[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Take your Bibles, go with me if you would to Numbers chapter 6 before I get in more trouble than I already am.
[0:13] Numbers chapter 6. I want to talk to you about what a wonderful God we serve. What a wonderful God we serve. Somewhere along the way, and I'm actually in the process of trying to write a book.
[0:27] It's my flawed view of God. And I want to explain my journey from where I saw God to where I see God and how God has had to help me learn.
[0:38] And this passage of Scripture is one of those passages of Scripture that I would have had a hard time ever really believing or seeing or thinking about. Because I grew up with a God that I knew was great to get you saved, but pretty tough on you after that.
[0:53] I grew up with a God that was going to let me get to heaven. But as soon as I got there, He was going to spank my backside because I hadn't done good. And I was always going to have to face God for all of my failures. I grew up with a God that I wasn't sure liked me most of the time.
[1:07] I knew He loved me because He loves everybody. But I wasn't sure He really liked me very much. And I had this idea of a... And I don't know if I can blame it on anybody or just my faulty view.
[1:18] But I had this idea that God was basically not that pleased with me, not that happy with me. I mean, maybe most of the time we had kind of a shaky relationship. I knew I was going to go to heaven when I died.
[1:29] That wasn't an issue. I knew I was saved by grace. But somehow grace kind of ended after I got saved. It was like I got saved by grace, but I had to do all these things and I never did them well.
[1:40] I grew up in a church where every Sunday you turned in an envelope. And on that envelope where you put your offering, you had this checklist. And you could get 100%.
[1:51] Being present might get you. I don't remember 25% or 20% being on time, bringing your Bible, giving an offering, and reading your Bible every day.
[2:02] And then you added it all up and you got your grade. And I always felt like that. So I was always trying to cheat the system. And I'd go to bed at night and I'd realize I hadn't read my Bible. I mean, I'm talking about a 13-year-old boy.
[2:14] And I'd lay down in the bed at night and I'd say, man, I'm not going to be able to say I read my Bible. So I'd go, God, for God so loved the Lord He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3, 16. Okay, I can count that as reading that.
[2:25] So that way I get to check that I read my Bible during the week. And I kind of grew up with that kind of a system. And so anytime I heard about it, if I talk about God is love, I went from Baptist to Joel Osteen.
[2:41] I mean, it's either like you see that Joel Osteen always said all these really nice stuff or he was Baptist and God ain't that nice. Or he was Presbyterian. Basically, it was the sinners in the hands of an angry God.
[2:52] And then after you was a sinner in the hands of an angry God, you were a saint in the hands of an angry God. That's just simply not the picture of the Bible. It took me years of growing and learning to see what the Bible actually said.
[3:02] That tonight's passage of Scripture is wild. And as you go through it with me, I want you to just fall in love. I just want you to have these emotions that want to come out of your chest screaming, He loves me.
[3:17] He loves me. He loves me. That's what I really want to have. And I'm not going to say it. He's going to say it. And I'm just going to read the verses. And Lord willing, if Tim can keep up, you're going to get to see them on the screen.
[3:28] And you're going to know He loves you. And that's the God. So we have just now finished the Nazarite vow. And that was a time where somebody failed, kind of like Maria Morgan, not doing real good on her exercise and having to shave her head and start over.
[3:42] Say amen. She didn't shave her head. Look at that. But that was a Facebook joke, John. You'll never get it. Sandy explained that to him later so he understands.
[3:53] Sandy didn't even see that one. But anyway, so and before that we had a woman who had a swollen belly and rotten thighs. Because she messed up. And so that's the God I saw.
[4:04] I was like into that God. And I didn't even realize that in the Nazarite vow, you could get a second chance. You got another start. I would have missed that. So as you read this passage of Scripture to me, I want you to see who's doing the talking.
[4:15] This passage of Scripture is going to start out with God's going to say, I want you to say this to my people. You are my man. You're talking to my people. And this is what I want you to tell them.
[4:26] And by the way, can I remind you, this is Old Testament, not New Testament. This is law. In your mind, this is law, not grace. This is Israel, not church. Which is true. Israel, not church.
[4:36] It's true. But God was a God of grace all along. Read with me if you would. Numbers chapter 6 and verse 22. And I hope you'll keep your Bible open there. Mark some things. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying.
[4:48] Okay? You need to put a circle around it. Who's doing the telling? Would you help me? Who's doing the telling? Who's making a decision right here? Would you say his name? Who? The Lord. Okay? And the Lord spake to Moses.
[4:59] He said, Moses, you tell Aaron this. Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise you shall bless the children of Israel.
[5:11] Saying. Would you put, would you say, would you circle the word bless? He said, Aaron, this is what I want you to do with my children. I want you to bless my children, the children of Israel.
[5:22] His chosen people. Verse 24. This is what he was going to say. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.
[5:35] And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel. And I will bless them. How many of you have ever been in a church service? When the preacher maybe was walking towards the back to shake hands. And as he walked back he quoted that.
[5:46] Have you ever been in one of those services? I was in a few of those services when I was a kid. And the pastor would say, the Lord bless you and keep you. And that's exactly what's going on. And tonight or this afternoon you're going to learn what a wonderful God you have.
[5:58] And how much he loves you. Father, please do a work in our hearts today. God help us to worship you. God help hearts to be full of how sweet you are. And how good you are.
[6:09] And how kind you are. And how long-suffering and merciful and kind. And I pray to God that as we leave today we would know who it is that we're serving. We'd have the right spirit and the right attitude towards you.
[6:22] God, I beg you to work in their hearts like you've worked in my heart to think about how great you are. And I'll give you praise in Jesus' precious name. Amen. If you would, go with me to verse 22 and write this down.
[6:34] If you would, in the Bible, somewhere on a sheet of paper. God's men were to bless the children of Israel. That's it. God's men were to bless the children of Israel.
[6:45] Verse 22, the Lord said to Moses, you tell Aaron and his sons, I want them to bless the children of Israel. Verse 23, why don't you underline, bless the children of Israel.
[6:57] And this is how you do it. This is what you say. This is how you're going to bless them. The Lord speaks to Moses and he tells Moses that he wants Aaron and his sons to bless. It started in the heart of God.
[7:10] Can you write that down somewhere? It started in the heart of God. So many times we're like, God's up here and we want God's blessing. So we go ask for God. God, please bless us.
[7:21] God, please bless us. God, I need you. God, wake up. God, please bless me. But in the Bible, it starts in the heart of God. Can you say amen right there? In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve mess up and walk away from God, they didn't go looking for God.
[7:33] God came looking for them. In this passage right here, Numbers chapter 6, it's not in here. I would expect Moses to say, God wants you, Aaron, to tell them that they should ask him for his blessings.
[7:45] Tell them to go ask God for his blessings. That's not what it says. It's not Moses' idea. It's not Aaron's idea. He tells them even what he wants the blessing to say. The word bless means to give power for success, for prosperity, for fertility.
[8:01] It means to be made happy. He said, you go bless my children. You go tell them I want them to be successful, prosperous, fertile. I want them to be happy. The wildest lesson here, maybe, is that the blessing was his idea.
[8:17] The blessing was his idea. They were not told to beg God to bless them. They were not told to tell the people to beg God for blessings. They were told, you go bless my children.
[8:29] This is very contrary to how most preachers and men of God view their job today. That's very contrary. God doesn't sound very angry here.
[8:40] He doesn't sound very austere. He doesn't sound very stern or very severe. He tells Aaron, you go tell my people that I give my blessing. That I want them to succeed, to prosper, to be fertile, to be happy.
[8:55] Knowing God is exactly this. Knowing his blessing and knowing his goodness. What else could you expect when you talk about having your sins forgiven, being right with God, and understanding what your purpose in life is?
[9:09] God wanted the men of God to give the blessing of God to the people of God on a regular basis. They had a meeting. They got through the meeting. They get ready to leave. He was supposed to say, hey, God wants to bless you.
[9:22] God's blessing you right now. You got God's blessings on you. It's interesting to see in the scripture that almost every time the discussion of a blessing takes place, it's after a story about the sacrifice.
[9:34] Because the blessing really came through the sacrifice, which was Jesus on the cross at Calvary. First thing I want you to get before we go tonight is this. It was God who wanted to bless his people.
[9:47] That's probably not even shocking news to you. But it was to me. I grew up kind of feeling like I didn't measure up. I still deal with that.
[9:57] I grew up kind of thinking maybe God's not that happy with me. I grew up thinking I hope God likes me. I hope God's pleasing me. I want God to smile at me. I kind of grew up with that.
[10:08] By the way, I've never been in sin per se, what you call big bad sin. And I've never been out of church. And I've been in church all of my life. I was in church nine months before I was born.
[10:20] I've been in church ever since. I've never really missed church. And that's what I thought. But God's blessings are on his children. Now, I do want you to know, and I think everybody in this room knows, but we're going to see it anyway.
[10:35] John 1, 12. And that is this. You're not going to get those blessings unless you're his child. But the first blessing is he makes us his children. In John 1, 12 he says, So God's blessings are on God's children, and God's children get to be God's children because of what God did.
[11:05] He gives you the power or the authority to be saved. He's the one that did it. No man can make that decision. Blood doesn't do it. No man can decide that. Only God. But he invites us. To be saved.
[11:17] That's what we saw this morning. Matthew 11, 28. Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden. Jesus is a blessing God. He's a blessing God.
[11:27] He blessed the little children when they came to him. He blessed the disciples on the road to Emmaus. He blessed the Sermon on the Mount. And even in the message this morning, it is so funny to me. And that really didn't even hardly dawn on me until I was preaching it.
[11:39] But they bring that withered hand in there knowing Jesus won't be able to resist. They brought that withered hand in there knowing Jesus wouldn't be able to resist. They thought, we'll bring that in.
[11:50] Then we'll ask him, is it right for you to heal that guy? They knew. They knew Jesus would not let that guy out of there without doing something about it. Because he's a good God. He's a good God.
[12:01] And it starts with him. Can you say amen right there? Second thing, go with me if you would to Numbers chapter 6 and verse 24. Israel was a blessed and a kept people.
[12:14] You got your Bible open? Underline the word blessed or circlet and the word keep. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. Now that could sound like the priest is like a good guy and I'm trying to tell you God bless you.
[12:27] But that's not what's happening. He's just repeating what God told him to say. You can't forget number one. So if I stand up here and say God bless you, I'm just really saying what he told me to say because God bless you.
[12:38] Consider how God had blessed the nation of Israel. He called them and made them his people when they weren't. And they didn't deserve such a blessing. He rescued them from slavery. He gave them his holy word.
[12:49] He gave them the promised land. He dwelt with them in a tabernacle. He dwelt with them in a tabernacle. He wanted to bless his people. Can you say amen right there?
[13:00] He said, I want to be with you. I want to bless you. He wanted his people to prosper. He wanted them to enjoy success. Blessing them means giving good gifts. You get to the New Testament, the same thing said about us.
[13:12] Matthew chapter 7, verse 11. Mark that in the margin of your Bible maybe. Matthew 7, 11. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good gifts, or good things to them that ask him?
[13:28] Check out the verse. If you're just normal, you're just a regular person, but you're good to your children. You're kind to your children. Your kid could come back to my little office over there, my big office.
[13:40] I'm in my office right now. He could go over to my desk in my office. He could go over to my desk. I'm going to open a drawer, and I'm going to hand him a candy bar. And sometimes when a parent says a kid can't have it, I'm like, hey, son, I'm sorry.
[13:53] It's not me that's saying no. You've got to cry because your daddy's mean, not me. Amen? You, being evil, don't want to give your kid a piece of candy. But anyway, that was a joke. But anyway, the point being, God said if you think you're a good dad, and you think you're kind to people, and you know how to give your kids good gifts, what do you think I am?
[14:13] How do you consider me? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father? In James 1, verse 17, the Bible says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
[14:26] It comes out from the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. God has poured out his blessings and riches on me.
[14:37] And not only has he poured his blessings on me, he keeps me. And he keeps you. Because when you've got a whole bunch of blessings, you're going to have to be protected. Somebody will steal your blessings.
[14:48] So he said, I'm going to give you the blessings, and then I'm going to protect you. There's a great psalm about that, right at the margin right here. Psalm 121, in verse 1. Listen to what the Bible said. I will lift up mine eyes into the hills, from whence cometh my help.
[15:02] My help. My help. Got that? My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, thee that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
[15:16] The Lord is your keeper, your protector, your guard, the guy that watches over you. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall smite thee by day. It shall not smite thee by day, nor by night.
[15:28] The moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in. From this time forth and forevermore.
[15:38] Look at this. He blesses you and he keeps you. Read the Bible. Psalm chapter 121, in verse 1. He is he that keeps you doesn't go to sleep. God never gets tired.
[15:50] God never goes to sleep. God's always watching over you. He keeps you. He keeps you all the time. He is your keeper. Verse 7. He preserves you. He preserves you. Verse 8. He preserves you.
[16:01] We are blessed. And we are kept. I can lay me down in the middle of a storm. And trust. I really can. I've been able. That's one thing I've been able to do all my life.
[16:13] I have known that the great God of heaven protects us. So you get a picture of how it works in Job chapter 1. God and Satan are talking.
[16:24] And God says, have you seen my servant Job? Have you noticed him? He's a good God. He loves me. And Satan says, well, I guess so. You do have a hedge of protection built around him.
[16:36] I can't get to him. In Job chapter 1 and verse 8. Look what your Bible says. In Job chapter 1 and verse 8. By the way, this is true all through the scriptures. God protects us. Job chapter 1 and verse 8.
[16:47] And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and hates evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for naught?
[17:02] Does God? I mean, no wonder he fears you. Hast thou not made a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands.
[17:16] And his substance is increased in the land. You know the story of Job. He's an extremely wealthy man. By the way, I am an extremely wealthy man.
[17:27] Y'all need to know that. Forbes may not list me, but Heaven's book lists me. My name is written in the last book of life. I'm a child of the King. I have a copy of the Bible.
[17:38] I've had God's blessings on me spiritually. I've had God's blessings on me physically. And he said, God, you've been protecting Job. You've been protecting Job.
[17:48] You have blessed him, and you have protected him. By the way, you enjoy that same blessing today. You enjoy that same blessing. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 3. The Bible says, The Lord is faithful.
[18:01] The Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil. God will establish you, and he will keep you from evil. Did you hear that?
[18:11] God said, I will set you up, I will make you strong, and I will keep you from falling into sin and mess. What a good God you serve.
[18:22] He establishes you, and he keeps you. He keeps us saved. The reason I'm saved today is because he keeps me saved. It was interesting to listen to the men share their testimony, and how God convicted them and brought them to salvation.
[18:36] How some of them, after getting saved, wandered away, but how God always kept bringing them back. And they kept telling about what a good God they had. Look what it says in Jude 24, right before the book of Revelation, the book of Jude.
[18:49] Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and dominion and power, both now and forever.
[19:06] Amen. Look if you would at Jude 24. He is able. What's he able to do? There's two things in that verse that are just beyond wildest imagination. Number one, to keep me.
[19:19] Because if anybody could mess it up, I could. I have messed up so much stuff. I am a mess, but he keeps me. But not only does he keep me, did you see what it says he's going to do?
[19:31] He is going to present me before the Father faultless. Would you underline that? If I'd have known that, if I'd have understood that, do you realize that when Jesus gives me to God, he's going to say, here's Austin, ain't nothing wrong with him.
[19:45] Here's Austin, there's not one blemish. Here's Austin, there's not one stain. Here's Austin, there's not one sin. I bring him clean and pure. That's how I made him. Say amen. You serve a good God.
[19:57] A God that wanted you to hear, I love you. A God that saves you, and a God that presents you to the Father without fault. A God that keeps you by his power.
[20:08] In 1 Peter 1 and verse 5, the Bible said, who are kept us. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
[20:19] In case you're wondering, is salvation eternal? Is salvation permanent? It sure is, because you're not the one doing the keeping. It sure is, because you're not the one, you didn't save you, and you don't keep you.
[20:31] And the guy who's keeping us, he's good at keeping. He can do anything he wants to do, and he's good at it. And he said, hey, I keep you. You are kept by the power of God.
[20:42] Go with me to verse 25. Numbers chapter 6 and verse 25, if you would. God smiles at his people. Look at verse 25. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious, unto thee.
[20:57] When he looks at us, it's with love. When he looks at us, it's with love. He smiles. His face gleams with delight when he looks at his children.
[21:12] Let me ask you an honest question. If you're married, and you're a newlywed, maybe more than even an older wed, that you might have gotten used to it, do you remember how you feel when she walks in the room?
[21:25] Do you remember how you feel when she looks at you, and you see that smile? Do you remember how you feel when your child is playing, and you're looking at that child, and man, you're just so happy. You're just in love with that child.
[21:36] You're just happy for that child, and you want that child to enjoy. Here's what he said. He said, the Lord make his face. God said, you tell him. You just tell him. The Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious unto thee.
[21:50] Do you remember how Moses' face shone after having been in the presence of God? That's what he is for us now. You say, I don't know if that works in the New Testament. How about Romans chapter 8, and verse 31?
[22:02] Would you look at that with me? Make a note right there in the margin. By the way, my granddaddy was dying, and when my granddaddy was dying, my cousin Mike sat by his seat and prayed with him, and then he read through this passage of Scripture while my granddaddy went to heaven.
[22:17] Look at what it says in Romans chapter 8, and verse 31. What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
[22:29] Would you read that verse with me a second? If God's on your side, who do you think would be against you? Nobody can be against us. They don't have any standing. They don't have any right. They don't have it.
[22:40] Verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
[22:52] It is God that justifies. Let me kind of tell you the story I see in that passage. Could you imagine with me the big judgment seat? Could you imagine God seated and all the royalty to judging the people?
[23:06] He's sitting there and he's judging. And somebody wants to come in and say, this guy doesn't deserve to be saved. Here's what the verse is saying. Hey, I already got God on my side.
[23:19] Bring all the district attorneys you want. Bring all the accusations you want. I'm already on God's side. God, excuse me, God's on my side. Not only is God on my side, but God in Jesus paid my sin debt.
[23:31] Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God himself that fixed everything. That's the God you serve. He looks at you and he loves you. Look, if you would, at verse 34.
[23:44] Who is he that condemneth? Who could condemn me? Who could tell me to go to hell? Who could tell me I'm guilty? Well, it's not Christ because he died and is risen again and is at the right hand of the Father and he's praying for me right now.
[23:57] Who will separate me from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or stress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.
[24:09] We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. In all these things, no matter what's going on, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. I am persuaded. That's what he says, verse 38.
[24:21] That not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
[24:36] Nothing. Nothing. Nobody. Not yesterday. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not the devil with all of his power. Not all the angels with all their power.
[24:48] Nobody. Can separate me from his love. He loves me. That priest was told, you go out there and tell him, I love him. You go out there and tell him, God bless him and keep him.
[25:01] Not only does it say that, it said he's gracious to us. Not only does it say that, it said he's gracious to us. Go back to Numbers chapter 6 and verse 25 and see what it says in Numbers 6.25.
[25:11] He is gracious to us. Remember that we do not deserve any of his love. We're the ones that walked away from him. We went our own way, but he came to us. He paid the price for our sin and our rebellion.
[25:26] No matter what's going on in your life, if you've got some big issue and things are falling apart, the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 9, my grace is sufficient for thee.
[25:38] For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me because when I'm weak, then am I strong.
[25:50] I just want you to know something. He blesses you. He smiles at you. He smiles at you. When I see my grandkids, I smile. When I see my children, I smile.
[26:02] When I see you, I smile. I think to myself, I love you. I love you. I really do. I sit and watch the men and listen to them and I know I've got this face that everybody thinks is always angry.
[26:14] I promise you, if you knew me and you knew my heart, I'm so in love with you and I know what I feel about you, God feels more than that about you. He's a loving and a sweet God.
[26:26] Verse 26, He's looking at you. He's looking at you. Numbers chapter 6 in verse 26, The Lord lift up His countenance unto thee and give you peace.
[26:39] God look at them and give them peace. In Zephaniah 3.17, you heard this in a song if you paid attention. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.
[26:50] He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing. The God of heaven is like, man, I love these guys.
[27:04] I'm looking at them. I'm singing. He's talking about the nation of Israel there, but you can mark this one down. Who can be against us? Jesus paid the price.
[27:16] Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6, He said, Don't y'all worry about anything, but in everything, you just ask me and you go ahead and thank me and then let the peace of God that passes all understanding, I'm a God of peace.
[27:30] I'm a God of peace. I'm a God of peace. Peace here refers to quietness in our heart, our spiritual health and prosperity have enough for the demands of life.
[27:41] He notices you and you are important to Him. He's looking to give you peace in all you need. I'll give you one more out of verse 27.
[27:54] I don't know where you stand right now. I don't know what's going on in your life. Maybe you're hurting. Maybe your job isn't working good. Maybe you've had some family crisis. Maybe you've had some financial crisis. Maybe you've had a health issue.
[28:06] Maybe you feel like I'm kind of alone here and I'm not like these other people who've got a family or I'm not like these other people who've got money. Maybe you're thinking all that. Can I just tell you you've got God and He loves you right now.
[28:19] You may feel alone but you're not alone. You may feel like He doesn't care but He does care. And somehow Satan wants to turn my heart. Satan wants to turn my heart to think that God doesn't love me and care about me.
[28:35] Years ago we didn't have we have one window unit air conditioner. This would have been about 1977 or 78. We had one one window air conditioner and so we only turned it on when it got warm.
[28:49] If it didn't get to 85 we didn't turn it on we couldn't afford to run the thing. I was pastor of a church and you know they don't really most churches don't really they're not too worried about when not you can run your air conditioner. So we didn't have it on.
[29:00] So Betty was in the house. I was going to the church had air conditioner there praise Jesus. And I was at the church and Betty was in the house and she heard Chris and Stephanie our two oldest children they were talking and they were discussing who could spank the hardest daddy or mama.
[29:18] Now no other kid has ever talked like this but Betty was just inside there listening and they were saying you know well you know mamas don't even hurt. I mean she can get mad and whip us but it don't even hurt but man daddy can just tear us up.
[29:31] So Betty sticks her head out and says oh yes I can and the very next time I'm going to prove it to you. Do you ever think about if God was standing on the other side of that wall and he listens to us talking and we talk like I've talked a thousand times.
[29:49] I don't know where God is. I don't know if God loves me. Why is God abandoning me? Why are things going wrong in my life? Why does it God love me? And the God of heaven says won't you go read number six?
[30:01] Why don't you go read what I told your preacher to tell you? Why don't you go read where I said Moses you tell them I love them. You tell them I bless them. You tell them I keep them. You tell them I look at them. You tell them my face lights up when I see them.
[30:13] You tell them they're my people. You tell them. But on the inside of that window you hear that discussion. If God were listening in on our conversation and he is we must be very insulting because you think another person is a nicer guy than God but we serve.
[30:30] A wonderful God. In verse 27 the Bible says and they shall put my name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them. I wish you'd just mark a couple of these down.
[30:42] He restores our dignity. Now that's a quote from Nartha Ramos no Nartha I can't remember her old last name De Tehada.
[30:53] she was a member of our church. She was the mother of two of our preachers. She was a falling down drunk. And the church had just gotten started and the gospel had gotten to her house and we made our very first video of our ministry with the big old cassette tapes the VCR tapes or whatever you call them VHS tapes.
[31:18] And I didn't tell them what to say so they're filming Nartha and they said what do you think about what God's doing? And Nartha the drunk saved now said he gives us our dignity back.
[31:32] because when you've been a drunk and when you've messed up your life and the community knows you as a loser and the community knows you a failure and Jesus comes along and makes you his he gives you your dignity back.
[31:49] So she can walk down that street with her head high and say I belong to Jesus. You may know me as Rahab the harlot but I am Rahab the saint. You may know me as a failure but he gives us our dignity back.
[32:03] I was lost and on my way to hell but now I'm saved. I was suffering from the consequences of my own stupidity with no reason to hope for better but he saved me. He made me a new creature.
[32:14] He gives us a new identity. They shall put my name upon the children of Israel. My name. And that's who I'm named after. They call me Christian.
[32:25] They call me Christian because I love Jesus and I follow Jesus and it's like being Christ-like and it's like wanting to follow him and they call you Christian. They put his name on us. They've given us a new identity.
[32:37] I'm his now. I belong to him. I'm a child of the king. He gives us security and intimacy. In him I'm secure because it's he that wants to bless me.
[32:48] Isn't that beautiful? It's God that wants to bless you. Not me. Not Joel. Not you. It's God. God. God. The God of heaven said, Aaron, Moses, tell Aaron, go tell my people.
[33:03] I bless them. The good thing that's happening didn't become because of me but because of him. He looks at me and loves me and names me after him because he loves me.
[33:18] He's going to bless me. He has blessed me. He continues to bless me. I can go forward knowing I am blessed. By the way, when we get to heaven, he's going to give us a new name.
[33:31] He's already got us a new name picked out written down in glory and it's mine. Oh yes, it's mine. The God of heaven is going to say, come here Austin. I ain't going to call you Austin no more. Too many people know who that was.
[33:42] Here's your brand new name, buddy. You're mine. You're mine. So can I get you, Tim, to go back to the first of Numbers chapter 6, the very first verse that we started in which would have been what, 20?
[33:54] Let's just read through it again. And if you would, 22, Numbers 6, 22. Read what it says. The Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons saying on this wise, You shall bless the children of Israel saying, Ready?
[34:10] The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace and they shall put my name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them.
[34:29] As you go home today, as you go home today, let me tell you who you are. You're his. Not by anything you did but by what he did. You say, I can think of a lot of places I messed up.
[34:41] Oh, he loves you. You were a mess when he got you. You're still a mess but he loves you. His love is greater than all the mess ups you can make. You can go home knowing this.
[34:52] I'm loved. Any of you kids, any of you people back when you were kids, back when people went outside, you know, you ever play with those, I think it were daisies and you pull off one pedal and you say, He loves me.
[35:04] Pull off the next one and say, He loves me not. You ever do that? I can promise you this. You can pull every one of them and say, He loves me. He loves me. I don't care if like my daughter, you were raped by three guys for a guy who took your virginity when you were 13 or if you lied and sold and used drugs or if you were like neither, falling down drunk, I don't care who you were or what you did, I have a message for you.
[35:34] Go tell my people. God bless you. God keep you. God raise your face and shine it on them. Name them.
[35:46] My name. I will bless them. Father in heaven, I love you and I thank you and I praise you. I just pray, God, you help your people to love you today and to be thankful for you and to bless you because you bless us so much.
[36:01] With every head bowed and every eye closed, are you hurting? You know, I don't know what's going on in your life. I really don't. I don't mean that to be ugly to you. But are you hurting?
[36:14] Do you feel alone? Do you feel like maybe you messed up so bad he don't love you? The devil been lying to you and telling you what a waste you are.
[36:25] Has that been happening? He loves you. He loves you. You're not sure about other people loving you but you can be sure about this.
[36:36] He loves you. He loves you. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
[36:47] The Lord lift up his countenance, his face upon you. Let God just look at you and smile and give you peace. And they shall put my name upon you and I will bless you.
[37:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[37:15] Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.