A Temporary, God-Appointed Wilderness — Carter Conlon

The Wilderness in Luke and Exodus

I have a word from the Lord today. And it's found in Luke chapter four and Exodus chapter 13. So if you wanna start in Luke chapter four and then just put a marker in Exodus second book from the beginning of your Bible is Exodus chapter 13.

And Luke is the third book in the New Testament. It's called A Temporary God Appointed Wilderness. A Temporary God Appointed Wilderness. Now, Father, I thank you, Lord, with all my heart how you have spoken to me this week.

Thank you, Lord, that you've stirred my heart. You have stirred this message deep inside of me. I ask you, Lord, that you give me the grace and ability to convey it clearly, simply to every heart that's here and those who will be hearing it online in the future.

So, God, that there would be no misunderstanding of your ways and how you teach and prepare your people for a specific moment in time for each of our lives. I thank you for this with all my heart. I pray, God, that you quicken this physical body, quicken us as an audience to be able to hear this as your church, your beloved bride.

Thank you for the knowledge that everything you do and everything you allow into our lives is out of a heart of love. For you passionately love your church and you don't do anything to bring harm. Everything works together for good to those of us who love you and are called according to your purpose.

Give us the grace to believe this and to understand it. Give us understanding of your ways today and open to us, Lord, things that we're naturally not inclined to hear, but they are there, they're evident, they're plain, clear in your word, they're not hidden.

And I thank you for it with all my heart. In Jesus' name. We start in Luke chapter four. I wanna speak about a temporary God-appointed wilderness. Anybody here in a wilderness? Anybody in a wilderness?

Oh, look at the hands. Well, we're gonna talk about that. And while you're there, the devil tries to tell you you've taken a wrong turn, but that's not true. Luke chapter four, just verse one, and then we'll go to verse 14.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. In verse 14, then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of him went out throughout all the surrounding region, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Jesus’ Baptism and Submission to the Father’s Will

Now, this historical account that we're reading about in Luke chapter four shows us Jesus Christ, the Son of God, at a specific time in his life, just like you and I have specific times, specific callings, reasons why God will choose to do something.

Verse one describes him at this point in his ministry on the earth as filled with the Holy Spirit, and just returning from Jordan. So he's empowered by God, and he has publicly gone into the waters of baptism.

The waters of baptism, for the general populace, of course, meant turning from sin and turning to a life that is birthed and lived in God, but that's not what his baptism was about. He didn't have to turn from sin.

But his baptism was a public declaration that I'm dying to my own will. Remember, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed, not my will, Father, but thine be done. I'm dying to my own will. Don't forget, he was not only fully God, but he was also fully man.

He had a will like you and I have, desires like you and I have. He was tested, the scripture says, in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. And he went down into that water, and when he went down into the water and came up, and he did it publicly before the people that were gathered as a declaration, I am going to do the will of my Father.

I'm not going to live for my own purposes. God has a divine purpose. God the Father has a divine purpose for my life, and that purpose is, I am determined that that purpose is going to be fulfilled, even though everything humanity and hell can send against me will try to turn me from that purpose.

I am determined to fulfill the calling of God on my life. And there is a point in every Christian's life that we get to that place, where we too are given the Spirit of God. We become a new person in Christ Jesus.

New Creation and the Christian’s Divine Purpose

We are given a new mind, a new heart, a new spirit. The old things are passing away, and all things are becoming new. We make a determination in our heart that we have our Jordan moment, where we say, God, I want to live on this earth for what you want me to live for.

Now, we don't fully understand that, but we do know there's a divine purpose for each life. We're not created just to be counted in a church. Each one of us has a purpose, and nobody else can do what we're called to do, and nobody can do it in the way we're called to do it.

We are each very, very unique in that respect. And you would think at this point, being filled with the Spirit, publicly acknowledging I'm going to live for the will of my Father, that you'd be immediately brought into the temple, immediately would start teaching, immediately would become an instructor of ways of righteousness, but that's not the way it went.

Coming out of the Jordan filled with the Holy Spirit, the scripture says he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Now, it's not a wilderness of unbelief. There is a wilderness people can go into because they choose not to believe God.

And unbelief has a wilderness that I don't wish on anybody here. It's a dry, barren, hopeless, powerless place that people can live their whole life there. They can know God. They can have the knowledge of scripture.

They can even know what should have been theirs, but unbelief caused them not to go into it, and they end up dwelling in this desert place, and they run to try to get out of it, but they can't find the exit.

The God-Appointed Wilderness of Faith

No, it's not a wilderness of unbelief, but it's rather a temporary God-appointed wilderness that comes to each of us because we have chosen the way of faith. It's something that God appoints. It's something that he does.

It's not our choice, and it's got nothing to do with unbelief. It's a wilderness that you will experience because you've chosen to walk with God. Now, remember that God's ways are not our ways. We wouldn't do it this way.

If we were God, we'd promote ourselves to the top of the company right away. We were God, we'd look at our own resume and say, what an incredibly loyal servant, filled with the Holy Ghost, baptized in the Jordan.

Man, you're CEO material, and we would just, we would promote ourselves. Right away, we'd be standing before crowds of thousands and telling them all how to live the Christian life, but that's not the way it is with God.

Even his own son had to be led into a wilderness. The wilderness is a place where disciples and decisions are made. It's a place where character is formed and character is set. It's a place where God begins that initial work in our lives that will give us the courage to finish our journey and to finish it well, and to do it the way that God prescribes it to be done, not the way we think it should be done.

Moses, David, and John Prepared in the Wilderness

Think about throughout scriptural history. Moses, for example, was made ready for his true calling by having his own wilderness experience. His lasted for 40 years, and when God came to him and finally called him to what he always knew he was called to do, he was not only in the desert.

The scripture says he was in the back of the desert, the deepest part of the desert, the farthest away part of the desert. As far back in the wilderness as you can get, that's where he was. He was 80 years old, and in the natural, you would say his time fulfilling the call of God on his life is over, but because of the wilderness, it had actually just begun.

David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, was accused of having no battle ability because his only experience had been in the wilderness. Remember, his older brother said to him in 1 Samuel 17, 28, with who have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?

What they failed to realize is that he had received and learned about the true strength of God in the wilderness, something they had not learned yet. With all their military training, with all of their repetitious battle strategies and all the things that they thought they knew, none of them had any courage to fight the giant.

But in the wilderness, David had found the courage of God. He found the battle plan of God, and he found the strength of God. John the Baptist in Luke chapter three and verse two says the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

It was in the wilderness that John received a revelation that his generation didn't have. It was coming out of the wilderness that John could say, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

How could he have known that? Except God had given it to him, and God chose to give it to him in the wilderness. Not in a palace, not in a hammock, not in luxury, not listening to his favorite CD of his favorite worship, but he was in the wilderness.

The Barren and Unappealing Nature of the Wilderness

Now, the wilderness is a place that seems to be barren. The wilderness is a place that in our hearts we say, what possible good could come from me being here? Have you ever said that? Have you ever gone in your prayer closet and say, God, what good could come from this?

I'm in such a barren place. It's a place where there's nothing appealing to the natural eye. I don't like it here. You ever prayed that? I don't like it here. I'm not gonna lie to you, God. I'm not gonna fancy it up with King James language.

I don't like this place. I don't like where I am. I don't like what you're doing in my life. Whatever it is that you're doing, I don't like what you're doing. I know I'm supposed to trust it, but I don't like it.

In the wilderness, there are no familiar landmarks. There's nothing that gives you a sense of bearing of where you are. It seems to be a strange place because in the wilderness, the boundaries just can't seem to be found.

And you can wander around. There's nothing there that tells you I've been here before. In the wilderness, it's completely unappealing to our senses. Doesn't smell good, doesn't taste good, doesn't look good, doesn't sound good.

Just this howling wind all the time. There's nothing about it. It's a place that nobody is rushing to get into and everybody is rushing to get out. And yet for some reason, God takes us there. And the question is, why would he do that?

Why would he? I have been in the wilderness so many times I can do tours now. I know a little bit about this. The wilderness is sent to prepare us for the divine purpose for our lives. You see, because we will be opposed when we begin to do what God's called us to do, we'll be opposed.

We'll be opposed by an enemy that is subtle. We'll be opposed by an enemy that is not subtle sometimes. We'll be opposed with words. We'll be opposed with circumstances. We'll be opposed with strategies.

We'll be opposed by hell itself sometimes. And if we're not prepared for the opposition that's going to come our way, we will turn back in the day of battle. And God knows it. Now in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17, here are God's own people.

Israel’s Wilderness Route and Preparation for War

They're coming out of captivity and they're going into the promised land. Now you and I know from the testimony of the book of Acts, you remember Philip, the evangelist? He met the Ethiopian eunuch in the chariot and he took him to the water, baptized him.

And then the scripture says he was taken away. I mean, he just disappeared when they come out of the water and he was found at Azotus, another place. He was translated. Now God could have done that. God could have, the moment his own people left the borders of Egypt, they could have been immediately in the promised land.

There's nothing prohibiting God from doing that. But he chose not to do it that way. In Exodus 13, verses 17 and 18, we see why. It says, then it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.

For God said, lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, lest they change their minds. They can't go into battle too quickly because they're not prepared.

And that's, thank God, thank God, that he doesn't take us in our youth and our zeal and put us in that place which is the ultimate fulfillment of what he has for each of our lives because we wouldn't be able to stand there.

There has to be some kind of preparation of character that God begins to work inside each of our hearts. We would like it to be in spiritual warfare class 101. We'd like to read a chapter in a book and just come out super Christian.

You know, the devil just simply can never triumph over me. It would be nice if we could just do it with learning, but it doesn't work that way because there are some things you can't learn. There's some things have to be learned through experience.

There are some things that God himself has to work within us. And when the children of Israel, if you go to Exodus again, and let me just make sure I got the right verses here. Exodus chapter 14, verse 10, it says, when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them.

So they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, you're taking us away to die in the wilderness? I remember one time being out on a gravel road, if you know my testimony, and I just shouted at God, is this how you treat your friends?

That really did happen, folks. Is this what you do to those who serve you? In my youth, I didn't understand why the wilderness experience is necessary in people's lives. Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt?

Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today.

For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you will hold your peace. Now the wilderness is a place that you will learn when your old enemies pursue you and you have nowhere to hide and you have no natural strength to defend yourself, you will learn in the wilderness, stand still, be quiet, God is gonna fight for you.

Let God fight for you. Again, in Exodus 15, verse 22. And so Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea and they went out into the wilderness of shore. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

Trusting God When the Waters Are Bitter

When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses saying, what shall we drink?

So he cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. And there he made them a statute and an ordinance for them. And there he tested them and said, if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians for I am the Lord who heals you.

In the wilderness, it's a place where you and I will learn to trust in divine purpose. We learn to trust in God. And in the wilderness, even the bitter things become sweet. I believe that tree was a type of the cross of Jesus Christ.

When life takes a bitter turn, when the word of God is not bringing comfort, when there's nothing to be found around in this wilderness place, suddenly the tree appears, the cross of Jesus Christ and God says, you trust me.

You trust me. There's a divine purpose to your life. And if you begin to understand that all things do work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose, even the bitter places will become sweet.

You'll not be circumstance driven anymore. Your faith will not be up and down like a roller coaster. You'll walk on an even keel and you'll say, I will trust in God though the mountains shake and be cast into the sea, though the seas roar and overflow their borders, I will not be moved by these things for I've learned to trust in God.

He is my stay, he's my tower, he's my shield, he's my hope. And he promises that none of the plagues that touch the minds of the unsaved who are driven by the winds and their sense of wellbeing is determined by the height of the stock market and the depth of their depravity.

None of these things will affect me as a child of God. I'll be able to stand in the midst of the sea and though it may drown others, I'm gonna believe that God's gonna make a path for me for all things do work together for good because I do love God with all my heart.

Living by God’s Promises Rather Than Circumstances

Exodus 16, chapter 16, verse two, it says, then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt.

When we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full, they leave out when our backs were whipped till they were bleeding and we had no hope for the future. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger.

Then the Lord said to Moses, behold, I'll rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not. The wilderness is a place where even when the old ways begin to look better than where you are, the promises of God have the power in your heart to keep you from turning back.

It's a place where you and I begin to live by the promises of God. We don't live by our circumstance. We don't live, we don't sing, we don't worship because we feel good. We worship because we've learned to.

Trust in God. In Luke chapter four again, the scripture says the devil came to Jesus and said, if you're the son of God, commend this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered him saying, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Jesus’ Temptation to Seek Comfort and Power

You see, the devil came to tempt him, to test him and say, command this difficult place to become something more satisfying and familiar. But Jesus said, no, that's not how men are going to live. We're not going to live by searching out softness in this life.

We're not going to live by trying to command our difficult places to become easy. We're going to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And I may stand here and I may be hungry. And this may be a wilderness and it might be an unpleasant moment in my life, but I am not going to use the faith that God has given me for my own good.

I am called to live for others. I'm going to trust God in this wilderness. And I'm going to be sustained not by bread, but I'm going to be sustained by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

And there is no way that you can learn that apart from being in the wilderness. Again, in verse five, says the devil took him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And the devil said to him, all this authority will I give you and their glory. For this has been delivered to me and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours.

And Jesus answered and said, get behind me, Satan. It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. In the wilderness, it's a place where you and I learn that if success should accompany our mission in life, if the praises of man for a season should become our portion, that we will not let pride and self-satisfaction become our worship and our story.

We will remember who we serve and who we worship. We will remember that without him, we have no story. In the wilderness, we learn it. That if God does not sustain me, I'm not going to be sustained. If God does not lead me, I'm not going to be led.

If God doesn't get me out of here, I'm not getting out of here. If God doesn't put words in my mouth, I'll have nothing to say. If God doesn't give me power, I will never change. And so, if God should raise me up, if God should raise you up, if we should have the privilege of standing and speaking for him, if his glory should come upon our lives, he is the only one that will get the praise and get the glory and get the worship.

Because it's in the wilderness that we learn what we are. We are powerless without him. We are directionless without him. We are hopeless without him. We are mindless without him. We have no strength.

We have no power. We have nothing without him. But because of him, we are given all things. And we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. But if God should use your life for his glory, if God should use this church, pray with me that the testimony of this church will always and only ever just be about one name, the name of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

Jesus’ Temptation to Presume upon God

And lastly, Luke chapter four, verse nine says, then he brought him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you.

And in their hands, they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, it has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. In the wilderness, we learn that if ministry leads us to a fearful place, and we're coming into a fearful place.

I've shared with you before that in this country, we are midway between persecution and prosecution. And you're now starting to realize that prosecution is beginning. It's starting in the outer circle, but it's going to come right into the church.

It won't be very long now. And we'll be given a choice. But if ministry leads to a fearful place, that you and I will not doubt the faithfulness of God, nor look for a quick and easy way out. Standing on the pinnacle of the temple would be a fearful place.

It's a long way to fall down. It's a place where Satan is trying to instill fear and doubt in the heart of the son of God, that God's words to him will actually be true, that God will actually sustain him.

That there will ultimately be a divine purpose in this fearful place. If you're the son of God, jump down. That same voice was at Calvary. That same devil speaking through the religious crowd. If you're the son of God, come down from the cross and we will believe you.

Same voice, same temptation. But you see, he'd been through it in the wilderness. And because he'd been through it in the wilderness when it came to him on the cross, when it came to him at the moment in his life that it mattered the most, he was not tempted to give in to that temptation and use his power to get out of trouble.

Many people have never been tested in the wilderness are going to take the easy way out in the days ahead. You mark my word, churches are going to compromise and begin doing things explicitly against the word of God.

Because they've not been in the wilderness, they've not been proven, they've not been tested. They've shunned this classroom of Christ. Ah, but verse 14 says, then Jesus returned in power. He came out of the wilderness with power of the Spirit to Galilee and the news of him went out throughout all the surrounding region.

And he taught in the synagogues being glorified of all. Oh yes, he came out of the wilderness and he came out different than he went in. And he came out with a word and he began to teach the people. And the people said, we've never heard it like this.

Coming Out of the Wilderness in the Power of the Spirit

I mean, our scribes tell us similar words. Our Pharisees quote similar scriptures, but we've never heard it like this. His word was with power, his word was clear. His word was with determination, authority, ability.

It instilled faith in the hearts of those who hear it. It says he taught in the synagogues and was glorified of all. Today, you and I are living at a time when society thinks that we are shut in. Remember, Pharaoh said the wilderness has shut them in, let's go conquer them.

That we are non-players in our present society and our future society. The church has been marginalized, relegated to obscurity, and now looked upon as easy prey to conquer. Oh, not so fast, devil, not so fast.

Not so fast, not so fast. The testimony of the church is about to change. In my heart, I know one thing that one more time, one more time, one more time, when people think that they've been able to conquer the testimony of Christ, one more time, there's gonna be a sudden awakening and society itself is going to say, who is this coming up out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved?

Who is this? Who are these 120 people coming out of an upper room where we sealed them up and told them, your cause is lost, your hope in the Savior is useless. Who are these people coming out of this wilderness place that we placed them in?

Who is it that they're leaning on? And where did they get such power? And why does their speech seemingly have the power to go right through us? Why is our religion demolished in their presence? Why do we feel undone?

Why do we feel the presence of God? I thought we were rid of him. My God, they said, what must we do to have what they have? You can see their beads and their phylacteries and their years of religious pride simply falling through their fingers to the ground.

Their venomous hatred of Jesus Christ is no longer on their lips. They're now saying, what must we do to have what they have? Who is it? And how did they get this power? They got it when they ran from the garden.

They got it when they realized what they really were without God. They got it when in simple obedience, they just simply went into a place where they knew only God could get them out. And they came out in the power of God's Holy Spirit and overthrew the spiritually godless society that was trying to swallow them up.

The Temporary Wilderness and the Church’s Future Testimony

One more time, one more time. I love it because the devil always overplays his hand. If he was smart, he would stop right now where he is, but he can't for some reason. And he will overplay his hand. When he overplays his hand, he's going to wake up a sleeping giant in America.

Yes, we're in the wilderness. And yes, we're going to learn our lessons there. But by God's grace, you and I, arm in arm, leaning on our Savior are coming out and we're coming out in the power of God.

Hallelujah. The wilderness is only temporary and it's appointed by God. And we learn our lessons there. And huge lessons are being learned right now. So don't despise where you are, learn to thank God for it.

Oh, thank God for the wilderness. Thank God, thank God, thank God that he doesn't do things our way. Thank God that he takes us to where strength is, healing is, power really is. Thank God that the ways of his are foolishness to those who don't know God.

As a matter of fact, it's so foolish to them, they don't even see it coming. It's like people standing on a railway track denying that a train is coming their way. But I'm telling you, a train is coming.

Prayer for Courage, Faithfulness, and Spiritual Preparation

Thank God. And Father, I thank you, Lord, for giving me this ability to speak your heart. If ever I've known I've spoken from heaven, I have this morning. So Jesus, give us the courage to embrace your full will for each of our lives right where we are and right in the place where we'd rather not be.

And help us to understand that all things are working together for good because we do love you and we are called according to your divine purpose. Thank you for the example, not only of others in scripture, but of the son of God himself.

If anybody should have qualified not to have to go into the wilderness, it should have been Jesus. But he showed us the way and he walked the pathway that we have to walk. We're called to consider him.

And so we do. Thank you, Lord, God Almighty, that you are touched with the feelings of our weaknesses. And you tell us now to come boldly to your throne of grace to find help in our time of need. Thank you that you're preparing a people in the testimony for this generation, that our society will not go down without a fight from God himself, through a people that he has prepared.

I thank you for this with all my heart. Oh, Jesus Christ, thank you. God Almighty, thank you for those men and women who are going to come out of the wilderness leaning on their beloved. Those are going to affect this generation.

They're going to have courage, they're going to stand. They're not going to flee when it gets hard. They're not going to trust in their own strength. They're going to stand still and see your salvation.

They're not going to use their authority with you to try to escape the difficult places. And they will not run when it gets fearful. I thank you for this with all my heart. All through history, Lord, your kingdom has advanced while your people have been persecuted, marginalized, put in jail, laughed at and even martyred.

But all that's happened through all of it is the testimony of your name has gotten stronger from age to age and generation to generation. And now here we are near the end. And I believe, Lord, with all my heart that you saved the best wine for the end of the banquet.

I believe with everything in me that the glory of the latter house is greater than the former. I believe it with every fiber in my being. And so I stand at your throne and not trembling. Oh God, I stand with boldness.

And I thank you for who you are and what you do. And I thank you that you've not left your name without a testimony in this generation. I thank you, Lord God, that you have been preparing a people all along.

We just have not understood it fully what you're doing. Oh God, I praise you, Lord. For a day comes when Moses gets the call. A day comes when David walks in the camp. A day comes, oh God, a day comes, Lord.

A day comes when John comes out of the wilderness and says, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus, Son of God, give us power. Give us speech, Lord God, the weight of eternity on it.

Give us determination in our hearts. Form our characters, oh God, deep within us. Let your kingdom come and let your will be done in us as it is in heaven. Father, we thank you for these things. Oh God almighty.