Beth Moore - A Memorial In The Middle - Part 4
I want to say this to you as we really get rolling on these portions of scripture with that phrase in it, you will not always be in the middle. Some of you, I heard somebody just say, «Thank you, God». Whatever you’re in the middle of right now, praise God, you will not always be in the middle. Somebody is going through what seems to be like a 4-year-pregnancy, and I just want you to know that baby is coming. That baby really is coming, and you will not be pregnant forever. Whatever you’re going through, this season will come to a conclusion and you will not be in the middle forever. But let me tell you something, that water will go right back over that place where you transitioned from what was one season of your life to another even if you didn’t want it there.
The waters will come back over those rocks of remembrance, but I want to tell you something, and I don’t want you to forget this. If you have stored it up in your heart and you have recorded it somewhere for you to keep forever, nobody else will even know those stones were ever there, but you will. You will. When the waters have come back over and everybody else has forgotten you even went through that. Here’s what you have. Here’s what you have. The waters have come back together, but there are stones beneath those waters and they mean something to you because you made memories with the living Lord Jesus Christ himself. You made memories not between you and a whole lot of other folks and Jesus.
That’s a beautiful thing and I love that and I have many of those memories, but you and him standing in the middle because I suggest to you that nobody else had at stake what Joshua did in the middle of these waters. He was the one; the rest of them did not hear the voice of God command Joshua those words. They were having to go over based on Joshua saying, «The Lord has said». Don’t you know his heart was pounding and how long was it until they all got across? Just watching those waters heaved up, come on, come on, come on, come on, I know you’re going as fast as you can, run, run, run, run, those little stragglers at the end. Maybe all the tiny little sheep, get, get, get, get, get. I mean, just rushing them across, just that moment, and then him going, 'cause we know the Lord told him to set up this.
We don’t know whether the Lord tell him set up this or not, or if he just did it, but he runs back into that dry riverbed before those waters go back together. And he, in effect, says, «I will never, ever forget what you did in the middle when everything was at stake. When I’ve never, and the people have never been more vulnerable right there. We weren’t close to that shore. We weren’t close to that shore. We were right in the middle, and I will never forget what you have done for us there». Only you and God see it now. Only you and he know it was even there. You can’t even prove it to anybody anymore. Half the people you know now weren’t in your life then. Am I making sense to anybody?
There’s this fascinating portion in 1 Samuel 17 verse 36. This is all when Goliath is, you know, he’s the big giant of the Philistines and he’s mocking the people of God. I mean, just like mocking them. And so, here comes little David and he’s going like, we can very well take this giant. They’re like, are you out of your mind? There’s no way anybody, I mean, they’re just like frozen. Saul and all his army just frozen on the other side of that valley with that Goliath giant standing right in the middle hurling all manner of insult to them about the people of God, and so about their God. And David’s like, «Are we letting him get away with this»?
And so David goes up and he says, I can take it. Let me do it, let me do it. They’re going, you’re out of your ever loving mind. And he says the most interesting thing. Remember his brothers are there. And David says in 1 Samuel 17:36, He says to him, he says, «I fought a lion and a bear». Because he’s a keeper of sheep. «I fought a lion and a bear». Don’t you know his brothers were going like, «When»? Like now we take a selfie holding up the lion. Well, we’d have to wait on the bear because we need to be able to take our picture of ourselves. And then we’ll do this, and then we’ll do a dip tick so that we can post it 'cause it’d be so effective of us with both of them, one in one arm and one in the other, but they’re like, anybody would have just been like, «When»? Like, sure you did.
Somebody listen to me. You know you did. I’m going to tell you something. I say this to you without one odour of arrogance. I tell this to you out of the miracle and the wonder working power and grace of Jesus Christ alone, but I promise you where nobody saw me, I have fought a lion and a bear. I have fought, I have encountered… When somebody… I’m going to tell you what’s happening in our day, we’re beginning to have this trend where we’re less and less convinced of a devil because we’re less and less convinced of a hell. And I’m going to tell you something right now. Jesus taught plainly and outspokenly about a real live devil, about what he is after, what he is capable of doing, how he can sift us like wheat and how much he wants us, and he very, very well taught about hell.
The reason why I bring that up to you is because I’m going to tell you something, not only from the basis of scripture, but also from my own experience. I promise you there’s a devil because I fought a lion and a bear in the secret places where nobody could have seen me when the enemy would have come and destroyed my whole life, destroyed every bit, every ounce of integrity I would ever have. When he came for my marriage, when he came for my children, when he came for my church, when he came for my ministry, I promise you there is a devil and I promise you in Jesus’s name, my God is mighty to save and in those places where nobody else was looking.
Listen, if the only fighting you’re doing is out in front of people, oh, you are as an exhibitionist. You’re not a warrior. You want people to think you look mighty. If you’re out there like you’re all strutting it around in front of your church and you’re all talking this warfare kind of talk and you have not been back in your closet fighting it through with the darkness, then you know what? Forgive me, I don’t respect that. Because you can’t go out there and strut around and expect to bring down Goliath unless in the secret places where nobody was watching, but God. You fought a lion and a bear. I need to know if anybody’s with me today. The power of God in the secret places.
Let me tell you something, don’t you ever forget what God did in the middle. You journal that, you record it somehow. The waters will cover it soon enough and miles are gonna separate you from that hardship and from that time of transition, but right there in the middle, God shaped a daughter out of a rock, and he took your rock-hard heart and he made it soft and full of love and full of holy passion. He turned the temperature up instead of a stone cold rock. There he shaped a mighty girl, a mighty woman, a mighty boy, a mighty man of God, and you came out a whole different person on a whole different shore you may not have ever wanted to be on, but somebody else needed you there.
That’s how it goes. Oh, the middle may not be romantic, make no mistake, it is miraculous. The middle is where the miracle is present tense. It’s where it’s going on right now. Don’t wait. I mean, if you waited, if you didn’t write down, this is the beauty of it. Jesus told us the Holy Spirit is our reminder. He’ll remind you of everything I taught you and everything I said. So ask him, Holy Spirit, remind me. I never recorded that. It was one of the biggest things ever in my life. I need somehow, I need to write it down. I need to build a stone, a memorial of remembrance through journaling, through writing it down, through coming to you and going, look at all you have done. Because right there in the middle, that miracle is present tense.
Take it down right then while you feel it, while you feel it. That’s what God is teaching me to do. Is to say, a lot of times I love this because I’ll say, you Lord are not gonna believe what you did yesterday. And I’ll just write it out like he didn’t know any of it. And there’s, you know, I just, you just sense that he’s got anticipation 'cause he already knows what happens, but he wants to hear your version of it. And you know what I think he’s doing? Wait till you hear my version of it. My version is really, really good 'cause you did not know there were demons that were breathing down your neck, girl. Demons breathing down your neck.
Look with me there to Mark chapter 6, 45 through 51. Listen, if this is all familiar to you, just ask God right now to just free you from the bondage of over familiarity. Let this fall as a fresh word on you of the Holy Spirit, fresh breath, because this is a gorgeous story. Verse 45 of Mark 6, «Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was all alone on the land».
Now let me read that for you in the NET, that verse 47 which says this, «When evening came, the boat was,» guess where? «In the middle of the sea and he,» being Jesus, «Was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea». I just, I love this. «He meant to just pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and they cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, 'Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.' And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded».
Yes, I guess they were. And I really do think that it is a sure sign of his holiness that not one time in scripture do we see Jesus ever say to people, «It is me, you idiot»? He has to be the Son of God. Surely that is the Son of God. Okay, so here’s what’s happened to a lot of people in this room. People scattered all over this room, all over this place, listening to this message who feel like that Jesus absolutely insisted that you go somewhere. He made them, check out the scriptures for yourself. He made them get in the boat to head to the other side. He goes up on a mountain. You feel like he made me go here and then he left me here.
And you are so ticked. 'Cause I mean like, where is he? He’s up all on his mountain praying and I’m like down here only the whole time he’s watching and thinking, «Man those winds really are coming against 'em». Sure does look like somebody would say, «Jesus». Sure does look like I would not have to bring this up. Sure does look like after all they’ve seen, after all they’ve beheld, somebody just might go, «Jesus». But oh no, no. So here he is, here he is. And you’ve just been left there, just been left there in the storm, and here he comes.
«Jesus is adept at making an entrance in the middle of an angry sea». You know what? You can say if you’re right in the middle of a storm, «You’d be right on time, Jesus. You’d be right on time. And I’m not going to be like them. I’m just going to go ahead and say, Jesus, Jesus, I’ll take it now. I’ll take you now. Come walking and if it feels like to me you have passed me by, it is only because you are making a pathway for me to follow you. You make sure I know where you’re going. You clear the enemy out from the front of me because I’m gonna follow you wherever you cut a path through the storm to get me. Oh yes, I am. Yes, I am».
You, girlfriend, are prime for miracle. Just go ahead with me to Genesis chapter 2, and I’m going to show you something. You could have almost known, as soon as I told you we were gonna be hunting down where there are phrases in the middle, some of you, if you started doing a little, if you’ve been around Bible study a good long while, you may have started doing a little bit of concordance in your own head and maybe this struck you that this could be coming up. Genesis 2:9 and 3:3, «And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. And the tree of life was in the midst of my» ESV says, «But in the middle of,» the NET would say, «The tree of life was in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,» 3:3 please.
«But God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of» NET, «In the middle of the garden, neither shall you touch it, or you will die». I’m going to tell you something. Never think for one moment the serpent is not going to try to meet us in our middle. Don’t think it for a moment. You know what’s different about the middle of the garden? 'Cause it’s different than this. For some of us our middle is we’re in the middle of something treacherous. This just kills me. I want you to just look at this afresh in Genesis chapter 3 with the Fall of Man. And we all know if it had been us, if our names were there, it would happen the same way. Might have happened quicker. It would happen quicker for me.
And so, as we look at it, I just want you to get it with me because they’re not in tribulation, they’re not in big fear, they’ve got everything. They’ve got everything, absolutely everything. And see, you may not realize that you are very poised for a very foolish decision. When you look around you, you just basically got everything. Because somehow that entitlement, «Why can’t I have that? Why can’t I have that? I mean, he seems to bless everything I do. Look how he’s blessed my business, blessed my family. What would an affair hurt? I could eat at that garden. Because I’ve got everything but one thing, and a man of everything, a woman of everything ought to have everything».
And he’s right there going, taunting you with that thing you do not have. Whether you are in prosperity or in adversity, expect the serpent to show up right in the middle. I’m going to read you a portion of scripture, I just want you to sit tight, but if you want to take down where it is, I’m going to be reading the portion to you out of Luke 22.
«Then they arrested Jesus, led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a slave girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, 'This man was with him too! ' Peter denied it, 'Woman, I don’t know him.' Then a little later someone else saw him and said, 'You are one of them too.' But Peter said, 'Man, I am not! ' And after about an hour, still another insisted, 'Certainly this man was with him, because he, too, was a Galilean.' But Peter said, 'Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.' And at that moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.' And he went out and wept bitterly».
In the West, our culture has put us in that same courtyard that we have an overwhelming tide of unpopularity that is being waged and poured over our whole belief system. Christianity in modern times has never been as unpopular as it is now, and certainly not from the very top of our society and of governments and authorities. Nothing like this in modern history. And here we are in this courtyard and our culture, the powers that be, and the big voices that are trying to undermine every single value we have through media of television programming, of movies, of everything else coming against us, all sorts of media, all sorts of images hitting us consistently.
What our culture is trying to do is kill Jesus. Let’s just kill him and be done with him. Only they’re too late. They are too late. He has already been crucified for their sins and mine. And once he has been raised from the dead, there ain’t no killing Jesus. There ain’t no killing Jesus. But here’s what happens while their culture’s trying to kill Jesus, trying to kill Jesus, trying to kill Jesus, and Jesus is on trial, and it’s not going well from all the judges. It’s not going well, it’s not going well, and we’re out here, we’re in the courtyard of our world, and somebody looks at us and say, «Aren’t you one of those weirdos»? «No, I’m not one of them». «No, I…» «But don’t you believe that same»? «You know what? No, I’m not really like them».
Does this speak anybody’s language today? It nearly killed me. Because when the world says, «Aren’t you thrown in with him and all this stuff»? «No, no, not really». And the rooster crows, and the eyes of Jesus turn toward us. And we weep bitterly because we sold out the One who set us free, who purchased us from slavery. I have a feeling somebody here is in the middle of something pretty huge that you really could get out of.
There are middles we can’t get out of. Going through a big time of transition, we’re just in it, we’re just in it. But somebody in this house, I say this without condemnation, I say this is an invitation to be free, is right in the middle of an affair. Somebody in this room is right in the middle of an embezzlement in your workplace, right in the middle of criminal activity, right in the middle of being abusive, abusive to another human being. There is a middle we can get out of. There is sin we can flee from. I don’t know how long God will leave «Living Proof Live».
I don’t know. We haven’t borrowed on a single year. We never knew if there’d be a second year, a third year, a fifth year, a tenth year, a 15th year, an 18th year. We certainly didn’t know there’d be a 19th year. But I make a commitment to you and I want you to hold me to it. I mean, I want to hear from you about it. I want you to write the ministry a letter and say, you said to us, I want you to hold me to this, that throughout the lifetime of «Living Proof Live», we will not avoid the word repentance, because let me tell you, we have come to a time in our age with many wonderful things going on globally in the church. Such fiery hearts for Jesus, such worship for Jesus, but if we are not careful, we are going to lose from our church vocabulary and our Christian vocabulary the most transformative word besides the very name of Jesus, and that is repentance.
Listen, you’re thinking, but I don’t want someone to make me repent. Then you’ve misunderstood the invitation of repentance. He’s not making you repent, he’s saying you get to. You have the invitation to repent. Today, we get to repent of our sins. That’s not something that you grovel on the floor over. That’s something you get up and jump up and down and go, what? What? Are you telling me I get to repent?
I just get to today go, I’ve really, really messed up. I’m really in a heap of sin. I’ve done things I would have sworn to you I would never do and I’ve had so much pride and arrogance. I’ve treated people so mean. I have been so, so ugly, and I get to repent? If you’re in the middle of an affair, you get to repent as you leave here and you’re out of it, you never contact them again. And no, you don’t tell me, you know, «I need to contact them one more time». Oh, no, you don’t. The serpent will be waiting to rope you right back into that stair. You are done as of today. You are done with it.