“Wait, Don’t Run”
Wilderness Pt. 4 “Forsaking”
By Pastor Nick S. Panico
(Exo 32:1-4 NKJV) Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” {2} And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” {3} “So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. {4} And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
I. Review
A. We are in the fourth and final week of our journey through the wilderness
1. In the book of Romans 8:28-29 a truth is revealed that must capture our hearts and reside in our spirits if we are going to understand God and His working in our lives
2. Lets read these two verses out loud together…
(Rom 8:28-29) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. {29} For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
B. Pay close attention to these two statements which I am about to make…First –You are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus
1. Tell your neighbor right now “God is working on you”…
2. God has predestined you to be like Jesus – in attitude, in behavior, and eventually in glory
3. He is working on your attitudes
a) He is doing things to get at those preconceived ideas you have about Him, and the world around you
b) He is confronting the value systems in your life and is trying to get you to adjust you values to His
4. He is working on your behavior
a) He put that brick wall there that you keep running head on into
b) Some of us have hard heads!
5. God is conforming you into the image of His Son
a) When He is done you will resemble the Son of God in attitude, behavior and glory
(1 John 3:2-3) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. {3} And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
C. Secondly - The “all things” in Rom. 8:28 means exactly that “all things”
1. Everything that happens in your life as a believer has the potential to conform you into the image of Jesus
2. God who is a redeemer, can redeem everything and anything that takes place in our lives – if we will allow Him to do so
3. Even the tragic and difficult circumstances of life can be redeemed
4. God uses all kinds of circumstances…
a) He uses blessings, and mountain top experiences
b) and difficult circumstances, crisis and tragedies, to perfect the image of His Son in us
D. Our focus has been on the Wilderness experiences of life, and the temptations one confronts during these times of leanness… spiritual dryness… and how they play an important role in our being conformed to the image of the Son of God
E. three weeks ago we confronted the temptation of fear in the wilderness
1. We discovered that in times when our human effort is not enough to change our circumstances…
2. And fear begins to grip our hearts, we must stand still, and look up, and watch the salvation of the Lord come our way
F. two weeks ago, we confronted the temptation of frustration
1. This time instead of complaining and becoming bitter about the circumstances we find ourselves in…
2. we learned the importance of setting our heart on the pilgrimage and speaking words of faith,…
3. in the midst of frustration you have to keep reminding yourself that you are just passing through this..
4. and you will make it through if you keep your eyes on the Lord who knows the way through the wilderness
5. and we learned the importance of diligently obeying God while in the midst of frustration
6. – doing the right thing in the wilderness is vital
G. Last week we dealt with the temptation of fixation
1. We saw how often times God will allow us to come to a place where no amount of human effort can meet our present need
2. In other words, you can’t provide for yourself
3. Neither can anyone else meet that need
4. It is only God who can meet the need
5. Too often we to look elsewhere for our provision
6. We place expectations on other people (spouse, children, parents, job, friends) to meet our emotional, spiritual, or financial needs
7. And God wants to break your fixation and your looking elsewhere to satisfy your need
8. Daily He will bring you the manna you need if you will look to Him
II. today, we deal with the temptation of forsaking
A. the dictionary defines “forsaking” = to give up; break off from; renounce, desert; abandon
1. when you are in a wilderness experience in your life you will face this same temptation
B. Moses went up to the mountain to get direction from the God
(Exo 24:18 NKJV) So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
(Exo 31:18 NKJV) And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
1. Moses and his assistant Joshua went up to the mountain of God
2. Moses entered the cloud of God’s glory on that mountain and he would not be seen again for forty days and forty nights
3. During this time he would receive all the instructions for the tabernacle and its furnishings, as well as the commandments of God
4. All of this written on stone tablets by the finger of God Himself
C. While Moses was on the mountain, the people were waiting below
1. To really understand what was taking place you must look carefully at what happened before Moses went up to the top of that mountain
(Exo 24:9-17 NKJV) Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, (Aaron’s two eldest sons) and seventy of the elders of Israel, {10} and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. {11} But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. {12} Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” {13} So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. {14} And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” {15} Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. {16} Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. {17} The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
2. This was an awesome sight
3. Can you imagine the Elders who accompanied Moses telling the story of what they saw and heard
4. The sight of the cloud was like a consuming fire
5. It was an awesome sight
6. At first, the children of Israel waited eagerly
7. Moses was meeting with God
8. God was speaking…
a) God was preparing,
b) God was doing something
9. But a few days turned to a week
10. And a week, became two weeks
11. And the days passed, and nothing seemed to be happening
12. And the weeks turned into a month
13. And while nothing seemed to be happening, the pressure of waiting on God brought on the next temptation… forsaking
D. It’s hard to image, as I ponder what was taking place back then
1. They saw the cloud of God’s glory covering the mountain top
2. The Elders, Aaron and his sons, all heard and saw God
3. And yet, even with people who could witness to the fact the God was real and at work doing something on their behalf to prepare them for their promised land…
4. The waiting became unbearable
E. You might be thinking… oh, that would have never happened to me
1. Oh, really?
F. How many of us pray and seek God’s direction or provision or His intervention
1. We come to an altar, we have some profound experience with God
2. We are moved deep within us
3. We know God is up to something
4. At first, we pray in faith
5. We eagerly anticipate His deliverance
6. We know He is going to move, any moment now,
7. Then a day turns into a week…
8. And a week into a month…
9. And months turn to years…
10. The glory that came on us at the altar begins to fade quickly
11. The revelation we received in our quiet time begins to grow dim
12. The prophetic word about God restoring our health or our marriage we now begin to question “was that really God”
13. The faith that had at one time gave us hope, now has grown to doubt, and the only thing that has changed is time
G. Waiting!
1. Let’s face it, we don’t’ like waiting
2. We zoom around older folks who are driving the speed limit, only to wait at the same stop light
3. My generation certainly has made it’s contributions to the “I hate to wait race”…
4. We invented microwave ovens, fast food restaurants, and instant mash potatoes--
5. We created Disney Line, where family’s spend thousands of dollars for a week of waiting in line to see a silly little puppet move it’s hands and sing “it’s a small world after all”
6. And before some of you older folks the generation before us shout amen real loud and point an accusing finger at us,… I don’t’ see too many of you turning in your toilets for an outhouse in the back yard –
7. I’ve discovered you don’t like to wait either
H. We don’t like waiting!
1. And all the advertisements around us tell us you don’t have to wait
2. You’ve seen the commercials… they tell you that you can have it all right now
3. And why not, you deserve it
4. You are urged not to wait till you can save the money you need to buy that new thing,… you need a line of credit, how much?
5. And millions of families and individuals are bound by debt that they can hardly service…
6. And both parents have to work to service the debt, … why, because we don’t like to wait
I. After so long of waiting on God, some folks just begin to drift away and forsake the Lord
1. Some of you have been praying for a long time for your spouse and your marriage… ---
a) and you don’t see the Lord moving
b) back when you got married you knew the Lord had brought you both together; but now, your not so sure…
c) you have been waiting too long for things to change… and your drifting
2. some of you have been believing for a new job, or financial breakthrough, or healing, or direction…
a) I don’t know what it is you have been expecting God to do for you; but it’s been a long time of praying and waiting… and you are loosing hope, and your drifting
J. Sometimes when we have been waiting for a long time we think we need to take things into our own hands…
1. So we begin to compromise our convictions and our standards
2. What use to be clearly sinful and wrong, we now entertain and consider doing
K. I remember a girl I will call Debbie…
1. She use to attend my singles group many years ago
2. She was faithful to the Lord…
3. Faithful in her attendance in the church
4. Involved in some ministries
5. She regularly came to singles functions and bible studies
6. One day she came in for an appointment and began to share with me her deep desire to be married and begin a family
7. I encouraged her to be patient, and wait on God to bring the right guy into her life
8. I remember clearly urging her not to compromise…
a) I could see that her desire was beginning to drive her
9. You see, Debbie had been faithful. And praying, and standing on the Word
10. She had done all she was suppose to do, yet there was no response from heaven
11. The Lord took too long to answer her prayer… so she began to drift
12. It wasn’t long and she disappeared from fellowship
13. I did not see her again for several years
14. One day, while I was praying with people after a service at the altar; a frail girl came up to me and asked me if I remembered her?
15. She looked desperately ill… and then she said, “I am Debbie… I use to come to singles…”
L. Debbie told me her story
1. That day she had come in to counsel with me she had met someone who was not a Christian
2. She met him in a bar
3. He was a nice man, sincere, interesting, but not a Christian
4. They ended up marrying after a short time of courtship
5. After they were married for a time her husband confessed to her that he had aides
6. A couple of years later he died; and now Debbie was single again, but this time she had full blown aides…
M. Waiting on the Lord; this is the key
1. It’s in those times of waiting that God is doing something; preparing something that is needed to get you from where you are today to your promised land of tomorrow
(Psa 37:1-11 NKJV) Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. {2} For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. {3} Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. {4} Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. {5} Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. {6} He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. {7} Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. {8} Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it only causes harm. {9} For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. {10} For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more. {11} But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
(Psa 37:25 NKJV) I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
(Psa 37:34 NKJV) Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
(Psa 37:37-40 NKJV) Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace. {38} But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off. {39} But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble. {40} And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.
N. In the Wilderness, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, the children of Israel, forsook God and made a Golden calf
1. They began to worship the work of their own hands
2. They created a god, and said it delivered them from Egypt – in other words… we got out by our own strength and savy
3. At the foot of the mountain of God they turned away from the God who could take them into their promised land
O. The scripture doesn’t tell us how long it took before their impatience got the better part of them
1. We don’t know if it was on day 3; day 10; day 29; or day 35… but at some point during the 40 day wait they fell to temptation and their drifting caused them to forsake their hope; their salvation; their deliverer
P. You may think God has forgotten all about you and your situation
1. You may not clearly hear His voice
2. You may not feel His presence
3. You may not see the demonstration of His great power
4. But He is there, in the wilderness with you
Q. Don’t drift…
R. Don’t turn away…
S. Wait on Him, He has a plan and He is working it out.. in you and around you;
T. …for your good and His glory
U. That day, back in the wilderness, the children of Israel made a decision – they took off their golden earrings, and made a golden calf – they forsook God
1. Let me show you another choice you can make in the wilderness…
(Exo 21:2-6 NKJV) “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. {3} “If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. {4} “If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. {5} “But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ {6} “then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
2. The servant who refused to leave his masters household even though he could was called a “bond slave” or “love slave”
3. This servant had determined that it would be better to live in the household of his master than out in the world
V. How about you?
1. I know things are tough
2. I know you have been waiting a long time for your deliverer to come down off the mountain top
3. You haven’t seen any reason to hope, and people around you are saying “take off your golden earring; lets make a calf”
4. This morning the Lord has a hammer and an awl in hand
5. Are you willing, in spite of what you see, and what you feel, to say… Lord, I love you, I will never leave your house! I will serve you forever!
6. Today, I believe the Lord will seal your commitment to Him
7. You may think… I don’t know if I can make a commitment… I’ve been through so much!
(Rom 14:4 NKJV) Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
W. One last thing about the wilderness
1. You may not feel His presence
2. You may not hear His voice clearly
3. You may not see the demonstration of His great power
X. But He is there!
(Exo 13:21-22 NKJV) And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. {22} He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
