God made us. As His people, we make a joyful noise. He’s speaking to hearts ready for big decisions. There’s a way of escape to come from what’s going on. The devil gets busy in attempts to adulterate what God is doing. Resist and move in the Lord with gladness. (Psalm 100:1-5; Exodus 31:1-5; Exodus 32:1)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11862
7:00 PM on 4/1/2020

P. Schaller –

Thanks, Zane and the group and the band and the Spirit of God here. Praise God and the message of grace and
the ministry of grace. What an unusual time it is for us not being able to assemble. In a way it’s
the same. Do you folks think so, the music group I’m speaking to? Yeah, but we miss people.
That’s for sure. I’m sure you at home are thinking sometimes I’d like to see so and so and this is
Body Life. Remember Body life is in the heart. I might not see my brothers and sisters with my
eyes, but I see them in my heart.

The Spirit has made us organically one worldwide with all our
brothers and sisters in the universal Body of Christ. Then for our particular assembly. Today is a
day of prayer and fasting. All through the day, there have been times we stopped and had
prayer. Sometimes because of fasting, your body slows down a bit. You can concentrate better
and having times of being in the very presence of Almighty God. What an honor. Then coming
here tonight, I was saying to my wife what an honor it is to be able to preach. What an honor it
is to open the Bible and share the message. I really mean that. I know all the pastors in the
ministry feel this way.

Then to hear men of God in our country, congressman praying. I heard it
on YouTube, repenting for the sins of our nation. My Pillow Guy who spoke to the nation and
shared the message. In a different set of circumstances, it’s of God and how much of God can
come out when there are a different set of circumstances. I’d like you to look at Exodus 32. I believe
we’ll move around a little bit tonight in the Scripture. We have a very special rap. After the
service, we’ll have a rap. This will be a special night. Exodus 31:3-5, why was this man filled with
wisdom and the Spirit of God and understanding and knowledge on how to build the
tabernacle, the ark, the clothing and any kind of stonework done in the nation of Israel?

That this man was the man that figured out. He knew. God showed him how to build the priesthood,
the tabernacle, the ministry. This is God working in the wilderness. In a way, in our lives also
whenever we are in a change, God will anoint someone to lead and help us in that change. They
had come out of Egypt and now in a desert. It would be easy to say we don’t know what to do
or where to go. We got all this precious metal and Egyptians have us, their earrings and metal
mirrors and all the things we took out of Egypt. We don’t know what to do. We don’t know how
to build what God wants us to build.

He showed Moses but we need more than Moses. We
need a craftsman. We need someone with the Spirit of God who knows how to do this, build
this. When Jesus was on the earth, he knew what to do. When he was in the desert, the city,
the synagogue, on the street, when he was fasting and praying on the mountaintop and praying
all night in Luke 6:12, Christ knew. When he had his 12 disciples, he knew them and taught
them and led them. Jesus leaves. Christ is at the right hand of the Father. Christ said my Father
and I will send another, the Holy Spirit. Now you have 11. How do we do it? How does it work?
We understand that Paul later is included in the 11 and now there are the 12 and they write the
Scriptures and preach the Gospel and plant churches and they are missionaries.

They laugh a lot and rejoice a lot in their trouble and challenge because the Spirit of God was with them. Paul
said he was the wise master builder. He passed this on to us. Down through church history,
there have been men of God and women of God that understood what to do. They understood
what it meant to assemble and visit and to forgive. They understood what it meant to pray, and
problems came. They would look to God. Psalm 62:5 God is my expectation. I’d like to give you two points of insight in regards to prayer. Before we move from this, Exodus 31, I believe you got the
message about what we are saying. If you read the chapter, you would see God had these
certain men that were capable and ordained of God to do the next step.

We are living in the U.S.A. and many parts of the world. We are in a new phase, a new period and something that is
challenging to us. God shows us and leads us in what he has for us. What is he doing? Today
was the day of prayer for the world. My prayer, I don’t know, I don’t want to say that it’s not
that the pandemic wouldn’t stop. I do want that to happen. At the same time, God is getting
everyone’s attention and moving in a certain way. If this is his plan, God, what do you have for
us? What is the Spirit, the message, the way, the ministry? It kind of reminds us of 2 Corinthians 6
when the Apostle Paul said, sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

Dishonored but honored. Weak but strong. Those paradoxes almost. These words that are so instructive for us. The Apostle Paul being one of the most beaten and persecuted men as an example for us in 1 Corinthians 4. 2, Corinthians 6:11. We see him saying with no certain dwelling place yet always rejoicing. Always rejoicing as much
as possible. Now. that being said, I believe the devil uses change to do his work. Whenever God
has a plan, the devil comes to adulterate the plan. When God does something, very soon and
this we see in the next chapter 32. Chapter 32:1, where is he? He’s late.

Why is he up there so long? When they saw he was delayed, maybe they became disappointed, discouraged; maybe a little heart of unbelief and frustration and anger that was pent up inside of them. Vs. 1. It was
God that brought us out of Egypt. It was God that wants to build a tabernacle. If God has his
way, we’ll see his glory. If God has his way, we’ll have grace, peace, wisdom and go into the
Promised Land. When the delay came, so came also the devil. And the people gathered. They
had another idea. I think that can happen to us in life.

When there are some changes in the plan and Paul ends up in jail, for sure the devil visited him and lied to him and made him fear and guilty and condemned. When there is a work of grace, there is the attempt by Satan to hijack it
or twist it or change it. It always happens like that. There is a Garden of Eden, beautiful Paradise
on earth. God is present. Then comes the serpent. Think about it. Christ is born. Christ is born.
Then comes the devil. Then comes Herod to murder him. There is the Apostle Paul and then
comes the false apostles and false christs and another message, another Jesus, another gospel.
Then the Bible and another kind of Bible, religion, thinking.

This is common. They said let’s make us gods. Why would we make gods when in the 10 Commandments they have no other God before you? Aaron should have said that to them. There are no other gods. There is only
one God that brought us out of Egypt. There is only one God that sent his only begotten Son
that hung on a cross. No, God has a plan. We just haven’t seen it develop yet. Chapter 31 his
name is Bezalel. He has a man and purpose and tabernacle and Levitical sacrifices. We’ll make it
to the Promised Land as we submit ourselves. We’ll find blessing and joy and peace. What does
that mean for us? Because of staying at home, it might be more fighting goes on at home.

I get guilty and unhappy about it. Maybe staying home, I’m more bored and frustrated in my mind.
Maybe the devil lies to me. I think of how do I get the money for my bills and what’s going to
happen. Maybe I’ll get the virus and other things might come into my mind and heart and cause me to
worry and be upset and worry. Maybe living with my children at home, it might be some
frustration is brought out of my heart. That can happen. We are here tonight to say a few
words of encouragement to all of us in this regard. I’ll turn to Psalm 100 and teach a lesson on
prayer. Turn with me to Psalm 100.

How do I spend my time at home? How is it I anticipate to
come back to church one day when we gather again as we do by habit. The essential staff
members are doing an amazing job. Online devotions, lunch rap, classes. The teachers at GGCA
and then at MBC&S. All the phone calls made by P. Scibelli and P. Jason and others…..we are
falling behind financially. Thank you for your giving and prayers. We are in an amazing time. I’m
excited about it and what it means.

Praying for our people around the world to protect them and bring his healing, Psalm 91. Psalm 100:1, I’d like to do a dance of some kind, a song of some kind and say hallelujah. What a blessing to be healthy and have God. What a blessing to be blessed by the Word of God. What a blessing to be thankful for the lunch we had, the
refrigerator, the children, the joy, the peace, the amazing country we have and the dedication
you see everywhere. If Ii don’t have that and I have God and his grace and we are able to
identify and walk in wisdom and grow up and mature in our faith, what an honor that is. Vs. 1.

A lot of joy in the house. A lot of joy with our words. A lot of thankfulness in our hearts. Count
your blessings. Be thankful so much. God is at work. God has raised up people to guide us in
this way. God has raised up people to give us discernment. The devil has nothing to do with us
because we resist him. It’s over. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. If you accept a lie, he
loves to feed there but if you reject him, he has no place. Give no place to the devil in Ephesians 4.
We have joy in his presence. Psalm 16:11, at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

In the presence of God is joy. We are in the presence of Almighty God every day, day by day and
walking in the Spirit of God with the joy of the Lord. Vs. 2. Serve God, not our fears. Serve God,
not the lies. Serve God in faith. Serve the Lord with gladness. There is a lot of joy in serving God.
Going about our way day by day with a spirit of being a servant. How I can be part of the
solution and not part of the problem. How I can testify of God and rejoice in everything he has
said to us. How the Spirit of God is a Comforter and leads us in prayer and in our confession.

How the Spirit of God leads us in Body life, a phone call, in meeting a neighbor and talking
words of faith and love and grace maybe from a distance but they can hear us over the
backyard fence or in the street. Beautiful time to be rejoicing and glad and sharing. Vs. 2-3. The
Lord he is God. That’s the big word. God. Being silent before God and respecting him. Being
humble before him. Start your day before God with thanksgiving and singing if you can.
Humming. Start your day waiting on God. Psalm 123, be still and know that he is God. Psalm 46:10,
coming before his presence.

Sometimes when we read the Bible and have the Bible, I want to come before God, but I don’t know the Bible. I know who you are. You will teach me the Bible. I don’t know much about this world I’m living in, but I know who you are. You are the one that made me. I didn’t make myself. We come before you with a lot of respect. Ecclesiastes 5:2, Luke 18, we know how to hear. We know what to hear Mk 4. We do this because we have a sacred attitude
before the presence of God. vs. 3. That struck me this morning as we had our morning
devotional on this psalm. He has made us, not we ourselves. We sometimes think we made this. We can solve these problems. We are in charge. The human race is in charge. We made us.
We are the ones. We solved the problems.

It’s much better to be carefree and thankful and filled with gladness and cast your care upon him. I didn’t make me. You made me. You can heal my body in a second. You can speak to me in a heartbeat. You can direct my footsteps. You can keep me from the lies of the devil. The lies of the devil will be in our present situation. Every
time God does something, he has a way of escape, an answer, a messenger, a ministry. He has
something he is doing to promote his work on the earth. Jesus goes to Egypt as a child and
comes back out. Keep your eyes on Jesus. He is bringing in the kingdom of God. The devil is
against him because God is for him.

God is for you. He’s for you in your family and answering your
prayer. God is for missionaries being sent out. This has happened, is happening and will
happen. God wants to raise up a young man who is maybe listening to this message and say to
that young man, I am talking to you. I want you to make a major decision. I want you to stop
and listen to me, change your direction and move on in my work and not in the devil’s lie. I
want you to be tuned in when it is going on and move in faith and make major decisions and
believe me because I will make you a man of God. I will make you a woman of God. Yeah. Wow!
We have not made ourselves.

But we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Vs. 4. Enter
into his gates with thanksgiving. Have an amazing spirit of thanksgiving. Thank God for your
pastor. Thank God for your church, for your wife, for your children, for your life, for your car,
for your job. If you don’t have a job, thank God you can get one. Thank God for your health.
Thank God for the future. I know it can be hard. I understand that. Every time God does
something in this world, he has a provision for it.

The devil is coming into the picture to do some messed up thing. To tear it down, lie about it, and say it doesn’t work. He is there to destroy the work of grace that God is doing and has done and will do. Let’s think about it. Vs. 4.
Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, isn’t it? They entered into Jerusalem with praise and thanksgiving.
They were praising God for the Messiah had come. He’s riding on the donkey. Christ said if this
didn’t happen, the stones would cry out and get it done. It has to happen because I am the
Messiah. I am the Messiah. That’s beautiful.

The Spirit of God is doing his work today all the time. It’s happening. Not everyone is on board, or game or into it. But then there are those that are. That’s you and me. We enter into his courts with praise and thanksgiving. We are thankful until him and bless his name for any salvation that has happened. I read a Civil War story today
about a boy 17 in the battle at Gettysburg in 1863. He was 17 and lost his arm and leg in battle.
The doctor came to do surgery to remove the damaged limbs and the doctor wrote the story.
When the boy opened his eyes, he had bright blue eyes, a handsome young man and the doctor
talked to him and said, do you want chloroform?

The boy said I believe in Jesus. The doctor said, I don’t care anything about that. The doctor was Jewish. The doctor had done hundreds of surgeries. This one got his attention. The story goes on and the doctor explained it in detail. He said I’m from Brooklyn, New York and I want my mother to have my little Bible. Please send it
to her. The doctor did the surgery and the boy was initially okay but after 5 days he called the
doctor to the bedside. He said, I don’t think I’m going to make it, but I want you to have Jesus in
your heart. I have been praying for you. This doctor was astounded this dying patient was
caring for a soul. He said I don’t believe in Jesus. I have been brought up to hate the name of Jesus.

The boy said, that doesn’t matter. God loves you, and I am praying for you. The boy died
and the doctor didn’t become a believer for ten years. Then he did. He became a believer. Then
he was in Brooklyn 10 years later. He’s in a small meeting and this woman spoke about her boy
being killed in Gettysburg and he became a believer when he was 9 years old. Here’s his Bible. It
was the same Bible. This doctor was saying in his testimony that his prayers are heard. I would
have never become a believer, but something happened, and this boy’s prayers moved me. I
can’t stop thinking about this boy and what was in his heart and what he did and believed. I’m
thinking of the ministry. What happens in these times.

Whatever God shows us and leads us, we must enter his courts and gates and serve him with gladness. Come before him with a spirit of praise and know that God hears our prayers. V.s 4-5. We are in the midst of a work of God. We are in the midst of the grace of God. We are in the midst of something wonderful. We are in
the midst and presence of Almighty God who is teaching us things. Let us have the same kind of
spirit that dying boy had. God can do it. God can save a man. God can save my neighbor. God
can bring revival to the U.S. God can raise up pastors and preachers and teachers. God can send
us. God can heal. God can save and touch.

God can bless our family. Don’t get discouraged. Be encouraged. Stand before the Almighty God with a lot of joy…we are people that are built up. Now because we are not seeing each other, it might be I need someone to build me up. I need a friend like Jonathan and David. I need a friend like Jesus had with his disciples, Peter, James and
John. I need an online ministry, an online message, edification and encouragement. We are
called into God’s work done God’s way for his purpose in a world that is in trouble.

Amen.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace