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August 21, 2020 8:00 am
Our faith will be tested. It's a reality of life that we live in. But what do we do when your faith is tested? Let's discover that the.
Welcome to the encouraging word featuring the Bible based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, evangelist and pastor. And today, as we've thought through yesterday's message on when your faith is tested, Dr. Don continues that concept and gives us grand insight if you missed yesterday. That's all right. You can hear it again on our Web site. But, Doc, we'll catch you up in just a moment. As we understand not only the steps we need to go through, but how God will bless us even at our fact, especially when our faith is tested. Now that we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you anytime day or night at eight, six, six, eight, nine, nine word.
That's eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three. Or meet us online at TCW online Dorji. Now, Dr. Don Wilson.
Step number one. Contact is made. God has contacted so many and you know it. Number two. Response heard. Second step. When your faith is tested, response heard, I want you to notice something there in verse one.
God said to him, Abraham. Abraham said, Jeremiah, Lord.
Now watch this, folks. Watch this. I want to say this with all the love in my heart to you today.
One of the reasons why God is not blessing some of you is because you never respond to him. The silence in America today is deafening.
All of us are running around acknowledging who God is. We are good at preaching about him and proclaiming his name and doing works and getting engaged. But what God wants us to do is to stand up and say, Here are my Lord.
Response heard. The silence is deafening.
Step number two in being tested in your faith is the response that comes from you directed into the heart of God. Note number three, step number three instructions detailed from verse to God. Say, take your son, go to the region of Mariah, sacrifice him. There is a burnt offering. Do exactly what I tell you.
Now, some of you are going to say, but Posta, does God always give us a detailed hand instruction book? No.
When he first called Ibram, when he was still Ibram in Genesis Chapter twelve, he said, Get up and go.
Verse four. So Ibram got up and went. But kids, the bottom line, folks. God is God, isn't he?
And God will give to us exactly what we need to know in order to do what God tells us to do. And God will tell us only and exactly what God wants us to know. But the bottom line is that God has, in the palm of his hand, a detailed book of instructions.
He's already there. He's already there.
Abraham was given just enough for him to be able to respond in obedience to God. But God never took him to a place that Abraham did not need to go, because if he took him to a place that Abraham did not need to go, there would be no test of his faith. If you and I were to know everything that God wanted us to know before we did it, there would be no need to exercise. Our faith would be. Sometimes that's the most difficult thing in the in the world. Sometimes we'll have an organization. Sometimes we'll have a ministry. Sometimes we will have a program. Sometimes we'll embark on things and we'll say. But Lord, I need to know the end from the beginning. That's the heart of the human nature. I know that. I'm like that. That's a great lesson for a church like ours and for all evangelical churches. That's what it means, that we need to be bold in faith. That means that we're willing to say, Lord, you're going to give us instructions to the point at which we need to know what it is you want us to know. But we don't need to know tomorrow because you hold tomorrow in the palm of your hand. Some of you are embarking on a new adventure. Don't worry about tomorrow. Don't try to project yourself too far down the road because God has detailed instructions.
You just testing your faith? No, for details followed. That's step number four when your faith is tested. Following what God has told you to do now, friends, that's not always the easiest thing to do is it is to actually do what God tells us to do.
It's one thing to get a set of instructions, but it's another thing to do it all. Now, you consider Ibram, for example. I think it would be very reasonable to consider this man taking his only son. God was presenting him with an impossible, confusing impossibility.
I want you to take your son. I want you to take him up that hill there. And I want you to offer him as a sacrifice. I want you to kill your son. Not just excuse me, Lord, you've told me I'm going to be the father of many nations.
For crying in a bucket, I've only got one son.
As it is, and I'm too old. And Sarah's too old. We beyond child bearing age.
Something's wrong with us. How are we going to do it?
Lord, please help me. I'm willing to go so far and no further.
But the Bible says in verse three immediately. Upon receiving his instructions, Abraham got up and he followed those instructions in detail. Number five, I love number five questions asked. That's the fifth step. When your faith is tested, questions asked. Look at verse seven. He has Isaac. The Bible says Isaac suddenly spoke up. By the way, this is the first time we hear from him on this trip. Incidentally, a number of days have gone by.
Now, I want you to just think about being Isaac for a moment. You talk about a great perplexity here as Isaac and his father say is we going to go and offer a sacrifice? And they've got the wood and the knife and they've got all the things necessary and they begin to march up the hill. Now, I'm going to ask you a very deep question. Do you think for one moment that Isaac even thought that his father was about to execute him? Absolutely not. I don't think, folks, I'm surmising this. It doesn't cite in the text. I don't think Isaac was walking up there saying.
That he's about to kill me up there on the mountain. I don't think that probably even into these mind. Now, listen to this, folks.
Questions asked are part of the journey of the testing of our faith. Now, listen to this. When God test your faith, he does not necessarily reveal that test to any or everybody else around you. And so those who are around you are going to ask questions and there's nothing wrong with it. There's a principle of spiritual leadership here.
May I say this with all the love in my heart? There are some times and I know why I'm making a bold statement.
There are some times, as your pastor, that God reveals things to me that he has not revealed to anybody else in this church. Questions must be asked.
Even though I know or even that Deacon knows or even that that mother knows or the father knows or that person knows. Questions acquired.
Okay. Don't run away from questions. You know, it's quite all right to question God. Say, Lord, I don't understand this. I don't understand you. I can't figure these things out. It's quite okay to ask him why.
It's quite okay to present your papa sections and and your difficulties to him.
But don't do it without step number seven. Faith taught. Faith taught. Step number six. I beg your pardon. Faith taught. Did you notice what Abraham did? I think he must have put his hand on his son's shoulder and say to him, son, God himself will provide.
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The wealth in every mine.
God's in charge.
You want me to roughly translate that, son? You and I are on a faith expedition.
And God is testing my faith. Stick with me because I know that God is able. That's what the fathers of America need to be doing, folks. That's what the mothers of America and the coaches of America need to be doing. That's what our pastors need to be doing.
That's what our church needs to be doing under the leadership factor from our chairman of deacons to our deacons to our Sunday school teachers to lead in every capacity to Bible study leaders and discipleship leaders. You and I need to be standing up and saying, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord roughly translated God, you speak to me. I am, yeah. And I am going to follow you in immaculate detail.
And I'm willing to entrust myself to you.
And I want to teach my people the real meaning of faith, because I'm going to get to the bottom line in a moment, folks, when the real meaning of faith is taught by spiritual leaders.
The people end up joining together and marching with great boldness to be ishiba.
That's the end result.
That's where God takes us in the test of faith. It blesses me and it blesses my sons and my daughters. It bases my family. It blesses my home. It blesses my church. It blesses my community. It blesses the nation.
When God speaks to the heart of those that he loves.
Step number one contact made. Step number two, response hood. Step number three instructions detailed. Step number four details followed. Step number five questions asked. Step number six, faith talk. Step number seven. Action engaged. Oh, I tell you, this one got all over me. Verse I burst nine. The Bible says when they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham did what God and Satan to do. Action.
Engaged?
Please forgive the interruption, we'll be back with the completion of today's two part series on Win, Your Faith is tested with Dr. Tom Wiltern in just a moment. But if I could just find a way to highlight the air when I heard Dr. Don say that the first time Abraham did what God said to do action into Abraham, did what God said to do. I know in my own life and maybe in your life today, the Lord is quickening your heart to go, OK, what is it that I haven't done yet? And that's why God God's not doing his next step. I'm not. That really is. The Lord is waiting on us to do what he has already told us to do so that he can take us to step four or five, six or seven. Just know that we would love to pray with you and pray for you in each of these steps of growing in our faith.
We're here 24 hours a day at this phone number eight six six eight nine nine leard. That's eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three.
And when you call that number one of us that answers, we are here and called and passionate to pray with you, to encourage you here at the encouraging word together number is eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three. And if you'd rather use your keyboard, we'd love to meet you online as well. We do that at our Web site, TCW online Dorji. That's t e w online dorji. Ways to connect. Ways to submit prayer requests. Ways to order. The daily encouraging word, e-mail and other great resources. Just know that we would love to encourage you here at the encouraging word. And you can do that online. T. E. W. Online. DRDO. R.G.. Now back to today's message with Dr. Don Wilson.
You see most of us folks. We'll have that Christian organization. We'll set that budget.
Will embark on that course. And we'll say, Lord, I'll do it all the way up to that point.
God instructs us that his obedience is the same obedience with which Jesus Christ the son of the living God. The provision for our son went to the croft in that Jesus was obedient, even unto the death of the cross. Jesus wasn't partially obedient. He went all the way even to the death upon the cross.
And as a result of his obedience, you and I have been set free from our sin. Somebody say a man this morning.
Action engaged. Step number eight. Provision made. Oh, I love verse eleven.
I absolutely love. But the angel of the Lord came and said, Stop.
God intervened. Not because God made a spot decision, but because his intention was always to intervene. God never intended for Abraham to kill his son. All he wanted to do was to give Abraham an opportunity to prove his willingness to give back to God. The very thing that was more precious to him than his own life.
What are you holding in your hand?
Provision made. But I want you to note step number nine. Rewards given. Well, this fifteen is remarkable. You see, friends, we have the benefit of hindsight, don't we? We have a historical perspective. If you were to go to Abraham back in his time and here was the Lord saying to him through his emissary, I'm going to bless you and I'm going to make you great and I'm going to bless all nations and I'm going to reward you.
Can you imagine being Abraham stuck out on that dirty old hill with one son and an old wife?
And you imagine you think of all the improbabilities and impossibilities. Abraham himself.
Just think about it all, folks. Now, we can look back on this from our historical perspective. So I'm going to ask you a question. Did God do what he said he was going to do? Yes. Number one, the Bible tells me, number two, history confirms it. It happened. Abraham became the father of many nations to this day all over the world. The God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Will all the nations of the earth be blessed?
Folks, listen to this. Rewards were given. God does what he says he's going to do.
It's a hard thing to understand that, you know, two of my dearest friends in the world are here this morning, Dr. and Mrs. Brian Smith, Brian and Mary Smith. A daughter, Katie, and their son, Parker. Brian has just been called.
To become pastor of First Baptist Church of Roanoke, Virginia. Wonderful flagship church in Virginia. He's been at First Baptist Church, Van Buren, Arkansas, for 17 years, a long time. I'm 10. God got all over this couple. And they've uprooted their family folks and they starting in September. And they called and said, man, we would just love to come. We just betwixt and between. And I tell you, we don't know how we all is going on a meeting, thousands of people, and we just want to come down and just have some fellowship with you. And, you know, Karen and I just love this couple. But every time I see Brian and Mary, I think about the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in the early days. I remember one time Karen and I woke up. We were brand new.
We just come here from overseas.
Folks, we didn't have a dime to our name. We didn't know anybody. We had no family, no family here at all. Nobody knew us from a bar of soap. I didn't have work. We didn't have enough money to walk over the street and buy a donut. Not I want to make something clear here, folks. Some people will tell you they've got nothing, excepting they've got this little stash over here. Oh, they couldn't go and sell a motorcar or they could. We didn't have a house. We didn't have. We had two suitcases. I had no money. Not a dime. We couldn't buy a donut.
And my wife and I are sitting in this little apartment with a pullout coat, sleeve, couch sleep a thing.
And we're sitting there and we're brand new and we don't know anybody and we don't know where to go. And we're wondering what in the world are we doing in New Orleans, Louisiana. And nobody can understand us.
And it's eleven o'clock on Monday morning, and I'm starving to death. I'm saying, Lord, this is a nice. How do you do? Here I am. I've been obedient. We've done what you've told us. We sold everything. We flew to New York City. And we're here in New Orleans. And we don't even know where this is. And yet we on we've got nothing and I'm starving to death. Now, that's a nice. How do you do?
And then I've got a beautiful bride.
And this is the way I'm treating my bride. I left behind my motorbikes and my motorcars and my nice home and my surfing and my beaches and my wonderful job and my big salaries. Everything's gone.
And we just sat there looking at each other. There's a knock on the door, open the door on this man's name's John Pickering from Jackson, Mississippi, says, Are you Don Wilton?
I said, Yes, sir. He said, we just came through. He had in New Orleans heard about you. Would you mind if we took you out to lunch today? I said, where's your motorcar? Do you know what he did? He took us to the Western Sizzlin in eastern New Orleans, you know, roundoff Reed Boulevard there. Steve folks. Do you know what I got?
I got the number nine Gunsmoke, the whole half side of a car.
I'm telling you, I ate everything in sight. It was just what we just had the best time with. This couple jumped back in the motor car, got on the Artane, went back to Shifman to a highway in Gentilly, back to the campus. They dropped us off. And when he dropped me off, he shook me by the hand and I felt something in my hand. He went off and I looked in my hand, and this man had left in my hand a one hundred dollar bill. Now, folks, that may not impress some of you, but I'm going to tell you, you might as well have put a million dollars in my hand. I mean, I was just like this. I couldn't get over this. They'd taken us for a meal. We didn't have any food. Now he walks off, leaves me with one hundred dollars. I mean, I'm rolling in it. We go up to our apartment. We just can't get over this. And my wife looks at me and she says, I know exactly what we need to do with it. I said, what? She said, well, there's a couple in Willingham apartments over there and they've got nothing. She said, I think we need to give that hundred dollars to that couple. I said, What are you talking about? Woman. This is shameful. God just gave me this I'm providing for my friend. You want to go give it away to someone that we don't even hardly know?
She said it goes to those people.
All right. Well, we got an envelope. Put it in unmarked envelope, walked out the back door across the quadrangle into Willingham. Just slipped in under the door. I didn't know these people. And here I'm giving away the one hundred dollars I've just been given Nahm back to it again, starving to death. Got nothing. Well, we walk back to our apartment when I opened the door to our apartment. There was an envelope under our door.
Unmarked envelope I picked up, I said, what is this? Open that envelope. There was a check for two hundred dollars in the folks.
I said to my wife, who do we need to give this to?
You didn't know I was an investment broker, did you?
And the rest is history. God telling you to give that dollar to somebody else. David Lord, this is my only dollar. He's testing you. God telling you to open your home. He's testing you. God telling you to sing in the choir. Testing, God telling you to work in the nursery and help us with all these beautiful babies. He's testing you. God telling you to go on that mission trip. He's testing you. What's he telling you to do? You see step number nine, folks, rewards given, but step number 10.
Is two remarkable four words, blessings received to receive two to receive a reward is one thing. But to be blessed is another thing entirely, folks. Rewards are practical realities. I can tell you about one story after another where I really believe, as undeserved as I am, that that God just gives to me rewards. He gives to rewards in practical things. But God's blessings are something of the spirit and the soul. They were deep and intimate fellowship with him. They redecoration that all is well. They God putting his hand of grace upon his servants and saying, I'm going to permit you to join hands and a walk to be a Sheba.
We tell you folks, those servants didn't have one idea of what went on on that mountain, but they become partnered in the blessings that God gave to his servant.
Do you know that there are people right now worshiping with us right now who maybe you are? Maybe you haven't been partnered in whatever it is that person is doing? Well. You haven't been a partner with what God is saying, but you are receiving the blessings.
Sometimes as mothers and fathers, God tests us. Our children haven't got the faintest idea.
I look around this place show today, I look into the faces of the Dann's and the Lorenz's and the Mr. Grady's and the Bob Tennyson's.
And I can go through one rank after another the more confusing. And I see Man of God and women of God who've said, I'll do it, Lord, I'll do it. And even though few other people might ever have been directly impacted by that event or that circumstance, everybody has been blessed as a result.
They children rise up and call them blessed. When your faith is tested. Are you ready to join hands and arms? Come with me to be a Sheba.
Oh, what a powerful message. You've been listening to Dr. Don Wiltern. And I'm ready. And you need to know we have an army ready to join hands and arms and move forward together in the body of Christ. If you'd like to talk with someone, pray with someone. We're connecting right now, both keyboard, a keyboard on our Web site at t e w online. Dotto, R.G., that's TCW online Dorji. And this phone number eight six six eight nine nine word jotted down, stored in your cell, eight, six six eight nine nine nine six seven three will always connect you with someone happy to talk or listen or pray. But, you know, you don't have to connect us to take a grand step of faith with God right now. Open your heart to what Dr. Tom is going to share with us next.
Are you ready to give you a hard time in life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this? Pray with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross today. I wrote Pain to my son. And by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus name, my friend, I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting news.
If God has spoken through Dr. Wiltern today and you've heard not just his wonderful South African brogue, but you've heard the Lord calling you home. I pray that in this moment you would let us step in and accompany you in the journey of the next. We'd love to pray with you. Pray for you. Dr. Don has prepared wonderful resources for you. If you gave your heart to Christ for the first time in a few moments ago, or perhaps you've rededicate your life to Jesus Christ. We have one of a resources to put in your hands. Call us and let us know.
Our number is eight six six eight nine nine word. That's eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three.
And anytime, day or night, we'd love to connect with you or meet us online as well. TCW Online Dorji is our Web site. That's t e w you online, Dorjee. We'd love to connect with you. And many of you are connecting and asking about the DVD from Joni Erickson TARTA. Here's Liz with all the details about how you can get your copy.
What is God calling you to do with your life? Are you living the life that read for nothing? Do you have peace? Have you given your life to Jesus? Jesus will change you. It's not too late to be on mission for God. With your gift of support to the encouraging word. This month you will receive Dr. Wilton's messages entitled Touching Jesus. Messages include Pray. With this in mind, seven critical means the impossible prayer and Touching Jesus.
These messages on c.D or DVD will be sent to you for a gift of twenty dollars or more in support of the encouraging word. Call us at eight six six eight nine nine. Word to request Dr. Wilson sermon touching. The encouraging word is that you are a listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today.
It's been a wonderful week of Bible teaching here on the encouraging word. And there's more to come over the weekend, if you like. Visit our Web site, TCW online. Call R.G. and you'll discover ways to hear not only these messages or messages like these are fresh new matches is coming our way over the weekend. But we'll be broadcasting on Daystar TV and we'd love to have you watch and be a part of that ministry as well. Of course, worship on Sunday. Dr. Dan will be quick to say whether it's virtually as many of us still have to do right now or maybe like our church, you can gather with your church outside. Just make sure you make worship a priority. That worship will replace the worry. But we've got to be there. Make it a point to be in worship this weekend. Till next time. Take care. And God bless.