The Good News Is the Bad News Was Wrong Num 13:30-33 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. KJV 1 Sam 17:4-5 4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. 1 2 INTRO: -I came to this place today w/a word in my spirit; to tell somebody that everything is not as it appears -I came to tell somebody who has been overwhelmed by their circumstances {there is more to this than meets the eye} -I have come to speak faith to somebody To provoke them to shift -Out of the natural into the supernatural, -Out of the visible into the invisible, -Out of the realm of feelings into the realm of faith You see by faith the elders obtained a good report {Joshua & Caleb s report was a good report because it was a faith report} -The other 10 spies brought back what the bible calls an evil report. Why was it an evil report? Because it contradicted the word of God. -I m talking to somebody today: You ve been listening to an evil report, you ve been listening to what your circumstances are saying, you ve been listening to what your feelings are saying & what your enemies are saying, & what your friends are saying.
3 4 -Isaiah asked the question (Whose report will you believe?) -David was tending his fathers flock one day & a lion, suddenly appeared & stole a lamb from the fold. -Most people would have said: I ll never see that lamb again, Some would have just written it off as a casualty & said the devil got that one. -Most people would have said: I better just stay here & protect what I got left. -& that is what the devil {or lion, was counting on} -That devil, {or lion, never counted on someone like David} -David wasn t like most people, he took it personal & he took it hard, it angered him that a lion would break into his fold, & invade the safety of his sheep Then steal from him. -No doubt this devil, I mean this lion had invaded many flocks before, & tore up marriages, & tore up ministries & killed dreams, & stole hope & joy & peace from many homes -No doubt this devil had carried sons & daughters off into drug addiction, homosexuality, perversion. -This was not the first flock, he had invaded, -This was not the first lamb he had stolen. -& time after time he left behind him a broken man broken women, broken homes, broken children. -And from all natural appearances this devil had succeeded again. -(Look at your neighbor & tell them, It ain t that way) -This time it s gonn a be different -Instead of David sitting down & crying, & saying why me? Why d this have to happen to me? David refuse just to write off his losses & settle for Left Overs.
5 6 -(Let me STOP right here & tell you, That some of you here are Settling for Left Overs) -Are you Just happy to have something Left Overs, Just thankful that the devil didn t take it all. -Are you Just satisfied to still be in your right mind, Are you Just satisfied just to have enough money to make ends meet. AP -But I believe Tonight that I am talking to somebody that is Sick & Tired of LeftOvers. -I just believe somebody here wants some of that milk & honey. -I just believe somebody here believes that God wants to bless you. -If I m talking to you, turn & tell someone (he s talking to me). -David could have done like most people & settled down w/his leftovers & just been thankful, but David had that shepherds anointing. The kind of Anointing that is willing to leave the 90 & 9 & went out searching until he found the 1 lost sheep). -David went out after that lion & hunted him down. -And when he found him, the lamb was still in his mouth (ALIVE) he smote him & took the lamb out of his mouth. -Every natural evidence would have told David: write off your losses, that lamb is history. -His imagination probably was showing him a horrific death of this little lamb. -But the truth was: that lamb had not been torn to shreds by this lions paws, & teeth, (this lamb was alive & well). -Remember Jacob & how his sons had brought Joseph s coat to him dipped in blood -Jacob saw the coat & he saw the blood & his mind went crazy, his imagination went wild of what may have happened
7 8 Ge 37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. -For about 15 yrs Jacob played the scene of Joseph s horrible death in his imagination. -But the truth is: he was wrong, Joseph was not dead, Joseph was alive. -Jacob looked at the evidence in front of him, & based on the evidence, he wrote the rest of the story. -I m telling somebody tonight, you can t judge a book by one chapter. You can t look at one chapter of my life, & write my story. -No one has the right to write my story but me. Acts 3: 2-6 There was a lame man, who was a begger, he had never walked, he was a burden on society. But in vs 8 He is walking & leaping & praising God. Vs 9-10 And all the people saw him walking and praising God: 10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. Listen: This chapter of my life may look rough, things might not look too good, I may have even slipped a couple of times. I might have had to cry myself to sleep. -But don t judge me yet, don t write me off, don t finish my story because of a bad chapter Don t close the Book -Because in my next chapter I m going to be amazing. -Jacob looked at the evidence & wrote Joseph off, but While Jacob was grieving over Joseph s death, Joseph was ruling over Egypt. Tell your neighbor: I ve got some good news for you. The good news is: The bad news was wrong
9 10 -The bad news said: You re going to die, Hey you ve been looking at the evidence but the good news said (Ye shall live & not die) -The bad news said: You re going to lose your mind: but the good news said: thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. -The bad news said: That lamb is gone, that marriage is dead, that son or that daughter is a hopeless case. ( I trained Him up & he will be back) -The bad news said: You ll never see your dreams you ll never have that ministry you ve envisioned But the good news is: The bad news was wrong. -Joseph was not dead -That lamb was not dead - Golihath was killed by David - The children of Israel did Conquer Canaan Land & all the evidence is screaming disaster, it s screaming death, it s screaming hopeless, (It s saying: Just write off your losses & settle for the leftovers). -But I know somebody here I m sick & tired of leftovers, your sick & tired of settling for an ant hill when God has promised you the mountain. -I wish somebody would shout: No more leftovers I refuse to settle for Leftovers - Hey it was the devil intention to kill Joseph it was the lions intention to kill that lamb. But God wouldn t let the enemy close his mouth. Sometimes God closes the lions mouth -David & his men had returned to ziklag to find their city burned with fire. -David knew the enemy s protocol, was to rape & pillage, & destroy, everything -All the men including David, began to weep: & sometimes God makes he holds it open & he can t close it.
11 12 -David could have sunk into deep depression, he could have contemplated suicide, he could have started blaming God. He could have ran & lost his mind. -But in the darkest hour of David s life I believe something began to stir in David, & he remembered the day a lion violated his sheepfold, & I just believe he remembered, that things aren t always as they appear. & I just believe he remembered that the enemy is a master at presenting false evidence. -And David enquired of the Lord. Shall I pursue? God said: Thou shalt pursue, and thou shalt overtake and thou shalt surely recover all. I came to tell somebody: The good news is (the bad news is wrong) I came to tell somebody, It s not what it seems like It ain t gone it s just out of sight. Joseph isn t dead he s just out of sight The lamb isn t dead it s just out of sight -Somebody tonight is getting a faith lift, -somebody tonight is getting ready to shift into the faith dimension -& somebody is getting ready to take back what the devil stole from you. -That lion wanted to destroy that lamb, but God wouldn t let him close his mouth. -Somebody needs to know tonight that it s not gone it s just in storage. -God has been letting the devil hold it for you, till your faith was strong enough to fight & repossesses what belongs to you. I came to tell somebody, It ain t over till you quit, Tell your neighbor: I have some good news for you today (The good news is, the bad news was wrong).
13 1 Samuel 17:34-35 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.