Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday,
April 19, 2017
This is the 10th test and there is a great deal of similarity and yet contrast with how it all started at the Red Sea which is where we started all of our subject.
When the Egyptian army approached the Jews under the Pharaoh, there was great depression, there was great fear, great hysteria.
There was one very important phrase that went with those promises.....=== that phrase was that the land is flowing with milk and honey.
This is an idiom to express prosperity in the agricultural economy of the ancient world.
The phrase "flowing with milk and honey" is an idiom for economic prosperity under the agricultural economy in the ancient world.
He has presented problem solving devices.
He has presented Christology.
He has reconfirmed soteriology by which they were saved.
1. Some said we will not even listen to Moses.
2. We will listen, we understand what Moses is teaching, but frankly we just don't believe it.
3. "We will metabolize the word but not apply it and this was a very large group and their failure was by far the greatest."
The reason that they developed hardness of heart was simply NVTD in one of those three stages....perception, metabolization and application.
The most dangerous stage to develop a hard heart is the third stage, when you have the doctrine but refuse to live in the doctrine.
Jam 4:17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Joh 9:41 Jesus said to them, if you were blind you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' (and yet you really don't) your sin remains.
Psa 95:8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert;
They had become bitter under testing!
They had become sidetracked and distracted.
When the Lord brings in a test many believers become hardened ---- hardened in their heart.
When under pressure, they began to turn on each other, and the Lord became angry.
MAT 18:33 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?'
They had the doctrine and the technical vocabulary and vocabulary storage but they refused to apply the doctrine under pressure.
They began to develop scar tissue of the soul which is one of the last stages of "believer degeneracy."
The combination of scar tissue of the soul and garbage meant that a lot of them were mentally ill.
They were depressed when they heard the majority report of the recon team.----- and in their depression they reacted with hysteria.
They were withdrawing from the reality of doctrine which meant that they were increasing the scar tissue in their soul and at the same time the garbage was now coming out to haunt them.
This is maximum complaining and maximum discouragement from all the garbage in their soul.
This is fear, worry, anxiety, self pity, and hatred of Moses.
No one went to bed that night, they spent the entire night crying and falling apart, having a nervous breakdown and then finally entering into terrible depression.
The same thing, blame the leaders, it's always their fault, and that's exactly what they did, though Moses has stood firmed!
Oren Harari - he writes about “the principles and words of Colin Powell's principles of leadership.
1. The first one mentioned is this: - “Being responsible means wounding people sometimes.”
GAL 1:10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond‑servant of Christ.
The rule is, human beings have a propensity that welcomes the praise of their fellows.
The next step in this moral digression is, to seek human approval as a personal priority.
Among some of the leading Pharisees, there was at least intellectual confidence in the claims of Christ, but "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God," (Joh 12:41).
Again the problem was described by our Lord when He said: "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their father to the false prophets," (Luk 6:26).
Men-pleasers seek the approval of men above the approval of God.
Let us aim higher.
Our Father is a "rewarder of those who diligently seek Him," (Heb 11:6).
In every time of controversy since Pentecost, there have been men catering to the crowd; even changing and adapting their message from audience to audience,
"For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church," (1Co 4:17).
2. “The day those under your authority stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped listening to and leading them."
PRO 11:1 "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight."
a. Authority if your friend.
b. When you attack or discredit authority you are destroying yourself.
c. Don't ever listen to evil reports about those in authority unless you have ALL THE FACTS
1TI 5:17 Let the pastor-teachers who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching the Word of God.
1TI 5:18 For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing [don't distract the communicators of doctrine with your petty accusations]," and "The laborer [the pastor-teacher] is worthy of his wages [materialistic and spiritual blessings]."
1TI 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against a doctrinal pastor-teacher elder except on the basis of two or three eye witnesses of what they are being accused of.
1TI 5:20 Those who continue in the sin of receiving accusations against the pastor-teachers, rebuke in the presence of all the congregation, so that the rest of the congregation also may be fearful of sinning against the Lord.
3. “Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites."
Experts often possess more information than real judgment or discernment.
1CO 8:1b-3, Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
"Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.”
4. “Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.”
5. “Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.”
6. “You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.”
7. “Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find.”
PRO 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
PRO 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
8. “Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don’t much matter.
9. “Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.”
Gal 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
10. “Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.”
11. Powell’s Rules for Picking People: “Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners.
Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.”
12. “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.”
13. “The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.”
14. “Have fun in your command. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you’ve earned it: Spend time with your families.
Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.”
15. “Realize that Command is lonely.”