Grace in the Wilderness

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Transcript

The Wilderness

Isaiah 43:18–19 ESV
18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
God makes
++A way in the wilderness
++Rivers in the desert
The term wilderness is translated to mean
++Pasture area
++Desert

In this passage Isaiah makes a distinction

Isaiah refers to the wilderness
++As different from the desert
++As being more that a dry place

He show the wilderness in it most common form

It simply means
++An unmaintained area
++Midbar (Chaos)

Have you ever felt that life was out of control?

Genesis 1:2–3 ESV
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
The earth was in a chaotic state
++There was no visibility
++There was no stability
In the midst of Chaos
++God is moving
++God makes a way
++God speaks

Grace in the Wilderness

Today we will look at two texts
++New Testament (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
++Old Testament (Jeremiah 30:23-31:3)
2 Timothy 3:1–5 ESV
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

It starts with an understanding

Proverbs 4:7 KJV 1900
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: And with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 16:16 ESV
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

We must know the times we are in

Romans 13:11 ESV
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

We are living in that last days

We have fallen in love
++Not with God
++Not with another
++With ourselves
It is a dangerous thing for a person to only care about themselves.

They will always want things their way

They say
++My way
++Or the highway
Proverbs 14:12 ESV
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Death is Separation
++It breaks unity
++It fosters division
++It divides what God has united
Mark 10:9 ESV
9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
John 15:13 ESV
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
In self there is
++No hope
++No answer
++No Joy

God wants to give you JOY!

Joy is
++Jesus
++Others
++You
Don’t get intoxicated yesterday
++Yesterday’s anointing
++Yesterday’s activities

God is doing a new thing

He Gives Grace

The Message of Grace

This message is found throughout the biblical text.
Grace was
++Given by God
Genesis 6:7–8 ESV
7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Grace was
Given by God
++Recognized by Man
Genesis 39:3–4 ESV
3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
Grace was
Given by God
Recognized by Man
++Highly valued
Psalm 84:11 ESV
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

What is Grace?

Grace is
++Unmerited Favor
++God’s empowerment
++God’s gift to a fallen world
By grace
++Salvation is possible
++We have hope
Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
In the wilderness
++God is moving
++God gives peace
++God give grace
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