— Brother Phil Enlow: I don’t have any particular scripture in mind, but just thinking about what’s been said, I wonder how much we really believe some of the things we sing and claim? Do we really believe that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from, how many sins?
( congregational response ).
All of them. Do we really believe that we can come just as we are? You remember the song that, who was it, Jim, down in Florida, used to sing about how he messed up and then he wanted to go to the Lord, but he just went and messed around, blew another day and before he finally felt confident enough to go. Like we’ve got to make up…make up for it. We can’t go when we’re in need, which is what the scripture tells us.
And what’s been said this morning is exactly right. How amazing is it that the holy, pure, righteous, anything you want to…any adjective along that line you want to use, God of the universe, the essence of what He desires is relationship with us. And how easy is it for us to just kind of muddle along in our lives and not really get that?
You know, even the Law…you think about the Law that was given under Moses, and it certainly dealt, in a lot of ways, with the worldview of the Israelites, and how they viewed things, and how they did things, and trying to bring them more into line with God’s ways.
But when you boil it all down, what was the Law about? How did you summarize the Law? “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…and…thy neighbour as thyself.” (KJV). It all comes down to that. And if you get the very life, the very Spirit, the very nature of God operating in us, man, there’s gonna be a power that will enable us to be something other than what we are.
But oh, how we walk…a little bit at arm’s length, some of it is just self-will, some of it is carelessness and getting involved. You know, I read the news, but I don’t read the news because I’m expecting good things. I just want to…I want to know what’s going on. I want to be aware, but if you read it and it causes you distress, don’t read it.
( laughing ).
Don’t look at it. But I’ll tell you what, God wants to be real to us, in this hour. And somehow, like I say…I don’t know that I really have anything other than just pointing out God’s faithfulness to want to be with us! And how, even in the wilderness, God’s presence was there.
And there was a way to deal with sin. They dealt with it through sacrifices that they had to repeat. But, look at what God has done for us! There is one sacrifice for all! And it sets apart everyone who is being sanctified.
I’ve thought of one scripture. Let me see if I can find it real quick. Praise the Lord! Is it 9, 10, somewhere along in there in Hebrews? Yeah, “For by one…” Hebrews 10:14. “For by one sacrifice…” (NIV). Well, he…let me go back and read this.
“Day after day every priest….” Now these were the Levitical priests that Steve was referring to. “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins….”
What an amazing statement! Praise God! When you and I mess up, we don’t have to go and say, oh God, I need a sacrifice for my sins! Please provide one. It was provided once, for all! That’s the hope that you and I stand upon, rest upon this morning. We don’t have to wait. We don’t have to…I mean, it’s been done!
You know, I can sort of visualize, under the law, the Mosaic Law, where someone would come and they’d feel the guilt, perhaps this was something personal, and they would offer the sacrifice and it’s like, I can’t really feel right until I offer the sacrifice.
Folks, we can feel right the moment we turn our hearts to Him, because it has been offered one time, for all! Thank God that we don’t have to wait and somehow re-qualify ourselves. Nobody here ever does that, right? You know what I’m talking about, because I certainly do. All right?
“But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God….” Oh, I love the reference Steve made to us, being in heavenly places with Him. You remember that in Hebrews? I mean, I’m sorry, in Ephesians? That thought came to me in the course of the end of the week, and like I say, I had a lot of thoughts and none of them really went anywhere, in terms of trying to put a message together.
But, think of where we are. Where are you today? Are you in a very earthly place? Do you know He has opened the door where you and I can be seated with Him in heavenly places? You remember how Jesus talked about the Son of Man who is…in heaven? There was a relationship that actually…He was in contact with heaven. Even though He was on Earth, there was a connection between Him and heaven that He called that being in heaven.
Folks, we are in heavenly places in Him. We have an authority. We have a place of acceptance. We have a place of victory if we’ll just…if God will make it real to us. Can we not ask Him to say Lord, I need this to be more real to me?
I need to spend time with You, and believe that I can come to You, and that You love me, and that in Your process of time You’re going to unfold my understanding, and You’re gonna build my faith, so that I can rest in You, and I can enjoy what You have given to me, because, as we sang this morning, “He’ll Give you Everything.”
Well, He’s not talking about Cadillacs and earthly possessions. He’s talking about everything we need to be a part of His eternal purpose. It’s already there. The riches are there. We don’t…we’re the ones who don’t tap into them. We’re the ones who get so involved in how we’re feeling and what’s happening in our lives that we don’t…we’re not connected to the source of everything! Praise God!
I’m talking about me just as much as I am you. But folks, the Lord is constantly—I sense Him constantly reaching out, wanting us to get ahold of these things. It’s not that we don’t affirm them as doctrines that we believe, it’s that we don’t enjoy the reality of what we say we believe. Do you really believe that when you feel that disconnect, that you can go just like you are?
You know, one of the lines of thought that I had and just didn’t pursue it…how many of you’ve read through the Psalms and been made very conscious of the fact that David, not only believed in God, in some general sense, but there was a real connection? There was a fellowship.
And it wasn’t just that, I know who You are, and I worship You and I’m doing all this. It was something where he could talk to the Lord very honestly about how he was feeling. Oh Lord, how long? Lord, I’m in a bad place. Lord, I’m feeling this and I’m feeling that.
Do you realize you can go to God when you’re feeling bad and say, God, I feel bad? And He’s not insulted. We can be at rest in His presence. He knows exactly what’s going on.
His Son was here. He knows what it is to feel sadness, to feel pain, to feel everything you and I could ever feel and to the nth degree. This is something that I certainly feel my need to get a hold of in a deeper way, but what a blessing it is to read.
This man didn’t even know…I mean, he saw something was coming, but he didn’t know the things that we know. Jesus hadn’t come yet. He saw him like afar off. He knew that there was a Redeemer coming, but…to be able to have that kind of a sense of God and the relationship that he could have with God, where he could just come and be himself.
And that’s not doing it in a rebellious way, but I mean, he was absolutely just…Lord, I’m having a rough time. What’s going on? Where…I’m trying to call to You- and I don’t hear.
You know, Psalm 13 we’ve used so many times. “How long, LORD?” And then he introduces that awesome word, ‘but’—’but,’ and then he expresses a confidence and a faith.
You know, there are times God is gonna put you and me in places where that’s how we feel, and He doesn’t show up and change our feelings? And that is not an indication that something is wrong. That’s an indication that God is seeking to bring us to a deeper place where our faith is more effective, because if your faith depends upon what you see and feel, it’s not really faith, is it? We’re going by something else.
But to have a revelation, to have God make Himself so real to us on the inside, that we can have a confidence in Him, regardless of what the circumstances and feelings look like. Folks, God is going to be putting us in places, we’ve said this many times, getting us ready for our place in this hour of earth’s history. He is going to be putting us in places of great need.
Look at what He did in the wilderness. He brought the people into places where there was no human answer. Anybody here in a place like that? Yeah. Well, nobody…you act like everybody’s doing great in your life, or everything is going great in your life, or else you’re just afraid to raise your hand.
But folks, every single one of us is going to be put in places where there’s no human answer. Is that because God’s angry at us? Is He…is there something wrong and that’s why He’s allowing us to get in this terrible place? How many times have the…I was thinking about the Israelites when they went out of Egypt. Of course we knew there’s a whole bunch of them that were rebels, and they were purged out, but still God was with His people.
And He led them to the Red Sea. How many of you remember in “The Ten Commandments” when Pharaoh rode out with his chariots? And he sits there and looks at the situation. He said, boy, their God is a poor general. But their God knew exactly what He was doing. He was bringing them to a place where all they could do was just say, Lord…and the people themselves didn’t even know to do that, but Moses did. And the Lord told them go forward. Okay.
( laughing ).
There’s a whole lot of water out there. And then he has this little stick in his hand that he’d used as a shepherd. You know, that’s all God is looking for from us, just to use what we have, just to be who we are. And there are situations where God’s gonna put us in where all we have to do is just look to Him and trust in Him and He’s gonna do something that we could never do.
We are so good at trying to work things out, and fix things, and make them better. Oh, how we need to just learn how to rest in the Lord. And He took them out into the wilderness, things we’ve heard many times, in a place where there was no human answer. And yet, was God faithful to give them their daily bread?
You know where that daily bread is for us? It’s hearing His voice—hearing His voice. You know, I remember Brother Ricky, and most of you will remember this, preached a message, oh, a few years ago now, where he talked about having a conversation, where we’re talking to Him and He’s talking to us. And as we go through our day, there’s this communication going on.
And it isn’t like we’re putting on airs and trying to be religious. It’s just, here’s where I’m at, Lord. I’m looking to You. But also having that listening ear that we talked about last week. Having an ear that’s able to hear when He does speak, because it is a small, still voice, many times. And didn’t the prophet say you, “…will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it.”
I believe the Lord wants to lead every single one of His children. And He wants to be real to you and to me in a deeper way. And sometimes He does withdraw His presence, doesn’t He? And He does it…I’ll tell you, if He withdraws His presence and you feel that and it makes you…it draws something out of you, I need Him. That’s a good sign.
If the lack of His presence causes you to feel a need and a hunger that causes you to say, hey, God, where are You? What’s going on? Man, that’s an awesome thing! What an awesome sign, if you will, that God’s done something in your heart, if feeling your need draws you to Him and causes you to go out and just talk to Him and say, Lord, help me.
And even though He doesn’t always come with lightning and thunder, I’ll tell you, He can bring us to a place where what Steve was talking about happens. There is that little…that voice of peace on the inside. Oh man, do we need that.
You know, we are…we think a lot more of our own abilities than we have any right to do, and I believe God is absolutely…He knows the end from the beginning. Doesn’t He talk about the end as though it’s already happened? Wow! You want to put your faith in something? My faith’s not in America. It’s not in the world. It’s not in anything. My faith is in the One who said that I’ve already been glorified.
( congregational amens ).
Man, I don’t look glorified or feel it and you can get around me, you’ll know I’m not. But I’ll tell you what, we’ve got a God who is able to finish what He’s started. When He says something, it’s as good as done! And He longs to make Himself more real to every single one of us. Isn’t God awesome!
( congregational response ).
To be able to actually invite people like us…this is not for the super-spiritual giants someplace. This is for you and for me, where we can actually go to the God of the universe and have that relationship that is real. We don’t have to be afraid. We don’t have to come to this place where we measure up in our own eyes, but we just come as we are and know that He has already provided a way of full and complete acceptance.
And I guess I never did get to that verse I was gonna read. I will read it. I got distracted there when I was in Hebrews 10. Anyway, “…and since that time…” talking about the sacrifice, “…since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.”
Man, that’s…you look at what the loosing of Satan that was mentioned this morning, and all the things that are going on. Don’t worry. God’s allowing that to happen, but there will come a day when, boom! That will be done away, and done away forever.
But here is the—here’s the key. Verse 14, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever…” That’s in the past tense, isn’t it? “…He has made perfect forever…” Who? “…Those who are being made holy.”
Isn’t that interesting? You’ve got people who are in the middle of a process, something happened back there that’s already determined the outcome. Folks, that gives me hope. That makes me want to just come to Him and say, Lord, I know You’ve got stuff that needs to be done in my heart and my life.
Lord, I’m just…I give You myself. I humble myself in Your hand. I draw near to You. I know that You’re the One who knows my destiny. You’ve already set it up in motion. Help me this day just to look to You and to talk to You and to listen.
And I’ll tell you, what a privilege we have! Oh my God! You’re talking about what Steve was talking about. The privilege we have that nobody else in this world has, those who know Him: to know the Creator of the universe, to have a hope that doesn’t rest in what happens in the world or even what we can do, but just yielding ourselves into His hands and listening to His Word, and growing.
Don’t worry, He knows what you and I need. He knows the place to which He’s called us. He knows the purpose for which we’re here and He’s, “…able to do…more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” To Him be the glory! Praise God!
