear to immobilize you. And we're all subject. We can allow that to happen to us. But look to God. Face your fears, move forward as a doer of God's laws and ways. Try not to let fear immobilize you. Nehemiah was another leader who understood the importance of doing his part to overcome fear. You can read the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah, he was a part of the third and final group of Israelites who came out of the house of Judah and was a part of the third group of Israelites. He came out of the house of Judah. Back from the Babylonian captivity came to Jerusalem. He was coordinating the rebuilding of the shattered wall that was around Jerusalem. His task was met with great opposition. You can read all about that in the book of Nehemiah. Tobiah, Sanballat, Gesham the Arab were all against him. He had enemies. He had to take bold action and show great courage and faith to withstand those enemies. In verse 14 of chapter 4, Nehemiah says, And I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord great and awesome and fight for your brethren. Fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses.

There is a time when we have to fight.

And we do that spiritually, for the most part, right? You know, God doesn't want us to take up arms, but He does want us to fight for each other spiritually. He wants us to pray for one another. He wants us to be there for one another. He wants us to trust God to deliver.

Nehemiah did not allow his fears to immobilize him as he stepped out in faith and directed others to also step out in faith and do their part. Again, the battle was largely physical, while ours is more on a spiritual level.

Nonetheless, we must also courageously face our battles with faith and move forward.

So, brethren, put sin out of your lives. Continue to keep the days of 11 bread in a spiritual sense. Put the leaven out and your faith will grow and will be strengthened. So, always face your fears. Always move forward as a doer of God's laws and His ways. Become more and more unleavened spiritually and do not allow fear to immobilize you. And lastly, the third principle, always spread faith, not fear, because both can be spread. Always spread faith and not fear. As we draw ever closer to the return of Christ, times will become more and more difficult. This world will become more and more frightening. It's not going to get better. Satan will be angry and he will make war with God's people. It's vital that we learn to spread faith and not fear, as these days approach us. Again, I don't have time to go to Deuteronomy 20, but here it talks about how fear is contagious. Fear is contagious, but brethren, so is faith. Faith is contagious. So let's be sure that we're spreading the faith and not the fear. Remember 1 Corinthians 5 verses 6 through 8, don't allow fear to spread like leaven. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. So sin will spread. There's a ripple effect. We can affect one another when we sin. It has an influence on others. So we need to come out of sin, set the right example, don't allow leaven to leaven anyone else. Fear is also contagious, so fight your fears. Again, don't give in to them. Fight them. Jesus Christ gives us some very good advice. Some very good advice in Matthew chapter 10. Verse 28. Matthew 10. Let's go there for a moment. Matthew chapter 10 verse 28.

Matthew chapter 10 and verse 28. Here it says, in verse 28, Christ says, And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. It's talking about kill our lives, the spirit in man. You know, that cannot be killed. God is the one that gives us life. God can resurrect us. God can give us eternal life. So don't fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, in the grave.

So we should have a proper respect of God, a proper fear of God. To love Him, to respect Him, to obey Him.

Man cannot kill the soul. Again, God will give us eternal life if we trust in Him and if we have faith in Him, He will resurrect us in due course. Again, He's not willing that any should perish. So if we just turn to Him, God will surely receive us. And in Luke 12, verse 32, it says, Fear not, little flock. It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It is God's good pleasure. This is what He desires. This is what He wants. He wants us to prosper. He wants us to be in good health. That's what God's heart is for each and every one of us. But we live in a difficult world right now.

It is difficult. It takes its toll on us. It's not easy. We have to fight the good fight. And then, one last scripture. Philippians chapter 4, verse 8. You know the scripture. Paul says to think on whatsoever things are good. Whatsoever things are pure. Whatsoever things are lovely. Things that are of virtue. Things that are praiseworthy.

Think on these things. If you think on these things, you will be spreading faith. That's a faithful saying.

To focus on these things that are right and good. Things that are virtuous. That are kind. That are loving. Think on these things and you will be spreading your faith to others. So, the last point, the third one, is always spread faith and not fear. So, brethren, don't worry. Seek God's kingdom. Always remember it is the Father's good pleasure. It is His good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He who is with you is greater by far. So, face your fears and move forward in faith. Know that God will deliver you. And always spread faith. Not fear. Spread faith. Now is the time to place our faith and trust in God the Father and in Jesus Christ our Lord. Now is the time to rally together as God's people, as God's children, as lovers of one another. So, as we continue to keep the rest of this Days of Unleavened Bread, we don't have many hours left.

But let us look to God's glorious kingdom and faith.

It will be a kingdom of peace, a kingdom that will have no fear.

And, of course, we get to meet together tomorrow as well to talk more about the next annual Holy Day and our countdown to Pentecost and what that means and what it pictures for us. So, we have a marvelous plan that God has given us. It's pictured in His annual Holy Days. Tomorrow is a double Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath as well... I'm sorry, it's not either. We have back-to-back Sabbath. Tomorrow is a regular Sabbath. Today we had the last high day. The first Sabbath was a double Sabbath. That was a weekly Sabbath as well as the first day of 11 bread. So let me not misspeak, as I am prone to do.

But we will meet again tomorrow to again consider what God is doing with us. You know, God will not leave us. He will not forsake us.