Victorious Values For the 90s IV

If you don't have a Bible, I'll be making some references through the message to numbers 13 and 14. And we'll have some scriptures on the overheads as well. I want to begin this morning's message with a question that will determine whether or not you really tune in for the next 30 minutes or so. The question is, how strongly do you feel about the need for vision? How strongly do you feel? What are the implications of not having vision? And when I'm talking about vision, I'm not talking necessarily about an appearance. We could talk about Paul walking on the road to Damascus and suddenly the Lord appeared to him. Or the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12 that he was taken up into the third heaven and saw a vision of heaven. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a different kind of vision. A vision for God's purposes and designed for your life. How strongly do you feel about it? The scripture says, if we could put up that proverb, please, Chuck. Proverb. The next one, please. Let's just slide it up. There we go. Where there is no vision, the people perish. How many of you have heard that before? Sure. Very familiar for most of us. The Hebrew word for perish means to cast off restraint, to be made naked, to become undirected, or to become totally negative. What is the implication of not having vision? We begin to drift and slip and slide into negativity. Without a vision, everything around us, even good things can seemingly become bad things. And I want to just suggest today, the implications of this are very plain, even in our nation. I've done a lot of thinking about this because I try to stay in touch with what's happening in our nation. I feel responsibility. The Bible says that the righteous exalt the nation. How many of you would say that the mood in our nation is really positive these days? Isn't it amazing? I mean, when you think about it, almost everything that happens around us seems to be negative. Even positive things take on a negative light, don't they? I mean, even things that seemingly are good become bad. Just take one illustration. Take the Gulf War. Something that, before it happened, many of us were concerned that, possibly, I remember talking to Matt McKee, this might even be the trigger point of the Third World War. I mean, if the Soviets came to Saddam's aid, and all that kind of thing, who would have believed, just a little over a year later, a gigantic transformation has taken place in the world. We are more at peace now than we've been since before World War I. There's less violence and war in the world than before World War I. And yet, what do you really hear most about? Oh, you know, Saddam's still in control, and all, you know, our Scud missiles didn't really work as well as everyone thought, or our Patriot missiles against their Scud missiles, and that kind of thing, all right? You hear all the negatives, folks, and we could go on and on and on. And I know what you, if you're like me, you're saying, it just can be depressing to turn the TV on. I mean, everything, violence and AIDS and recession. Folks, my own conviction is, the number one evidence of the spiritual decline in America isn't so much the moral and ethical disintegration of the fabric of our culture. The number one evidence is negativity. And it would be bad enough of this just for taking place in our nation. But my own conviction is that it's also creeping into the Church of Jesus Christ at large, and to some degree, and I'm not bringing any accusation toward anyone specifically here today at all, but it also is creeping in to the church that's right here. Because without a vision, the people perish. There's all kinds of ways to think about this. But we better, this morning, really mean it when we say, open our eyes, Lord. We need to see Jesus today and see what his vision is for our lives. Because if we don't, negativity soon breeds skepticism, and skepticism leads to cynicism, and cynicism and skepticism lead to criticism. And folks, it just becomes a whirling kind of rolling ball of destruction that weaves through a nation or a church or a company or a family or a church. Totally derailing God's purposes for a people. Here in the book of Numbers, take a look with me, would you? In case you're not real familiar with the story, and I'm sure some of us aren't, God had promised his children, his people, a land, a place. Two things comprise the covenant of God. Now, just to bring you up to speed, there's five things that have happened to bring us here to Numbers 13. Number one, there's been an exodus. The people of God have been brought out of Egypt, set free from slavery. A wonderful deliverance. You've seen it on TV. At least, even if you didn't read the Bible. Second, under Moses' leadership, they've arrived at the edge of the promised land. They've come all the way out of Egypt. And God says, here's the promised land. And they can see it with their own eyes. You know, put on the binoculars. There it is, the promised land. The place that God's chosen for us. Thirdly, the land that they saw was theirs to claim. God said, I've already secured it. You'll have to fight, but I guarantee the victory. Fourthly, God commanded Moses, in chapter 13, verse 1, to send spies into the land to report on what they found out there. Not to give their opinions as to how to get there, but just simply to report, this is what's there. And number five, they set out on their assignment to tell the people exactly what was in the land. And you can read about it in chapter 13, verses 17 through 21. This is all they were supposed to do. How is the soil? What are the walls of the cities like? What do the trees have on them? Do your best to bring back some fruit of the land. Okay, so twelve spies were sent out by Moses into the land. Now those of you who went to Sunday school and did your homework, how many of those spies came back and gave a negative report? Ten. How many came back and gave a positive report? Very good. Think about it. Just think about it for a moment. Commissioned by God through Moses to go out and check things out. Have already witnessed deliverance, miracles, the flow of God's power, the provision of God along the way. And there they are looking at what God has said was going to come to them. And ten of the twelve came back with a negative report. Now, was it a negative report about what the land was like? No. In fact, they came back, and the picture in the Bible is they came back with this thick bamboo pole carrying clumps of grapes. And some say that the grapes were the size of golf balls. No, the land was flowing with milk and honey. But the ten had lost their vision of God and had become totally negative. Negative report people. Let's talk about them for just a moment. What are negative report people like? Maybe you know one like this. Somebody who is always problem centered. When the problems don't get solved in the short term, they just keep rehearsing the problem. Rehearsing the problem. There's kind of what I want to call stuck. Anyone ever gotten stuck in mud or snow before? What happens? What happens the faster you push down? The deeper you go. And I know people, and maybe you do, who are stuck on problem after problem after problem. They have family problems that just keeps... They have work problems. They have relational problems. They have financial problems. I had a friend that called me within the last few months. In 1980, he had set out in a new business venture. And we got to talk a little bit and I said, How are you? He said, Well... And he rehearsed for me the exact same problems of 1980. For 12 years, he's been stuck. Problem. Oh, well, this guy didn't come through. Oh, this person thought the project was... For 12 years, you're stuck on the problem. Negative. You know how it happens, don't you? I mean, you're going along in your life and things are happening and all of a sudden, boom, a problem hits. And then you say, Oh, God, why me? What did I do to deserve this? So you call a friend and you get a friend who will cry with you over the phone. And just start, Oh, your poor problem. Just start crying. And pretty soon, that friend tells another friend about your problem. You know how this goes, don't you? Pretty soon, we have a little group of mourners for your problem. And then we always send out invitations to a black Thai pity party for our problem, you know? And everything is around the problem, the problem, the problem. Oh, we can't go in and take the land. Those people there are bigger than we are. That's what the 10th spy said. Other things get neglected and soon, your problem and your focus on the problem leads you into the D words. You know what the D words are, don't you? Don't you? Discouragement. Disillusionment. Disappointment. And then it slips on down a little bit to depression. A little bit farther down to despair. And folks, if you don't deal with it, literally, you start thinking death. Hear me now, folks. It's easy, it's easy to think that the problem will never get better. But Jesus, when he saw his disciples back in the book of Mark, they faced a problem, they were stuck, they couldn't heal. Some people were coming to him and Jesus looked at them and I'm sure you know, I take a lot of heart in the disciples because they're a lot like I was and Jesus was patient. He said to them, you know, you're right. With men, some problems are impossible. But Jesus then said, but with God, say it, all things are possible. You see, if the focus is your problem, it may become impossible. You think the problem, however, is bigger than God? You think God's never solved your problem before? Are you the first of five billion living people that's had this problem that God just couldn't figure out? Wouldn't it be terrible to be that one person? I was the one that God never fixed the problem for. You see, what you need in those kind of situations is a vision of God. Not even necessarily a solution to your problem right off. What you need is a vision of God. Lots of illustrations. Just jot this one down if you're taking notes. In 2 Kings 6, verse 16, Elisha and his servant are in the city of Dathan. And the Bible says that the city became surrounded by the enemies of the man of God. They were out to kill Elisha. And the servant comes up and he's real nervous. He's saying, ooh, this doesn't look good. And Elisha's real calm. And Elisha says, Lord, let him see. Let him see. And the Bible says the Lord opened his eyes and on the rim of the hill around the city, angels and chariots of fire surrounded the city. And Elisha said, those that are with us are greater than those that are against us. Dear ones, what we need when the problem seems too big to figure out, we just need a vision from God. Visionary people like Joshua and Caleb, they don't deny the problems. They simply defer them to the Lord. They don't think in terms of problems, but positive people, this is the second half of that overhead, think in terms of possibilities. Possibilities. Not problems, but possibilities. In fact, they begin to thank God for the problems because these problems become opportunities for God to show you new possibilities in your life. So someone says to me, you know, I lost my job. What is our first response to something? And North Hills News Record said this week that the applications for unemployment were up 43% in the last three weeks in North Hills. Did you read that? That's the only paper left to read, so I read that one. But, well, I read it. You know, what does a person who gets the loss of job notice do? Do they get stuck in their problem or do they think, wait a minute, this is a new opportunity for God to show himself strong on my behalf. It's a new opportunity for me to trust God with something in my life. You say, yeah, well, you know, Jay, that's the problem with you pastors and preachers. You think everyone just ought to cruise along because you don't have any problems. Oh yes, you know, I wish I had your job. You know, one day a week you show up here and that's all you have to do. Can I tell you, folks, what I'm sharing with you right now is so important because I've discovered with all my problems, and I've got my list of impossibilities right now, believe me, I do. I've discovered something about life and I'm only halfway through. Some of you are a little farther along. Tell me if I'm right. Life is nothing more than a series of problems, one after the other, and challenges and trials and struggles. Hello? Right? So you think you've got it all figured out and you come out here in 1992, whoa, wait for 1993. Does that sound real negative? No. Not if your vision is of God. Because it's an opportunity every year to watch God do some new things. And I'm here to say to you, God delights in our weaknesses. He delights to show himself strong when we feel like we can't go on. When our problems are too big for us, when we turn to God, He says, now I'm ready. Now I can show myself strong. Trust me, folks, we all have the problems out there. But every day we can call upon the grace of God and know that He'll supply a solution for us. And I want to suggest to you, if you're in the midst of a problem, here are five things you can do right now. And I don't have an overhead for these, but you may want to jot them down on the back of that sheet. Five things. First thing to do, take a portion of this beautiful day-to-day, go out to North Park or some quiet place and just spend some time saying, Lord, I want to be here to worship you. I want to focus on who you are. Read the Psalms. You know, read something in the book of Ephesians or Philippians. Find out who God is. Number two, then ask Him for wisdom concerning your problem. Say, Lord, I'm going to write down some ideas that you give me for wisdom concerning my problem. Number three, consult two or three solution-centered people. Don't call those same weepers and mourners and wailers that you told your problem to, but call some people that you know, wait a minute, there's somebody that's visionary. I'll call them. Share your problem with them and ask them for some input. Number four, take that combined wisdom that you have and your friends brought to you and select the best course. Make a decision. And here's the tough part. Now you've got the information, you've got the vision, what do you got to do? You've got to take a step. And do you know what? Can I tell you my own experience? I've done the first four and taken the next step and it's been the wrong one. At least it appeared to be. You know what I found God is able to do? It's a whole lot easier for God to move a rock that's rolling than it is one that's stuck. Be a visionary person. Number two, the second thing that negative people do, like we see here with the ten spies, they focus on the obvious. See, the ten spies took the people of the land at face value. Here's what they said. Look at it with me. At the end of chapter 13, want to look there? It says, all the people in verse 32 were of great size. They were Doug Boyds. We saw them there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes. And we looked the same to them. Face value, the children of Israel had a real problem. They were giant people. And by the way, there is record and evidence that there were a race of people that were routinely 8 and 9 feet tall. Imagine what the NBA would do. Imagine the contracts. Boy, they just missed it by a few thousand years. And so they did. They looked at these people at face value. Most of us are very good at seeing people in obvious lights, aren't we? How many of you know someone that's just real good at seeing the obvious faults in other people? Oh, you know, he's so arrogant and then you're... You know, I've seen that too. He's really arrogant, isn't he? Yeah, you know, I just get tired of the way... Yeah, you're right. I mean, I just see that pride in him all the time. Boy, you know, we're really insightful, aren't we? Let's just start patting each other back. Aren't we really... the obvious, you know? She's really vain, isn't she? She's selfish. She's always saying the wrong... Yeah, you're right. Folks, listen, please. Visionary people see beyond the obvious faults in others. They see down past the facades that many people carry around themselves. How many of you know that pride is usually just a facade of insecurity? Visionary people understand that and they pray for God to give them insight into the real hard issues of other people. They recognize that the Lord always sees people not in terms of the surface things but in terms of the potential the potential that's in their hearts. How many of you are glad for that? The Lord sees potential not just what's on the surface. Greatest illustration I can think of in the New Testament is the man that the Bible called Simon. And here was Simon who was an arrogant man, a pushy man, kind of a fainthearted man when push came to shove. However, you know, he deserted Jesus. He was impulsive and aggressive. The other disciples didn't like him. Jesus looked at him one day, Matthew 16 talks about it, and said, I'm not going to call you Simon anymore. I'm going to call you Petras. You know what Petras means? Yeah, it means rock. And I'm sure those other disciples say, what? This impulsive, fainthearted, kind of flaming guy, you're calling a rock? Which meant a man of stability? A man of strength? You know, a man of purpose? An immovable, steady kind of person? Jesus said, yes, because Peter, I see in you the potential. Now listen, please listen. Look around today. What do you see? Do you see the obvious? I could be very discouraged if I took readings from the obvious this morning. But I choose to see the potential that you have in Christ. Proverbs 20 and verse 5, Chuck, if we could flash that back up. This proverb is sort of an obscure one, but it's very powerful. Why don't you read it out loud with me? The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding, a visionary man, draws them out. What does that proverb mean? That latent within every person is deep waters. I took one of my sons out last night just for a little time of dessert after the service. And I asked him a question. I said, who do you really talk to about what's going on in your life? Now that's a pretty heady question for a teenager. What? Come on, you know, I just want a hot fudge sundae. We started talking. We talked a little bit about the deep waters. You see, folks, how many believe we need visionary parents these days that see something beyond all the surface stuff that kids are into? We need visionary, how many of you need a visionary spouse? Spouses, we're real good at seeing the obvious, aren't we? Hello? Come on, you can lighten up. We see the obvious things, but do we see the deep waters? Do you believe we need some visionary business people out there? People who see beyond just the obvious limitations, who have the vision to bring out the best in people. And I could give tons of illustrations of that. You know what we need? We need some visionary disciplers. People who can look out and see a person that they don't really like that much, who maybe is drifting along, and they can see them and see what they might be in Jesus. You know what else we need today? We need some visionary evangelist types. People who see pagan, God kind of rejecters out there, who can see beyond the surface of their lives. And folks, hello, I need to see some people who are risking, reaching out to non-Christians. Visionary people. Third and finally, negative people, people without vision, focus on destinations. In other words, they're always thinking in terms of what can I achieve, or well, I probably can't get there. The ten spies looked at, well, we'll never make it here because it's just too tough for us. They looked at a task, decided they couldn't do it. And they valued themselves according to what they thought they couldn't do. These ten spies, no way they thought they could take that land. Visionary people think not in terms of destination, but listen, they think in terms of destiny. Destiny. Who they are. You see, who you are determines what you do and where you go. Who you are. I wish I could just like, you know, implant this in some foreheads this morning. Do you know who you really are? Visionary people are those who, when they see the task at hand is bigger than what they could figure out a way to pull off, go back to a bigger fact than that, that is, they belong to God. And God who called them there will also supply what's necessary to take them through to the end. Look here in chapter 14 and verse 9. Here's what Joshua and Caleb said. Verse 8, If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land. A land flowing with milk and honey and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. Do not be afraid of the people in the land because we will swallow them up. I love that. The grasshoppers eating the giants. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them. Throughout Scriptures, dear ones, God's servants recognized what they couldn't do, but they had a vision of their destiny and they knew God was with them. Remember Moses? Great illustration. God called him to lead the people out of Egypt. God said, Moses, you're my man. God said, Here I am, Lord. Send Aaron, please. Send Aaron. I can't do it. I have the same struggles. Do you know that? I think about it. I say, Lord, I don't really know how to take North Way from being a good church to being a great church that you said it would be. There are other people out there that are more talented and gifted than I am. I've not been there before, Lord. I'm not just like repeating things. This is all new territory. Every once in a while, you know, the Lord will take and just sort of pull me by the... He said, Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wake up, Jay. What did it ever say? You had to come up with the ideas. Just take the blinders off a little bit. Let your vision come back upon me. Focus your eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith, Jay. And He'll take care of it. Can I ask you one question as we conclude this morning? Anyone else here ever feel like maybe God had something special for you to do? You felt, you know, down inside, Lord, I want to make a contribution. I want to go on a mission trip. I want to have a men's study or a ladies' study. I want to be in ministry. I want to raise up kids who love God. I want to have... God, I want to have a mark that I leave with my life. And the flood of negativity right now has you unbelieving. Folks, the culture, the world in which we live will overwhelm you with its negativity. It will. Unless you're willing to become a person of vision. A person of vision will be able to stand the test in these days. The proverb is true. Without a vision, the people perish. But people with a vision see possibilities, they see solutions, they see potential, they see their life in terms of destiny. And all of our vision is rooted in who God is. The Bible says the Holy Spirit came and our young men shall see vision and our old men shall dream dreams. If your vision has become clouded, don't leave this service today without saying, Lord, I need a refresher in my vision. The vision of our church as we look into this next decade of our life is to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ who will be loved, nurtured and equipped to minister to God and one another in the lost of the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. And we're going to do it by empowering God's people for effective ministry through community groups. That's our vision. That's how we're going to get there. And this is big time stuff because you know what happened to the people who believed the report of the ten spies? What happened to all the Israelites when they came and they said, no, we just can't go in the land. We believe the negative report. What happened to them? Hello? They died. No, no, they died. Right, they didn't see it and they died in the wilderness. They drifted for 40 years. Church, listen. Look around you. Look around you out in the community where you grew up. Look at the churches where people were doing just what you're doing now for years. And they're empty because they lost their vision. God has committed Himself to do a work if we'll receive His vision and walk with Him. This last Friday morning, two days ago at 6 a.m. the elders met for prayers. We always do on Friday. We're out on the deck out here where I encourage you to fellowship after the service if you'd like. And as a total surprise to us, just before we sat down, it started to mist a little bit. And all of us were... One of the elders said, look up in the sky and right above us, right out that window there, was a beautiful rainbow. Now, how many have ever seen a rainbow at 6 o'clock in the morning? I mean, I don't know what the odds are of that happening. I've never seen one that early. And we laughed and chuckled about it and said, oh, well, maybe there's gold at the end. Let's get out there, you know, and that kind of thing. You know what the Lord said to our hearts? We corrected ourselves before we came in. That was a sign from the Lord. It was a sign to us that He's a God who's a covenant keeper. Don't give up the vision because I'm here to work it out. And I want to say to us as a church this morning, God's with us. The giants in your land will not prevail, but you've got to have vision. Let's stand together and ask the Lord.