I Will Instruct You — Joshua Daniel

Welcome to the Lord's Challenge with Joshua Daniel. The Layman's Evangelical Fellowship International is a ministry reaching people from all walks of life since 1935. After a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ at the age of 16, Joshua Daniel has been declaring the marvellous deliverance from sin, which is freely given to all those who turn to the loving Saviour.

Wherever this message has gone out, broken relationships have been restored, sickness healed, ill-gotten money returned and thieves turned into givers. We now invite you to watch and receive the invaluable blessing that God has for you.

God's Instruction and Guidance in Psalm 32

You know in that portion which we read Psalm 32, you will find in the 8th verse these wonderful words. Psalm 32 and verse 8. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide you with mine eye.

So, the 9th verse says, So be you not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall come pass him about.

Trusting God's Guidance Instead of Worldly Security

I will instruct you. You know, folks, the top man in education was called director of public instruction. Now, that was the designation which the British gave to their top educators. They said the nation needs instruction.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide you with mine eye. You know, friends, the old dollar note or bill had these words, There is in the treasury of the United States silver equivalent to backing this dollar bill.

The present bill says this is legal tender. That's all. So, the standards, the gold standard has gone. The security that seems to come with gold has gone. In other words, America, which has no business to be a debtor to any other nation, has become the biggest debtor nation.

Can you imagine? I never put myself in a position where I owed anything to any man. I thought it would be terrible to be counting up my pennies and saying, hey, when am I, when is the creditor going to appear at the door?

Is Joshua in? He owes me a sum of so much. He has been defaulting hard words. Nobody likes to hear those But God says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way which thou shalt go. Now, folks, the battle of faith is something which we don't necessarily invite.

The Battle of Faith and God's Unfailing Promises

It can sometimes be very tough. No relief, no silver lining to the clouds, nothing but gloom and you have only the promise of God. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Only the promise of God. So, the question will be, will you look at the circumstances, the prevailing wind and weather, or will you look at the reality of the promises, the security which is in God himself?

Isn't that almost an elementary test in a sense? You know, we all say the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. My dear friends, are these just words that we have mouthed or are they real?

The Christian Gospel and Christ's Victory Over the World

You know, one of the basic teachings of Hinduism is and Buddhism, the material world is not real. That's a basic teaching. The material world is not real. So, it's all an illusion. Now, as someone said, science could never have been born in Buddhism or in Hinduism because they say this is not real.

They have a word called Maya, a Sanskrit term which says vanity. It's all vanity. It's not real. So, friends, but when we come to the Christian gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ said, in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world. In other words, you and I are called in following Jesus to be overcomers, overcomers. You know folks, in my own life, the worst battles were my inward battles. It was not circumstances.

Deliverance From the Old Nature Through the Cross

It was not enemies. It was not somebody outside. My, there was a big battle with my own nature. My nature appeared to be an awful obstacle, a negative factor, and the cross held hope to me that my evil nature was crucified through Jesus' death upon the cross.

So, I will cling to the old rugged cross. It's not just the theme of a song. It was a very real thing to me. I had to go to the cross because that was the only hope of deliverance from Joshua Daniel, from my old nature.

So, there, there was a terrific battle, and the Bible tells us, if you turn to the first chapter of 1 Corinthians and verse 30, but of him or you in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, first chapter, verse 30, but of him or you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

The Unchanging Truth of God's Word

So, that's what we have in Christ. You know, we think of the wisdom of the world today. The wisdom of the world is failing. The very word atom means that which cannot be divided. The very word atom in its Greek origins means it's indivisible.

But what do we know today? Oh no, the atom is divisible. So, its very name atom is contradicted. So, science changes. There are many changes that come in science. But God's word never changes. It's truth, you see.

How can truth change? Truth can't be this A, and tomorrow it becomes B, and next day it becomes C, and the other and the next day it becomes what you think it is. You see, playing with truth, nobody can do that.

No nation can do that. The founders of this nation took the Bible and they placed the Bible and the wisdom of God's word in the highest place. That, in fact, accounts for the greatness of this nation.

But as soon as the Bible was set aside, truth cannot be eliminated. That's all it is. Truth cannot be altered by my whim or fancy. And therefore, when I decide to say truth is not truth, then I'm going to bang my head against the wall and have a fractured skull.

And that's exactly what the nation is doing today. You know, somebody should have had the courage to say, even the inaugural speech of the president, which said America is a nation of, you know, Christians, Buddhists, or whatever.

No, actually, he was in contempt of court, because the Supreme Court had already decreed, after careful investigation of all the documents, that this is a Christian nation. All right, that is history.

America's Christian Foundations and Their Erosion

The origins of this nation are very clear. People did not come to America to have what they felt was a gala time with money all rolling at their feet. No, they had to work for every bit of it. They had to endure many privations.

But they loved truth. They did not want any government to interfere with their worship of the God of truth. My dear friends, that is how firm the origins of this country are. Now, if you begin to shake the foundations of any building, what happens?

Someone is building very close to the headquarters, which is four, five, six floors high. Someone is building a car park very close by with two levels underground, which means there will be heavy pile foundations and ramming and deep digging and vibrations.

As I pointed out, they could crack the walls of the huge church building hardly 20 yards away. That could happen. Now, when you touch the foundations, you shake the whole building. And that is what we are doing today, shaking the foundations.

God's Counsel in Times of Human Folly

But let us get back to what God says if you turn to Psalm 73 from the 23rd and 24th verses. Now, to get the background of this, 22nd verse 2. So foolish was I, Psalm 73, and verse 22. So foolish was I and ignorant.

I was as a beast before you. Yes, indeed. Sometimes our ignorance and grossness can make us so insensitive. We become stubborn and hard. I was as a beast before you. You know, it's a beastly thing, is it not, to invoke the name of God and murder?

Is it a rational thing? Can it ever be called a religious action? You know, friends, it is a sad day when man does not realize that without Jesus Christ, you get beastly. I was as a beast before you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you.

Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. I will guide you into all truths, says God. Let us be willing. Let us not be as the mule without understanding.

Prayer for Guidance and Trust in Christ

Let us pray. Loving Father, we thank you that we can trust those nail-scarred hands and the skillfulness of those wonderful hands out of which no man can pluck us. So as we see the ebb and tide of history and of man's folly and disobedience, Lord, we cry to you.

We would rather fall into those hands, those perfect hands, of Jesus than fall into any safety net which the governments of men can contrive for us. We want to be led by those wonderful hands. We ask in Jesus' holy name.

Amen. Amen. Until we meet again next week, may God bless you.