When it all came down to it, the story was when the inspectors began going through the building, they found hairline cracks everywhere. Hairline cracks in the garages, in the stairs, on every floor, in the walls, and windows. As they watched and monitored it for a number of months, because of the great investment that had been made in this building, the final decision was made, the building is never to be occupied, tear it down and start over again. When they tore it all down and started over again, they found out what the problem was.

Several miles away there was a lime quarry. At the time construction started, wind picked up lime dust from the quarry and dropped it all over the construction site. The lime dust, almost undetected by human eye, lay all over the foundation. When they began to put the courses of block on, it would not properly adhere to the foundation. As construction continued the building layers started shifting and cracking, therefore making the building unsafe.

A thin layer of lime dust, and may the Lord add his blessing and insight to what we are talking about when we are talking about making sure your building is on a right foundation. If it isn't, you are never, ever going to experience what you should be experiencing in your walk with God.

II Corinthians 4: 7-10 (KJV) "But we have this treasure, in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side but yet not distressed, we are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodies."

In the Living Bible, "But the precious treasure, this light and power that now shines within us, is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and it's certainly not our own. We are pressed on every side by trouble, but not crushed or broken. We are perplexed because we don't know why things happen as they do, but we don't give up or quit. We are hunted down but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get right back up again and keep going. These bodies of ours are constantly facing death just as Jesus did. So it is clear to all that it is only the living Christ within that keeps us safe."

And in the Soul Care Bible, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." (People just don't get a handle on that; they keep trying harder and harder and smarter and trying to connive and come up with ideas and that's human and the flesh can only produce that which is flesh, but the Spirit can produce that which is spiritual). Going on, "That the excellence of the power may be of God, not of us, we are hard pressed on every side and yet we are not crushed. We are perplexed but not in despair. Persecuted but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."

In our humanity we don't particularly like to hear words like troubled on every side, pressed down or distressed or persecuted or pressed in on all sides. We don't like the words cast down or the word crushed. You see, people would automatically say, wait a minute, using those descriptive adjectives, I thought that we were going to be hearing a message today to believers about how they can live calm cool and collected in today's world. Why are you using words like troubled, distressed persecuted, pressed on all sides, cast down, crushed but not destroyed in relationship to Christians? Because it is to Christians to whom it applies. The writer, Paul the Apostle, is saying this is what happens in our lives. Functioning for Christ in this very present evil world we are persecuted and often perplexed and also many times troubled and pressed in on by people and situations and circumstances and legislation and all the rest, but we are never forsaken and we are never crushed and do not give up.

It is indeed a jungle out there and we are becoming more and more aware of the fact that predators are on the loose. Our enemy walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and he has many followers and many disciples and many are working with him and for him to tear down, to destroy, to crush, to press, to persecute, to do everything they can to impede the spiritual progress of the body of Christ and the spiritual growth of every individual. If you don't think it's a jungle out there and that there are predators on the loose and that this world is becoming increasingly wild and wicked, you're not reading the same newspaper I'm reading and you're not listening to the same newscasts as I am.

A number of years ago, a young lady at the insistence of her boyfriend, left her two little babies in the car and started it down an embankment and into the water it went and the two little babies were destroyed. The boyfriend said to her, I love you, but I don't want the kids, so a mother, who is supposed to have the strongest bond and the strongest love known to man, was willing to surrender her two little boys to death and drowning for the sake of her lover. Since that time, it has become almost an infectious disease. We hear repeatedly now that the most innocent and most vulnerable among us become the victims. Do I need to remind you that Jesus said if anyone offends any one of these little ones, it would be better for him that a millstone be tied about his neck and he be cast into the sea? Yet it seems that in our system today there are appeals and more appeals, the process drags on and on and on and then with technicality after technicality, people are let out. The one right now under investigation for the brutal rape and murder of a little five year old girl has been a repeat offender, but he is out on the street, a predator ready to do it again in any community anywhere at any time. Our system is failing us terribly and the world is becoming increasingly wild and wicked.

In the old testament, they called that place out there the wilderness. Today we call it a jungle. To them it was a wilderness. Today it is an asphalt jungle. The young boy by the name of David in the Old Testament was very acquainted with and knew the wilderness very well. As a matter of fact, it is understood that David lived out there in the wilderness most of the time. He was tending sheep out there. Many times David would find himself in the shelter of the mouth of a cave or opening in the side of one of the huge mountains or hills or ridges so that he could be out of the wind while the sheep were out and he was tending them. Undoubtedly in a situation like that, David in thinking about himself and his relationship with God, came up with the words, "Those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91).

It was undoubtedly sitting in the opening of one of the caves in the rocky hillside reminding himself of the tremendous importance of quiet and calm in the very real presence of the Lord God Almighty, that he wrote, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust." David was no stranger to the wilderness in spite of the fact that the wilderness was a very dangerous place. Not only was it filled with animal predators to come after the sheep that were under his charge and care, but there were also bands of thieves and wicked predators who always lay in wait in the wilderness to pounce upon and to destroy someone and take his flock. It is no wonder he said, "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me, and thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies." He killed a lion with his own hands. He tells the story in the scripture of seeing a lion with a lamb locked in its jaws and the little lamb was bleating, still alive. David ran after the lion and grabbed the lion's beard and yanked his mouth open and the little lamb was suddenly set free. He was very familiar with everything that goes on in the wilderness. He functioned there. He knew his environment and he functioned in his environment because of his close ties and intimate relationship with the Almighty. You and I need to learn the same. We are in a jungle but we must never give in to the circumstances or conditions around us, but put our faith and confidence in the Almighty. It's in the jungle where our services are needed the most.

As part of the believing community you are going to face the onslaught of an opposing force in many forms and you must be alert and alive and responsive, because the enemy can appear as a roaring lion. He can also appear as an angel of light. He doesn't always function in his red pajamas with a fork in his hand, as the picture is often portrayed of him, and sometimes in his mastery of disguise and deceit, he will attack in ways that you and I are not familiar with. We must be alert. We must be aware of the fact that he is there and is not our friend and will do everything he can to destroy us. You must know where your faith and your confidence is. My faith and confidence is not in my rod nor my staff, my faith and confidence is in Almighty God.

It is an increasingly evil world, but we must continue to shine as lights in the dark. The darker the world grows around us the more it needs your light and the more it requires that we polish that lantern and shine brightly where we are. The Bible talks about those people who sit in gross darkness, upon whom the Light has come, speaking of Christ; but you see, if your light is not there, in the midst of their darkness, how dark their darkness becomes!

Remember, our scripture says "troubled on every side." You and I as believers are not going to be exempt from trouble; that is, unless you are living such a mediocre, straddle the fence Christianity that you are no threat to the devil and no credit to the cause of Christ. If you are just there, he is not going to trouble you. You are not bothering him. You are not going anywhere, not doing anything and you are not concerned about opening your mouth and letting people know where you put your faith, your trust, your confidence and that you are a believer. You're no threat. So if you're no threat, he is not going to trouble you or bother you; but if you are a threat, if he knows full well you can open your mouth at any time and have a series of words that a person can hear that can totally revolutionize their life to the point where he loses all influence over them from that time on, that represents a threat to him. That kind of person he will oppose. That's why Paul the Apostle, and you know his history and the kind of person that he was, suffered so much for the cause of Christ. How many times was he beaten across the back? How many times did he suffer and was persecuted? Why? Because he was a threat. Probably next to Jesus himself, the greatest threat to the enemy's cause that ever walked in sandals in the earth was Paul the Apostle. That kind of a threat, he will do everything he can to silence or to destroy or push into a compromised position so that what he has to say has no longer any credibility.

It says troubled on every side, but we will not allow ourselves to become depressed. Remember that. Yes, the world is a wicked place, but I am not going to be distressed about the wickedness that is in the world because I am in this world, but no longer of this world, so I am not going to allow it to have a negative impact on me. I will not allow myself to become distressed; perplexed about a lot of things, yes, but I am not going to allow them to cause me to despair. There are a lot of people today who are seeing what is going on and they feel as though they are not recognized and they don't have a voice or chance and they are not represented whatsoever and nobody cares and they throw in the towel. They quit. They have reached the point of despair. What difference does it make. It doesn't matter. The young lady this week broke up with her fiancé, so what happens when she breaks up with him, the enemy gives her suggestions, "You might as well end it all", so she tried. A beautiful young person full of potential, but the enemy says, "You might as well just chuck it", and so she attempts suicide.

Sometimes we may begin to think that it's become TOO MUCH for us, but He has told us in the Word, when we face it, we will come through it all because He knows full well our limitations and He says, "Nothing will come into your life that is more than you can handle, but in every situation, I will provide for you a way of escape." If you've got it, you can handle it. If you can't handle it, it will never come into your life. That's a promise from the Almighty to you as an individual. So He tells us in the Word, when we face it all, we can come through it all each and every time. People will know the reason why you come through it every time is because the excellency of the power is in God and not us.

Humanly speaking we are like a lot of other people and give up, but God won't let us do that. Remember the words of the song, "I am weak, but thou art strong…" You can find people who proclaim that they are for peace, they say we want peace, and they set out in the quest for peace with a human bomb and the murder of innocent people and yet they say "We want peace, we want peace." They murder innocent men, women and children, but every time you get them before the television cameras they say "We're all looking for peace." Christians, Jews, Muslims all say they are people of peace, but all the time they have innocent blood running through their fingers. It's a wilderness out there, it's a real jungle.

All kinds of religions are gathered together right now as I speak, each one acknowledging their God, their Book, their form of worship, each with their beliefs and all kinds of superstitions, astrology, reincarnation, and fortune telling. As a result, people are paranoid, with all kinds of fears and phobias. It's a wilderness all right. I tell you this morning that a wilderness is where anything and everything goes, if you can get away with it. Why? Because in the wilderness there are no boundary lines and in the wilderness there are no such things as fences or borders or limits. You can do as you like. You and I have learned and must continue to learn how to function in the wilderness.

It is sad to report, but there are many Christian people today who demand antiseptically clean environments, absolutely free of conflict and difference of opinion and all the rest in order to live their Christian life. It is almost as if they can only live their Christian life in the confines of their church, but get them outside and they can no longer function as a believer. Almost as if to say that we should put a sign over the front door of the church, "For Believers Only," because that's the only place we feel safe and we feel as though we know how to function.

Can you tell me any place where the Christian witness and light and love are more needed than in the wilderness? Don't run away from the wilderness. I invite you to join me there. No doubt about it, you and I need to make sure that in the wilderness experience, our faith remains intact or even increases. Our going increases, our giving increases, our worship increases, our praise increases, our gathering together increases. I'm telling you today to live calm, cool and collected in today's world in spite of the fact that you are in the wilderness or in the jungle where the predators are many and where the enemy may indeed be encamped around about you.

Often much around that we hear and see makes no sense, no rhyme or reason. You tell me how any human male with any degree of intelligence at all can get any satisfaction out of the rape and murder of a beautiful five year old girl. It makes no sense. None whatsoever. That is a different world than what we belong to. Jesus said, "Think it not strange when these things begin to happen, they hated me first, and they'll hate you also." We must not retreat from the wasteland, nor allow the godless society to reform or reshape our thinking and what we believe. I hope you got that. It is glaringly obvious, the majority is not always right. The remnant is.

Trudge through the wilderness every day, and I will tell you the truth, you will learn to walk by faith and not by sight. If the wilderness is a foreign place to you and if adversity is not something that is part of your makeup and world and if your Christianity is designed to function only in the ideal situation, you will not learn to walk by faith and not by sight. The wilderness all around you will demand that you walk by faith. You dare to walk with Jesus where no one else ever walked and you walk on through this sin sick place and remember as you walk, you never walk alone.

This long and winding road may end, but your journey and walk does not. You are off the pavement and onto the trail. Out of the convenience and the niceties of all that you enjoy and into the jungle where we work 'til Jesus comes, because the jungle is where we are needed the most. God will never lead you anyplace where He will not supply all that you need to get you through. It is through the wilderness and not the country club where personal growth takes place. You see, it need not be a wasteland for you, even though it is wild and it is wicked. He can turn your wilderness into green pastures where he asks you to quietly lie down and be refreshed by the rivers of living water.

It is a wilderness out there, but you choose how you are going to live in it. You can be a part of it or an oasis for somebody else. It's up to you. If there is a wilderness in your soul, then you have to allow Jesus to come into your heart and begin to make it a beautiful life. That too is your choice. I said to someone the other day, "We as God's people seldom realize how blessed we are that so many things are so absent from our lives." Like the surprise birthday party we had for my Mom. The whole family had gathered together. We had everyone there and no one fought or were at each other's throat, or not speaking to someone. There was no dissention, problems or hard feelings. "That's absolutely unbelievable", this person said; "I have two sisters and we have never gotten along. Our house is nothing but a fight from the minute we all get there to the minute we leave."

There are all kinds of things that are absent from your life and mine. Sometimes we fail to thank God for some things that are not there. We need to thank God for the things that are no longer a part of our life or lifestyle, because we are living in a jungle where it happens all the time. Live calm, cool and collected and make sure your faith stays intact and stays very strong. Walk your way with God through the wilderness and through the jungle. Walk by faith, trust in God, He'll see you through, no matter what the situation is. Don't let the world get to you. Do not let the world and the projections of the world infest your spirit and your attitude until you become as bad as they are.