Lift, Carry, Forgive | Nick Johnstone

so good to be with all of you in the house of God today what a beautiful crowd on a Sunday morning the first Sunday of 2024 can't think of a better way to spend it than in the house of God and with the Beautiful People of God friends and family I too I want to Echo what brother Weatherly said and uh we want to welcome all of our guests today thank you for taking the time to visit us today whether you found Us online or maybe you're here with a friend or a family member thank you would you one more time give all of our guests a great big hand thank you for choosing First Apostolic church today and as as has already been stated we'd love to connect with you we have several ways to do that please please take advantage of one of those opportunities today and uh we've got a free gift waiting for you with some of the best coffee in Blunt County right through those doors come see us at the Welcome Home Center this afternoon at our welcome home reception and we look forward to getting to know you what a wonderful kickoff we've had to the year I I mean we you talk about a close out if there was a close out for 2023 last Sunday morning and Sunday night and I just I want to take a moment just to Echo what pastor preached last Sunday morning and that is these first 31 days we're putting God first how many still got your little cake that you've got out there we're putting him first there have been photos sent in and little reminders each of us in our own way have put it out there that little cake just a little reminder that we're putting God first in 2024 we're going to take the first month of the year we're going to give him the first thir 31 days it belongs to him it's his now Pastor shared with me a a a very cute story this morning uh brother Trey and sister Jennifer I don't know if they're here today or not but they were not able to be here last Sunday and so they weren't able to get one of them little cakes that we all went home with now God knows me and that cake had a discussion in the truck on the way home I take it by I take it I wasn't the only one who had a talk with that cake if you last 32 more days it will be a miracle of God cuz I love little Debbies but you know who loves little Debbies more than me and my kids I little Debbies and Hostess the way to my heart man I tell you what I I love me some junk food but they weren't able to get a little cake and so they improvised a little bit they they sent us a picture and they're going to put that picture up there today they didn't have the oatmeal cake but they got the next best thing any Nutty Buddy fans in the house today man people after my own art right there would you give them a big hand brother Trey sister Jennifer just a little reminder that we're putting God first in everything that we do also don't forget on the 11th starting the 11th our 21 days of prayer we're looking forward to a great time every day and that gather your family together take the opportunity to to focus these these 21 days of the year as as we kick off this new year and we're just we're looking forward to what God's going to do would you stand with me again right now and we're going to go to the word of God numbers the first chapter and I'm going to read the first two verses I want to say as you're turning there I want to give great honor to pastor and first lady today and our entire pastoral staff I know that you miss them as much as I do I love them and words cannot express how humbled I am to be standing in this Pulpit on a Sunday morning ministering to you I counted a great honor and a high honor and I'm thankful I'm thankful today to be here with you I give you honor as the people of God and brother white I feel the same way you do it's such a privilege to be a part of the the kingdom of God and the body of Christ and to be able to fellowship with such a great body of Believers why don't you give yourself a big hand what a what a wonderful group of people it's it's truly my honor and I I I give Pastor honor today I give you honor and all these Great Men of God these ministers uh that have been filling in and and standing in the Gap in our pastoral team's absence what a great job each of them have done and I'm just thankful to be a part of them thankful to to stand here with them today Numbers Chapter 1 and verse 1 and 2 and the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of siani in the Tabernacle of the congregation on the first day of the second month and the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt saying here's what he said verse two take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel after their families by the house of their fathers with the number of their names every male by their polls I I I have a great burden today I have a a passion today there's something burning inside of me and my my greatest desire is to help somebody before you leave here today on this first Sunday of the year I I with the help of God I I want to encourage somebody I hope if you came in downtrodden if you came in low I hope that you leave on another level in Jesus if you came in feeling low you maybe you came in feeling depressed I hope that you leave Feeling High I hope that your heads lift it up before you leave here today and with the help of God for the next few moments I want to preach to you on this thought lift carry and forgive would you lift your hands towards heaven right now and let's invite the presence of the Lord to continue the work that he's already done the work that he's already started in this house today Father we give you glory for all that you've done father we thank you for the Miracles that you did in our time of prayer we thank you for the great word of encouragement that brother Weatherly spoke into our Spirits just a few minutes ago I believe these things father I stand upon them today and we pray in the name of Jesus that your spirit would Prevail throughout the ministry of your word anoint the hearers anoint me as your minister today Father and we will give you all the praise we'll give you all the glory today in Jesus name we pray Jesus name you can be seated thank you brother Chase it's just more relaxing when someone's playing appreciate that why don't you give our praise team a great big hand today what a wonderful job that they did leading Us in worship appreciate all of them there are four verbs everybody say verbs four verbs in Biblical Hebrew of which the definition is to count or to number four different words that you could find throughout scripture mentioned some of them hundreds of times throughout your Hebrew Bible these four words uh I I I'm not a Hebrew scholar so I'm not even going to try to pronounce them properly but it the transliteration of them is limn that's the first one that's Li n o t limn not the second one is lpor l i s p o r the third one is LIF code l i f k o d and the last one is lock shove that's la c k s h oov four different verbs and each of these words all have the same definition they can all be used interchangeably if you were writing again that that definition is to count or to number but the Lord in his communication to Moses his instruction that he gave him in Numbers Chapter 1 if you get your Parallel Bible out which I I'm a big fan of parallel Bibles I don't I don't know how you do your daily Bible reading but I love to to have a good Parallel Bible nearby and I like reading one side of the page in one translation and another and the other it just sometimes it brings new insight to things you you see things maybe that you haven't seen before but if you got your Hebrew parallel Biblical Hebrew Parallel Bible out and you begin to read you would find that in the first two verses of numbers 1 veres 1 and verse 2 that these four words are not mentioned in those two verses instead those four words are put into two words uh you can go there's there's great resources if you don't I don't expect you to have a a Biblical Hebrew English Parallel Bible but if you've Ed the website uh Blue Letter Bible uh that's wide open and free all those tools and resources are on there and if you go look you'll see that those four words take ye the Su translate back to two Hebrew words two biblical biblical Hebrew words the first word is NASA NASA the word NASA means to lift to carry or to forgive thus our title today lift carry or forgive but he took it a step further in his instruction to Moses and he he said I don't want you just to Nisa them but I want you to Nisa Ro the second word of the four in Biblical Hebrew nasar Ro r o that word Ro has got a deep theological meaning very very deep so buckle your seat belt it means head that's it ro ro you just learned Biblical Hebrew you can tell somebody hey touch your Ro he just told them to to touch their head very simple NASA Ro Moses's instruction from the Lord in numbers chap 1 verse one and Numbers Chapter 1 and verse two wasn't just to take a head count of everybody it wasn't that he needed to hire some counters brother Sullivan and give them some clickers and send them out into the congregation and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 no no no no he said listen Moses I need you to go out into the congregation and I need you to do some lifting I need you to let them know that I've come to lift their head I need you not just to let them know that I've come to lift their head but I want you to let them know that I'm here to carry them I've got plans for them I've got a purpose for them I don't expect them to walk on their own but I plan to walk with them and then the third definition of this word n it's it has many definitions if you look it up but this idea of forgiveness now if you read these scriptures on the surface it would appear as though there was a count needed somebody go count some people up somebody go out there and and tell somebody that you know hey you're number 325 and remember that number anybody here ever played that game one two one two one two one two or 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 I need all the ones and threes over here I need all the twos and fours over here anybody here ever been given a number it would imply as though in the process of time between Exodus and numbers that God had somehow lost track of somebody in the same way way that I have to keep a really close eye on my 5-year-old when we're out at the mall or in the grocery store because if I let him go for just 30 seconds only God knows where he's going to end up it's me assuming that that God is like me and that if he looks away from me or takes his eye off me for just one second that he's suddenly going to lose track of me or that he suddenly lost track of somebody as they crossed the Red Sea but you've come too late on the first Sunday of 2024 to convince me that God doesn't know where I'm at you've come too late to tell me that God's forgot about me you've come too late to let me know that God doesn't know where I'm at on the first Sunday of 2024 can I tell you he knows exactly where you are he knows exactly what last year looked like because he walked every step of the the way with you he knows exactly what 2024 looks like come on somebody you got to get this this morning he hasn't forgot about you he hasn't lost you he didn't lose track of you but he knows exactly where you're at listen to these scriptures Matthew chap 10 and verse 25 are not Two Sparrows sold for a far and not one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father knowing look at verse 30 the very hairs of your hair are all numbered does that sound like somebody who lost track of you oh I know what the voice of the enemy says Where's God at now I thought 2023 was going to be your year oh sure go ahead and just keep repeating that 2024 is going to be your year you just keep telling yourself that I understand the voice of the enemy he talks to me too I hear the same voice but I'm coming in the boldness of the Holy Ghost this morning to remind the enemy of my soul that he knows where I am he knows the exact numbers of hair on my head he's not forgotten about me so so God had he had Specific Instructions for Moses and it didn't have anything to do with counting had nothing to do with counting but to understand numbers 1 and verse 2 to understand the idea of take ye the sum to understand the idea of I need you to lift up their heads I need you to let them know that I'm going to carry them and I need you to let them know that I've forgiven them you have to go back to Numbers Chapter 1 and verse one and Numbers Chapter 1 in verse one gives us the timeline you see one year had passed one year and one month had passed since God had delivered them from Egypt the scripture told us there that the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Si in the Tabernacle of the congregation on the first day of the second month in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt that first year was absolutely riddled with failure that one year of their life if you wanted to do a comparison today maybe you wanted to look at your own life and compare it up against theirs it might be a good exercise for some because you might feel pretty good about yourself after doing that but that whole year was was riddled with absolute failure it was riddled with mistakes and we got to go back to Exodus the 14th chapter and let's look at some of these mistakes let's look at some of these failures so that we can better understand where they were and where we picked them up in the timeline of Numbers Chapter 1 Exodus 14 and10 says this and when Pharaoh Drew nigh the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them and they were s afraid and the children of Israel Cried Out unto the Lord verse 11 where things start to go downhill listen to this they said unto Moses because there were no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to take us forth out of Egypt God just wrought this great miracle in their lives I know that none of you can identify with this but you got to understand you got to see the picture of who they were were and where they were at God just brought them through all the plagues can you imagine just put yourself in their shoes for a minute they got a front row seat to the miraculous power of God from frogs and flies and darkness and blood turned to water to Blood on the doorpost and the Passover they had a front row seat to all of that mind you they had been living in bondage and in slave slavery and the Bible said that they cried out to God by reason of the bondage and God heard them God brought them out he brought them from a lot of junk he did some miraculous things for them but they're just a little ways removed now they're at the Red Sea and all of a sudden they're like you brought us out here because there weren it wasn't anywhere to barious in Egypt huh start playing these mind games start trying to convince themselves yeah we're just we're just out here to die you brought us out here to die huh Exodus 15 just one chapter later Exodus 15:23 they they just crossed the Red Sea they just watched their enemy the Egyptians Drowned God just did another great miracle forget all the all the plagues forget the Redemption forget the freedom they've just experience the Red Sea miracle and chapter 15: 23 and they came to morah and they could not drink of the Waters of morah for they were bitter therefore the name of it was called morah and the people murmured against Moses saying what shall we drink is God not able did they lose sight of the fact that the same God who performed the plagues and rescued them the same God God who delivered them the same God who cused the Red Sea toart he had the ability to give them water what happened but this is where they're at this is the timeline of their lives one chapter after God gives them clean water here they are murmuring again this time it's about food jump to chapter 16 and verse two and the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses boy I'm starting to see a pattern here every time they turn around they're complaining 14 they're complaining 15 they're complaining 16 they're complaining the children of Israel in verse three of chapter 16 said unto them would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt they keep reaching back to this place of oh God you've been so good to me but I you know this difficulty that's in front of me right now seems so insurmountable that you know when I compare where I'm at today I said when I compare where I'm at today in respect to where he brought me from I'm telling you there is no way you could get me to go back there's no way you can convince me that that life was better than the life that I have today oh you can try to convince me all you want but you don't know my testimony you don't know my story you don't know where he brought me from there isn't anything that he's delivered me from that compares to what it is that he hasn't stored for me I ha not seen nor hath he heard neither have it entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for them come on do you believe he's got something prepared for you today you ought to get out of your past walk out of your past quit comparing where you're at today to where you were yesterday let God take you into the new dimension let God take you somewhere new my goodness he's got a plan he's got a plan so they complain about water he gives them water they complain about food he gives them food I mean what else I mean maybe a little Debbie cake if they if they had a little Debbie cake I just can I be can I be transparent today I might have asked for a Little Debbie cake or a Hostess cake had I lived in the wilderness maybe that's what Mana was maybe that's what it was maybe Mana was Little Debbie cakes we'll just preach that I love Little Debbie cakes if you can't tell after chapter 16 you have chapter 17 17 2 and 3 guess what they're doing oh they're complaining again 14 15 16 17 but they found something new to complain about this time right because every challenge means god you know God God could do that but he definitely can't do this I I understand God could make Mana rain down from heaven I understand that God can turn water to blood I understand that God can cause the light to go away and and cover the earth I understand all of that but you he would never be able to provide us with water is it just me or is this is this just crazy just three chapters ago he cleared the water up for you was bitter and you couldn't drink it and he made it drinkable and three chapters later you're like we don't got any water w i i I understand the silliness of this it's in the book and you know what Paul said these things were written unto us for our example they're written for our learning come on pull it together Johnstone you're going to have all kinds of opportunities to complain and whine and be upset about the the the hand of cards that life has TT you but at some point along the way you're going to have to learn to trust God you're going to have to put your faith in God and remind yourself he provided water yesterday he can provide water today if he provided Mana yesterday he can provide Mana tomorrow and if he made a way last year my God he's going to make a way in 2024 he's the way maker I don't know about you but I trust him today I trust him today I've got my confidence in him today my confidence is not in the stock market it's not in my 401k it's not even in my job but my confidence is in him he is the source of all my strength if my pantry is full today and empty tomorrow the same God who filled it today can feel it tomorrow because I didn't feel it today it was him who filled it oh my goodness now we come to what's probably their greatest failure not overall there's a lot of those but Exodus chap 32 and verse one this is a very familiar story it's the story of the golden calf the Bible says in verse one and when the people saw that Moses delayed everybody say delay delay I read something this last week that that just punched me in the chest faith is the ability to live with delay and not give up hope I'll say it again faith is the ability to live with delay and refuse to give up hope oh I know it hasn't happened yet I know it doesn't look like what I thought it was going to look like but I've got a word from God and I'm standing firm on the promise of his word for his promises are yay and amen and I refuse to give up my faith says it's just a delay God's at work even when I can't see it I know he's working it's just a delay and my face says hang in there he's working but Moses delayed Moses delayed in verse one he wasn't coming down fast enough out of the mountain the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him who went to the priest they went to the priest and they said come on make us Gods what guys the one true Living God just delivered you by his hand out of the hand of your enemy guys that stuff you've been scooping up off the ground and eating the water that you've been drinking make us little G Gods verse two Aron said unto them okay I mean I am the high priest you know I am a I am God God had a plan for him come on don't don't discount yourself because of mistakes that you made don't discount yourself God's got a plan for you here's says okay give me your earrings give me your gold come on go get them from your sons or daughters bring them unto me this isn't what God had intended for this stuff God's got a plan for all this stuff but you know maybe our plan's better the Big G told us to bring all this with us the god of Heaven and Earth hero Israel the Lord our God is one Lord he told us to bring all this with us cuz he has a plan for all this stuff but I guess you know maybe our plan's better we'll make some little GES come on give it to me all of that stuff was meant for the offering plate they made a calf out of it you ever thought about this what happened how did they feel the day that they got instruction we're going to build a tabernacle bring all your gold bring all your your your fine Linens and all bring all those claws that you brought out of Egypt because we're going to build a house unto God mine's melted down in the water over there I gave that to something else that's what they did Aaron received him in verse four and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made a molten calf and they said these be thy Gods o Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt are you kidding me these are not your Gods these are not the one true Living God oh when Aaron saw it it gets worse Aaron didn't just take it and melt it down and make a calf but Aaron decided to build an altar before it and Aaron made a proclamation and said tomorrow is a feast to the Lord now he's all confused come on let's worship this let's create an alar verse six they rose up early on the tomorrow and they offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings and the people sat down to eat to drink and Rose up to play here was the Lord's response this this just this is amazing to me verse 7even the Lord said unto Moses go get out of here get thee down for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves verse eight he said they have turned aside quickly everybody say quickly he just brought him out brother white he just gave him food and water and so quickly they turned and saido I like this God I let's make an altar for this we like this I don't know about this God that's a cloud and and a voice and shikina I'm not sure about all that but but that I can put my eyes on that I like to see and they quickly shifted their attention they quickly shifted their allegiance when times got tough he said they they turn turned quickly out of this way which I commanded them they have made them a molten calf and have worshiped it and have sacrificed there unto and said these be the gods of Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and verse 10 now therefore this is the Lord this is God let me alone that my wrath May W Wax Hot against them and that I may consume them and I'll start over with you Moses I'll make you a great nation they pushed God to his limit on that mountain and I I love it because I don't have time to read the whole story today but you can read it in your personal Bible reading God's like you know Moses he tells them all this and Moses says oh oh oh oh just calm down I this is the Nick paraphrase version it's not that bad right that's Moses he talks God off the ledge if you're taking them you're taking me you know there's stiff neck people yes they are but they're yours we're in This Together by the way notice God called them Moses's people they weren't his people when they were building golden calves your people that you brought out forget me I had nothing to do with this you're all on your own now it's Moses's turn he talks God off the ledge and then verse 19 look at this and it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp you know oh man so you you believe what I did to the Lord today I talked God off the ledge I mean me and God are like we had a good conversation up there on that mountain God was ready to just wipe all you out and Moses I don't know what happened if he rounded a corner but Joshua starts saying things like um I think I hear the noise of War it's like Moses flipped a switch you want no that's not the noise of War right here here's here's what Moses says he saw the calf and the dancing and Moses's anger waxed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and break them beneath the mountain verse 20 said he took the calf which they had made and he burned it with fire and grounded it to powder and Str it upon the water and made the children of Israel drink itoo he was hot God was mad his anger's waxing hot Moses is angry his anger's waxing hot tablets are being broken and all the while just like little children when they get in trouble everybody's like what we do wrong we me I didn't color on the wall it was him that's that stain on the carpet that was not my Kool-Aid that was hers we had it was all Aaron's idea but that was that was their history that was the book of Exodus Leviticus was the law Leviticus covered 40 days God God was like listen we got we got to get some things straightened out here he spends 40 days straighten them out he gives them the levitical law and then Numbers Chapter 1 and verse one God's like okay we've got everything lined out now we can start moving toward the promise you've had enough failure for a lifetime crammed into one year anybody here identify with that enough mistakes for a lifetime crammed into 13 months I think you might be ready to finally start moving toward the direction that I have intended for you but before you do Moses you got that see they're they're heading into the wild Wilderness everybody say the Wilderness they're heading into the Wilderness leg of the journey they've just been hanging out by the mountains we all love the mountains around here don't be they've been hanging out in the mountains Brother Scott and God's like get them ready Moses oh because if they thought the last 12 months were rough they ain't seen nothing yet oh God doesn't laugh at us that way he carries us so he started numbers one off and he said hold hold the phone hold the phone before you take off on that Wilderness Journey amidst all of their failures they saw me angry Moses they saw you angry they saw tablets broken everyone witnessed all around you what was going on and in their minds up to this point they've seen a frustrated God and they've seen a frustrated leader and I think they've started to get the drift of their personal short shortcomings they've started to get the drift of all their failures and mistakes and so before anybody takes one step toward the promised land I need them to know a few things the first thing I need you to do Moses is I need you to go around and I need you to start lifting their heads up oh come on some of you know exactly what I'm talking about I saw you come in this morning and you didn't come in with your head up and the joy of the Lord beaming off of your your face no you came in and your head was down a little bit it wasn't all about mistakes and it wasn't all about failures but some of you had a really really rough 2023 and some of you had to go through some things that you shouldn't have had to go through and some of you had to go through some battles you had to go through some dark times there were some deep deep dark valleys where only you and God know that you laid your head on a pillow at night and even said God where are you at now have you abandoned me have you forsaken me only you and God know about those moments oh but my goodness he sent me on the first Sunday of 2024 to reaffirm his promises to you uh to reaffirm his word to you uh what he has promised uh he will fulfill what he has started he will finish he is the author and the finisher of our faith come on some of you need to see God as an author with a pin in his hand and he's writing the book of your life chapter 23 wasn't great but here we are in chapter 24 and he's still writing if you're here he's still writing if you're sitting on the church pew he's still writing if this is your first Sunday back in a long time he's picking the pin back up and he's gonna start writing he said come on Moses get down there how need you how need you start lifting their heads up get those heads up come on you're the you're a child of the king friend come on I know life's been hard life's been hard for all of us there ain't anybody here that's got a free pass there ain't anybody here who got to pass go on day one of 2024 and collect $200 there ain't any of us who had to live that way I know what it is to barely be able to lift your head up and feel like it weighs a million pounds oh but there's something about when I come into the presence of God when I get in here and the music begins to play and the people of God begin to lift up their voice I feel a little bit like David when he said I will lift my eyes unto the hills from which cometh my help my Help Cometh From The Lord who had made Heaven and Earth listen to what else he said oh Lord how are they increase that trouble me anybody identify with that many are they that rise up against me many there be which say of my soul of that Nick Johnstone there is no help for him there is no he's a helpless case he's a hope less case there's some of you on the sound of my voice people have written you off people have dismissed you oh but David said in verse three but thou Oh Lord You're a shield for me you're my glory and above all of that you are the lifter of my head oh my goodness I feel the holy ghost in the house today he's come to lift somebody's head your head may have come in down but it's going to leave up I got to hurry we're running out of time but he gave him Specific Instructions look at the end of verse two he said I don't want you just to lift their head up he said but you're going to do it after their families you're going to do it by the house of their fathers with the numbers of their names and then in numbers 1:5 through numbers 1:15 he gave them the order brother white of the names and then ultimately how they would camp but he said when you go you get the instruction he said I want you to go down there and I want you to start lifting their heads up but don't just walk by and say hey get your head up get your head up come on come on God's for you get your head up get your don't just say that he said I want you to call him out by name hey hey tribe of Reuben hey can you hear me lift your head up Reuben get your head up I I know I know that your grandfather didn't have a whole lot of kind things to say to your dad in fact he told him that he was unstable in all of his ways in fact he I know I know the whole family knows that he said that he would probably never Excel and he probably wouldn't ever amount to much and your whole family he lived their whole life that way but I'm telling you this is God Lift Your Head Up Lift Your Head Up I don't see as man sees I don't choose this man chooses but I've got a plan and a purpose Reuben and I'm about to do something through you come on Simeon lift your head up Simeon can you hear me Simeon you there Simeon lift your head up I know dad was a murderer I know that grandpa had to curse him he cursed his anger he said he killed a man in anger I know your family has lived all of your lives now here we are multiple Generations removed and you still live under the words that your Daddy spoke over your grandfather and your great grandfather and your great great grandfather but hear me hear me Simeon lift your head up your Redemption draw nigh the promises of God are going to come to pass oh Judah oh Judah oh they speak highly of you they praise you Judah oh your name means praise and everybody walks around and and tells you how great you are oh but Don't You Dare Forget Judah that it was you it was you who sold our uncle into slavery you put him on a slave Caravan and sent him to Egypt it was because of you Judah then we all ended up needing Deliverance but lift your head up today don't get stuck on your past don't get stuck on your failures Judah because God's got a big plan for you for out of you come on look it's time to look beyond the failure look beyond your mistakes God's Got A Plan Judah Don't Give Up Lift Your Head Up Judah God's got a plan for you and then he wanted him to know I've forgiven him I've forgiven him It's all under the blood we sang that song this morning if you're looking for me I've been set free my life's under the blood if you're looking for the old man I've been forgiven he said come on we're now in numbers one he said in Leviticus 16 I gave him the day of atonement where the priest is going to lay his hands on on two goats and he's going to pronounce sins over that goat and they're going to take it out in the wilderness and let it go he said find them I have forgiven them oh come on some of you you got to believe that today you got to believe that the day you went down in the W Waters of baptism you got to believe that the day the blood of Jesus was applied to your life that you said I'm sorry for every mistake I'm sorry for every failure that he forgave you and that he is moving on toward your destiny and your promises in him got to quit living in the past you got to quit living in the past and then he said I need you to let them know that I'm going to carry them you see God knows today hear me right now because some of you will need to hang on this word for the next 12 months 24 months 18 months whatever God knows what the future future holds he knows what the future holds brother DED I don't I look into this year and I think oh yeah this is what we're going to do boy 24 is going to be great 24 is going to be awesome and I can have all these great aspirations but only God knows what this year holds only God knows the valleys that are coming only God knows the test and the trials that await me oh and so I stand here here with faith in him and with trust in him that he's going to carry me he's going to carry me not only is he lifting my head up not only is he encouraging me this morning not only is he letting me know that he is for me but he wants me to know I'm going to carry you I'm telling you what God knew what the Wilderness held he he knew what the Wilderness held for him he may not have been allog together sure how they were going to respond to everything but he knew what the Wilderness held for them oh are are you glad that God knows the beginning from the end I was reminded this story recently I I shared it in Seville a couple weeks ago it was the spring of 2016 it was March of 2016 and my wife and I were at a youth convention it was a it was a powerful youth convention and it was the last night and brother Jason hucke was preaching and he was preaching about how God you know the the the the Holy Ghost LED Jesus Into the Wilderness he came out of the out of his baptism he was led by the spirit Into the Wilderness but how when he came out he came out of the Wilderness in Victory and boy it was a shouting time for The Landry people were you know running the aisles and throwing their coats and slapping slapping the stage and throwing ties you know all that stuff us apostolics do we get real excited about a about a good move of God and I I had a good time too man the Holy Ghost was thick in there and he was preaching he was anointed he had Authority and man you could you could have taken on hell with a squirt gun and we get in the car the next morning on the way home and just like every road trip home from youth convention you're just tired right and everybody who can sleep is asleep and the rest of us drivers have to drive and my wife was kind enough to stay awake with me for about the first hour but in that hour she felt the urge to let me know that she felt like the Lord had spoke to her in that service and he was getting ready to lead us into a Wilderness to which I almost asked her if she wanted to walk home how dare you dump cold water on my youth convention fire I may be going in but I'm coming out no I was driving over blue it pass like what in the world and for the next two years God asked us hear me today me hear my wording God asked us to walk through things in the next two years that only he could know about brother white oh are you thankful today that he knows exactly what he's getting ready to ask you to walk through he knows exactly what it is what he's getting ready to send you through but he doesn't expect you to go at it alone but he said Moses let him know the Wilderness is coming but I'm going to carry them I'm going to walk with them there's not going to be one day where there's abandonment there's not going to be one day where there's not a pillar a fire or a cloud cuz I love them and I care about them it was two years it was two years oh my goodness it was 2 years people stole money from us I'm talking about thousands of dollars life savings of money stolen from us by by crooked people and it was like every time I turned around I was like oh it can't get worse oh there goes thousands of dollars I know none of you have ever lived through stuff like that I'm talking about wildernesses I'm talking about when you've done everything you know to do you you've prayed you've read your Bible and it isn't that God doesn't love you it isn't that God doesn't care about you he says hey John Stone you want to go to another level come on Johnstone you want to know about the promises you say you're living for the promises of God Johnstone are you ready to receive the promises because if you're ready to receive the promise there's going to be a Wilderness in a Wilderness we were but oh there was an end of 2018 brother Namy there was an end and God gave back double every penny that we lost in that Wilderness and I can stand here today and tell you he carried us he carried us it wasn't easy no I didn't run the aisles a lot brother Ben in that season of time but he still carried me and I never gave up on God yes he heard my private prayers yes there were times where I screamed and cried at the carpet and I yelled at the floor where are you at now but he never forsook me I stand here today and I can tell you that his word is true he was with me all the way oh come on somebody he wants to lift your head up today he wants to lift your head up today I'm coming to a close he knows the seasons he knows the seasons oh I love Seasons I love the Good Seasons anybody here loves summer all my summer folks can I get an amen Florida's looking mighty mighty good this time of the year isn't it Pastor I love you but I'm jealous I love summer I think one of the most beautiful times of the year in this region is spring and summer when the the flowers are in bloom and the grass is green by the heart it's just beautiful the mountains the the the the the leaves are on the trees and the mountains and you look over their majesticness and you just you're in awe of the beauty of God and the Creator that that calls me friend the Creator that calls me son but not every season looks that way we're in a season right now it's called winter and it's cold and the sun doesn't always shine in Winter and most of those trees out there they don't have any leaves on them and it's not a fun time because when there's no leaves on the trees you can see everything that's down underneath in the woods it was last year about this time my wife and I were leaving marriage Retreat headed out to get something to eat and traffic was really bad in downtown Gatlinburg so it it diverted us out into the hills and mountains there around Gatlinburg and back down to the main Highway and as we cruised along those roads with all the other hundreds of cars that Google Maps had diverted I began to look up into those Hills and I saw garbage up in there I saw windfall that was there that was the damage and signs of last year's storm all of us have gone through storms right anybody here got any storm damage all of us has gone through storms but it's only in the winter season when there's no leaves on the trees that I can see the storm damage see we all like to cover up our damage nobody we don't like anybody to see it so we we like to push them really nice green leaves and we like to appear luscious and and and productive and oh God if we can be a fruit tree that's even better we can produce some big fresh uh fresh luscious apples or or some bananas or some Citrus or something but everybody likes to produce fruit look at me look at my fruit look how good I look but oh God don't come back in Winter you come back in winter you'll see some of my scars if you come back in Winter you might see some of my mistakes you come back in Winter you might see some of my short comings God knew all that he knew the season that he was leading his people into and he said Moses let him know that I'm going to carry them I'm going to carry him into it you can stand with me today I wish that that was the end of the story today I wish that they got their head lifted up they picked their chin up off the ground by their am they realized God is for us God has a plan and God has a purpose and God God's going to do great things in my life but that's not the end of it numbers tells us of their Wilderness Journeys numbers covers 40 years 40 Years of their Wilderness wanderings it didn't get any better numbers chap 11 fire had to ravage the camp another mistake another failure Numbers Chapter 13 Mary and AR Aaron are murmuring against Moses Numbers Chapter 14 this has got to be the Pinnacle of of numbers it's the Pinnacle of of their Wilderness wonderings when when God thought I just I give him a sneak peek of what's coming if I could maybe if I could just show them a little bit of what I have planned for them maybe it'd be easier for them to believe and so Moses sends out spies you know the story they get there and they're like yeah yeah everything that God said is true everything that God said is true but yeah I don't think it's for us I don't think we're able you know the the challenges are too great the armies are big oh yes yes yes the blessings the promises they're there they're there everything that God said is there is there but but we can't do it back to wandering numb 16 it's the rebellion of Kora and then Numbers Chapter 20 Miriam dies it starts going downhill fast literally the verse after Mary I dies the water stops coming out of the Rock and they lost their ever loving minds and Moses lost his ever loving mind Moses strikes The Rock disobeys God I mean this thing is coming apart at the scams brother Purdue it is coming a part of the scams leadership 101 get it together I mean they're in the they're they're in pursuit of the promise this is what God told them is this and it's coming apart of the seams after Moses strikes The Rock now Aaron dies Miriam's gone Moses isn't going now Aaron's Dead everything they know is stable is now unstable what's God doing now then Numbers chapter 22 here comes balam and a donkey W my goodness this thing's off the rails and then there's the curse brought on by Bale peor then it ends the whole chapter ends with a man having relationships with a heathen woman in front of the camp and one of Aaron's sons is got to come in the middle of it and run a spear through him all this is going on all the while God's promises are still there his promises didn't go anywhere Moses had an instruction from the Lord in numbers 25 to behead people and hang their heads up in the camp I mean imagine now you're walk walking around there's like people you saw yesterday with no head like hanging up this is numbers this is what God told him in Numbers chapter one it's coming get ready hey Moses get around here get around here remind them again oh I know your past's littered with failures I know your pastor's littered with past is littered with mistakes get your head up get your head up get your head up you don't know what you're heading into I know what you're heading into but you don't and then they had to witness 40 years of death they watched all their family die whole generation passes off the scene and now they're at the bank of the Jordan River in Numbers chapter 26 in verse one they're at the bank they're at the precipice the only thing that stands between them and their promises is Jordan it came to pass after the plague in verse one that the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saying in verse 2 two here's those three little words again at the bank of the Jordan he he told them this at the beginning of the Wilderness and now here he is at the big of the Jordan on the precipice of them entering into their promises he said take ye the sum hey Moses right before you go I need you to go back through the camp again I need you to lift their head up again I need you to remind them that I'm for them I need need you to let them know that I I'm not abandoned them I'm right here I'm right I was here all along they're the ones with all the diversions they're the ones who got off in the weeds in the wilderness they're the ones who didn't believe I showed them Moses I want you to let them know I showed them what was available to them I showed them what it was I wanted to do in their lives but I haven't gone anywhere I'm right here oh my goodness I feel the Holy Ghost right now God hasn't gone anywhere he's come this morning morning not not to tell you that he's abandoned you but he's come this morning for some of you to let you know he's he's here to lift your head up if you could just lift your head if you let him let him be the lifter of your head if you could like David lift your eyes into the hills from whence cometh my help oh he wants to help you he knows what's next for you listen to what else David said in Psalm 24:7 he said lift up your heads all you Gates be ye lift up ye ever lasting doors and the king of glory shall come in we sang it this morning helps on the way helps arrived on the first Sunday of 2024 come on this altar is open to anybody this morning if you need forgiveness if you need to start 2024 off with forgiveness the altar is open for you if you need to start 2024 off by him lifting up your head this altar is open to you today come on let him be the lifter of your head let him be the lifter of your head let him breathe new life let him breathe Fresh Life uh into your spirit let him give you strength for what lies ahead only he knows what the future holds oh come on that's it that's it don't be bashful don't be shy it's okay to come down here and say yeah Lord you know my head's down you know my head's been down you know I've been down on myself you weren't down on me but I've been down on myself I know that I spent a lot of last year reminding you of all my failures but I've come on the first Sunday of 2024 to let you lift my head I've come on the first Sunday of 24 2024 to let you build me up to let you remind me that you are for me oh come on if there's somebody nearby you that's reaching out to the Lord right now would you join with him would you pray with him would you Unite with them I feel the Holy Ghost ministering to somebody right now I feel the Holy Ghost ministering to somebody right now come on he's the author he's writing the pen is in his hand today he's writing he's writing he's not done with your story yet come on he's lifting he's lifting right now he's lifting right now he's lifting your head right now he's breathing confidence he's breathing the confidence of the Holy Ghost into your spirit right now come on he's going to carry you he wants you to know he's going to carry you he knows what lies ahead he knows what lies ahead but he's going to carry you everything yes yes come on let him be your friend right now let him be your friend right