When the Wilderness Is His Will
by Tim Hammond
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Exodus 13:17-22, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Jude 1:8-9, 2 Kings 2:1-15, Matthew 3:13-17, Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 17:1-13, John 1:19-37, John 3:30, Matthew 11:2-15

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/tim-hammond--when-the-wilderness-is-his-will
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Hallelujah come on let's Praise Him in this place come on we can do better than that on a Wednesday night let the high praises of God be in our mouth and a two-edged sword in our hand amen could we give brother Jones a great big hand for obeying the Lord tonight amen God bless you as you make your way back to your seats and you may be seated in jesus' name what a privilege it is to be in the house of God have you been blessed already I said have you been blessed already amen what a privilege it is to be here to feel the presence of the Lord and uh this movement conference is quite uh an Endeavor and I want to say thank you so much to Bishop and sister Carpenter and uh to the Ericson both the younger and the elder brother and sister Ericson elder brother and sister Ericson thank you for your service as well and Chad and Fallon and Nolan and Flanery and Zach and Lauren and Beckham and Hampton and and Zach is the son in whom the father's well pleased the ministry team the church family here thank you for all you do thank you for loving uh my family uh I would be remissed if I did not give honor to the memory of my dad and mom I love them miss them deeply I honor my in-laws as well Bishop Raymond and Frankie Bishop uh who are in a care home in New Albany Mississippi and uh we could use your prayers there Autumn and Elijah have moved back to Texas emry and Judah and Ford and Tatum uh they were here for a while and uh we love them and thankful for the blessings of the Lord in their house in their life and the way the Lord has blessed our house and our home to Dorcas I love you honey thank you you for being who you are and uh and sticking with me through all that the Lord has brought us through have a tremendous church family back home and and uh New Life Apostolic Church I'm so thankful all the ministers and ministry here and we give you honor if you feel like you want to be honored I honor you and uh and uh however that works and uh brother Ericson has told us to live the movement brother Tony is only brother Tony can the island of the colorblind Bishop Woodward the heart of Holiness and uh he is amazing I Bishop I love you so excited about you being in Watkinsville in a few months brother Steven Jones what a tremendous message and challenge in word from from the Lord God bless you amen I love that story because uh if you'll listen to the devil he will answer his own question because San ballad in toah asked Nehemiah said why don't you meet me in one of the Plains of Ono and we'll talk are you getting it so what you need to tell the devil is just a plane oh no cuz I'm doing a great work and I don't need to come down I don't need to come down well uh I'm seeing the title of my message and my contribution if you don't know who I am I'm Zach's dad if you wonder why I'm on the program I'm family but every time I've seen this title or even uttered it over the past several weeks I have uh felt something inside of me just kind of well up and I I'm I'm a crier anyway but this message uh I'm a I'm a kind of a practical guy and uh everything you've heard and what you here tomorrow I hope to somehow take it and help you to understand how to live it out uh and so you can stay seated you've been up a long time and if you stand every time I read a scripture you g to be up a while because if uh you don't do anything else you already to use scripture when you preach Exodus 1317 that came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go that God LED them not through the way of the land of the Philistines although that was near so God's not into shortcuts for God said lest per Adventure the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt then the Bible says but God led the people about through the way of the Wilderness of the Red Sea and the children went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt and Moses took the bones of Joseph with him for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you and they took their Journey from suth and encamped in etham in the edge of the Wilderness and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night so whenever God wants to move it doesn't matter uh what your agenda is When God Says move if it's in the middle of the night just know he's got enough light for you to move he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of the fire by night from before the people that cloud and that pillar followed them the whole time the only time the cloud ever moved from leading them is when it went behind them and I love this story when they were crossing through the Red Sea and the the Bible says that that cloud moved to the back and God peaked through or looked through the cloud and their wheels fell off all right you're that crowd tonight huh I just love that kind of thinking because didn't say God said Wheels fall off but just when God rearranges his protection and and all it takes is the the eyes of God to look on our enemy all of a sudden their trip is cancell and what we walk through on drad all of a sudden their chariots run hard so what was dry for us becomes moist to them what is a way in the wilderness becomes an obstacle to the adversary so let me not get too happy before I get this across it's 8:36 when the Wilderness is his will that's what I want to preach to you so I can already tell I don't like this message because if I preach that the Wilderness could be his will that means we could be complaining against what God is doing cuz there's really no Victorious shouting songs about Wilderness stuff it's let me get to the mountain let me get to the other side let me pass over but unless I'm I'm reading something wrong when they came out as Pharaoh let them go God did not lead them by the way of the Philistines although it was that was a closer route he said less peradventure the people repent when they see War because for 400 years they've been servants and they will not know how to fight so the will of God not the 40 Years of wondering but the Wilderness was God's will he could have taken him another way he could have quite obviously defeated all of their adversaries they would have never had to fight but he said if they see War they've not seen it like what would happen if I took them the short route so there's times when the Wilderness is his will contrary to popular belief there are times when God calls us to the Wilderness so what I would say to you is don't waste your Wilderness with a wrong attitude and a wrong perspective the Wilderness at times when it's God's will the Wilderness is God's University it's God's classroom it's God's way of getting the point across schools in session let me just tell you the Wilderness is where we discover things about ourselves and some of us had rather fight people than to fix ourself but God said your problem is not the Philistines right now your problem is not any enemy that would come your way the problem is I've got to take you through the Wilderness so you can discover who you are and who you are not amen some of us had rather fight people than fix ourselves we'd rather fight what we would call the enemy rather than fight the enemy come on say it with me enemy nobody causes me more trouble than Tim Hammond there's not a saint that causes me more trouble than Tim Hammond there's not a church problem that causes me more trouble than I cause myself well praise God the enemy is me oh some of you have got a Blessed Trinity you need to be delivered from it is me my and I the preachers already told told us that I'm my biggest problem and God said if these people are going to be what I've called them to be I need them to discover themselves and I come to tell somebody tonight under the unction of the Holy Ghost that the Wilderness you're in could be the will of God the Wilderness that you're going through it could just be that God says until you discover who you are until you discover who you are not you will not be fit for what I'm wanting to do through you so sometimes the Wilderness is his will the Wilderness is an uncultivated uninhabited inhospitable region a neglected our abandoned area you've had them we've all had them we've all went through them we've all experienced them Bishop came in January of 21 and was there when I buried my dad and he said to me he said my friend I can't wait to see what God does through you after this 7 weeks later he came back and did the funeral for my mom and he said the same thing and I just have to be honest with you I love him like a brother but I at that moment I said I don't care what God bursts I'm just trying to survive I'm trying to get through this uncultivated uninhabited inhospitable region in my life cuz I feel neglected and Abandoned and it seems like everywhere I go there's another problem there's another loss there's another hurt there's another disappointment there's another person who's decided this isn't worth it and they walked away and in the middle of all that some way somehow you have to grab yourself and lift up yourself and encourage yourself in the Lord and say I'm not worried about what everybody else is thinking I'm not worried about what everybody else is doing I'm not worried about what everybody else has got to say I'm in a Wilderness and I will not curse it I will not defile what God's trying to do in my life right now I cannot understand it but still I will trust him the Lord gives and the Lord takes away but blessed be the name of the Lord so so I'm sure I'm sure I'm sure that you're here and you're in yours you don't care about this preaching I've been there you don't care about this preaching because you're in your Wilderness but I just got to give you some points and I've got to hurry our greatest points of reference in teaching and preaching from the Old Testament are from things received in the wilderness you can't preach the Ten Commandments you can't preach the 63 statutes you cannot preach the Tabernacle plan without calling it what it is it is the Tabernacle in the wilderness and we want to preach it on Sunday and we want to pray through it but let me tell you how we got it we got it by God saying I'm not going to take you the short route I'm going to take you the long hard way because when I'm through with you in the wilderness you'll understand who you are and you'll understand who you are not and you'll know who to trust in and you'll know who to call alone and you'll know who to believe in because when God makes a way there's not enough devils in hell to stop what God is up to in your life well well well Hallelujah from Genesis the Deuteronomy the pent talk 10 commandments 613 statutes the priesthood the Tabernacle in the wilderness I know Moses receiv received it on a mountain but it was a mountain in the wilderness and sometimes you need to go to the mountain and find out how you need to live in the wilderness but all of us want a mountain but let me tell you when the Mountain's in the wilderness you got to go up and then you got to come back down and you got to live like the rest of us I appreciate those golf claps right here don't be honored Tim just preach amen amen I wonder why I wonder why Moses may have thrown down the tablets because with the tablets he had the Tabernacle plan got it all in the wilderness I wonder I wonder if one of his frustrations is not just seeing the people around the golden calf it's when he saw Aaron and he said For the Love of All That is sacred what are you doing leading people in idolatry I've got a pattern for some clothes that you're supposed to wear and here you are lean them into idolatry and we're going to give you the priest garment what in the world are you doing maybe his frustration wasn't that the tablets were heavy it wasn't that that he saw the people in idolatry it was that his second man couldn't keep things straight while he went and spent some time with God you're talking about a sharp second man Aaron what happened well tell you what happened was this in your Bible they gave me their goal I put it in the fire and out came this calf go get you a job cuz that is the flimsy excuse for a second man I don't know what happened I see you're a little upset come on second man be able to stand up and let your voice be The Voice come on now there's good in the wilderness when it is his will I understand there are many Wilderness references Deuteronomy 341 through2 this is the last part of the pent talk I don't know here's how my mind works did Moses write his own obituary I'm just asking not that we have any answers but listen to it Moses went up from The Plains of Moab into the mountain of Neo at the top of pisca that is over against Jericho and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead Dan and napali the land of Ephraim and Vanessa and all the land of Judah until the uttermost sea and and the South the plains to the valley of Jero city of Palms unto Z zeor and and uh and the Lord said unto him this is the land which I swear to Abraham Isaac Jacob saying I will give it unto thee un thy seed I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes but it shall not go you shall not go over thither so Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against bethor I don't know when I read this I I feel like Moses he wrote his own obituary prophetically he buried him in the Valley of the land of Moab over against bethor but no man knoweth of his Seer under this day here's what one of the things that kind of makes me think he might have wrote his own obituary and Moses was 120 years old when he died his eyes were not dmed nor his natural force Abad kind of bragging on himself talking about how good shape he was in but the Lord took him right the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plain of Moab 30 days so the days of weeping in the morning for Moses ended Joshua the son of nun was full of spirit of wisdom for Moses had laid his hands upon him the children of Israel hearkened unto him and did as the Lord commanded Moses and there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face and all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to pharaoh and all of his servants and to all his land and all the mighty hand and in and and all that the mighty hand and in all the great Terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel so Moses dies and is buried in the wilderness Moses spent two-thirds of his life in the wilderness spent it with Jethro then he spent it with God's people and if you count Pharaoh's house as a type of a Wilderness he nearly spent his whole life there everybody got that and Jude in his writing as Bishop so adequately helped us out today he says 1 and8 likewise all these filthy dreamers defile the flesh despise Dominion speak evil of dignities Yet Michael the Archangel when contending contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses does not bring against him Rail and accusations but he he just said the Lord rebuke thee so Jude while writing about a totally different subject throws in a little info about the body of Moses there was a dispute about Moses's body between Michael the Archangel and the devil and Michael did not bring any railing accusations he just said the Lord rebuke you I'm taking the body why would the devil want a dead body like Moses maybe he's going to use it as an object lesson when he's got somebody down and out he rolls out Moses's body and said let me tell you this is how God operates he uses you and then will not let you go into the promised land but the Archangel said we're taking it put a pen in that all right some of you're like is that in the Bible it is put a pin in that 2 Kings 2 1-15 it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into Heaven by whirl Whirlwind Elijah went with Elisha from gilgal and Elijah said to Elisha Terry you here I pray thee the Lord has sent me to bethl Elisha said unto him the Lord liveth th soul liveth I will not leave thee so they went down to bethl the sons of the prophets that were at bethl came forth to Elisha and said unto him knowest thou not that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today and he said yay I know it hold ye your peace and Elijah said unto him elishah Terry here I pray thee for the Lord had sent me to Jericho and he says the Lord liveth thy soul liveth I will not lead thee so they came to Jericho the sons of the Prophet there were Jericho came to Elisha and said un him knowest thou not that the Lord would take up thy master from thy head today and he answered y I know hold your peace and Elijah said unto him Terry I pray thee for the Lord has sent me to Jordan and he says the Lord liveth as thy soul liveth I will not leave thee and they went on 50 men of the sons of the Prophet went stood by the view for to view a far off and they they stood by Jordan and Elijah took his mantel and wrapped it together smoke the waters and they were divided hither and thither so they two went over on dry ground and it came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said unto Elisha ask what I shall do to thee before I am taken away from thee and Ela said I pray thee let a double portion of thy Spirit be upon me you know this story I know I'm preaching to the choir but I want you to hear this and he said thou as a hard thing nevertheless if thou see me when I'm taken from thee it shall be so unto thee but if not it shall not be so and it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold there appeared a a chariot of fire horses of fire and parted them both aund and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven and Elisha said and he cried my father my father The Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof and he saw him no more and he took hold of his clothes and he ried them in two pieces he took up also the man of Elijah that fell from him went back stood by the bank of Jordan and he took the manle of Elijah that fell from him and smoked the waters and said where is the Lord God of Elijah and when he had smitten the waters they parted hither and thither and Elijah went over and when the sons of the Prophet that were to view at Jericho saw him they said the spirit of Elijah th rest on Elisha and they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him you say why would you read that because if I understand the geography and the way things are laid out they went from from gilgal make sure I get it all right for you guys that are factchecking bethl Jericho then they get to Jordan so they're on the promised land side and Elijah smites the water he and Elisha walk across the Jordan which would put them on the Wilderness side and on the Wilderness side of Jordan a whirlwind comes and takes Elijah not in the Promised Land but in the wilderness Elijah is taken up in the wilderness not good yet huh Ruben Gad half tra tribe of manessa they're over there and they took Wilderness to a whole new thing they decided to live over there I'm intrigued by that and something ought to click with us if you can have nine and a half tribes on the promised land side and only need three Cities of Refuge why would you need three Cities of Refuge for two and a half tribes on the Wilderness side cuz it's tough living on the Wilderness side but let me just tell you man I've got a transition took place in the wilderness the manle fail in the wilderness because Elisha picks up that manle goes back to that same Jordan and said where's the god of Elish and he smites it and it parts and he walks over and then everybody that's been guessing him all along says now we know that's the spirit of Elijah rest on Elisha because it was a smooth transition let me just tell you some of you are w a lot of pump and parade and Circumstance when you become the pastor but I'd tell you you'd be better for you and whoever you're coming after to make y'all a track and make y'all a trip to the wilderness cuz the Wilderness will strip both of you down in the wilderness the senior man will remember if it had not been for the Lord I wouldn't have nothing to give you and in the wilderness the younger man will look at the senior man and the Wilderness will change your perspective you say I I don't believe it let me tell you the reason I believe in Watkinsville Georgia we had a smooth transition over 22 years ago is because during that season of transition we were remodeling the downstairs to make it a sanctuary because of growth my only brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor at youth convention in Opera land my mom had a a massive heart attack and had surgery in Nashville Tennessee we came home finished the building had the transition The Changing of the Guard and I buried my only brother who passed away on Father's Day of 2002 but in the middle of that Dad was handing me The Mantel and I'm telling you Watkinsville is where it's at right now because we didn't make Transition when we were ski from clouds to clouds we didn't know if Mama was going to make it my brother didn't make it we put him in the ground but I'm telling you because of a Wilderness that we didn't understand he was able to hand me of the time and when I took it I did not take it for granted and I did not take it lightly and I stand today under the blessings of God because we made a transition in the wilderness you will not be successful if you're throwing manels from mountain tops to mountain tops because if you come in this thing and you think it's just fried chicken and Goth let me tell you what it's called it's called the work of the lord it's not called the play of the Lord it is the highest calling that could fall on anyone but you can't get it on the clouds sometimes you have to go to the Wilderness so so young man that's about to take the Manel senior that's about to hand it off maybe instead of us trying to figure out finances and titles and and percentages why don't we go to the Wilderness and let God strip both of us down to where we're standing there and it's not senior and Junior and it's not Elijah and Elisha it's about the man of God it's about making sure that transition happens correctly so that the church is not destroyed I'm I'm so weary I'm so weary I'm so weary of in good churches ruined because somebody took a church and they did not understand what they were receiving but you go to the Wilderness you'll figure it out God will put you in a place where the only way you'll figure it out is in prayer God can put you in a place where fasting is not forced but it's welcomed because when you go and you try to figure it out and it seems like it's inhospitable it's not it's not inhabitable the Wilderness Matthew 3 13-17 if I'm through by 9:30 will you be okay really roller brother a bone for crying out loud hey it's overtime at UT Thank You choir for wear wearing red and black again for me then cometh Jesus From Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him but John forbade him saying I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me and Jesus answering said unto him suffer it to be so for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness then he suffered him and Jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were open unto him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him and lo a voice from Heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased here's what I'm going to do to my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased Matthew 4 And1 then was Jesus listen to this perspective then was Jesus led up led up of the spirit Into the Wilderness to be tempted of the devil sometimes go into the Wilderness is the way up when he fasted 40 days and night he was AF the hung and when The Temper came he said if thou be the Son of God command that these Stones be made bread but he answered said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God then the devil taketh him up into a holy city Seth him on the Pinnacle of the temple and said unto him thou be the Son of God cast thyself down for it is written he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and in his hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time Thou shalt Dash thy foot against the stone Jesus said unto him it is written again Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God again the devil taking him up into exceeding high amount showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and said all these things will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship me then saith Jesus unto him get thee hence Satan for it is written Thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve then the devil leaveth him and behold Angels come and Minister unto him so he sent his only begotten son to the Wilderness to be tempted of the devil for 40 days and when the devil leaves Angels come and Minister I'll save you the reading it's Luke 4 1-5 but I believe it's somewhere around 13 and after the after it was all done it said when the devil had ended all the Temptation he departed from him for a season and Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee and there went out of Fame so our savior went to the Wilderness was tempted of the devil before he opened one Blind Eye before he walked on water before he turned water into wine so I've been baptized but have you had a Wilderness baptism because a Wilderness baptism will help you understand who you are and sometimes it'll help you understand who you're not everybody okay are you sure are you sure I want to make sure don't want to leave anybody behind Matthew 17 And1 you ready after six days Jesus taketh Peter James and John his brother and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart and he transfigured himself for them his face did shine as a sun and his reignment was white as light and there behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him so Moses dies in the wilderness Elijah's taken up in the wilderness and Jesus was tempted in the wilderness so if you haven't been to the Wilderness or if you're not about to go into a Wilderness you're not invited well some of you say well what do you think about my Ministry I'll tell you what I think about it it hadn't been tried I don't know what to tell you because it's been so easy and exp flod so freely to you that you can't preach sacrifice cuz you never have you don't know what it's like to be at your wits end on you don't know what it's like to be a basket case you don't know what it's like to leave a conference or a Sunday and the Lord has used you mightily and when you get in the car and you head home and you open the door to your home and you step in and you close the door doesn't matter if your wife's there and your children's there there's a loneliness that comes over you and the devil begins to talk to you it's in those moments that you find out whether you're called or not see a lot of folks say well I'm going to try this for a while I didn't know that was an option when I told Dad I felt my call to preach he said come on in and he showed me some things to do like work thank God for a generation thank you brother Jones for telling everybody here and everyone who's listening or will listen that you can work and understand that God blesses when we put our hand to the kingdom of God but let me tell you God's not going to do for your church what you can do for your church we get it all backwards we want God to do the people's stuff and we want to do the God's stuff we better get back to doing the people's stuff and let God be God I'm so excited about this I can hardly take it so now understand why the the devil wanted Moses's body and now understand why God wanted Moses's body because he's 120 years old his eyesight's good his strength is strong and God's just had him on hold waiting for a day that God in a body would be transfigured and Moses would come walking in can you imagine all of hell and Satan standing over here it's like I told you I knew I knew it I knew he had something for him I told we needed to get that body and here we are years later and here is that face to face guy that wilderness guy that he shows up on the mountain of transfiguration and the Bible says that he talked with him standing on the mountain oh wouldn't you like to have heard that that conversation BOS is like man you're looking good 30 years old are you how do I look for 120 I wonder if they had a conversation kind of like you know what I noticed that when I was living in Pharaoh's house I went around and uh there was no boys my age in the Hebrew Camp he said I went to one of their graduations all girls girls he said then I heard the story that around the time I was born Pharaoh had all the babies killed but somehow I got out just sharing stories Jesus said sure enough you know what when I graduated I was the only guy in my graduating class cause Herod killed every boy but somehow I got out see this is Wilderness talk there's no negativity on the mountain of transfiguration the only B got is little Jack J as Peter he don't know what to do he's like I just want to build an altar a tabernacle for everybody let's let's have some let's build something cuz For the Love of All This sacred we've got God in a body we got Moses then Here Comes Elijah well where have you been I don't know I was walking along had this little guy behind me wanted to double portion all of a sudden here come a chariot took me away my mantle fell down Jesus said you know what that boy that got your Manel did twice as much come on now is that not true Elijah said did I hear that Herod tried to kill you and Pharaoh tried to kill you he said I had a double portion of that I was walking in the day of Ahab and Jezebel and you talking about some preacher hating folks they hated everything sacred they all survived the Wilderness now we know why Michael got Moses's body now we know why Elijah was taken up in a chariot and Moses survived Pharaoh Jesus survived Herod and Elijah survived Abra Ahab and Jezebel but let me tell you what didn't happen on the mountain of transfiguration when Jesus went God said of him as he came up out of the water this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased and as a son he sent to the Wilderness shows up on the mountain and look at what it says in verse three and behold there appeared unto them Bishop Moses and Apostle Elias talking with him doesn't say that does it just said this Moses it's Elijah it's Jesus cuz if you get to the mountain it's because you've been through the Wilderness and you don't have to have a title so for all you title Seekers this is not your conference well if he just let me you get to the Wilderness well if I had my chance you need to go to the Wilderness if I could just make my Ascent to the pool pit the Lord would use me mightily oh no he won't until you go to the Wilderness and know that it's his will and he strips you down and helps you realize how dependent you are upon him you're not going anywhere and I just want to tell you and I got a Hur it's 9:16 senior leader God may have another seasoned for you so you don't have to be jealous or try to destroy the Next Generation he took Moses buried him in the wilderness no one knew where he was at but when God needed him to encourage our savior so had you rather stay in your position that is present or allow God to hide you in the desert until he needs you on the mountain of transfiguration it just may be senior leader that just because you stepped out of the season of Pastor God may have another season that is greater and more Grand if that's what you're looking for but in the great big scheme of things when you look at this I'm always perplexed it says and there then answered Peter and said to Jesus lord it's good for us to be here I love that guy if thou will if thou will let us make here three Tabernacles one for thee one for Moses and one for Elias I want you to notice that Peter recognized them that's what I read I don't read any formal introductions and I sure don't see any titles while he yet spake Behold a bright Cloud overshadowed them Behold a voice out of the cloud which said this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased hear ye him and when the disciples heard it they fell on their face and were so afraid and Jesus came and touched them and said arise and Be not Afraid and when they had lifted up their eyes they saw no man save Jesus only when they opened up their eyes Moses was gone Elijah's gone just Jesus standing there Jesus charged them saying tell the vision to no man until the son of man is risen again from the dead and his disciples asked him saying why then say the scribes that Elias must first come let me just pause here for a moment the reason in my opinion for whatever that's worth is Moses and Elijah show up and talk with Jesus but then the cloud comes and they're they're gone and it's Jesus only but when you look at it Elijah knew how to Mentor Moses knew how to lead and Jesus knew how got to die and the three they brought is Peter James and John and we need Peter to lead we need John to be the Beloved to give us the Revelation and James will die so they were not just there for Jesus they were there to tell those three Inner Circle men that there's life after this one and it's all in Jesus cuz Elijah said the only reason I'm here is because he's here Moses said the only reason I'm here is because he's here and Peter James and John said I'm just glad to be here cuz I don't know what's going on but I've got a sneaky suspicion on down the road they understood that it was about the Wilderness Hallelujah Hallelujah disciples asked him saying why then say the the scribes that Elias must first come and Jesus answered and said to them Elias truly shall first come and restore all things but I say unto you that Elias has come already and they knew him not but have done unto him whatsoever they listed let me tell you you will not find any of these men talking about the mountain of trans figuration while Jesus was still alive it's so sacred that Peter is almost embarrassed to mention in his writing that I was there and I saw it likewise shall also the son of man suffer of them then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist so now we've transitioned from Moses we've transitioned from Elijah Jesus is still here and his disciples are saying there's a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled that Elias must come and he said he has he's here and then they understood that he spake to them about John the Baptist the Forerunner who came in the spirit of Elijah and was the voice of one crying in the wilderness you wonder how Zacharias and Elizabeth ended up with a boy coming out of the wilderness most historians and theologians believe it was Herod as well Jesus escaped to Egypt John went to the Wilderness some historians say that Zacharias would go and do his work at the temple while Elizabeth had taken John to the Wilderness and he grew up in the wilderness so when he comes out and he looks like a madman yeah it's because he's a Wilderness guy and most everybody I see in Scripture that has been eternally effective have had a Wilderness and why do we think this gospel would fall in our hands and us not have one John 1:1 19 through 37 and I'm winding this up this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who art thou and he confessed and denied not but confessed I am not the Christ C the Wilderness will do that to you and they asked what then art thou Elias and he said I am not art thou that prophet he answered no then said they unto him who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us what sayest thou of thyself he said I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord as said the prophet isas and they which were sent were of the Pharisees and they asked him and said why baptizes thou then if thou be not the Christ or Elias neither that Prophet John answered them saying I baptized with water but there once standeth among you whom ye know not he it is who cometh after me is preferred before me who she latch it I'm not worthy to unloose these things were done in bethabara Beyond Jordan where John was baptizing the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world this is he of whom I said after me cometh a man which is beer before me for he was before me and I knew him not but that he should be made manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with water and John bear record saying I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and in a bone upon him and I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with water the same said unto me upon whom upon who Thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God since he's the voice of one crying in the wilderness where did he get that directive he was in the wilderness when he was told when you see the spirit descending on a man like a dove that's the guy he didn't get it on a mountain he didn't get it on a cloud he got it in the wilderness because when he come out of the Wilderness he said I just tell you who I am I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord make his past great he got that in the wilderness Hallelujah so For the Love of All This sacred could you stop cursing your dry times could you stop cursing when it seems like nothing is going right stop fighting people and look in the mirror cuz your enemy may be enemy listen to it here's what the Wilderness does come on musicians give them hope again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples and looking Upon Jesus as he walked he saith Behold the Lamb of God and his two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus most of us would not let that happen but when you've been to the Wilderness and you're the Forerunner of Jesus you don't have a problem when people leave you to follow Jesus Jus the reason our churches become stale and stagnant is they become yours let me tell you what what John said 3 and 30 he must increase but I must decrease some of us are trying to introduce people to Jesus without going through the Wilderness and if you do that you'll always get in the way our message will be more effective if we have graduated from the school of the Wilderness Matthew 11 2-15 and we're done but I don't think God is now when John had heard in the prison another type of wilderness he's sitting in prison but he hears of the works of the Lord and someone like John because he's in an unfamiliar Wilderness he's hearing but not seeing that's the reason you need to be at the house of God you don't need to hear they had good church you need to see they had good church and you're not an eyewitness if you're online the proper term for that is viewer but if you'll come to where it's happening you can become a witness you can be seated he heard in the prison The Works of Christ Christ he sent two of his disciples and said unto him art thou he that should come or do we look for another I'm in a different type of wilderness I'm locked up I don't know what's going to happen and so the Forerunner sends a word to the man that he saw the Spirit descend on like a dove he's got some questions Jesus answered and said unto them Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see tell John the blind receive their sight the lame wal the lepers are cleansed the death here the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them and then he added this in blessed is he whomsoever shall not be offended in me don't don't be offended because you started in the wilderness and you had a great thr threee run but now you're back in another Wilderness but they call this a prison don't be offended says as they departed Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John what went you out into the Wilderness to see a reed shaken in the wind what went you out to see a man clothed in salt rment behold they that wear soft clothes are in King's houses but what went you out to see of a Prophet come on Jesus says yay I say unto you and more than a prophet for this is he of whom it is written behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee verily I say unto you among them that are born of woman there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist not withstanding he that is the least in the Kingdom of of Heaven is greater than he so it sounds like to me he's calling some more Wilderness students and from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violence take it by force for all the prophets and the law prophesied under John and if you will receive it this is Elias which was for to come he that hath ears to hear Let Him hear you know what John the Baptist ended up teaching us if you really want to M have the mind of Christ you may have to lose your head cuz Herod takes his head but he didn't stop his voice CU in this room tonight there's some wilderness wonderers we've come to this place there's somebody here if it's not the one I will feel like I have made my contribution you feel like you're you're at your wids in and the weight's too heavy the bird's too much let me just read you what I wrote and I'll let you respond I know you're a bishop I know you're a pastor I know you're the second man I know your family is that family that the pastor leans on but if we want effective Revival of the prodal and a harvest of lost souls here's what I have we need to come out of our Ivory Towers and our glass houses and leave your T your title and let the Wilderness work cuz let me tell you if you're going through a Wilderness and it's the will of God I'm not talking about the 40 Years of wondering because of rebellion I'm talking about when you're called to it when you're left in it as Moses was or you taken up like Elijah was or you end up living like Peter James and John I want you to know that cloud by day and that Pillar of Fire by night is still available it still Shades us from the Sun keeps us warm from the cool there's a Promised Land but you cannot defeat the enemy until you have won the battle within yourself and the best place to win that battle is in the wilderness so I wonder if there's anybody that would just stand in all one motion just say I need to come the altar sir yes sir cuz there may be some things I'm fighting that it's not even about the person I'm fighting with God's trying to help me discover who I am I feel something in this room come on senior leader God may not be through with you don't get bitter well our church is about to go through a transition come on this is the time to walk in humility oh God come on we need this I appreciate and I love it as much as anyone sometimes we just need a sovereign sober move of God my Wilderness has taught me that when some of the things I love the most are taken away he's a very present help in time of trouble my Wilderness has taught me that when I can't get out my God can get in cuz he's still the way the truth and the life oh God sir you going through a dry time ma'am come on team is it seems like everything you try is not working could it be that God is just working on you right now before we can be an anointed team we may have to go through the Wilderness and experience some some shaping and some some molding could it be could it be could it be could it be could it be come on why you lift your hands right now as they begin to sing come on I feel like God's want to impart something right now come on I don't I don't know everybody here but if there's some here in transition the older needs to go to the younger the younger needs to go to the older and you need to make a pack you need to make a sovereign vow that we will not let our personalities get in the way of this transition because the church and the work of God is more important than our personalities come on some of your teams may just need a good oldfashioned prayer meeting where we stop jockeying for position and just get on the team and work the Wilderness will teach you that the Wilderness will make you pray not my will but thy will be done when the Wilderness is his will when the wilderness his will he just speaks and mirales begin to happen