Hear No Evil

Hear No Evil

Growing up I was exposed to

And had to listen to

Most times not by my choice

A wide range of musical genres

My mom was into rock and roll

My dad was a little more easy listening

My one set of grandparents

Were into country

And my other set of grandparents

Were into classical music and opera

In fact one of there sons

My uncle

Was basically running the St. Louis opera company

At one point

Of course one of the singers

They liked and admired

Was Beverly Sills

Who just recently passed away

Now while I’m not a huge fan of her music

Her story certainly is inspirational

Although she was very talented

She was rejected for many parts

Because she was not Italian

Yet she never became bitter

Now not only was her career a challenge

But her personal life

Had some pretty rough moments as well

Both of her children were born handicapped

And one was severely retarded

There was also the time that

She bought a house in MA

Only to have it burn to the ground

2 days after moving in

So between rejection

And personal setback

She had every right to be bitter

But yet the nickname her friends gave her

Was bubbles

She once said this

I choose to be cheerful. Years ago I knew I had little or no choice about success, but I knew I
could choose to be cheerful regardless.

What an incredible attitude

You see as humans

We can’t change our past

How other people treat us

We can’t change that

People will try to

Tear us down

And hold us back

But we can choose

Our attitude

Now I know right now

Some of you are going through

Some rough times

Job finances conflict in family illness

And you’re getting this wide range

Of advice and opinions

From other people

Of what to do

And how to react

But I want you to remember

You choose your attitude

Who you are

And what you become

Will largely be impacted by

The thoughts you allow to dominate your mind

So you’ve got to be careful

About what you’re allowing

To feed into you

Today is part two of our

3 Wise Monkeys series

Which as I told you last week

Is the English translation of the Japanese

Word sanzaru

Or what we more commonly say as

See no evil

Hear no evil

Speak no evil

Today will look at how to

Make sure that

What we hear is not having an

Adverse effect on our attitudes

Now as we start

Let me say that

I’m not talking today about

just merely positive thinking

You know like the

Little train that could

I think I can

No when you’ve got big problems occurring

In your life

You need more than fluff

You need God-sized reasons

To be positive

So that’s what I want to look at

Let me begin though by

Talking about circumstance

And I don’t want to be too overly obvious but

1. Negative circumstances will always be a part of my life.

Because we live in a sinful

Fallen world

Pain and difficulty will always be

A part of our existence

While here on the earth

Life is not fair

People are not always nice

Or follow through with

what they say they’re going to do

Things don’t always go

According to plan

Until the day you die

You’re going to get the

Short end of the stick

From time to time

Which leaves you with

2 choices

Either you can whine about it

Or you can learn to deal with it

2. Even when I have good circumstances, that does not guarantee happiness.

We’ve all had times when

We said

If I just had

A different job

A bigger house

A sexier wife

A more sensitive husband

More money in the bank

Nicer clothes

Then I’d be happy

But then we get those things

Only to discover

That while we were happy for a short time

It wore off

And now were looking

For the next thing

In other words

Our society teaches us that

The grass is always greener

On the other side

But that’s just not true

Look at the lives of

Lindsay Lohan and Brittney Spears

Here are two girls

That had it all

But yet there lives are miserable

Why

Because good circumstances

Don’t guarantee happiness

And what you’re hearing from others

Does affect your life

Now I’m not saying

It’s wrong to try to change your circumstance

To have more or be more

But what I’m saying is

We need to put as much effort

Into changing our attitude

What’s going on

On the inside

As we do the outside

And again we’ve got to be real careful

Not to let negative people drag us down

So I want to take a look today

At a story found in

The OT book of numbers

About 2 men

Who had to deal with

Difficult circumstances

And 1000’s of negative people

There names were

Joshua and Caleb

Now let me start by giving you some context

Behind the story we’re about to look at

The nation of Israel

Had been in slavery to the Egyptians

But then they escaped

Most of us have heard the story of God

Parting the Red Sea

And now they are out in the desert

Where they’ve spent 2 years

Preparing to enter into

the land which they

were promised

When it comes time

Moses sends 12 spies out

On a 40 mission into the enemy territory

To spy out the land

When they return

He asks for a report

The first spy says

It is indeed a magnificent land

The soil is rich and fertile

You should see the fruit that grows there

But…

And as he pauses

A second spy jumps in

But…the people living there

Are very powerful

There not going to leave without a fight

Another spy interrupts and says

And there cities…

Oh my goodness…

They are fortified

And guarded like a maximum security prison

A 4th spy then says

Uhh yeah and the guards

Well Moses

Have you been watching American Gladiators

I mean they’re bigger

Than Titan and Justice and Wolf

As a matter of fact

As compared to them

Were just like tiny insects

Another spy jumps in and says

And that’s not the worst of it

There is a lot more of them

Than there are of us

Now as you might imagine

This is not the report that Moses

Nor the people

Were hoping to hear

Someone shouts

So this is the promised land huh

Another one adds

Yeah sounds like a promise to die

To me

And before you know it

The whole crowd is

Grumbling and complaining

But then Caleb stands up and says

Hey I think we can do this

God’s brought us this far

Why would he let us down now

But the rest of the spies say

You’re crazy

You saw what we saw

There’s no way we can take them on

We’ll get our butts kicked

And the bible says

The majority were negative

And began weeping and

carrying on all night long

Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Numbers 14:2-3

Now the question is

Why was Caleb

And as we’ll see in a second Joshua

So positive

While everyone else was negative

What was going on

Inside them

That made them respond differently

Than everyone else

Joshua and Caleb, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

Numbers 14:6-9

The difference is obvious

The whiners said

God will kill us

Joshua and Caleb said

No the Lord loves us

And that’s the first key to a positive attitude

1. I must never forget that God loves me.

A huge part of you attitude hinges on

What you believe about God

If you believe that

God is against you

Then every difficult circumstance or person

Will cause you to whine

But if you believe that

God is for you

Then all of the sudden

You’re attitude will change

Now I know some of you are saying

Yeah but Gilbert if God

Were really for me

Wouldn’t my life go a lot smoother

That’s a great question

And Paul answers it

Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture. Even though we are in danger of death at all times and our enemy considers us nothing more than sheep to be slaughtered, none of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 8:35-39

Paul is saying

No matter what is happening in your life

If you forget that God loves you

stop for a moment and think

About the cross

That’s the ultimate proof that

God loves you

The bible says

God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Romans 5:8

That verse has always amazed me

Jesus didn’t’ wait until

We had cleaned up our acts

To die for us

In other words

You do something for me

And I’ll do something for you

No he died for us

Not knowing whether or not

We’d return the love

So don’t ever forget

No matter what you’re going through

Or what others are saying

That God loves you

And he wants to help you

That’s one of differences between

Joshua and Caleb

And the whiners

Here in our story

2. I must keep a proper perspective of what God says about me not others.

In other words

You are who God declares you to be

Not who others say you are

VIDEO- This is the Truth

Isn’t that awesome

It’s all about perspective

Many of you were told

Or are still being told

You’re not good enough

Smart enough

Rich enough

Talented enough

And so you settle for

Too small of a vision

For your life

But that just perpetuates people saying

See you’re no good

You can’t do it

Which in turn

Makes you settle for even smaller things

In your life

And the cycle then continues

So what I’m saying is

In the midst of

Bad circumstances

Or negative talk

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

When you’re following God’s purpose

For your life

And you have the confidence that

He’s going to work everything out

It will help you to maintain a positive attitude

No matter what others

Are saying

So what is it

That you are living for

Have you settled for a small vision

Of I just want to be happy

I just want to make a lot of money

I want everyone to like me

Or are you committed to

Doing something great for God

In this short life

That you have to live

That’s where Joshua and Caleb were

They were like

Hey if God is for us

Who can be against us

If God is telling us to do something

Let’s march ahead

Knowing full well

He’s got our backs

But the whiners said

Let’s go back to Egypt

Lets do our own thing

Go our own way

Which leads to the third key

To a positive attitude in the face of naysayers

And that is

3. I must obey God not listen to the negative talk of others.

When the circumstances or people of life

Have got you down

It’s not enough

Just to know that God loves you

Or to have a proper perspective…

You’ve got to live it out

I lie in the dust; revive me by your word.

Psalm 119:25

When you’re down

And people are kicking dirt on you

You’ve got to rely on God’s word

If you’re struggling with you finances

Find out what the Bible says

Apply its teachings

And watch as your attitude changes

The same could be said about

Marriage parenting how to deal with your boss

How to deal with your

Anger fears doubts

No matter what you’re going through

God’s word has something to say about it

And if you’ll discover what it is

And then apply it to your life

You’ll be blessed

Because God will reward you

Now let me share with you

Right now

That Joshua and Caleb

Didn’t convince the people to

Go into the promised land

At that time

But because they held firm

To the word of God

They were the only 2

From their generation

Who ultimately made it in

Many years later

And you know

That’s a great lesson for us

Because we live in such a fast paced

Microwave

Gotta have it now society

Obeying God’s Word

Doesn’t always give us

Immediate satisfaction

But in the end

It’s the only way

We’ll truly be blessed

4. I must remember that even when others say I can’t God; has the power to help me do the impossible.

Joshua and Caleb weren’t

Closing their eyes to the

Reality of the situation

They knew the people were

Big and bad

They were just convinced that

Their God was

Bigger and badder

That’s been the story of my life

I’ve always been told

You can’t do it

No one thought I’d be able to

make a living as a professional magician

in fact my mom used to say

when are you going to get a real job

but yet I did that for many years

and then when I started a more traditional business

the guy who was

supposed to be helping me

said you’re too young

I don’t help anyone under 30

Because you 20 something’s are too undisciplined

Now I was 22 at the time

And I said oh yeah

Just watch

And before it was all said and done

My distributorship for the company

Was in the top 1% world-wide

And then when God called me into

The ministry and I was

Dreaming about one day being on staff

At one of the big mega churches

People said

You live in the middle of

Nowhere MD

As the Assoc. Pastor

of little country church

There’s no way

That will ever happen

But yet I knew that God had big plans

And sure enough

Rick Warren and Purpose Driven Ministries

One of the biggest and most influential ministries

Called and asked me to be on their staff

What you’ve got to realize is

I never applied for a job with them

They called me

Which just goes to show you

If you’ll keep a proper attitude

No matter what other people are saying

Or the circumstances that

Come your way

God can find you

And help you

No matter where you are at

Here’s the exciting part

God has always taken me from one thing

To an even bigger and better thing

And so here I am with you

And so when I share with you

That I believe God’s vision for us

Is to make a huge eternal impact

On Chambersburg I really believe it

When I’ve shared with you in the past

I believe God’s vision for us is to

Be averaging 5000 in attendance

within the next 5 years

people have said

it can’t be done

but I say

oh yeah

just watch us

Because I believe that

When God is on my side

And I’m within his will

He can help me defeat

Hell with a water gun

And it’s the same for you

Your ability to remain positive

Is directly related to your conviction

Of how much you believe that

God can help you to do

What you can’t

I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13

Now I know some of you are saying

Well Gilbert that sounds really nice

In a church

But that won’t work

In the real world

Which is funny because

That’s the same conclusion that the

Whiners had to

Joshua and Caleb

Then all the people talked about killing them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the Meeting Tent to all the Israelites. The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people ignore me? How long will they not believe me in spite of the miracles I have done among them?

Numbers 14:10-11

That question is still something

That God asks to this day

How long are you going to ignore him

How long will you

Not believe in his power

And I’m not just talking about

A fuzzy mental assent

That yeah there’s a God out there

But I’m talking about a certainty

That God loves you

That he has a plan for you

And that he can do

What you can’t

Because it’s then and only then

That no matter what people say

Or the circumstances that come your way

Where you’ll be able to rise above

And hear no evil

Now this week instead of asking you

To respond to the message by raising your hand

I have a homework assignment for you

I want you to notice on your outline

That in the area

Where I normally have small group questions for you

To discuss

I’ve replaced it with a prayer

I want you to tape it up

To your bathroom mirror

And everyday this week

I want you to pray it

God, I’m in a tough situation right now, but…

I am certain of your love for me because Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins.
And God, I know you have a vision for my life that’s much bigger than my circumstances and so although I don’t know all the details to it yet, I say “yes” to it.
Jesus, I am committed to obeying you, especially in the areas in which I am struggling right now. Show me from the Bible what I am supposed to do.
And finally Lord, even though I’m not sure I can handle everything that’s coming at me or being said about me, I know you can, so I give you permission to carry the load.