Now our God is waiting, willing, and wanting to forgive us. He wants to walk with us. He wants to fellowship with us. He wants to bring us along. He wants to lead us gently. There's no person on earth that is more unhappy than a child of God who will not do right. Take your Bibles and go to Proverbs chapter 13. Look with me at verse 12. I think we've all experienced this circumstance. Sound like I need to shave a little bit again, doesn't it? Hope deferred, make it the heart's sick. But when the desire cometh, it is a tree. of life. Now in the Beatty family, I'm talking about James and Jackie Beatty family, we generally like to have a thing that we are looking forward to. And we approach life with our children as a series of adventures. Our next big thing that we're looking forward to is grandma and grandpa coming out to be with us during the month of December and into January. And now we're excited about that. Throughout our marriage and our life together, we have maintained a steadfast situation when we had something that we were looking forward to. Sometimes you're looking forward to something and you experience a little setback. Or it doesn't happen as quickly as you were hoping it would. I know of two people in our family that were working on college and the circumstances of their college education just came to be too troublesome and difficult for their life and they had to stop. And my hope for each of them is that they'll find a better circumstance and be able to continue and finish. But there is a certain amount of deferred hope and it makes the heart sick. I've got a couple of scriptures I wanna share with you on this. In Psalms 42, one, two, and three, it's a very familiar verse for us, and there's a song patterned after it. It says, as the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night. Will they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? There was a mockery there, saying, I think about the children of Israel in Egypt, crying out in their affliction to God, and saying, Where is God? I think about Abraham and Sarah. They got to the time when they were supposed to have a child biologically. And they said, where is God and where is the baby? And what can we do to make it up? And then the joy that they had. Now God made them wait. I think about the children of Israel going to the promised land. People traveled from Missouri. People traveled from St. Louis and they came out, they traveled to certain fort, they wintered there and they finished their trip and they got to Oregon, a humongous journey, much further than the promised land and they did it in less than a year. Can you imagine the children of Israel marching out of Egypt and they're like, I am bound for the promised land, I am bound for the promised land. Who will come and go with me? I'm bound for the promised land. Okay, we should be there in six months if we stop and see all the sites and take it easy. But we've been following that pillar of cloud and it just keeps going around in circles. Doesn't God know that we should be over there and here we are wandering around in this wilderness and what in the world is going on? You don't think that hope deferred caused their hearts to stoop? God promised a savior in Genesis chapter three. Jesus Christ. He instituted all the worship that they did in the Old Testament in the temple, and everything pointed to a Savior, Jesus Christ. Now they followed God in obedience, but they had no clue what it all meant. And every young Jewish woman would desire to be the one that had the Savior, Jesus Christ, as her son. in the fullness of time God sent his son made of woman made under the law there was Mary visited by the angels there was Joseph also visited by the angels and there they went out of their own city down into Bethlehem to be taxed because they were the city of David and The angels came out and sang to the shepherds, glory to God in the highest on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. And the shepherds came into town to see this thing, and they made it known abroad. And then the wise men showed up. They said, oh, we've seen a star in the east. You know, where did those wise men come from? Brother Jackson and I were talking about this. Daniel left a message of God's love and of God's Word, and those people that in the Chaldeans that were turned to the God of Daniel. When Nebuchadnezzar said, the God of Daniel, he's it. Anybody that worships anything else is gonna turn their house into a dunghill. There's people there that turned and trusted that true God of Daniel, seeing the mighty wonders he did. Daniel's influence continued into the next, the next, the Medes and the Persians and King Darius, and he served him also. And the wisdom that they had, they look for that star. They look for the star because it was prophesied in the scriptures. They said, we've come, we've seen his star in the east, he's born king of the Jews. And Herod goes down to the temple and gets the Jewish scholars and gives them a case of, what's going on? Where is he going to be born? They go, we don't know anything about the star, but we do know where he's supposed to be born, down in Bethlehem. The whole nation missed it. Guess what the Jews are doing today? Hope deferred, make it the heart to stoop. Our Messiah sure could have been come during the Holocaust, and that would have been convenient. Could have come when we didn't have a promised land, that would have been nice. He'd come and lead us through the intricacies of an infant Jewish nation in 1948. And every once in a while, there raises a powerful leader, and he tells all the Jewish people, I'm the Messiah. And he's found to be a liar, and he's not, and they're looking. They're still looking today. How sad. Have you ever looked for something to happen or expected something and then it looked like it was going to happen and all of a sudden it was pulled away or it wasn't to be? Well, Pastor, the natural expectation of a person would be to feel a bit disappointed. Crestfallen. Build up to see this great thing happen, and then, oh, there it doesn't happen. We have a woman that goes to Jerusalem with her husband, Elkaniah, and her rival, Pinnanah, and they are barren, Elkaniah and Hannah. This other wife has sons and daughters. And every year he says, well, I'm better than 10 sons to you. And she says, yeah, right. I'm looking for a baby. I've been waiting for you to give me a baby, and now I'm going to go to the temple and ask God to give me a baby. And in bitterness of spirit and in sorrow of heart, she goes to the temple. Eli's sitting there. and he marks her. He observes her. He sees that she kneels and that her mouth is moving but no words are coming out. And he says, put your wine away from me. Don't come in here drunk. Don't come in here and mock God. I said, I'm not a daughter of Belial. I'm not drinking. I am crying out of a bitter heart. He sends her away and says, well, God bless you and may the Lord grant you a petition. And summarily forgets it. She didn't receive a whole lot from Eli, but she did receive from God a peace in her spirit and she went back to the feast and she was troubled no more. They went home and she had little Samuel. She'd promised God that she would bring him back to serve in the temple. Hophnil and Phinehas were doing abominations in Israel. Eli did not restrain his sons and God rose up a leader in the midst of all of that. You know the story. Israel was in the battle with the Philistines and Hophnil and Phinehas thought they could obligate God to give them the victory by sending out the Ark of the Covenant. Instead, the Philistines had a rout and killed many Israelite men, and among them were Hophni and Phinehas, and they took possession of the Ark of the Covenant. The news came back, and Eli was sitting on his chair, and they gave him the news, and he fell backward, and he broke his neck. They came in, As Hophniel or Phineas' wife was in labor with the baby, the baby was born in the name of Nicobod. The spirit hath departed the glory. You know the noise and the joy that was out on that battlefield on the Israelite side when they saw the Ark of the Covenant was coming? The expectation that now God's here and he's going to win us the victory. They could not obligate God in their unrighteousness and in their sin. You ever been excited about your Christianity? You've been on fire, you've been interested in studying, you've been interested in learning. The Holy Spirit is speaking with your spirit, communing, and encouraging you and leading you in truth and leading you in righteousness and leading you to the fruit of his indwelling in your life. It's just a joy and a blessing. and you get some sin in your life, and it puts every single thing on hold. What's gonna happen now? The Philistines have the ark of our God. He's not gonna go and be on their side, is he? Absolutely not. Can you imagine the fear, the discouragement, the hope deferred in the nation of Israel? Now our God is waiting, willing, and wanting to forgive us. He wants to walk with us. He wants to fellowship with us. He wants to bring us along. He wants to lead us gently. He's our shepherd. We can wander away and we can get on the backside of the wilderness and we can get ourselves in all kinds of trouble and we stop the joy, the fellowship, and the blessing of that relationship. There's no person on earth that is more unhappy than a child of God who will not do right. He knows what's right because God won't let him get away from it, but he refuses to do right and he cannot enjoy any aspect of his life. He might, in a mockery, a counterfeit of joy. He might bring himself into busyness, and he might bring himself into activity, but there's no joy. There's no joy without good and true fellowship with God in a close walk, because it's the fruit of the Holy Spirit that's joy. In our world, we float on the happiness of circumstances. Joy is a source from God beyond the circumstances, beyond this life, beyond the natural sources that we understand. It is a supernatural blessing into the lives of a believer. And it's simply the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God being there. Look at this, it says, hope deferred, make not the heart sick, but when the desire cometh. I've watched people that wanted to have a boy or people that wanted to have a girl. I know a family and they wanted to have a girl. And they had boy, boy, boy, and then they had a girl. And their girl was just a couple months old and she died of SIDS. And it doubled down everything. They really wanted to have a girl then. How many boys did they have, Jack? Nine boys before they had another girl. How many girls did they end up having? Two. Hope deferred, make it the heart that's due. But when the desire cometh, when you see that goal, when God gives a blessing, when God provides the increase, when you reach that milestone, It might be a goal you've set in your life. It might be a spiritual goal. It might be a goal in your marriage. It might be a goal, but while you're working toward it and you have setbacks, it's so disheartening. But when love shines in, you ever pray for somebody for their salvation? And you look hopeful, and you thought, God, are you going to do it now? Pray for somebody that's already saved for their spiritual condition. It's almost worse. You have someone in your family that you wanted it so bad for them that you could taste it, but they didn't want it for themselves at all. You continue going to the Lord, and you continue praying. You continue to hope. Continue to look in faith. The Bible talks about us going and sowing a precious seed in tears and doubtless coming again with rejoicing. The scripture says here, when a desire cometh, it is a tree of life. I was thinking about the tree of life. I had to look at this and study it a little bit. First time we see the tree of life, it's near the midst of the garden of Eden. You know, there was another tree in the midst of the garden that ended up being a tree of death. Once man had sinned, God said, oh, we need to keep him out of the garden now. Otherwise, he'll go eat off the tree of life. He'll eat off the tree of life and he'll live forever in his sin. It was a grace of God that kicked man out of the garden and denied access back to that tree of life. Here it says, when your desire cometh, it's a tree of life. Let me show you three places in the Bible where we see the tree of life, not in Genesis, in Proverbs 3 and verse 18. It's talking about wisdom. I want you to understand what wisdom is. In James it says, if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God to give it to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. In Proverbs 1, in verse 1 it says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is the understanding of salvation. Proverbs 3, we discuss wisdom. Verse 18, it says, she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her. Happy is everyone that retaineth her. I believe for every Christian parent, it is a desire that our children receive a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We don't just want to see them scrounge into the gates of heaven. We want to see them grow. We want to see them grow physically. We want to see them grow socially. We want to see them grow emotionally. We want to see them grow spiritually. Amen? Just what God wants for us. Walking in wisdom. Getting a hold of wisdom and being happy because of that saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Well, walking in it and retaining it. It is good for you when you're five, and it is good for you when you're ten, and it is good for you when you're twenty, and it's good for you when you're thirty, and it's good for you when you're in your middle ages, and it's good for you when you're dying. walking in wisdom. Take the wisdom of your Bible. Take the wisdom of your mother. Take the wisdom of your father. Write it down on the table of your heart. Accept a Savior, Jesus Christ, and His substitutionary death and His caring of your sin for your eternal salvation and live that life walking in wisdom. In Proverbs 11 and verse 30, it says, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that win his souls is wise. It's not just for you. We've been singing at our one nursing home, This Little Light of Mine. It's a very simple song, we think of it as a children's song, but it is a song about taking the blessing of salvation that God's given you and sharing it with someone else. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. I'm gonna take and I'm gonna, in the candlestick, let the light shine before men, that they can see good works. And not to glorify a person or build someone up or to take a step of grace. None of that. That they can see good works, that they can be pointed toward God. Your Father, which is in heaven. The God who's not willing that any should perish. The God who sent his son to die on the cross for mankind. The God who had Jesus come and taste death for every man. The God who Christ said, not my will, but thy will be done. The God who commended his love toward us while we were yet sinners. So we have walking in wisdom. The second thing is the winning of souls. It's a lifetime work. Sometimes we think it's just an afternoon of work that we go out and we knock some doors and hand out some tracts and invite some folks to church. If the opportunity and the conversation progresses, we can share with them the plan of salvation for mankind. Maybe we can see one of them receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. That might be the easiest type of winning of souls. You know the souls that are going to be difficult to win? The one you live with right under your roof. Capturing the heart of that daughter, Heather. Winning her. to a lifelong love of Jesus Christ. Winning that husband or that wife, there are so many opportunities in life for us to become jaded and angry and upset unhappy with one another. We're so full of sin. The Bible talks about a wife who wins her husband without a word because of her attitude and her respect and her love and her obedience for God. Those people that really know us for a while. The family. the extended family, winning them. It is a blessing to serve others, but it's difficult to do on a consistent basis. It says, he that win his souls is a tree of life. Why couldn't Adam and Eve go back into the garden and eat off the tree of life? Because they'd live forever in their sin. A person that wins souls to Jesus Christ, those folks live forever in their forgiveness and in their Savior, Jesus Christ. You know where the next place I find the tree of life in the Bible? Almost at the end. In Revelations 22 of 1 through 3, it says, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river was the tree of life. which bear 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves were for the healing of the nations. And there should be no more curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him. I see walking in wisdom and understanding of salvation and living in the grace of God. Winning soul, sharing it with others. And a white robe. The tree of life is about living forever. Sometimes we get an idea that everybody in heaven is gonna have a white robe and a harp and float on a cloud. That idea did not come from somebody that went to heaven and came back and told us about it. I don't know what this is gonna be. It says, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him. What are we gonna be doing in heaven? We're going to be serving God. We're going to be like minded with the son who said not my will but thy will be done. But we're going to be in a place that is a sinless environment. We're in a place that is a pain free environment. We're going to be in a place that is a darkness free environment. We're going to be in a place that is non-smoking. Praise the Lord, and I mean the hell fires that are in the other place. We're gonna be in a place where the former things have been forgotten and are done away with. And we're gonna serve God. A tree of life. Walking in wisdom, winning souls, and a white robe. Praise be to God. In Psalm 17 and verse 15, it says, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I wake in thy likeness. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Psalms 13 and verse 19, the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul. Thank you, God. Think about this verse in your life. Trust God a little longer and a little more. We always say, God, I want to see this happen and I want to see it happen now. I want some patience, and I could use it yesterday. Hope deferred does make the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. Some of the things that God has chose to delay for his people and for us, he's doing it in his wisdom, and he's always, always correct. Praise the Lord. You've been listening to a message from the pulpit of Town Center Baptist Church in Happy Valley, Oregon. We invite you to come visit us at 10505 Southeast 85th Avenue in Happy Valley. If we can be of help to you, please call us at 503-659-4494. We wish you God's very best.