City of Destiny: Recent Episodes
Pastor Paula White Cain & Pastor Brad Knight
Sermons are recorded at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida by Pastor Paula White-Cain and Pastor Brad Knight. For more information about City of Destiny, please visit http://cityofdestiny.us
God will send you signs and moments in your life that only you will understand. Pastor Brad Knight teaches on the wise men who came to see Jesus in Matthew 2.
You can change an atmosphere in your home, in the church, in your workplace, and even in the world with an attitude of gratitude.
Pastor Todd Lamphere leads service as City of Destiny shows appreciation for Pastor Paula White-Cain and Minister Jonathan Cain.
Pastor Paula's sermon on Sunday morning, November 14, 2021. What you appreciate, appreciates. When you learn to appreciate more of what you already have, you will find yourself having more to appreciate. Practicing Gratitude has incredible effects and impact on your wellbeing!
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
One of Us is in Trouble. Where’s the 12?, His Word is His Will
Because of who He is, holy and perfect and true, his proclamations and statues are wholly perfect and true. Psalm 19:7
There are 8 successive features in which the showbread typifies the KIND OF WILL God is looking for:
- To make showbread, the grain has to be ground very fine.
- To make the loaf, it must be molded.
- After it has been molded, it has to be baked in the heat of the fire.
- The bread has to be in order.
- The bread must be covered by frankincense, which always signifies a type of worship in Scripture.
- The bread has to be continually displayed before the face of God day and night.
- A double protective crown surrounds it. (Ex. 37:10-12)
- The bread has to be put there fresh.
Because of who He is, holy and perfect and true, his proclamations and statues are wholly perfect and true. Psalm 19:7
The plans God has for your life are greater than the plans you have for yourself. He has significant plans for your life, for this church and for this ministry. God pre-determines what it is that He created & purposed for you. On the agenda of God... YOU ARE SIGNIFICANT.
Daniel foretold that, in the midst of worldwide distress those who “know their God will display strength and take action” (Dan 11:32)
Most alarming = Evangelicals are embracing secularism: A majority (52%) of evangelicals reject absolute moral truth; in their view, truth is uniquely determined by each individual according to their preferences and circumstances. That perspective equates to most evangelicals believing that the Bible is either not inerrant or trustworthy in its content—or that the Bible is neither completely true nor reliable. 61% do not read the Bible on a daily basis;
The centrality of obedience to the Scriptures is absent among most of the nation’s adults associated with evangelical churches. A majority (53%) now deems practices other than consistent obedience to God to reflect the heart of success in life.
48% believe a person who is good enough or does enough good works can earn eternal salvation 44% do not believe that history is the unfolding narrative of God’s reality 44% claim the Bible is ambiguous in its teaching about abortion 43% maintain that when Jesus was on earth, He sinned 43% do not believe that there is a common, God-given purpose to humanity (i.e., to know, love and serve Him) 42% seek moral guidance primarily from sources other than the Bible 42% do not identify and confess their sins on a daily basis 40% do not believe that human life is sacred 40% accept lying as morally acceptable if it advances personal interests or protect one’s reputation 39% identify the people they always respect as being only those who have the same beliefs as they possess 36% prefer socialism to capitalism (Pentecostals 69%) 36% fail to seek and pursue God’s will for their life each day 34% reject the idea of legitimate marriage as one man and one woman 34% argue that abortion is morally acceptable if it spares the mother from financial or emotional discomfort or hardship 32% do not thank or worship God each day
The righteousness and sanctification that the living, holy church produces in a society can literally preserve that society from much of the evil that would otherwise destroy it… The BODY OF CHRIST is the vehicle of God’s MERCY!
The CHURCH MUST rise up in this hour.
WE NEED GOD!
Daniel foretold that, in the midst of worldwide distress those who “know their God will display strength and take action” (Dan 11:32)
We MUST BRING HIS PRESENCE BACK.. to our lives, our homes, our churches, our cities… Nations
Look what Jesus did with common men in just 3 ½ years average men and women were transformed into fearless disciples, literally filled with the Spirit of God. God is not raising up “ministries”; He is raising up servants. After we realize that the goal is not “ministry” BUT servants – we will begin to see the power of Christ restored to the church. Leaders must be individuals whose burning passion is conformity to Jesus
Daniel foretold that, in the midst of worldwide distress those who “know their God will display strength and take action” (Dan 11:32)
American Christianity is undergoing a “post-Christian Reformation”—with the nation’s major Christian groups rapidly replacing traditional theological beliefs with the culture’s secular values.
God Is Light God is Love God Is Justice and Judgement God Is Anger and Wrath God Is Mercy and Lovingkindness God is Grace God Is Power
Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. (NIV)
1 Chronicles 16:34, O give thanks unto the Lord ; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. (KJV)
The message of God has always been the message of mercy and grace.
You are called to be an ambassador of God and an agent of cultural, or social change. Jesus commissioned us to go into all the world and transform it through “preaching the good news” to all creation. This is for both redemption and our stewardship of creation.
Psalms 83:12, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. Some body is trying to possess God's house! Possession is to occupy by driving out previous tenants, to possess in their place, to rob them of their inheritance so that they will come to poverty. We are examining the influence of the house of God. You are chosen to bring change. How are you bearing the image of God within the sphere of influence he has given you?
Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, in 2 Chronicles 20.
Hebrews 10:24-25, And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
There is an emphasis shift from the "event oriented" people to the local church. - The emerging family of God - The corporate anointing
Full service recording. God is releasing something new in the body of Christ. There is a dividing between the wheat and the tares. There is a new level of release and corporate anointing for the blood bought church.
God wants Habitation – not visitation.
Psalms 83:9-12, Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: 10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: 12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
Exodus 25:8 KJV “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”
1 John 4. Revelation 11. Recorded at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida on Wednesday, November 11, 2020.
Nehemiah 8:1-17
Recorded on Sunday, October 25, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, October 21, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, October 18, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, October 4, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, September 27, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, September 20, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, August 16, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, September 13, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on September 6, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, September 2, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, August 30, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Recorded on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Recorded on Sunday, August 23, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
This is Part 4 of the 4 part series. Dr. Paul Zahl gives a brief historical overview of Church history spanning the time of 1738 AD to modern times covering revivals and movements that shaped Christianity to what it is today..
Rev. Dr. Paul F. M. Zahl is a retired Episcopal minister. He formerly was rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, MD, and dean and president of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
Recorded on Sunday, August 16, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, August 16, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. Pastor Brad Knight starts out this sermon with the message, "You have been lied to about the Gospel" and he breaks down where many get taken off track. "Not only was Jesus sent to destroy the works of the devil, but you were made to destroy the works of the devil."
Broadcasted on Sunday, August 16, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Weabsite.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
This is Part 3 of the 4 part series. Dr. Paul Zahl gives a brief historical overview of Church history spanning the time of The Reformation from 1517 - 1738 AD.
Rev. Dr. Paul F. M. Zahl is a retired Episcopal minister. He formerly was rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, MD, and dean and president of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
Recorded on Sunday, August 9, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Weabsite.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
This is Part 2 of the 4 part series. Dr. Paul Zahl gives a brief historical overview of Church history spanning the time of Roman Emperor Constantine to the Protestant Reformation with Martin Luther.
Rev. Dr. Paul F. M. Zahl is a retired Episcopal minister. He formerly was rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, MD, and dean and president of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
Jonathan Cain performed this music during the City of Destiny service recorded on August 2, 2020 by inspiration during Pastor Paula White Cain's sermon.
Recorded on Wednesday, August 2, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit City of Destiny Website.
Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram and Twitter @Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Dr. Paul Zahl gives a brief historical overview of Church history spanning the time from the resurrection of Jesus to the death of the Roman Emperor Constantine.
Rev. Dr. Paul F. M. Zahl is a retired Episcopal minister. He formerly was rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, MD, and dean and president of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
Recorded on Sunday, July 26, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, July 19, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, July 12, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Sunday, July 5, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, June 28, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Pastor Paula continues with her message of calling the nation to prayer. Looking at the book of Nehemiah and Ezra. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) says “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” During this sermon on Father's Day, Pastor Paula preaches on the importance of men's roles in the church and calling them to take up their God given positions as fathers and patriarchs.
Recorded on Father's Day, Sunday, June 21, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Pastor Paula continues with her message of calling the nation to prayer. Looking at the book of Nehemiah and Ezra. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) says “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Recorded on Sunday, June 17, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Pastor Paula continues with her message of calling the nation to prayer. Looking at the book of Nehemiah and Ezra. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) says “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Recorded on Sunday, June 14, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Pastor Paula continues with her message of calling the nation to prayer. Looking at the book of Nehemiah and Ezra. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) says “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” God is restoring a people. There are two kingdoms operating right now: Kingdom of Light and Kingdom of Darkness. All of us are heavy hearted. All of us are saying, "God, where are you? What do we do? How do we bring for change?"
Recorded on Sunday, June 10, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Pastor Paula is calling the nation to prayer. God’s purpose is to restore that which has been lost & then to reconstruct that which has been broken down. In this series, we are going to look at the book of Nehemiah and Ezra. It’s vitally important that this nation addresses things from a spiritual perspective. We have to call this nation to prayer. We have to call this nation to repentance. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) says “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Recorded on Sunday, June 7, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Acts 2:1-18. There's two systems in operation right now: the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness. Whether you recognize it or not, your life, your family, your decisions are operating either through the Kingdom of Darkness or the Kingdom of Light. That every decision, every moment, everything you do... is all being influenced. You're either yielded to God, or you're not. My heart's cry today is for a revival. A revival in each one of us. This is an individual message, but it's also a corporate message. Pour out your spirit upon our nation, God!
Recorded on Sunday, May 31, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
The reason I am staying on this teaching dealing with your thoughts is because the only way to really overcome the enemy is to have a renewed mind. It's a constant work that God's doing in our life. Romans chapter 12 says, "Present yourself, which is your reasonable service to the Lord. And be not conformed to this world but be transformed how, by the renewing of your mind."
Recorded on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Isaiah 54:1-8. God is not limited by things of this world. What looks difficult to man, God's saying is a setup for us. I want you to hear with prophetic ears. I want your spirit to be open to receive because I'm going to work with your faith by what "Thus sayeth the Lord." I believe that God has given and downloaded a word for the church, His church.
Isaiah 54. God is not limited by things of this world. What looks difficult to man, God's saying is a setup for us. I want you to hear with prophetic ears. I want your spirit to be open to receive because I'm going to work with your faith by what "Thus sayeth the Lord." I believe that God has given and downloaded a word for the church, His church.
Recorded on Sunday, May 24, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Proverbs 23:7. Actions only reflect what is in the heart. Whatever you do in life is simply a reflection of what is in you. We're going to drill down in to this so that you will see some of the things that you're doing. Then you will begin to unlock what really is in your thought process.
Recorded on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Matthew 9:20 and Luke 8:40-55. When the world says "Don't go", God says, “Come on. Keep pressing." God's part is to make a way, to open up a path. Your part is to press through and attach yourself.
Recorded on Sunday, May 17, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Machine transcription:
Proverbs 12:25. What you believe is powerful. If you can change what you believe, you can change your life! Many wonderful people keep struggling to control their behaviors and actions. The biggest battle you will have is always in your mind - until that is renewed your life will not be reformed.
Recorded on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Isaiah 32:9,15 and Judges 5:1-11. Deborah is mantled as a matriarch to bring forth and awaken sons and daughters to the divine truth and the glory of God. You are getting up from despondency, depression, dependency, and despair. Mama is “home”. She is not here to fit in but to take back and to take over.
Recorded on Sunday, May 10, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Proverbs 12:25, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad”
Recorded on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Ruth 1:1-7. God is shifting things! Where you came from does not determine where you are going. There is a repositioning happening. You are being placed in proper alignment.
Recorded on Sunday, May 3, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Proverbs 12:25, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad”
Recorded on Wednesday, April 19, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
"My Persistence is About to Pay Off"
Recorded on Sunday, April 26, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Recorded on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
"Move Forward" is the message Pastor Paula delivers from Exodus 14. It is about overcoming fear. She shows you some principles throughout Exodus 14 that are just absolutely astounding.
Recorded on Sunday, April 19, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Machine transcription: So if I had to give today's message a title, I would talk to you about overcoming fear. But the Word of God is move forward, move forward. And I want you to write that down real big in your journal move forward, because I'm going to show you some principles throughout this that are just absolutely astounding. Let's get into our text. It's quite, it's a little bit lengthy, but I want you to get the meat of it. Exodus chapter 14, verse one through 18. Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites to turn back and in camp near pi, I don't know how you say these cities, right? However, Roth between Migdal and the sea, and they are 10 camp by the sea directly opposite about Zaphod. Pharaoh will think the Israelites are wandering around the land and confusion hindon by the desert, and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and He will pursue them But I will gain glory. underline that God says I will gain glory. Because God wants you to know, in this pandemic that he is going to gain glory. I will get glory for myself through Pharaoh, and all his army and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. So that Israelites did this. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled. Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, What have we done? We have let the Israelites go. And now we've lost their services. So he had his chariot, made ready, and took his army with him. He took 600 of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, so not only of 600 he had 600 of his absolute best ever is Navy SEALs of his of his Rangers of his frontline His absolute best of his army 600 of his chariots with officers are captains of all of them. And the Lord heart in the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who did it God did it so that he pursued the Israelites. This is after their deliverance, and we're going to go through that, who are marching out boldly, the Egyptians, all Pharaohs, horses and chariots, horsemen, and troops 600 choice chariots, all the rest of the chariots, captains over every one of them is horseman and all his foot men are now pursuing the people of God. They're now pursuing the Israelites. The ones who have covenant said they pursued the Israelites, and overtook them as they encamped by the senior pi hate the opposite of Belle's a fun. Verse 13. As pretty approach, the Israelites looked up. And there were the Egyptians marching after them. And they were terrified. On to the right that they were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, was it because there were no graves in Egypt? That you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us? By bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, leave us alone? Let us serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. Moses answered the people hear the word of the Lord right now. Moses answered the people and said, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance The Lord will bring to you today. You better hear prophetically I want to pray over you right now. Do not be afraid Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance The Lord will bring to you today. The Egyptians see you today, but you will never see them again. The Lord will fight for you. And you need only to be still. We could say, you see the pandemic today. But could it be that God say, God could do the same job that brought deliverance here, you will never see that again. Just stand still. Be not afraid for the Lord will fight for you. Now hear the Word of God, because I'm going to dig deep. And I'm going to show you this in context to the historical part, the reality and how it applies to you. I want you to have ears that are opening eyes to see the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? Here's the most important part. Why are you crying? Hang out to me, Moses, tell the Israelites to move on. Tell my people to move on. I know they're terrified. I know they're afraid. I know they're in a situation they've never been in. I know it looks impossible. I know in the natural, it seems like there is no way out. But tell my people to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water. So the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, so that they will go in after them and I will gain glory. That's what God always wants. Hear the Word of the Lord, I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know the world will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen. The world will know that I am God. Well, I gain glory. Through all the doctors and the technicians and the governors and the prime ministers and the presidents and the people that don't have an answer, I will gain glory, and God is a jealous God and He will not share His glory without any other. I prophetically declare right now that God will be glorified through this, and he will not share His glory with another. And there will be a dividing line between those who are on God's side and those who are not those who are against God and those who are for God. That might sound hard. That might sound difficult, but God distinctly marks those who are in covenant with him. Spirit of the Living God, speak let me be the oracle of the Most High God. Let it not be my words, but let it be your words open up the ear of every here right now for proverbs 20 says you open their eyes to see and you open their ears to hear let me not say one word that has not been ordained by you. Let me speak the word of the Lord that you have said that you have ordained open up our heart and our spirit to receive that all fear begone from you right now in the name which is above every name let you not walk in carnal not let you not walk in natural man but let your mind your spirit your soul your heart be connected and controlled by the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit take up residence in that home right now. take up residence right now on that computer on that laptop on that phone. Lecture presence be felt right now with every family member with every individual that is watching bring them from the north, the South, the east, the west of here, what does say it the Lord and Jesus mighty name, I decree it and I declare it and according to job 22 verse 28, it is established. The King James Version in verse 15 says, And the Lord said to Moses, Wherefore Christ vowing to me speaking to the children of Israel, that they go forward, speaking to the children, of Israel, that they go forward. You see, I believe the word of the Lord to us today is move forward. You say, Paula, how can you be so bold? How can you say this? Because I, I could teach him something that is very safe. I could teach him something that is very hopeful and very encouraging which I believe this word will be. But I believe it's imperative that we have a now word, that we have a regime of word that we hear God, what are you saying, What is heaven downloading to us? You see, I was thinking about how we just came out of Passover, as I said, and how easy it is to overlook because there was technically one Passover in 1445 BC. And in Exodus chapter 12, then records that Passover and it talks about how the children of Israel came out of this bondage they'd been in for 400 years. Now pass over doesn't mean so much as passing over passing by As it means to protect, a protection, that God would bring deliverance and God would bring a protection to those that were marked those that were covenant, those that applied the blood to the doorposts after the 10th plague. So I'm thinking to myself, how we are about 3500 years past an actual historical event, and how we've read through the Bible so many times or we've heard the story so many times, that it it almost becomes like a fable. It almost becomes where it is unrelatable that we we know it because we know the end. We know that they come out even so much so that the Psalm says there's not one feeble one among them. But the reality with all the millions of Jews that came out in one night, they came out and their lives are so transformed, that they should have met it should have died in the wilderness. Many should have fallen over many should have lost their life. Many of them should have never been able To make it out. So I think when we read this, and we look back 3500 years, it just gets a watered down, it gets to a place where the potency is not there. But so we we have this tendency to overlook after 3500 years, the trauma that they went through the fear that they were in the faith that they had the victory that they secured, all that surrounded. And we celebrate Passover now we honor it, knowing Jesus has become our Passover lamb, according to the book of Corinthians. But I want to take you back for a moment. Because today, if people are celebrating Passover, we hold dinners and you have a Passover Seder. And I mean, you're not sitting there, putting actual blood on the doorposts of your house, we apply the blood of Jesus At most, we usually offer sacrifice of something, some part of our paycheck or something. But we're the sacrifices not like what they had gone through, the sacrifice is not your family could die or your child could die if the blood is not applied, the ultimate sacrifice given by the Hebrews was all their male children died, the firstborn of every male child died. So when we look at this, and we're holding our dinners, and we declared the, the blessings and we usually stop, we get to Exodus chapter 12, Exodus chapter 13. And, and we kind of stopped there. But that's not the fullness of the story, or what I believe that God wants to tell us today. As I begin to dig deeper, I saw a parallel between Passover and the children of Israel coming out of their bondage, the children of Israel coming out of their plagues, the children of Israel coming out of their pandemic, the children of Israel coming out of their 10 plagues. And us coming out of ours. I saw this parallel between 1445 and 2020. Different in many ways, but similar and in many ways, we are in unprecedented times, at least in our lifetime, with this Corona virus, and questions arise in our heart, and our mind whether we want to admit it or not, whether we want to say them or not, you can be the strongest Christian and believer, but that doesn't mean that questions have not arose in your heart. The questions of God, what are you doing? And boy, I've heard just about every theory. I've heard all kinds of different things. Everybody seems to be an expert on what God is doing. But the Bible tells us who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor, or who is first given to him, and it has not been recommended for him again, according to the book of Romans. And so, those questions arise God, what are you doing? God, where are you in this? Do you have us? God? What does our future look like? What is the head of us? And while it's not like the children of Israel that we have not had 400 years of enslavement. And though it's not been the tragedy, and the terror that they had gone through for so many years, we have had about 40 days of captivity. I mean, we have had things that we have not experienced in our lifetime. So, while it is not the 400 years of bondage, and the times of Slavery and what they've gone through, there is a similarity that we can say we to have a plague, we too have been shut in. We too had been under the control and authority of other officials. So let's give our texts some context here. First off, you have to know that these are people of God, just like you and I, but but in a sense like this, they serve God. But they don't really know him like their forefathers once knew him. I want you to hear every word carefully. Because while they are serving God, and have a memory of God, it is like a watered down sermon. And I'm been serving the Lord for 36 years and I think how much churches changed in just those 36 years. How we used to have revival services that lasted for weeks. How we would go to church almost every single night how you would have your children sitting up under a Pew how you you stayed in an altar all night long. And you Terry, how we didn't have fancy screens and beautiful stages and everything else. We had just those little, what were the machines, you put the slide on it and put it up on the wall. And that was the first words we had because we couldn't move forward hymnals for everybody, and we would tarry at the altar all night long. And we would have Sunday school and we would get into the Word of God and we would be trained and equipped and have to go through so many different things in your life. I mean, faith was not something that you did, you didn't show up on Sunday for an hour. That was the celebration part because you were deeply trained as a disciple and and so as we look at this and and look at the context, I can see how you can serve God but you don't really have the foundation. That maybe generations ago did. If we look back at the turn of the century, the most profound professions are attorneys and doctors and pastors, pastors took years and years of study and academia and scholarships and all of our Ivy League that God help us that have transformed and changed so much they started out as Christian colleges, they started out as institutions surrounded, to give God glory by the word of God. So let me give you a brief history here. First off, let's go back to how the children of Israel get in bondage. Remember, Joseph, Jacob had a lot of children. So there was Abraham that God started this covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Jacob has several children and you know, though don't his deathbed, he prophesized, etc. Well, Joseph was a favorite A child and Joseph was given a coat of many other colors by his father, because he took care of him in his old age. And his brothers didn't like that he got the coat, but his daddy was the one that gave him a coat. So let's put that down. What does that word like what is a coat of many colors? It's a mantle by God. And there's some mantle's that are on your life, that some people gravitate towards you because of that mantle. Some people reject you, and even hate you and despise you, not because of you, but because of the mantle, because of what God has called you to carry in the earth. And because you have been faithful to carry that mantle out. And so Joseph's own brothers were jealous of him, because of the color that his father gave him. Joseph didn't ask for the coat. Joseph didn't get in line for the coat. Joseph didn't beg for the coat, his daddy put it on him. And so his brothers became so enraged and so jealous, because he had this gift on his life. He had the ability to interpret dreams and they have And in his prematurity and had not been developed because all of our giftings get developed, we go through this process. He tells us brothers, I see you bowing down and you're gonna serve me, which might not have been the smartest thing on Joseph's part. His brothers get really upset, really jealous over and they sold him into slavery, their own brother, they sell them out, they turn on him. In fact, they were going to kill him and one of them says, hey, let's not kill him. Let's just sell them into slavery. So we end up at potter's house. And when he ends up at pata first house, he has favor, but they say historians say Joseph was a very good looking man, that when he would come in the women would just literally cut themselves. That's what Josephus says that they were like in all he was so good looking. And so Joseph's in potter's house when no one else is there, which was not a smart move on his part. And pata first wife makes a move on him. She goes after him and when he rejects the move, she lies about it goes to Her husband and says that he tried to come after and he's now put in prison. And so Joseph finds himself having this coat of many colors being favored that his daddy had given him to being in a pit, to being in prison, to being in a place of captivity, a place of bondage, and he's there for a long time. And he is interpreting dreams. The Bible says that the baker and the Butler's many verses are versions say the cup bear comes to them and any interprets their dream. And he says, Hey, remember me when I get out? And so when you get out, and so they get out, and they tend to forget him. And sometimes we feel like that, like we've done so much for other people, but we get forgotten. You don't remember me? Don't you? Remember? I'm the one that helped me start your ministry. Don't you remember when I had a lot I gave to you. Don't you remember? The good deeds and now here I am and can you use Give a little that back. Can you just remember me Remember the dream I interpreted for you remember how your family got set free? Remember what happened? And sometimes we feel but let me tell you something man may forget you, but God will not. God remembers and sees everything you've done, and God will use man, but man is not your source goddess, he will resource man, he'll use man to bless you. But God is your blesser God is the one that remembers, remember to look to God for all good things. Her he's your Rewarder he's the one that recompense issue. So here Joseph is and they'd forsaken him and it takes us down to Genesis chapter 41. And after two years of them getting out, the pharaoh has a dream and all of his magicians and all of his wise men cannot interpret the pharaohs dream. Now the pharaoh means the king. So fair was not just one person, it's a king. And there was this Pharaoh this king at the time and they cannot interpret is his dream. So the cup bear who remembered Joseph interpreting his dream is now the chief cup bearer and says, hey, there's this Hebrew. He's in prison. But he's got this gift on his life. He can interpret dreams. And the Pharaoh had nobody was mad as as magicians he's mad at all is demonic filled soothsayers and sorcerers and witches and everybody else and wannabes that cannot interpret his dream. And he says, Go get him. Go fetch him. In Genesis chapter 41, verse 15. God, I'm gonna say God brings Joseph before the Pharaoh. And Pharaoh says, I hear that you can interpret dreams. Now listen what Joseph says. He says, I cannot do it. But God will give Pharaoh the answer. He says, No wonder Joseph was used, because he could have stood up and said absolutely. Right. I am interpreter of dreams. I don't miss it. I get it right. He said, I cannot do it. I'm not the one that, that put this code on me by daddy did. My dad is the one that gave me this gift every gifting you have every good thing you have is because the Father God has given it to you. And the moment that you think that you can do it within your own power, the moment you think that you can solve a problem, by the strength of your arm is the moment that you are going to fail because God says I will get all the glory and I will not share my glory with any other person. You see the humility of Joseph, as he says, I cannot do it. But God will give you what you desire. And so we interprets the dream and and it goes through it and you can read it there in Genesis and he says you'll have seven years of abundance, and then you'll go into seven years of famine. And Joseph has promoted because of this and the king says the pharaoh says you're Going to be in charge of all my palace. In fact, I'm going to make you in charge of all Egypt. So he literally goes from the pit to the palace, you might be in a pit, but God can promote you to the palace. God is the one that pulls you out of the dunghill and set you before the prince is even the Princess of his people. And at this time, his brothers now find out Joseph is alive, and they come and they're afraid of him. And Joseph says in Genesis chapter 15, verse 20, he says, Don't be afraid. Don't worry about this. You didn't do this to me. God allowed this now hear the word. God allowed this to save much people alive. And the word to save much people alive means to leave a posterity. You see God is always interested in generations. And right now God says I just need someone who's not going to stand up and say I'm the one I've got the answer. I know exactly what it is. God needs someone with a humble heart. Someone that stands in the gap. Someone that praise someone that serves someone that's not looking for title or position, but we'll get it because they're their humility, because they aren't serving. They might be serving man, but they're doing it by serving God. And God is their reason God is their source. What they do is just an assignment of who they love and who they are called to, which is God. And so he says, Look, don't worry, I'm not gonna harm you. You did me wrong, but I'm not gonna do you wrong, because God is the one who allowed this. There are things in your life that you have to settle right now that God has allowed some things. God allowed you to be processed to walk through things that you couldn't even understand everything in your life was exactly as it was meant to be. And when you accept that and understand that God who is a sovereign, not saying he sent everything, but he knew everything before we ever would was forming you and molding you and making you for the ultimate plan and purpose that you can't even see. And so here Joseph is who would have ever thought this Hebrew boy, this Hebrew son would now become Prime Minister. So there's a king Think of it like Europe. Think of it like the UK, you've got the queen, but you've got the Prime Minister, he would now become Prime Minister and in charge of running all of Egypt. And so he's very wise and he says, he has wisdom, and the pharaoh recognizes this. And at the end of Genesis, Joseph dies, and he had favor and the people of Israel were protected under this Pharaoh, because Joseph had favor. There's protection in your life. I don't know who I'm speaking to right now. But you're protected because your father had favor because your mother did. Because Because of people that you work with, because of someone that you've been kind to, that there's things that you don't even recognize could be shifted so fast. But there's favor on your community favor on this nation favor, not even necessarily because of you but because of God because of God. putting his person God's mercy in God's grace. Because Joseph fulfilled it, the people were protected. And then a new Pharaoh comes on the scene for Egypt. And because of the spiritual laws that operate, and people don't like to hear this all the time, but remember Joseph's brothers sold them into slavery. So they started a cycle, we'd call that a generational curse. And until someone breaks that cycle, it will continue because you reap what you sow. And so because they had done that wrong, there's no God as adjust God. So there's spiritual laws. And and nothing is just like coincidence or random or chaotic. It doesn't mean that it can't be stopped because you can stop a cycle when you understand how to when you understand that you can reverse something from being a generational curse to generational blessing. Thank God for His mercy. Thank God for His goodness. But Joseph because He was sold into slavery by his brothers for several generations, their descendants were ruthlessly enslaved in the very nation where their innocent brother had suffered. Now think about this, because it's like Nehemiah, Nehemiah comes in, the city is burned down, the walls are burned down. Everything's broken, and the gates are broken. And the first thing he says is I repent, he's praying, and he's passing and he repents. Which means not just I'm sorry, but I'm literally changing. I'm going back to the place of departure and changing the way I do things. I'm changing my course. Now Nehemiah is a good guy, but what's he repenting for this sense of his forefather? Can I tell you right now that you can be looking and go well, I didn't do anything. I don't deserve this. I shouldn't be a part of this. But God knew exactly when to send you into purpose because purpose is parent critical. It has a time to everything. And you are supposed to be the light of day God, the character of God, that the beacon of hope for such a time as this. And so, when, when the children of Israel are in bondage for years, the Israelites are afflicted and they were pressed throughout this time. It's the center of the Passover narrative. And in Exodus chapter one, verses 11 through 14 says, so they put their slave masters and what I want you to understand about let me finish that sentence is that there are things that we face in our lifetime, not because you necessarily directly did, but because of things that are on a nation, things that are on a family, things that are on a people from past forefathers, which means we still have the responsibility to take on those sins and to rectify them by breaking that through the power of repentance. The However really understanding and until a people who will humble themselves and not be so arrogant and so prideful, and so stubborn, and so stiff net, will continue to see the enemy have his way, will continue to see destruction because that's what he comes to do. But God will raise up a remnant he always will have a remnant he'll always have a people. So the Israelites are afflicted, and now they've been afflicted for a long time. 400 years. And Exodus chapter one verse 11, says, so they put slave masters over them to press them in force labor, and they built Python and Ramses a store cities for Pharaoh, but the more that they were oppressed more, the more they multiplied and spread. So the Egyptians came to dread came to hate the Israelites and work them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor and brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields and all their hard labor the Egyptians Use them ruthlessly Think about this. They now have people that are over them oppressing them. They're being used. Have you ever felt used in life? Have you ever felt unappreciated? I mean, this is not just unappreciated. Do you ever felt like I gave the best of my life to that I gave the best of my time and they used me. He just taught me after I was 40. For 220s I gave the best of myself. I gave the best of my energy, the best of my time, the best my mind to that. And look what happened to that. And so they're there. They're serve God, their forefathers watch. And here they are now in this bondage. And Pharaoh, he's ruthless. It gets really bad because he practices genocide. And we know Egypt means the very Hebrew word means to cramp to combine to bind up adversary distress, to enclose. So they were in a place of bondage. And God raises up a somebody who was a nobody, by the name of Moses, his name means to draw out. And I don't know who I'm speaking to right now. But God has drawn you out. God has raised you up for such a time as this. There are things that should have killed you. There are things that you should have never made it through. There's a reason that you should not be watching this broadcast, but you are because God has drawn you out. God kept you because God has a purpose for you. And so when you read throughout that Genesis, and you go into the next 12 chapters, you see the development of Moses, to be used by God for the bringing forth of people. And but then that first six chapters dealt with the person Moses with the deliver the next six chapters do with the work of the redemption. from chapter seven on there's this change in Moses. He is no longer this timid person. He's no longer intimidated. But he's he's no longer hesitant or discouraged or unsure of himself. But in the in the last chapter she becomes very confident. And so now 10 plagues are going to hit Israel or hit Egypt, and the children of Israel or an Egypt, serving in a place of bondage, and plagues are about to hit the land. plague of life plague the frog, but the worst plague will be the death plague, deadly pestilence, a deadly thing will come and kill every firstborn of Egypt. And these plagues which were the judgment of God on the Gods of Egypt, according to Numbers, chapter 33, verse four, the Bible says, then Passover, which was instituted by God chapter 12. And we usually stop right there and take it to Jesus being our Passover lamb and applying the blood Which is very true, and all which is very important. But we fail to go on with the rest of the story, and to give the details to help us and our time of Egypt. So the people who are in covenant the Hebrews, who've been in captivity for over 400 years now, they've been there for 430 years, but they've been in captivity for 400 years. That means, usually we think of a generation is 40 years in the Bible. That means 10 generations have been living off the memory of God, because they have some knowledge of God, some knowledge, that they know that they are to be different than the Egyptians. They know that they are to practice their faith different, but think about this. They're living off a memory of God because the reason that they want out is so that they can worship. So after 400 years, 10 generations story being passed down being passed down being passed down. Think about just the last hundred years. Think about the last three generations. Remember the stories you heard about your great great grandmother. Remember the stories you heard about how she would rock and pray, and how she would weep, and how she would sing those spiritual hymns. Remember the stories about how she would come out of bondage. Remember the stories that you heard about, about how they would come forth and how they would see a movement of God? Not because they had resources or money or education or a societal influence, but because they had a deep rooted faith in God. And so just in three generations, I can see from Azusa Street I can see by reading the stories of revival, the stories about pourings the stories of healing evangelists the stories of maria woodworth after going in trances, and people get Gathering the stories of a Katherine Coleman or Amy's simple MacPherson are a big daddy Seymour, the stories of john g lake and the heroes of our fate that weren't 10 generations back 400 years. But we have memories of how God would change from a Charles Spurgeon and how there would be people in prayer and entire cities would be saved in bars would shut down and there would be salvation that would come forward. And we have a memory of those things. Well, this is 10 generations that knew that they served a god and they had a memory of that. But their theology was bad. They knew about God, but their perception and their faith was skewed. It's been diluted by time and influenced by Egypt and let me tell you, who you hang around makes a difference. God hates duality. And how do I know it's influenced by Egypt? Because when they get out to worship God, what's the first thing they do? When Moses goes up to the mountain, they build a golden calf. They do what the Egyptians do. That's not how God intended for sacrifice. That's not what God intended church to look like. That's not what God intended to bring you out and bring deliverance for. So you could build a golden calf. So there they were influenced, so they knew that there was something distinct than they were influenced by the world. And how much influence is gone into the church that maybe this is a time that God Himself is saying, Come back to me. Get back into this word. I'm not gonna let you do routines like normal. I'm not gonna let you have your rituals like normal. I want you to have a real relationship. I want you to go back. I want you to remember who I am and what I desire and what I want I want you to know how proud to praise me and what a sacrifice looks like and what a real prayer meeting is not just because it's Wednesday night, not because you're a club or click not because somebody calls out your name, but because you pry out to me because you have a real relationship and you enjoy talking to me more than you enjoy talking to others because you know that I am the very breath in your body. I am the very Zoey and the room. I'm the life in you without me. You have no being in me, you live and you move and you have been I am your life. And so with just a little bit of faith because it only takes the faith of a mustard seed. God hears the cry of their heart. God hears the cry of their affliction. He's attentive to your cry. He hears your hurt, he interprets your tears. And with that interpretation, God comes to them and they're A day that God says enough, he sends Moses who's been away on the backside of the desert now for 40 years. And the Bible says, Go stand before Pharaoh, who do I say, sent me tell him that I am, I am what I am that I am, I am your deliver, I am your healer, I am your provider, I am alpha and I am omega, I am God all by myself. And the Bible says, the god hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and you would think it would be the opposite that he would soften it, but the same job that is telling him to go is also hardening the heart of Pharaoh. Now they go and and you know the story with all the different plagues, but that I think the most devastating one where I want to draw your attention in these last few moments is the 10th plague, because that is the plague where the death angel will pass over. And every firstborn male that does not have the blood of applied to the doorposts. And it's a very extensive thing. This is like, Can you imagine this little lamb has grown up with them. And they've got to take, you know, baby Debbie, like your little dog or jayda, you know, are your darling horse, you've got to take this land that's been familiar with the family and now brutally cut it in, kill it and take the blood, that think how traumatic this even starts and put the blood. This isn't just like red paint. It's take the blood and put it on the doorposts of the house. And when you put the blood on when I see the blood, I'll pass over. And so after the 10th plague for every house that had the blood, that they are then let go because all the Egyptians begin to cry out. And Egypt says Get out of here. Get out. Get out of here. We don't want you anymore. And by the way, take our gold, take our silver, and take our arraignment. Just get out what whoever you serve, whatever God you are serving, get out of here. And I want you to imagine after all the time that they had been in bondage. After all these 400 years, God said, Enough is enough. I have a date of deliverance for you. And it is now You see, God can turn things around. Just like that. Today can be your day. Today can be the day that God can turn it around. And though God turns it around, I want you to hear this as the core of my context where I'm getting ready to take you. It does not mean that they did not have trauma. This will turn around. I prophesied to you. This will turn around But what will that turn around look like? Will you get into your promised land into your place of peace? Your place and provision your land flowing with milk and honey? Or will you die in a wilderness because of the trauma you've just gone through? They say that 45% of people are experiencing mental health problems right now. The drinking is up 67% plus the divorce rate they say, is going to skyrocket. That's the prognosis. Right? That's the prognosis. That's what we're seeing and dealing with that that's real stats. Now, that would be easy to say, well, that's just the world. That that's just people that are out in the world. That's not believers. Well, 70 something percent of people in America say they're people faith. So you're telling me that those statistics only make up about 30% of people? I don't think so. Because Though they got delivered, it had traumatic impact. I want you to think about this, not through 3500 years. But I want you to become one with the text. They're in their home. They're told by this man that they barely no put the blood opponent the door post. They go from house to house and they begin to whisper and they put the blood on the door post. Afraid, huddled with their family, holding their firstborn, hoping that he will not die. The death angel passes over and you can begin to hear the screams. You can begin to hear mom's crying out now. You can begin to hear the heartache when they leave, and they start to gather all their belongings. It's not like they have limousines picking them up. It's not like they have fancy clothes and winter coats and going into the desert. They grab their stuff, they grab Egypt stuff, and millions of Jewish people begin to step all over death. We've seen what death lined up looks like. But these are masses of people, dead bodies everywhere. The stench of death everywhere. And they're holding there's looking at the one that they worked with. Looking at the one not not every Egyptian we have places all over the world, that we have tribes that don't get along. But but but you still have compassion in your humanity, in America, in the world. You have the Shiites and you at the Sunni's. You had the democrats and you have the Republicans. You have to Vision everywhere. If people have different philosophies, different mindsets, sometimes even sitting in the same seats, sometimes living on the same street, not far from each other. You You have all kinds of different things. Can you imagine the trauma, saying hold their baby and walk out and see looking at john, looking at been looking at Sheree. Looking at people that they've known dead moms crying out. Fathers broken. Did every single first male was dead. And the problem is when you see something like I'll never forget when I first got in ministry, a dear friend of ours had gone Through a really difficult divorce, and I got so afraid of fear. Because I thought, Man, their marriage was so rock solid. If they didn't make it, well, we make it. And the enemy's great at doing that, instead of getting you to look this way, he gets you to look horizontally this way. And so you begin to look at each other and think, well, if they got sick, maybe I'll get sick, if they died, maybe I'll die if they went through a divorce. Maybe I'll go through divorce. And then Amy's great at getting that fear where it becomes so real. And here they are escaping, stepping over death everywhere. One people are alive, and one people are dead. And the only difference between those that are alive and those that are dead is the people that had covenant and obeyed God. Didn't understand him. didn't even really know him. But they put blood on the door. repost. And then the very next verse, the Egyptians heart is hardened again. And they're saying, why have we done this? Why did we let the Israelites go? So they take 600 chosen chosen, not just 600 of anybody 600 Navy SEALs 600 of their best six one of their their absolute, built like minister Greg very best, get them on those chariots get the captains they take all their troops all their horses, and they start to pursue and go after the Israelites who have just been in for 100 years of slavery and are walking on foot. Can you imagine baby on one hip, another baby on the other hip? carrying them maybe one and a little Caboose on the back? And they're walking out with the goods of Egypt? Or do they have to carry them they're just carrying each other and they're masses of people all moving following this Man, Moses, verse 10, says when Pharaoh draws near the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and see the Egyptians marching after them, and washes, they were sore, afraid. They start doubting from fear. And this is where I want to get you to, and said it would have been better. Had they stayed in Egypt, it would have been better for them to serve the Egyptians and those hard taskmasters. Instead of dying in the wilderness. They saw no way out. God has delivered them from Egypt. They're getting ready to cross over and they're facing the Red Sea. And now they thought they were done that Pharaoh changed his heart changed his mind, and God hardens his heart one more time, and Pharaoh begins to pursue and they hear the hoofs, and they hear the footmen and they know that sound and that sound begins to trigger memories that sound bigger. to trigger fear, because anytime you've been through trauma, there are triggers on the inside of you. And God is working the greatest miracles when their back is against the corner, but they don't know because all they have is a memory and words about how God used to do things. Verse 13, Moses gets up and says fear dot stands to see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today. He says the Egyptians that you have seen today, you will never see them again. And that's your word. Isn't it interesting how God tells you something, but he doesn't give you all the details. He doesn't say I'm getting ready to part the Red Sea. I'm getting ready to make the water stand up hither into there and it's going to be a wall and you're going to walk over and drown dry ground. He does not give you details. He says Stand up. Stand firm, fear not. And today you will see the deliverance The Lord. God doesn't tell us how this is going to end. God doesn't tell us how he's going to get us out. God doesn't tell us what he's going to do. He doesn't give you details. They don't know how God is going to do this. And it seems like a like battle lines have been drawn. Once again, for people who are in covenant with God, where we will have to choose this day, who will we will serve because God's not going to give everybody details. Everybody all of a sudden becomes an expert prophet. Everybody, all of a sudden comes in an expert on everything. But I can tell you, God will not give you all the details. He will just say stand firm. Hold your peace. Today, I'm going to bring deliverance. Today I'm going to fight a battle for you. And you're going to have to trust me. And we're at a drawing line I believe is the church even recently, as the governor has said, the numbers down because we brought the number down exact words God did not do that. Fate did not do that. Destiny did not do that. We did that. Stand firm. So God says, fair not, and see the salvation of the Lord. Choose you this day who you will serve. Verse 14, The Lord will fight your battle, and you will hold your peace. Verse 15. And the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying unto me? Go speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. Tell them to move on. Tell Israel to move forward. Tell my church, tell my people move forward. Tell my people, I am the God of miracles. Tell my people that I had this Tell my people that I don't care what authority says that faith did not do this and God did not do this and destiny did not do this, that we the arm of flesh did this. You follow my voice? Tell my people. Tell my people to stand still and see the salvation Lord. Why not bring deliverance and get glory once again? Tell my people to keep moving. Tell my people. Don't stop believing. Don't give up. Don't lose your hope. Don't become as the world. Tell my people. I am the God of the supernatural. I am the God of the miraculous. I am the God over the pandemic. am the God over death. I am the God over disease and destruction. I have all power and all authority. And as long as I have a person, a people a remnant that cry out, then you will stand back and you will see my salvation. Can you see it? Millions of Jewish people startled, confused, hurting, scared, concerned, endangered, afraid. And God is saying go forward. Move on. How do you keep moving forward? When all hell is breaking loose in your life? How do you keep moving forward? When report after report tells you this? How do you keep moving forward? When you didn't get any money? Everybody else got their money, but you didn't get your money? How do you keep moving forward? When you don't know where your next paycheck is gonna come from? How do you keep moving forward? I've got a word for you said I'm scared God says move forward, you'll find yourself in a place without the answers with conditions that are not what you always want them to be. And you have to obey God's command in your life. Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. God had heart in the heart of Pharaoh, so that he could get all the glory, though that all would know not by mind and not by power, but by my spirit according Zechariah chapter four, verse six, can you imagine that the the terror of being on the run with a pharaoh that is chasing you with 600 choice, choice chariots, the enemy has looses best against you. You are in a fearful environment. You're in an unstable environment. You're in a situation that you've never been in. You're trying to move forward Attack, you're trying to move forward in a way that you don't even know what forward looks like. you're gaining ground. But to keep looking back, you're gaining ground, but you're afraid that this invisible enemy is coming after you. They're going where you've never been. The landscape of life has changed. And within itself, that can cause tremendous amounts of anxiety. They are following Moses, the freedom fighter, who they don't even really know. He's been on the backside of the desert for 40 years. He's one of them, but he's not like them. Because remember, his mom sent him down the Nile and what should have killed him. He was protected in that little bull rush and he lands up in the hands of Pharaoh's daughter who raises him in the palace. So Moses is privileged. Moses is educated in the Ivy League. Moses has money. Moses has education. Moses knows Pharaoh's army. So He is a Hebrew, but he's raised as an Egyptian know now what a contradiction because he's never really settled in his luxury. His heart is with his people so much so that he tries to take matters in his own hand, which is what lands him on the backside of the desert because he kills an Egyptian who is doing a Hebrew wrong. And then they, the Hebrews get mad at him for killing the Egyptian. It's crazy. So for 40 years, he's on the back side of the desert. And now he he comes forward, and after returning four years later, he has to lead the people to a scary place. You really don't know who you are, until you're in a scary place. You really don't know what's in you until you come to a scary place, a place that you've never been a place that makes your knees buckle. You don't know what you're made of, until you're in a scary place. You really don't know the power of what God can do until you're in a scary place, but you will discover an all powerful God, you will discover what it feels like what, what what God is when you get to that place, that scary place, but when you're there it changes what God feels like to you. Now no one wants to talk about this because some something that most people in church won't deal with because you can be a person of faith and still face fear. You can be a person of faith, a person that loves God and still have heart palpitations. You can be a person of faith and still be looking over your shoulder because you feel those horsemen. You feel those chariots, you feel that systemic side effects from the pandemic coming after you. I'm not saying that just because you You are in that situation. What that means that you when you feel like God has changed that. That means that you're a transformed person like you're a doubter or an unbeliever. But what I'm saying is crisis changes all of us. There are times you're walking out the will of God and you're facing fear. You're facing the anxiety of the unknown. You're facing hurt, you're facing questions with what you've just gone through, and deep within like the Israelites, you're probably wrestling with part of you that wants to hold on to what you just came out of. Hold on to the way things used to be. You say, Man, I was just there. I almost had all my bills paid off. And then this. We just had our business built. We just had our company, the place I just got the home. I just got the health report. I just got over this. And now you're probably like the the Israelites that went man. It wasn't the best situation. But I become accustomed to it. It wasn't the worst either. And now I'm facing a situation with Pharaoh's army, a pandemic chasing me down and in front of me, a brick wall or Red Sea, no way over my back against the wall. How do I get out of this? What do I do with this? Nowhere to go, they had faith. But now this, I'm afraid God. They hear the sound. And God says, keep moving forward. I want to speak to you for about three minutes. I want to speak to you. In your worry. I want to speak to you in your anxiety. I want to speak to you and your fear. I know you're a person of faith, but real fear does something to you and there's no way to go through this without having Some kind of trauma and real fear, it does something to your physical body. I studied a lot last night on what are the impacts of fear. It affects your cardiovascular. It affects your digestive system. It gives you things like irritable bowel syndrome in ulcers. real fear affects your body, your body starts to take all the blood and directs it to certain places which causes you to move in fight or flight. real fear does something to your memory. it impairs the formation of long term memories that causes damage to certain parts of the brain such as the hippocampus. It real fear affects parts of your brain that says you can't trust your judgment. It makes you paranoid. real fear leaves you anxious feeling a little nervous at times. Fear can interrupt the process of our brains that regulate our emotions. It makes you feel like you're scible you're up, you're down, you're in you're out is the way that our bodies were created, our minds are created. It impacts thinking and decision making in negative waves that leaves you susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions. Fear can create mental health challenges, fatigue, tired and don't even know why. clinical depression, PTSD, real things. And if you're under fear long enough, it'll hijack your brain to where it becomes trauma. And the crazy part is the antidote to trauma is relationship. But this pandemic makes it even crazier, because the one thing taken away from us is not just health and economic relationship. So if the antidote to trauma and fear creates trauma, and the antidote to trauma is relationship and now trying to figure out how do i do real relationship through a computer how do i do real relationship? When I can't even have my whole family over? How do I do real relationship when I'm used to walking into a church and hugging hundreds of people? Because I always want up to people know I'm a hugger. How do I do relationship when they say a woman needs 18 touches a day just to survive? What do I do just sit there and touch myself? Just to survive because this pandemic is not only broad health and economic, but trauma and God has a word for you when you're traumatized What happens is it begins to trigger things. So now the trigger start coming out, you and your spouse start fighting, don't even know why you're fighting. Because you're really so angry at your dad and now you're taking it out on your husband. You're thinking he's gonna leave like your first husband left. Triggers are where you react from the problem that you went through, even though it's long gone, the sound of the chariots coming after them, triggered them into a memory of what bondage was like, triggered them to feel paralyzed, triggered them to be confused, triggered them to say it's better that we were there. Look what you do bring us out here to bury us in graveyards, triggered them against Moses triggered them against listening to leadership triggered them to walk in a place of fear and fright. Their broad is probably bigger to tense up their heart begin to race. They heard Pharaoh coming and they were struck. The Bible says with terror. Remember Psalm 91 remember it I remind you, you will not fear the terror by night, nor the arrow that fly it by day, john Tintin the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, to utterly abolish her purpose. He wants to trigger you with fears. Suddenly, he is his systemic. He brings things to you through this situation. That really happened to you from another situation. Think about it. Now they are cursing where they are, and wish they had never left Egypt. They were unable to see that God had a miracle for them to get them beyond what what they wanted to go back to. They were afraid they cannot see for every new beginning, there is a radical disorientation for creative transformation. I just said something so powerful because God is bringing new business Because when you see things getting disoriented, it means that there is getting ready for something to be creatively oriented, that God is making away. But fear cannot only paralyze you fear can drive people away from you. Because when you're afraid, you start taking things out on people, you start acting out in ways that drives people away from you. Because Joe says the thing that I feared the most I brought upon myself, the Israelites are mad at Moses, because your perception of who is with you, and who is against you can be disrupted by fear. And in spite of all that, the Bible says, The God is going to get glory out of this. God is going to get glory out of this. And in my conclusion right now, I came to tell somebody do not get stuck in the fear usually left the worst. You're getting ready to go and there is a promised land ahead of you. But you're looking at a Red Sea, you're looking at an impossible situation. And the enemy wants you to be paralyzed. The enemy wants to say, it's never going to work for you again. It's not gonna be like it used to be. And God has brought you too far to drop you. God is about to do a miracle for you. He's a miracle working God. And Moses has no one to talk to. He cries out to God. Listen, the best prayer meetings, like I said, are not on Wednesday night, but they are in times of trouble. They come out of the worst situations. And Moses is in a dilemma because he knows that God has them but he knows that people don't like them. And he says stand firm. You'll see the deliverance of the Lord, that he will bring to you this day. And when you lead you cannot be here. Afraid of pleasing people. Because when you lead you when you lead and I'm not just talking about a pastor, when you lead as a father, when you lead in your household when you lead, you're going to have to decide when you lead as a minister, when you lead as a community person when you lead. There, there's those Crossroads that you decide, do I lead to be popular? Or do I lead to be purposeful because every leader will have to face that in their lifetime. God says, I've got something set up down the road, that's going to fix this whole problem. But if you stop right here, I cannot get glory out of your life. So he tells them, I know you're afraid, but keep going forward. The miracle is in the movement. Do something. Get up in the name of Jesus? fasten yourself. lift yourself up, start praying In the spirit right now, start lifting up your hands and giving God praise because praise will paralyze the enemy. Start doing something right now stop complaining, start praising, start saying God, I trust you and I believe you, I don't know how they didn't know that that see was gonna part and hither into there, and then it would become a wall and they would walk across on dry land, and that that sea would then consume the Egyptian army and they would get all the all the arsenal of the enemy. They had no idea, but the miracle was in the movement and God says keep moving. Keep moving in your faith. Keep moving in the word keep moving in array I'ma keep moving in the fact that God will not fail you hate moving in the fact that God is the same today yesterday and forevermore. Keep moving in the fact that God is all knowing keep moving in the fact that you're in covenant with an almighty God. Keep moving in the fact that you will give God praise and give him glory. And there might be others that say, God did not do this fake did not do Do this destiny did not do this. But I will absolutely stand up and shout from the mountaintops. God did do this. God has a remnant an army in this earth that are praying and it could be so much worse. I'm not discounting. I'm not saying that we haven't gone through something, but I'm saying it could be absolutely the most devastating thing, but God is intervening. Keep moving. Keep moving in your prayer life. Keep moving, fasting, keep moving. keep getting up. Keep moving in your acts of compassion. Keep moving in your giving. Keep moving in your sacrifice. Keep moving and your words, keep moving with your mouth. keep praising God, keep blessing the Lord at all times. His pray shall continually be in your mouth. keep getting up, keep putting your makeup on, keep getting dressed, keep knowing what it feels like to live. Keep having hope. Keep dreaming, keep, keep dreaming, keep seeing the city of destiny being built. keep seeing all the things coming to pass. keep seeing your ministry. Going forward, keep seeing your business flourish steep, keep seeing your bank account grow, keep seeing your body healthy, keep seeing your family strong, keep moving. Find that spirit of fear right now in the name of Jesus find that terror because all terrorists come out of the route of terror to come terrorize You call that spirit of terrorists down in the name of Jesus, it will not come nigh the it will not come to your family and destroy it. It will not come to your bank account and destroy it. It will not come to your body and destroy it. It will not come to your mind and destroy it. It will not come to your house and destroy it in the name which is above every name, the name of Jesus Christ. I came to set this whole story up to tell you that Passover this year taught me something new that when they came out in this dramatic situation because trauma takes a long time to get through and their triggers. The enemy wasn't done. He wanted to stop them. He wanted to lay them he even caused death two generations because the way they thought Once they did cross over, but they had to keep moving, keep moving. Keep moving. God says go forward. Keep moving. Get up. Get from your bedroom to your living room. Get from your living room to your back porch. Get from your back porch, into circles around your house. go on a walk around your house, get keep moving. Come on, keep moving. Get out till you can walk at the end of your cold a sack. Keep moving, going, a prayer, walk, keep moving. Just get up, move in your heart, move in your mind, move in your body. Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving, get up out of that bed, get up out of that depression. Get up out of that hurt. Get up out of that anxiety. Get up out of that victimization. Get up out of that feeling sorry for yourself. Get up out of that fear. Keep moving. I know you hear Pharaoh. I know you hear the horsemen. I know you hear the chariots, but the miracle is in the movement. You're going to walk into the power of God. The enemy never wanted you to even make it to the Red Sea that you have to get there to get to your miracle. We had To come to this place because I believe that we're about to see the greatest miracle. The greatest birthing the church has seen in my lifetime. I heard of the old revivals. I heard of Azusa Street. I heard of john g lake and the bubonic plague. I heard of all the miracles. I heard of what God did, but I believe we're gonna see it. I believe we're gonna see the greatest outpouring, I believe your sons and daughters, then know the word of God because you put it in and when they were little boys and girls, they're coming back to the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe the agnostic is waking up. I believe the atheist is looking for answers. I believe that God is going to get the glory. I believe it. I believe that the more the Egyptian says, God is not in this faith is not in this. Destiny. Not in this this is me and my power. Watch out Pharaoh, you will drown in a Red Sea. Watch out Pharaoh, you'll lose your whole army because God will not be mocked. God will not be mocked, and God will not share His glory with any other man. This might be too much for man, but this has nothing to God. Is there anything too difficult for God? The word for you right now is stand back and see the salvation of the Lord. Stand back and see the deliverance of God in verse 29. But the children of Israel walked upon the dry land in the midst of the sea. Keep moving forward. You're walking into your miracle in the name of Jesus. Come on, move right now. Get up and move right now. Get up and move right now.
What Are You Thinking? Pastor Paula continues her series on being mindful of your thoughts and teaching you how to use the Word of God in order to change your way of thinking resulting in less stress, anxiety, and worry. When we increase our faith, it changes our lives.
Recorded on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during the live online streaming broadcast. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Machine transcription: Get out your Bible, get out your notebook, as we're studying right now. How to have the thoughts of God proper thoughts, we're really talking about what are you thinking about? And we talked about how 70% of people are living in a time of stress in 2018. That was a study. Can you imagine what people are feeling now with this pandemic, they're feeling stress and maybe anxiety and worry and fear and different, different things that the enemy wants to clutter your spirit and your soul with. And it's so important because as a man thinketh so is he, your thought life really drives your reality, what what your outcome what your life is. And so it's so important because the battle gets in our mind and I want to teach you through God's word, some real practical things. We might even call them fundamentals and basics that we can go to that we begin to see our life transform and take on the will of God. Through the Word of God. So if in 2018 people had enormous amounts of stress or felt an abnormal type of pressure in their life, can you imagine right now, during this pandemic, that people are concerned about help than frightened because the enemy always makes you feel like this is going to happen to me there. Some of these fears are very real, very authentic, others can be imagined and might not ever come to pass. But if in 2018 70% of people walked around with stress, imagine that number now. And they say that 89% of all health problems and diseases are caused by immune systems breaking down because of unnecessary stress in a person's body. So the way we think has a lot to do with the way that we live. Now God didn't say, you can throw all that out the window. If it's a bad situation, you can change your mind. If it's a pandemic, no he taught us in the good times in the not so good times how to live a life that even according to James chapter one, he says, counted all joy command with calm delight. When you're in trials, I will bless the Lord Psalm 34 at all times is pray shall continually be in my mouth. So Proverbs chapter 12, verse 25, says anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down. But an encouraging word makes it glad. So anxiety in our heart weighs us down. But an encouraging word makes us glad. The Bible teaches that anxiety brings a heaviness to a person's life. For Philippians chapter four, verse six and seven says Be anxious for nothing or Be careful for nothing. But in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving grateful language lecture requests, your anxieties, your words be made known to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding Keep your heart in mind through Christ Jesus. So anxiety is a state of uneasiness, worry, and normal fear that maybe doesn't have a specific thing. A lot of people are saying, Paul, I'm not sleeping well or I wake up a lot, or I'm having these dreams or there's all kinds of stuff. Well, let me help you hopefully get to a place of contentment. And so he says, Let's read the Scripture. Goodness says that anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down. But an encouraging word makes it glad it reminds me of David David, remember when he was at zig zag, it was right before he would ascend to Zion and become king over all of Israel, which he would be anointed three different times. Now that's easy for us because we know how the story ends. But if you go back to the beginning, David is just tending a sheep out in the field and he's being a good steward over what God has given him and learning to work on as he was a slinger. He was Professional slinger like he was good with that slingshot God got behind that stone that took out Goliath. But David was skilled in an area and Samuel the prophet who words never fell to the ground. He never missed it prophetically eight anointed sought to be king. He comes down to Jesse, who is David's, Daddy and he says, Hey, Jesse, one of your sons is going to be king over all Israel. Can you imagine proud dad, Jesse? He lines up as best He's like, I know it. I knew it. Look, look what God's about to do through my lineage. And he puts everyone in the lineup. But David, can you imagine what David felt? What many of us have felt rejection? Hurt, wounded, confusion? Maybe anxious? Why not me? Well, I ever get a chance left out and David is out of the lineup and Samuel goes to take that flask of oil and pour it over the different bowl. As it goes to the different sons, the oil won't come out because the old but God has for you the anointing that God has for you. What God has for you, no man can ever take from you. So be at peace. You don't have to fight for position. You don't have to fight for place. You don't have to fight for provision. Because God is a faithful God all your days ordained before one of them ever came into being according to Psalm 139. You are fearfully and wonderfully created in the image of God. And so when Jesse says, Samuel comes back, says, Jessie, are you sure? Here's what yeah, there's one more but you know, he's just that boy out there in the field. Go fetch him, Go get him. And God's fetching you tonight. He's coming after you because he wants to transform your mind to transform your life. It doesn't mean he's going to change the situation overnight. It doesn't mean he's going to change the circumstance he could. It means God's going to change you So he says, go get them. David comes in stance before and sure enough, he takes that flask of oil and the oil begins flow. Because the old like God has for you will flow upon you. Therefore you don't have to try to control or manipulate or maneuver. And that's our tendency to try to put our hands on situations. And God says, My hand is much stronger than yours. My hand is much better. So how do we get to this place that we're not trying to, you know, control or manipulate or full of anxiety? or Why did I say use analogy a David because it says anxiety weighs a heart down but an encouraging word lifts him up. So David, when he says Zig Zig leg was the place because David would go through a 17 year process. That's a long time to have a promise and not see the provision of it. And sometimes we think God just doesn't like this, but God's interested in the process, the inevitable series of events that have to take place in our life, to transform us to begin to change us there was development. So God calls David a king, while he's still a kid. He is actually anointed as King. He's still a kid. And they're giftings and anointings in you right now, that have to be developed. So God's looking God's not intimidated by COVID-19 or Coronavirus, or economy or a global or lives that are happening or not or politics or gods Gods God all by himself. And God will use everything he'll use, the good he'll use the bad he'll use it all. See what God wants to know if you're in covenant with him is what is your response because it's not what others say to you, or even about you. It's what you say to yourself about yourself. Remember that Elizabeth The Bible says Who is the cousin of married the mother of Jesus that she was down and, and they had called her barren. They called her ineffective. They called her not able to produce. But that's not what God had called her. She would have a son in her old age, john the baptist. Now others had called her not able to produce an inability to be effective. But God didn't say that. It doesn't matter what your mom said. Your dad said, your pastor said. What matters is what God has to say. And what you say to yourself. So when David is faced, and he doesn't know, after all these years, pining in caves with people that were discontented, discouraged and in debt, what an army he had right? discontented, discouraged and in debt. Thanks, God, what a staff you've given me. Can you imagine? That's how God loves to do. He loves to take The weak things of the world to confound the wise. And so here he is and his, the city's been burned down, they've taken his wives his children captive. And the Bible says that David encouraged himself. Remember that anxiety weighs down a heart, but a word from God encourages. What does that mean? The actual Hebrew means that he reached within himself and fastened a hole. What did he fasten? He fastened into what was put in him. What did he have? I believe he had an I can do all things through Christ Jesus, I believe, just read his Psalms. His psalms are always blessing the Lord. His psalms are expressing his love and his belief in God. His psalms are saying things like I can live without the army and the chariots and the palace. But the one thing I can't live without is don't ever take your spirit from me. He was always worshiping God. So he reached out and he fastened a hold of what was on the inside of him and encouraged himself. And then he pursued, he got a word from the Lord. He said, God, what should I do? And he said, pursue and you will recover all, I prophesied to you that you will recover all in the name of Jesus. Right now, why don't you go ahead and text out five people and share this? I know we're a little bit late. We had technical difficulty, and I'm so sorry for that. But I've got a word in the next 20 minutes that I believe is going to really help you. So how do we get into the promised provision, and even a prosper soul and what I mean by that prosperity is not finances. It can be inclusive of that, but it literally means to break through, it means to break out to break forth. So how do we break through the molds and the the mindsets and the habits and the thoughts and the negativity, the anxiety, the worry, the stress, the things that have almost become like our security blanket, the things that have become so familiar to us? Well, Apostle Paul, who I think is one of the greatest experts, I mean, he writes two thirds of the New Testament teaches us something in Romans chapter seven, verse 14 through 25. for time sake, I'm only going to read a few of these scriptures, but I want you to read it in its full context. Okay? I'm going to read out of the message version, because I think it really brings it down. Verse 14, he says, I can anticipate the response that is coming. I know that all God's commands are spiritual. Now grab this. He's saying all of the commands of God are spiritual, but I'm not. This is Paul, the apostle Paul. He says, all the commands of God, he's teaching you something here, all the laws and habits of God are spiritual. But I'm not. I mean, this is one of the most spiritual men in the Bible. But he says, I am not. Isn't this also your experience? So he's saying, hey, Paula, you're going to have the same experience God's command are spiritual, that there's some times you're going to be really fleshly. God commands you to count it all joy command would come delight that there's sometimes Paula, you're going to be stressed out. So I want you to see this. Yes, I'm full of myself. After all. I've spent a long time and since prison. Now let's stop there. Because I think when we read that we just like to automatically put this picture of since prisons, Oh, you've spent a lot of time sleeping around smoking, cussing people out getting drunk. Those are all sins, yes. But sin at the root means to miss the mark and to fall short of the character of Christ. So when I get anxious when I get stressed out, when I get short, when I get impatient, when I get angry, I'm sending say, Oh, wait a minute, Paula, don't do that. Just make it the big bad ones. know, when I am not kind to others. When I don't take care of the poor then I Am a prisoner to sin, especially if I make that a habit. So what he says is what I don't understand about myself, Paul, I relate is that I decide one way, have you ever been there? But then I act in other doing things I absolutely despise. So he's saying, look, I, I want to do what's right, but I don't end up doing what's right. And I want you to go through all of this. Because he goes, so if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. Now, what's God's command? His spiritual truce, his word. So Paul's basically saying, Look, I'm going to get in the flesh, I'm going to sin, I'm going to miss the mark. So it becomes obvious that the word of God is absolute necessary. And what is the word of God? It's spiritual. It's not natural. It's not like Like going to college, it's not going to high school. It's not graduating with a doctorate degree or a Master's. It's graduating with something greater than that because you never fully graduate. It's revelation, it's revealed to you because the only way that you can have understanding of the Word of God is by walking with God Himself. The Holy Spirit brings you to Jesus, Jesus brings you to God the Father, and so is the Holy Spirit that gives you the revelation. And the reason that he's saying this, what I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another. Psychology calls it the iceberg syndrome, that there's about 10% of an iceberg that shows but 90% is buried underneath. deeply embedded in your thought life, your conscious your subconscious, are seeds that were planted. You know, think about when a baby is around. They're so pure. Children are so awesome. I mean, babies know that they're just Love they, they tell you that they're worthy of love. They cry and demand your attention when they're hungry and they stop everyone's world they bring joy into an atmosphere, because they believe because they haven't been taught yet. That they're not worthy or deserving of love. So they believe that they deserve to eat that they deserve to be changed with their diaper that they deserve to be held that they deserve to be cuddled. They deserve to be the center of attention and all these other things that maybe shouldn't be at 35. But anyway, that they tell you they don't know yet, because they've not been told you're stupid. You're no good, you won't amount to anything. They don't have anything to prove to the world. They just are love. And so somewhere in life, we get these seeds that start getting planted into us either direct or indirect. Maybe by parent or teacher or A spiritual leader or an ex boyfriend or girlfriend or first grade teacher. And those seeds start getting embedded until they become beliefs. And the reason Paul says I, I think I make decisions that I want to do, but I end up having behavior different. Why is that? Because all behavior comes out of belief. So whatever you deeply believe, is what you actually do. And that's why he says the things that I don't want to do I end up doing, because I've got this nature, this law working on the inside of me that has this propensity to send Now remember, that doesn't mean just go get drunk or go out there and you know, commit some high treason or crime. Send us to miss the mark. So we often miss the mark. I bet daily. We missed the mark, don't we? We start getting worried and weighed down in our heart with anxiety, too. Let's begin to figure out how we stay on path. The next 1520 minutes. And let's look at God's word together. Because we won't be long tonight. I'm going to be on de store live at 830 our time, Eastern Time. 730 Central. So you'll want to join that panel. But stay with me because I've got a word. Paul addresses the conflict as he endeavors to define and clarify the opposing forces that are battling against him. In essence, what he's saying to us is what controls your mind controls your life. So language is a locator number one, you can often find out and we'll get into the language part later as we teach this, but you can often discover what's really coming out of your heart, because it's a fountain of life. That's why you've got a garden. So you can locate if you're always complaining or grumpy or mad or sad and feelings are okay, there's something wrong with that. I'm not saying deny it. I'm saying observe it. saying to look at yourself because it is the washing of the word that cleanses our soul. It's the washing of God's Word that transforms us. So when you when something is controlling your mind, and maybe you don't even know it is how deeply It is like, one of the things I say to john, it, he realized because of my father's death when I was five years old and my dad who I just adored and really idolized as he was, you know, Superman, my superhero. I was hospitalized for high fever and I won't bake and I won't bake and you can't have bacon. I won't bake him Well, my daddy went and got me bacon. So I just believe you get what you want. And and I say now everything I needed from my father I received in those first five years. You say how can you say that? Because I believe God's a sovereign God. And I'm not saying God sent but God used. And so john when he will start to leave the house when we first got married. John's You know, he, I'd say, you know have that Gypsy spirit praise God that pirate died. But he's so used to just get up and go right babe. And in your get up and go, like he leave the house and just automatically know he's going to return in an hour or two because he's going to the grocery store the golf course and I'd be looking around the house and I'd feel anxious. I feel upset. And one day, I got the courage up to say, babe, when you leave, do you mind coming in, just let me know if I'm working in my office or whatever I'm doing that you're going to be going somewhere. And I explained to him why. And he said absolutely no problem. But he realized that even though all these years later 60% of time it wouldn't bother me. But 40% of the time, I would sin. You know, how can you call that sin? Because I would let fear drive me from an event that happened because those things get so deeply embedded. It so maybe there'll be a day of complete delivered to my life. There have been in many areas and maybe this is something I just have to crucify to my flesh and constantly work on renewing my mind. Are you with me? So all of us have things in our life that have happened that drive behavior now, that drive feelings now. So Paul dresses that that what controls our mind controls our life in that means it exercises authority, or has a dominating influence over so you can know scripture, but not necessarily be living scripture. So of course, same takes advantage because he's a Great Deceiver. He's a liar, he's the father lies. So he comes to take advantage of those wrong faulty beliefs. I call it ABC is an action created a belief that causes consequences, and he comes to take advantage of that. And he uses your sensory mechanism or to see what Hear, what you taste what you feel what you touch what you smell, he uses those to bring influence to us to create anxiety what happens in anxious heart gets weighted down. So your faith and the Word of God, which is revelation is fighting against that central perception or situation. So right now, as we look at the news are here things are we're all locked down, say at home, of course, anxiety can run high because it says, will this be life? Will I ever see my loved ones? Am I going to die of COVID-19? Is this going to happen? Is the economy going to? Well, I lose my job, but that data and the enemy uses all those things, right? And he uses that but the Word of God says, but my God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory. Philippians 419. The Word of God says in Deuteronomy 818 that God will give you power to get wealth that he may establish His covenant Second, quote a lot more scriptures, but what I'm saying is, this is the battle. Okay? And so that's why the Battle of the struggle occurs in the mind. And no person, no situation. No thing can ever have control over your mind or your thoughts. You have complete control over that. Unless you're a possessed person, which I don't think there's that many possessed people honestly. Now you can be oppressed, you can have that wrong type of thinking, you can be saved and on your way to heaven, but not fulfilling purpose and living an abundant life. abundant life doesn't mean everything's going right. It means I have joy, peace, righteousness, and the Holy Ghost in the midst of everything. And why do I say that? I say that because the only way is if you give control of your thoughts over to someone you give permission to them to control that to influence that, likewise, you cannot control how another person thinks. You You just release that all to God. Now Romans chapter 12, which we're going to go to first off in Romans 723. The word mind here that I just read to you means noose, nous n o u s and the Greek and it means intellect that is mind, divine or human and thought filling or will. So Romans chapter 12, verse one through three, Paul goes, I beseech you, and it's a strong word, hey, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service or your rational worship. And be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, perfect and acceptable will of the Lord verse three, For I say through the grace given to me to every man that is among you, not to think of him more highly than he ought to think, but two things soberly, according as God adult to every man the measure of fate. So when we're conformed to this world, it says be not conformed, it means to be fashioned, or be alike or be in the same pattern. So the world will tell you think like this feel like this act like this. But God says you're to think different. So a lot of our behavior comes out, all of our behavior comes out of the way that we think and the way that we think comes out of our belief system and a lot of that's faulty. So we have to do some deconstruction before we do some reconstruction. be not conformed to this world but be transformed. The Greek is metamorpho. It's like a caterpillar going into a butterfly to change or to transfigure to shape a thought or the idea of adjusting the parts. So a metamorphosis is reshaping your thoughts. metamorphosis is to change the structure by supernatural means That's why when the Holy Spirit washes the Word of God over you, it begins to change literally, this structure. There's been scientific and studies and proof that says, like the molecular the cellular structure of a person, as brain begins to change, I mean, it's amazing what can happen when, what they the part of the brain that houses spirituality or meditation, why it's so healthy for you. And I want you to get brain healthy. How by the renewing of your mind. So renewing means to renovate. renovate is take out the old put in the new, how do I transform? When the next 10 minutes I'll probably get a few points to you. Number one, First Peter, chapter one, verse 13. Therefore, GERD, I want you to underline that up the loins of your mind, gird up the loins of your mind. So let's take that part of Scripture and break it down. Therefore good It means be prepared. So when you prepare something, you cut it in advance loins which literally means the hip, or it means the same in the place of life. So it's saying, therefore be prepared in the place of life. It calls your mind, the place of life of your mind, which means deep thoughts, imagination and understanding, be sober, which means to be calm and collected in spirit, to be discreet, and to watch and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought into you at the revelation of Christ Jesus. So if we begin to break this down point number one of this is be prepared in your mind. So how do I get prepared in my mind, Joshua told, or God told Joshua three times in Joshua chapter one, verse six, Joshua chapter seven and Joshua chapter nine, be strong and be very courageous. The word courageous Their means to be mentally prepared. So what he was saying before he ever went over into the promised land before he ever took his leadership position, he was saying to him, I want you to be strong and be very courageous, be mentally prepared. So I believe that Joshua had to bind the Word of God around his heart. He had to get the word of God on the inside of him. He had to prepare for a battle before he ever knew what one looked like. He had to prepare to lead before he ever took the position. He had to prepare to think like a leader. He had to prepare to think victory before he ever tasted victory. Be strong and be very courageous, be mentally prepared. Can you imagine going into a situation? And I thank God I really do for our present for President Trump and I pray that you're all praying for him right now. I've known him for 19 years, and I'm so grateful because I know this night years I look back, I mean, go back to his book, The Art of the Deal. He's walking down the street, and he sees a homeless person. And he says to the person he's walking with how wealthy Do you think they are compared to us? And you said, I think he said something like if they have $1 and he's teaching this person how to think he said, but they're homeless, even if they had $1. I mean, aren't you know, you're living up here on Fifth Avenue in this massive tower? And I think he was close to a billion dollars in debt at that time and he said, their 900 and something X amount million dollars wealthier. You might think that's insane. like crazy. I was saying, but I'm grateful because everything he went through in life, being able people looking at his business went through this and he He went through that, but it all prepared him how to come back, prepared him how to overcome, prepared him how to face the impossible, prepared him how to lead in crisis, you know everything you've been through, if you allow it, instead of feeling like a victim, which stress says stress is really based out of fear and says I, I can't do anything about my situation therefore I'm just victim to the situation I'm victims of circumstance that's not true. You're not a victim to anything unless you give permission unless you give power away. So when God saying therefore GERD I tell you I'm not going to get very far I'm going like this series though. Are you with me? Right in if you want to continue to do this because I want to help you. Improve your life by getting rid of those toxic thoughts and getting the mind of Christ. Therefore gird be prepared. What he's saying is When he said to Joshua is I'm taking you someplace that I want you to prepare for now think about Proverbs, go study the ant. What do ants do? ants go and they grab ahold of something that is much bigger than their body. And they take a bite or chunk out of it like a piece of bread. tiny creature and, and they take it, this substance is bigger than them. And they go back to their nesting. And they begin to prepare for a season that they've not even entered into. They store up for winter. I mean, it's crazy. So when you look at an anthill next time, you're thinking man that ants probably smarter than we are, because it's prepared is prepared for something it's not face. like Noah, I want you to build an ark. I want you to get ready. Well, I don't know where to storms like, No you don't. But there's going to be lightning. There's good To be thunder, but what is going to kill others is going to carry you. So the first thing God's teaching you is that every time you go through something, see people say it's either lesson or blessing. But I say it's all blessing, because lessons become blessings to those of us who are in Christ, because they're preparing us. So yes, Joshua had to wander and wilderness. Yes, he had to submit to Moses. Yes, he had to honor authority. Yes, he had to learn all these things. Because one day he would be in a position of authority. He had to have the right attitude. He had to come forth and say, You're the servant of the Lord Moses. He didn't say, oh, that no good guy that struck Iraq. He had the right attitude, because he's prepared. So then the second part, I'm gonna go and give you three points today. I didn't get very far and I thought I had a short sermon. All right, the second one out of First Peter chapter one, verse 13, therefore gird Be prepared Up to your loins, your place of life of your mind your deep thoughts, so be prepared. that's point number one. Number two, he says and be sober. The word sober means to be calm and spirit. And remember, an anxious heart weighs one down, but an encouraging word, lift you up. So to be sober means to be common spirit. First Peter chapter three, verse four, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God, of great price. Now, when he says Be sober, common spirit, what does God says he's talking specifically in this? scriptures talking to women, like don't let the adorning and the outer beauty be the thing that makes you so attractive, but it's applicable to men and women. Because what he's saying is, let it be the hidden man of the heart. That that word heart again in the Hebrew is lead, the way you feel about things the way you think about things. And that which is not corruptable even the ornament. Now what he's saying is not corruptible. They should be hidden in your heart is a quiet doesn't mean you're quiet and make like some mouse like some like you just walk over me, a quiet and a meek spirit. meekness is not weakness is controlled strength. So a person walking in meekness is walking in the fruit of the Spirit. So it doesn't mean that you're not looking at the situation. It's how you see the same situation. So two people can be facing the exact same thing. One of them is going through a nervous breakdown. And that's what the Bible says do not be dismayed. The word dismayed literally means to have a nervous breakdown. That's what God's always saying. Do not be Made Do not be dismayed. Don't be a nervous wreck. So you might think of sin as the big nose. Don't go get drunk, don't go kill somebody. Of course I said, but so is living in anxiety. So is living with under stress and pressure. And what I want to do over these next several weeks with you is help you live a healthy life, spiritually, emotionally relationally. Financially, you say what a finance have to do with this because you'll find out it's how you feel about it. You find out there's an emotional side, there's a spiritual side to everything. That's why Paul said, Look, I decided to do what's right, but I don't do it. So obviously I live by the command of God, the laws of God which are spiritual. Sometimes you just have to will things I take my mind and I say you're going To be in peace, and I start making affirmations. And I say today I will be peaceful. Every day I write something, I deserve peace. I deserve contentment. I deserve to be loved. I deserve Why do I say deserve? Because what I'm saying is Paul, I give yourself permission to have the fullness of what was provided for you through the finished work of Jesus Christ. So he says, Be common spirit. Be common spirit, that is to possess which is hidden meekness, and quietness, which is a strength. The third thing I want to leave with you, he says and hope to the end, which means, hopefully trust in and have confidence to the end. Which in the Greek is Telos, it means the completion of a thing. what God is saying to us right now during this pandemic is, there's an end to this. There's a completion. So I want you to have hope, which is trust and confidence in me God, that I have you don't be out there Renegade. You don't have to prove anything to the world. You don't need to prove me like I'm some superhero, God will get glory himself. Use wisdom. James one five. If any man lack wisdom, let him ask him, God will give it to him liberally, use wisdom and hope to the end, have trust and a confidence to the completion. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 35, cast not away, therefore your confidence, which had great recompense of reward, great recompense of reward. How Ephesians chapter six verse 13, and 14, were for taking to you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand there for and that word stand there for doesn't mean like hold on to standing. It means no, I just got one victory, and I'm ready for the next victory. So how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time? How do you conquer a mountain? One step at a time. You're gonna climb it one step at a time. So let's review these together and make sure you get them. We are going to split these scriptures down. Let's go back Proverbs chapter 12. Verse 25, anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down but encouraging word makes it glad. Go to Romans chapter seven, study that. Go over to Romans chapter 12. study that. And then let's go over to First Peter chapter one and that's all we're going to get tonight. So There's three points. Number point number one, be prepared in your mind. Therefore, GERD number two, be sover. Be calm in your spirit. And number three, hope to the end. I want to give you an opportunity to worship God to stand in covenant with him. If you don't know him as your Savior, the Bible says in Romans chapter 10, verse nine and 10, that if you confess the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart, that he is the Son of God, you will be saved. Right now. Just pray this prayer with me say, Father, I come to you. In the name of Jesus. Forgive me for all of my sin. I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Wash my mind, renew it. Get the old faulty behavior system out and let your word get in. I submit and surrender my life to you. And I will follow you in Jesus name. He prayed that Welcome to the family of God. You can go to Paul white.org not only submit your prayer requests and your praise reports, but also make sure that you get a free digital download right there. I have a book on what it is to be born again a new creation in Christ.
Recorded on Sunday, April 12, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida during an outdoor drive-in Resurrection Day service. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us. Pastor Brad Knight is on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pastorbradknight/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/PastorBKnight)
Machine Transcription: There's no day that could possibly shine brighter than Resurrection Sunday in this time in our world. It's amazing that where the breath of man kills, where we were mask, going shopping, because we're afraid of our neighbors to breathe on us, we have a day where we know that the breath of God delivers the breath of God raises the breath of God gives life. It was not the breath of man that breathed into atoms, but it was a breath of God Himself, that created the first man and it is the breath of God today that will preserve you that will heal you that will restore you. And in the midst of a pandemic, where the world is scared where the world is fearful. I am here to tell you that we have a God that did not stay in a grave after death, but he got up and he walked out and no matter what you're facing, no matter what you've seen, no matter how scary it is, that same God will be your God if you embrace them.
Recorded on Sunday, April 5, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us
Machine Transcription: Let's go to john chapter 12 verse 12 through 15, study the entire chapter, but we're gonna read a few scriptures here in the end IV says the next day the great crowd that had come for the feast, they had come for a Passover they were gathering for Passover. So Jesus participate in Passover, heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and love it and went out to meet him. I would underline that in your Bible, went out to meet him important shouting Hosanna Blessed is he Who comes in the name of the Lord blesses the king of Israel. Now this is a reference back to a prophecy by both Isaiah and Zachariah That said, the King of glory shall come and he shall come and that they would say, blesses the king of Israel. Blessed is he Who comes in the name of the Lord he would come riding in on a donkey which is exactly what would happen. Jesus found a young donkey and sad opponent, as it is written, do not be afraid. Oh daughter of Zion. See your king is coming seated on a donkey's. Can you imagine? I mean, like I said that the children of Israel had expected, they knew that there was time for regime a new one, they knew that there was going to be an overturning. But God's ways are not man's ways. They thought that they were going to set up a Roman government so much so that when you really begin to study this and dissect it, remember Andrews mom, because his dad had passed away and the boys had the business and there they were disciples of Jesus, she comes and starts to worship him and says, oh, Lord, by the way, who's going to sit on your right hand, because she thought he was going to be the next Emperor, the next king, the next president, Prime Minister, and she wanted to secure herself. She did the right thing, but in a wrong way as she worship that's the right thing, because today, we're going to worship God, but I want you to do it with a pure motive with a pure heart. heart with clean hands, so that anything that the enemy would put on the inside of you, to defile you, to contaminate you to clutter your spirit let it be uprooted in the name of Jesus. And the simplest way I do that is every morning I say God is love. So whatever is not love, I command it to leave my life. Fear is not love. sickness is not love. Death is not love. destruction is not love, hurt offense, unforgiveness, selfishness, greed, self righteousness, perversion, addiction that's not love. So anything that is that I'm struggling with anything that I'm wrestling with anything that is not love, let it come out of my life. Pride is not love. It's got a bow to the name of Jesus. So right now, whatever is in your heart, whatever's in your life that is not love. Let it be uprooted in the name of Jesus. So she was worshiping doing a good thing, but she did it for a wrong reason. Today you're going to worship out of a period place today you're going to praise God with the praise that comes brings things to pass, because it's going to be out of a pure place. And watch what happens. He rides in. And they're thinking he's going to overthrow the Roman government. But as I said before, God is about to set up a heavenly kingdom. God is about to fulfill his plan, not through the way they thought it was going to go down. Which is why I think people preach so wrong on Hosanna. They'll say like, oh, people will call you Hosanna Hosanna. Nobody should be called Hosanna by God. So they'll say praise, you praise you. Nobody should be praised, but God, and then they say, then they'll turn against you. That's such a fleshly way of looking at that message, in my opinion, just my humble opinion. Because this is all about the king of lords and what they were doing. You'll see when they say Hosanna is they were saying Hosanna I believe with a very pure motive with the fulfillment of prophecy without understanding. It's just when God's methods were not the way they expected it to, because God not get victory by setting up a natural kingdom, God was not going to get victory by setting up a natural political system, he would set up a political system, he would set up a government, but it would not be the government they thought it would be the kingdom of God. It would have citizens all over this world. It would not be an earthly kingdom, but one that has righteousness, joy, and the Holy Ghost not one of food and one of drinking worn a power, one that could not be shaken, one that could not be overthrown, one that could not be taken down when they would have its laws and one that would have is king which is the King of glory, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, he wouldn't be setting up a government because it is upon the shoulders of Jesus that the government rest, and so he would be setting up when it was just not the one they thought it was not one limited to Rome. It was one that God would expand across every border, ethnicity across every educational and economic barrier are lying. God said, My Kingdom has come. It's at hand is within your grasp. And so he would bring through His Son Jesus Christ in a way that they did not expect the kingdom of God. What do you mean didn't expect because they thought it would be natural. But God said, No, I'm doing something different. And what they couldn't handle was what we celebrate is one of the greatest days has the greatest day of all this in my opinion, Palm Sunday is important. Resurrection Sunday is vital. But the greatest day I really believe this Good Friday, because that was the day of decision. That was the day that he could have yielded to god man, instead of God God because he was fully man. He was fully God. He was humanity wrapped in divinity or divinity, excuse me, wrapped in humanity, God incarnate, the Son of God. had come. The Lamb of God rustling before the very foundations of the earth and he came to save the world to redeem us. I'll get into that in just a moment. And in that moment on great Friday, I think his greatest temptation, as we will see that Palm Sunday starts the end, it is a week of finality. And that that Friday had to be the most difficult day because that was the day his flesh could have called on a 10,000. Angels. He could have said, This is too difficult. let this cup pass from me. I can't do this. I can't take this suffering. They would beat him. They would bruise him till he was beyond recognition. He would hang on an old rugged cross. They would mock him. It was vile. There is nothing pretty about the old rugged cross but it is still the emblem of suffering and shame. But it is the beauty for every Christian and every believer that knows because of that cross when he He said it is finished. It was perfectly perfect and completely complete. He died to death that he didn't deserve to give us a life that we could never earn. And because of that, we experienced resurrection. You say, how did we experience because when Christ was raised from the dead, those of us in Christ were also raised with him. So when you receive Jesus Christ, you're buried with him, but you also Rose with him. according to Ephesians chapter two, verse six says, Now you are seated in heavenly places through Christ Jesus. So think about this. Let's go to Revelation chapter seven, verse nine. And Tim says, After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number of all nations See, the kingdom of God is of all nations, and candids and people and tongues, stood before the throne before the land closed with the white robes and palms and their hand and cried with a loud voice, saying Salvation, our complete deliverance jar God would sit at the palm the throne onto the lamb. See, from the very beginning I said at God had a plan, a plan for mankind. Revelation chapter 13, verse eight declares the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the earth. Everything that God does is in accordance to his ultimate plan. He's sovereign, he's perfect. He makes no mistakes. He's not trying to scramble and figure it out. When you look how meticulous God is about details, that Moses took nine months to complete the tabernacle, according to Exodus chapter 19, verse one, the Holy Spirit took nine months to form the body of Jesus, the true tabernacle, there in the month are there in the womb of Mary who was chosen by God. Luke chapter one, verse 26, and 2018. It was a strategic design for God to dwell with man It was and always has been. The working out of his eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord, our Savior. Ephesians chapter three, verse 11, which ultimately, according to First Thessalonians, chapter five, verse nine, was this. This was what he was working now, verse nine, for God did not appoint us to suffer rap on should underline this, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. While I watch what this is saying, God did not appoint you. He did not appoint me to suffer wrath, the word wrath and the Greek means punishment. Now without Jesus Christ, God who is a just God would have to punish sin and the wages of sin which sin means to miss the mark and fall short of the glory of God, we all have missed the mark. For Romans chapter three, verse 23, says, All are sinners and fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of missing that mark, the wages of sin is death. So that's punishment, God who is just showed his grace and mercy through His Son, Jesus Christ, that the punishment that I deserved, did not come upon me. But it came upon Jesus. That doesn't even make sense. But God never makes sense. He's a god, so full of love, so full of compassion, so full of mercy, so full of goodness, that he loved us with an everlasting love that we'll never be able to articulate, that He gave His only begotten Son. And I want you to get this because some people see God through the lens of a natural father or through their life experiences and they struggle with Abba, Father, Daddy, but there really isn't a struggle because God is not like Man, you can't even begin to compare that God has not like anyone, his God all by himself. And God did not appoint you to punishment. He did not appoint you to, to be punished to route. You have to get this because God is not out to get you. He's not mad at you. He desires you. He loves you, He wants you. He came to give you an abundant life, one that is superior in quality and quantity, according to john chapter 1010. through His Son, Jesus Christ, he came to reconcile you by himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians chapter five, verse 18. He wants to restore what got all messed up in your life. What got all messed up in this world, and reconcile literally means this. It means to bring together those who were alienated to reunite those who are at variance to restore to Amity and conquered by removing that witch hunt. agreement and fellowship. You see man had lost relationship with God. Say Where did that happen? they'd lost fellowship with God after the fall of man in the garden way back with Adam and he. You see, when the first atom fell, the Bible says that we all fell when he died. We were all dead. First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 22, and Adam, all die. However it goes on to say, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. You see those redeemed or brought back or bought back. Their purchase by Christ are not only recovered from the fall, brought back to life in Christ, but they are made to rain in life. They're made to rain. Not only are you deemed but you're also restored back again back again to the original intention that God had for you. That's why all power and all authority belongs to you. Through Christ Jesus, because he wilted over your an air with God in a joint air with Jesus Christ. God who is the greatest architect of the universe, he drew up the plans before a creature was ever even brought into existence. everything concerning Christ in His Church and the family that he wanted, was firmly settled beyond the possibility of any alteration before. Before you ever thought in your mama's mind before your daddy and Mama got together and had to go to motel six and conceive you before any of that ever happened. You are firmly settled in the mind of God, before you throw your first cookie before you cuss somebody out before you committed adultery before you robbed before you did whatever you did. For you lost your temper before you were dishonest or snuck around or stolen anything before any of those manifestations God had. Already firmly settled the plan. He'd already made a path he'd already redeemed you through His Son, Jesus Christ. He was just waiting for you to receive it. what Jesus has done and it's affecting us is perfect. It is complete forever. Nothing can be taken from it, and nothing can be added to it. Think about what I'm saying, This is the gospel. This is Palm Sunday, someone 11 verse five states he will ever be mindful of his covenant. And although this amazing covenant was established from the very beginning, it would culminate during the climactic moments of the last few days of Jesus life and his death. He lived his life looking for the finish line. And what we call Palm Sunday is a week of finality. As I said, john 1212 on the next day, much people that were come to the feast when they heard the Greek word they're heard means Understood, they didn't just hear, but they had understanding. There's so much that I can teach there. Because remember that the fear of the Lord, that wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And that understanding is to depart from evil. And so knowledge is facts. Understanding are how those facts fit into life into the bigger picture. And wisdom is the application of understanding and knowledge. So when you have understanding, you don't see by a limited piece of a puzzle, but how it all fits together. That is how things come together. So you aren't, you aren't looking at your five year old life and don't understand how it fits together for the working out of good to God. That how God's going to take that five year old messed up Mississippi girl and use it when she's 57 years older, how God is working all things out for his good but understanding allows you in the middle When you're about 18 or 20 years old, or 22, before you ever see it come to pass, how God has a bigger plan than that one situation that's understanding how the pieces of your life fit into the bigger plan. And wisdom is the application of that understanding. So how they understood it's important not just heard, but how they understood that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, and they took the palm branches the palm trees, and they went forth to meet him important that you underline went for to meet him. So understanding produce movement, they understood the bigger picture that this was not just them seeing the the fulfillment of Isaiah Zachariah, but they knew that there was something happening here. And when they went forth, it literally means to issue because with understanding that produce movement, then they had to do something they had to issue when it says I went for to issue or it says they went for To meet, so went forth means to issue meet means an encounter, or concurrence, the point entered of place, time, place and time for results. So in other words, you could translate it like this, that they issued, the people who understood, issued and knew that they were about to have an encounter with God to enter a place in time that would bring forth results. Do you need it again, that the people understood and issued an encounter of a God that they knew would bring forth a time and a place of results. You see, when the people understood that they were in a god moment, they issued an encounter, that that's anticipation they'd been anticipating his arrival and I want you to know on this Palm Sunday, what Are you anticipating? I'm anticipating victory, I'm anticipating divine intervention? I'm anticipating a turnaround. I'm anticipating supernatural glory going to God. I am not anticipating doom and gloom. I am not anticipating this is how it ends. This is the end of it. Oh, the world is over with no, I'm anticipating what the enemy meant for bad God is about to turn around for the good for those that call upon him, those that are in covenant with him, those who walk in purpose with them how here is where your understanding of a Hosanna prays is about to bring forth results for john chapter 12, verse 13, remember they issued an encounter that would bring forth results from a place and a time in john chapter 12, verse 13, they took the branches of palm trees, and they went forth to meet him, and they cried Hosanna blesses the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord, a word that had never been uttered before. A word that had never been heard before. You see we had heard, hallelujah, that's a universal praise. It's a praise for all time. But Hosanna had never been under this is the first time that has ever brought forth. It is a prophetic praise in Matthew chapter 21, verse nine, and 15 and 16 it says the multitude went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna, to the son of David, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, the children crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were displeased, and God had to work with this church, still having to work with this church and said to him hairstyle what these say, and Jesus say it then to him, yes, have you never read out of the mouth of babes in cycling's thou has perfected praise. I can deeply teach here but it's a perfected praise that brought forth the complete armature Sure praise the brawn out of the innocence out of the mouth. That doesn't mean they were all weaned or they were all still on the breast at one or they were all still children. It means that they had that childlike innocence. They had that purity to them, they brought forth a perfected praise, and that perfected praise was what brought for the purpose in the will of God. Psalm chapter 34, verse one through three, I will bless the Lord at all times. Wait a minute, I bless the Lord when there's no coronavirus No, I bless the Lord when Oh times. Got my congregation about four right here. All right. We were blessed the Lord at all times. I bless the Lord just when I'm back to work I bless him when everything's going right when no I will I choose to bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall help me out continually being mindful Now, my soul the way I think about things the way I feel about things my soul shall make her boast in the Lord and the humble show here there are and be glad, oh magnify, let us cause to swell, oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I challenge you right now to will yourself no matter what you feel, no matter what your circumstances looking like no matter what your bank account says. No matter what your body feels like no matter what your family is doing or not doing no matter who's with you or who is against you. I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shout continually be in my mouth. Come on my soul shall make her boasts in the Lord and the humble show here there of all magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt let us lift up. Let us magnify Come on, there's a Hosanna praise and you've let us magnify the Lord together, your praise will produce I'm telling you right now God wants to bring forth out of you results. God want to bring out a view HIS WILL his plan his purpose he wants to produce in you to bring forth a yield to exhibit to make something or are come into existence to give birth to something. We are commanded in Psalm 150 verse six lead everything that had breath, are you still breathing? You have to be you would come be watching me if you are so that you have a command to you. If you have breath in your body, if you're breathing right now, let everything that had bred Praise the Lord. Praise You the Lord. I think sometimes the animals sometimes nature's better at this than we are, because they're not so stubborn. I think they wake up and give God glory I honestly do. And it says let everything that had bred. Praise God the Lord. Praise the Lord. Ultimately praises for our own good. It's not Until we praise Him, they were able to come into proper relationship with him without a thankful and a praising heart We will never grow in the grace of Christ Jesus. Psalm 22, verse three, yet you are holy, oh, you who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. See, God is enthroned in our praise. One of the things says God sits and prays, if you want God's presence, maybe you feel distant from God, maybe you feel God, where are you? Why don't you begin to praise and why don't feel like it. This isn't about feeling this is about willing, I will bless the Lord at all times. Just lift your hands right now. I've never done that. Do it. Just open your mouth and begin to praise and magnify the Lord. And as you begin to pray, something begins to happen. That hard ground begins to break up that hard and hard because to get soft, that confused mind gets clarity that sick body starts getting healed and you say how I don't know how God is God. I just Know that he sits in the midst of our praise God is in throne in our praise, and he says that he loves our praise. He is so pleased with our praise that he literally surrounds himself and bathes in our praise. He says I'm enthroned in the praises, we praise Him because He loves it. We praise Him because it pleases Him. Isaiah chapter 60, verse 18, but thou shall call by all salvation, and that gates prays. Here's a crucial key to that passage. And many times in Scripture, it speaks of gates that we'll find a principle relating to praise. Psalm chapter 87, verse two, the Lord love it, the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob. In essence, what it's saying is the Lord loves praise. the praise of his people. Zion is a people in a place in Christ. The Lord loves the praise of his people. The Lord loves the gates of Zion, the praise of his people who are in covenant. The Lord loves the praise the gates of Zion. The Lord loves the praise from his people, more than he loves all the abodes of Jacob. You know what God loves more than anything? Not just, well, like all around, but dwelling right with you. Yes, he's on mission. Yes, he's omnipotent. Yes, he's omnipresent. He is everywhere, but he doesn't manifest himself everywhere. Where does he show up? On the places he shows up? is an appraiser. Your praise starts releasing God's presence. Right now. Why won't you just draw close to him right now? Why don't you just praise Him? There's no doubt that God responds to us. When we praise them. I believe sickness will start leaving your body. I believe depression will Your body I believe clarity will come into your mind. I believe that strife and division will leave your household. Grab your spouse's hand right now, anoint your children right now. Praise God that he's going to restore your family. believe God as He brings forth financial blessing. God is yours resource you'll use God is your source. He'll use different resources, but he is your source, he is your Jehovah jairaj the God who will see to it and provide man's chief into glory is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, First Peter to nine, but you are chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation of peculiar people that you should show for the praises of Him who had called you out of darkness into His marvelous slide. So I want you to get this for a minute and I'm almost through with Hosanna and we'll come start praying in a minute. But I really want you to get this because I want to take you somewhere. praise and worship is my faith response to God, when you praise you create an atmosphere in your heart and your circumstances that releases faith and enables you to say this, my God is in control of this. You see, when you begin to praise, you're creating an atmosphere in your heart. You don't have to be there. In fact, you can barely lift your head up right now. Maybe you don't know how you're going to pay your mortgage don't have to for this month, all right? So maybe you don't know what you're going to do, or what's going to happen with your future what what you're saying when you begin to praise God, and I will bless the Lord at all times. You see, I had to go back to some basics this week, and just get my mind renewed and drenched in the word and say, Okay, these were the fundamentals of my faith, prayer and praise and staying in His Word and giving God a Thanksgiving and giving God grateful language and calling those things that are not as though they were walking in faith and Total trust and the basic building blocks are fundamentals of faith. You say I will bless the Lord and what you're doing is creating an atmosphere in your heart, the way you think about things, the way you feel about things. And in your circumstances, it says by faith God, I know that you are in control, not the government, not the coronavirus, not the pandemic, but you Oh God, and you are greater than any situation, you're able to defy every natural law. So I put my trust in my hope in you. whether you realize it or not everything in your life is absolutely dependent upon your ability to say my god is an awesome God. Everything in your life is dependent on the fact that you will not look at your situation through the eyes of man but see it through the eyes of God's perspective and say that's how Steven can be stoned. And I'm not talking about getting high. I'm talking about being cured as a moral And the glory of God would come forward and he would give God praises. That's how Paul and Silas when they were locked in prison at midnight, and it looks like impossible like they were going to be executed the next day, they begin to sing praises and begin to sing songs unto the Lord and they were praying and praising. And at the midnight hour, there was an earthquake that shook that entire gel. And from the fundamental of the foundation, an earthquake is something that happens at a foundational level, it began to release not just them, but all the prisoners and they begin to preach salvation, and they weren't only saved but everyone in that entire jail begin to get saved. The prison guard got saved, the inmates got saved everybody did because salvation is deliverance. And God wasn't only bringing deliverance to Paul and Silas but he was really bringing deliverance to everyone in their atmosphere, everyone in their circumstance, everyone under the same situation that they were in. You see as you begin to praise God, it will Only set you free, but it'll set your family free. It'll set your company free. It'll set this nation free. All we need is a few people that say God, I believe that you are in control. And I am completely dependent upon the ability to say my Gods is an awesome God when I can't see it when I don't feel it, but I don't understand it. I still say not with some kind of fake saying but other than knowing but then my Knower that my god is an awesome God. And God You had me before I ever entered to this day. So I walk in your perception. I was praising you God, I dare you just to start dancing right there in your living room to start lifting up your hands and praising God right there in your kitchen. Father to lay your hand on your children right now to begin to prophesied to them to begin to call those things that are not to say our God is awesome. Our God has us Our God will not fail us. Our God is faithful. My God is raising me from the better this affliction my god Put a hedge of protection around us. My God was applied for our household. I dare you right now to begin to praise God because something's gonna be released as you say, Hosanna Hosanna my house Hosanna in my life Hosanna in my heart Hosanna in my mouth Hosanna in my situation, as you begin to praise God, it becomes a habitation of God. It's a pathway for his presence. Psalm 114 verse two, Judah was a sanctuary, and Israel was his dominion, Judah means to praise and Judah was a sanctuary, though Israel was his dominion, you will God's presence live in praise. You will God's visitation. Open your mouth right now and say God, there is not my cue, you will God's presence, his presence will flush out sickness. His presence will break poverty, his presence will set you free. His presence will bring deliverance his presence will bring healing his presence will bring miracles his presence will manifest goodness and blessing you all God's presence. Open your mouth right now. Open your mouth and give God praise, put a Twitter out a twit Tweeter, put out a Twitter, whatever you call it a tweet out, whatever y'all do, put it out right now and just say my god is an awesome God, I will trust the Lord. Some will call upon chariots and some will call upon horses, but I will call upon the name of the Lord. He is a high tower, a refuge, who shall I be afraid? Whom shall I be afraid of? Oh 1000 will fall to my side in 10,000 run by right hand, but it will not come Nivea only with eyes. So now I see the reward of the wicked God, you're an awesome God, you are my strength. I called to you and my time of trouble and the Lord hurt me and he delivered me. He sent me he pulled me out of the pit and sent me before even princes. He sets me in a high place. Why? Because he's a good god. Oh, I will not forget the blessing. The benefits of God who loaded me up daily with them according Psalm 68, verse 19, but I will thank you oh God, for I recognize that there is none like you. I dare you right now just begin to put a praise on it. See when you start putting a praise on it, I'm telling you depression has to leave. discouragement has to leave despondence he has to leave. Praise him right now. Because when you praise it's a habitation first presence and God is about to step in. Step into your family, step into your mind, step into your body, step into your situation, step into your ministry, put a praise on it. That's what they were doing. They were putting a Hosanna and it says they took the branches. Remember, they took palms for specific reason. There's so much I could teach you about the palm. I don't know if I'll have time. But palms represent victory palms are kind of some funny looking trees really down here in Florida we understand the depth of that poem. You see, let me tell you one of the most important things about a poem, a poem will always reach to the world. Because the here we have hurricanes and stuff and I can tell you that I live in Florida and there was a time that a hurricane hit us right head on and, and we had all these oak trees even a few years ago here in our own parking lot at city of destiny. We had all these oak trees and 50 some of them got taken out, but our palms, they're still standing there strong. Those old ugly palms, they're still standing there. And I lived in this house in Tampa. And it had like 40 foot is one of the high old pumps that thing had like where the birds had they put metal around the top because the birds and just you know picked it so much over all the years of that standing that had this big oak tree in the front yard. And that oak tree when that when the hurricane we had to evacuate and do all that during that when the hurricane had come and, and I went back and I was like man, that oak tree I love that oak tree is so beautiful. It was over 100 years old. It was preserved. It was historic, historical, and I like that oak tree God, and I went and boy, that oak tree was split. I mean the brand it was just right down they had to actually destroy it. And I could didn't survive. It didn't make it through the winds didn't make it through the harsh rain. It didn't make it through the 85 to 120 hurricane force Goffs, but you know, what did that old ugly palm tree that thing was still standing. And I'm looking at that, that sucker and I'm just like, how is that standing? And I started studying palms. I mean, I was going, I'm like, how can this beautiful where acts of righteousness How can this beautiful oak tree not make it? I found something out. Oak trees like most trees have wide roots. They go out this way. They extend but they don't have depth. But that palm tree has roots that go so deep into the ground until it hits water and other palm tree will always be planted in water, it will, its roots will go so deep that that what it has is as a flexibility within those hundred and 20 mile golf winds came that palm would sway and it would bend, but it would not break. And so many people during the storms of life, they don't have those deep roots. But they have those oak tree roots. And so when they're in a time like we are now they're there, they're going like this, but they're going to break because they don't have a root system. But the Bible clearly shows us so many times where God compares us to that palm. The reason it's a symbol of victory and success. The reason that God uses a palm when they take palm trees on Palm Sunday is because they say look, there are deep roots on the inside of those that have covenant with me and those who stay in my word and those that praise me and those that abide in me and I abide in you, you might be bending right now. But you're not going to break right now. Because you've got a root system and out of your belly, according to john 738, shell flow rivers of living water, you've got a built in system, that out of your belly, the Holy Spirit is going to water you and going to refresh you. And so they took these branches of palm trees and you you will not break. You might be bending in this but you won't break and they went for the medium and they cried Hosanna Hosanna Do you know what Hosanna means? Hosanna was that never before praise? It never been spoken before. Hosanna means save now. I pray thee now save. I pray the be open now to defend our rescue. So you know what Hosanna means save now. Defend now rescue now. So what they were saying is I said hallelujah was appraised for what he had done. But Hosanna is a praise for what he's about to do. So what they were saying is saved now, Isaiah prophesied, Zachariah prophesied that here you come riding in and we see that we're about to have an encounter. So what we're saying is save now oh save now rescue now defend now I'm telling you there's not a more appropriate Palm Sunday that I have ever walked into in my life of 54 years almost then there is right now saved now. Oh God, deliver now oh god rescue now Oh God, defend now Oh god. It's a prophetic praise. And prophetic means not just to tell for not just for tell, but to tell for it means to shift some things to bring the future into alignment with the revelation of God. Open your mouth and say Hosanna Hosanna and the highest Oh God, as we begin to praise you right now. What we're saying is God Hosanna saved now. Save the us save the world right now. Save the righteousness right now. Defend now. Rescue right now. Oh God, we're calling on you Hosanna Hosanna if ever we need to cry Hosanna it is right now Come on, get your Hosanna Hosanna in your mouth, put a Hosanna in your spirit, put a Hosanna in your praise right now. And what it says in Psalm 118 verse 25, and 26 save now, I beseech thee, oh Lord, oh Lord, I beseech thee sinned now prosperity, blessed, be He, they comment in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord, will that be our testimony today? The house of the Lord we know is not the building. You are the house of the Lord. We found out in this pandemic, that is not brick and mortar, but it is a temple of God. Have you brought the Lord out of your temple today? Have you said Hosanna in the midst of the pandemic, save now? defend now rescue now and watch what he goes on to say because this was a prophetic brace that did They mean just saved now but so now prosperity. Well, everybody's gonna take that one out of context. And let me tell you what prosperity means. So if they say, well, they won't accuse me of being a prosperity preacher, I'll say, Yes, I am. Because prosperity means this and someone will take that little three seconds, I just said and use it out of context. But prosperity means this. It means to push forward. It means to break out, and it means to break through. So if you want to say that I'm a prosperity preacher, keep proclaiming it, because it means that I believe God is able to push forward. I believe we're able to break out I believe we're able to break through I believe that God has a breakthrough vaccination. I believe that God has a breakthrough economy. I believe that God has a breakthrough healing. I believe that God has a breakthrough anointing. I believe that there is a breakthrough. I believe that there is a pushing forward right now. There's You are not going to go back. I believe that God is God He is sovereign. He is Hosanna. And right now as you begin to say, save now deliver now, as you begin to say rescue now Hosanna, then what the Bible says prophetically, was when my people would cry out and beseech thee and say, hosanna when this word would come forward, he would also sin, not just salvation, but he would send prosperity. Wow. What an appropriate time as we enter this Most Holy Week, that God does not only defend and deliver and save, but he's since prosperity, which means he sins, a break through a break forth, and a breaking out that he's about to push some things forward. The plan of God has always been working, that plan will never fail. before the foundation of the earth, the Lamb of God was slain and that plan includes You You're the apple of God's eye. Be encouraged. Be prayerful, and put your praise on it. Because there was a praise that will bring God's will to past Hosanna Hosanna in the highest hosannah save now, save now, deliver now Oh God, heal right now. Rescue right now. defend us right now. We fight an invisible enemy, but it's not invisible to your eye. You are the offspring. You're the all knowing. So Deliver us now. In Jesus name.
Recorded on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us
Machine Transcription: Psalm chapter 91. The rabbi's, of course would pray, and this was a song that during a time of, of hurt or during a time of disease or death or destruction, it's a psalm that is a psalm of deliverance, a psalm of healing, a psalm of seeing God's goodness reliefs and we've studied so much through this. Remember, the children of Israel are brought out of Egypt there in the wilderness for 40 years instead of 11 days. And most theologians believe that Moses wrote this during them for their, their benefit of understanding their journey with the earthly pilgrimage they had with their dad. So let's read it. All right, I'm going to reach out to the King James, I'll read that I'll read to you that and IB until we get to the words where I'm going he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, and whom I trust. Surely he shall save you from this Fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night or the arrow that flies by day nor the petulant that stocks in the darkness nor the plague that destroys that Monday 1000 will fall at your side and 10,000 it's your right hand but it will not come Nivea, you will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. And we're going to conclude around here if you make the most hide your dwelling, even the Lord who is my refuge, the no harm will befall you know disaster will come near your tent. Now, here's where we're focusing tonight, for he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you and all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone. You will tread upon the line in the Cobra you will trample the great line in the serpent because he loves me Says the LORD, I will rescue him. I will protect him for acknowledges my name. He will call upon me and I will answer him, I will be with them in trouble and I will deliver him and honor him with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. I'm not gonna go back over the other but right now, won't you just lift your hands. Father, I pray that you remove all scales from our eyes. I pray that you give us revelation to open up our hearts and our spirit to receive right now. Let everything that would block us and be cluttered in our spirit. Let it be uprooted right now in the name of Jesus. And I ask that the anointing the very presence of God would go forth through these airwaves goats, pour through the internet, go forth through every way that you're watching this right now and let God's presence consume you. I ask that God would wrap his arms around you that you would know that you are living, breathing, tangible miracle and that God has you and he has given his angels charge over the he has commanded His angels together. guard you so God has angelic visitations coming to you. God's going to show you things as we begin to reveal what angelic forces and understand that angels are working on your behalf. Remember now faith. Now total trust is the substance the foundation of things hoped for, which means what I desire to possess according to God's word. And the evidence, which means the proof to remove all doubt of things that are not seen or that I'm unaware of, of construction that is taking place. While I don't even see it. God is working behind the scenes, there are angels that are coming to divinely visit you. Even tonight I asked her angelic visitations and dreams, I asked her to in your, in your household in ways that God is going to show you we're going to go through the word because I want you to see in God's word that he is working and that angels angels have been commanded. This is not to say, okay, Paula, Psalm 91 is for you. It's for you, and You and You and Suzy and Bob and john and Todd and Victor, Lynette, it's for you. Those who believe those who know God's word is a rainbow. It's a revelation for them. So everything that Psalm chapter 91 is contingent on you understanding verse one, we won't go through any of it, but he that dwells remember it's to homestead to sit to settle to remain permanently to marry. And so what it means is that no one no claim Jake jumper can come in and like claim to homestead. It means if you're going through a health crisis or financial crisis, like in the state of Florida, we have homestead laws. No one can come take your possession, take your home, no one they can, you could file bankruptcy. You can go through distress but they can never take your home because you're protected by the law. Well, you see God has lost his word that protects you. And he says as long as you just sit stop reading because the enemy loves to get us out of position. He loves To get so worked up and full of fear and fright and terror, but but God says, No, I can't operate in fear. We've talked so much about this. And I can't operate in those ways because fear will lead to doubt which means wavering, and doubt gets you into unbelief, which is a rebellion and a disposition for God. So sit in me. All right, now let's get to angels. So it says this. If we want God's protection, we know we need to sit angels verse 11. So you're sitting, you're resting him, You got this. Right, say, bring it on pastor Paula. For he shall give His angels charge over the, to keep the In all thy ways, verse 12, they shall bear the up in their hands, lest dash die foot against a stone. So when God says who's going to give you charge, it means to constitute, to enjoin to command. So it's a word that we get like the Constitution. So when God and joins you, he he commands, it says to constitute his ceiling. This is a It's a covenant word. To keep the properly it means to hedge about, as with thorns that think about like to hedge about, like its thorns think about a big, like prison wall that has all the barbed wire on the top of it. So those prisoners can never get out, and someone from the outside can never get in. So God says, I'm going to properly hedge you like big dorms, like a big barbed wire fence, to guard to protect, to tend to preserve to watch over. He says several things that we need to clean now, I was just going to teach this and go through the verses and the Holy Spirit really convicted me. Because as I started, I said, if I just say God will give His angels charge to watch over you, then a command to guard you that we can really get off course because people might not have a full understanding. What are angels? What are the biblical parameters, everyone is going to have something different. In fact, they can really get an up to some crazy kind of stuff doctrinally, if you don't have sound theology, so can we find out how you have angels watching over you, guarding you? You say, but pastor Paula, do you know what's going on? God knows exactly what's happening. And God in His sovereign plan is not caught off by surprise. I say it over and over you can have a certainty with the God that you serve in uncertain times. So the first thing I want you to write down that we're going to learn is number one, God created angels. Angels have not always existed. according to Scripture, it's something that god they're they're beings which I'll get into with you a minute, that God Himself created, so they're created beings. Now remember this Satan, who also has the name of Beelzebub the devil or right because we focus so much on that but he's a false Angel, he's not even an angel that is in good standing with God. Much worse than that he writing Not only is he a fallen angel, which is pretty bad because that means I'm not even in good standing with God. But But then when Jesus came, he was crucified on an old rugged cross buried in a burn tomb, rose again on the third day, and he went down from three days and he conquered death, hell and the grave. And he took the keys to the very kingdom of darkness to the enemy. He took the devil's keys to his own his own territory to his domain. And so think about this, not only is he not in good standing with God, he doesn't have keys to his house anymore. And sometimes what you focus on longest becomes strongest in your life. So that one of his weapons that he uses is the ability to deceive people and revelations will say, this is the worm did deceived nations at NASA, he deceived To all these people, so he works through fear and intimidation and deception. But when you begin to understand that he has nothing on God, there's under principality, there's not a power, there's no wickedness. There's no darkness that is greater than God. Angels are creative beings. Now one third of them rebelled against the throne of God, they rebelled against God, Satan started that charge. Okay, we find that all in New Zealand throughout the Word of God, and you see that he started this rebellion, and a third of the angels. Crazy said, Yeah, let's come against the creator of everything. And so God did not have a problem with them then and God did not now and you start out in the gospels, and it said, I saw Satan fall, meaning the great fall he was kicked out of heaven. Pick about this, and I saw him fall to the earth as lightning. So God just kicks him out. I mean, think about it's pretty Bible. It's pretty wild. So angels are created Wheatley. There are two thirds more good angels in right standing with God than there are fallen angels. So according to Scripture, they're part of God's creation. And a passage that refers to angels. It says there, they're referred to as the host or armies of heaven. We read you are the Lord you alone. This is Nehemiah chapter nine, verse six, you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, and the host of heaven, worships you. Remember there are three places there's Earth, there's a Heavenlies and there's the Most Holy of Holies. So you've got Earth where we'd well, that second level where there's all that spiritual atmosphere, that's where the enemy and certain angelic beings and we'll get into the depths of this and then there's God's throne, there's heaven, the Holy of Holies, or the heavenlies. Heavenly heavenly. Alright, so in the New Testament, Paul tells us that God created all things visible and infinite. So angels, for the most part are invisible we'll talk about when they show themselves. And specifically, it includes the angelic world with the phrase in Colossians chapter one, verse 10, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities. So again, these are created beings by God. So while these Bible verses tell us that our God created angels, the Bible also suggests that they exist in this, that they don't exist in the same way that you and I do. So angels are not flesh and blood. The the Arthur of Hebrews goes on and he says, The angels according to Hebrews, chapter one, verse 13, and 14 are spirits. So I want you to begin to write it down. Number one, God created them, they're their spirits. In Luke chapter 24, verse 39, Jesus appears to the disciples, and he asserts that spirits don't have bodies like he does. So we know that they are spirit Without a body, so they don't have flesh and blood, which means they don't. They don't live and die. They're not going to age or be 80 years old. They don't have this carnal flesh are the things that we have. The Bible says that angels can't usually be seen by humans and less watch. God reveals them. Numbers chapter 22 verse 31, Second Kings chapter six, verse 17, and Luke chapter two verse 13. So I'm a little bit I've been walking with God a long time I've I've had some what 35 years feels like a while to me. So I've had some pretty supernatural encounters with God. And it's amazing. Some people are just like, man, I see angels. I see him all the time. I just look at all the angels. I'm like, Well, what you've been taken, all right, because I'm telling you. I mean, we live by faith. God has to reveal God has to open up your eyes in order to see an angel. Now I have seen angels before I have seen an angelic being, but it's not like all the time. It's not like you see an angel every single day. But you know, because we're walking by faith that I know right now that there are angels all around me. I know that there are angels in this building. I know they're angels by my side right now. I know they're angels, literally, I'll get out. And when I walk outside, I'll thank my angels protecting my household and watching over. You say thank you guys. Thanks for taking care of everything for me. I literally do because I know that around my property line, there are angels everywhere. Why? Because I know God's word. Now I can't see them unless God were to open my eyes and reveal them. And I believe if God opens my eyes, there's a reason it would always say look like the Lord opened the eyes and they were able to see angelic forces around them. So from time to time Angels would take on a bodily form, and they appeared to various people throughout Scripture. Matthew chapter 28, verse five, Hebrews chapter 13, verse two, so occasionally they would show an ungodly form. Now, number two, there are three types of angels in the bible. Scripture names these categories of heavenly beings that are spirits without a body that appear to be types of angels. Number one, there's chair bombs. Number two are Sarah bombs. And number three is living creatures. And when you say pastor Paula, why are you doing this because God gives His angels charge over the remember. So right now, I have angelic beings and honestly if we say this in the reason I wanted to lay scripture for you, because chair bumps have very specific assignment. Sarah bumps have very specific assignment. living creatures have very specific assignment and when we pair it Because of lack of knowledge, so what we don't know, often is detrimental to us. So when we understand the word of God, you're not just calling out or just praying randomly you know how to operate there right now God has given his angels command over these who wants a chair co chair bones are mentioned several places throughout Scripture. They guarded the in terms of the garden, Genesis chapter three, verse 24, in the Garden of Eden, so right now, but you when I said, hey, there's a lot of Scripture I could take you to but I said, I get up and say, thank you guys to my angels, because I know they're watching over and they're guarding. Where God takes precedence. And I know that God has residence and that my property and our places dedicated to the Lord. So I thank my angels for watching over us all the time. God is enthroned above them he seek your chapter 10 verse one through 22 God rides on them. Psalm chapter 18 verse Sin. There are two golden figures of tear bums that sit above the Ark of the Covenant. You'll see that often, or God promised to dwell among these people Exodus chapter 25, verse 22. And also you can look at verse 18, through 21. The second type is a cellphone. And there, this is another type of an angel. That is only mentioned one time in the Bible. They appear in Isaiah chapter six, verse two through seven. And it says, where they continually worship the Lord. This is amazing here, Isaiah chapter six, verse three, and it says that they say to the Lord, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. So now you got chair bums, which we talked about the guard. They are enthroned above God, they they God rides on them, they're they're very active, but Sarah farms are angels of worship. Now God has created beings who do nothing but worship Him. And every time we'll see that they go around the throne room of God will see different things about living creatures in just a second is a little bit different from Sarah them. Because God's it appears in these three things that the primary purpose with angels is not which I'll get into the chair bones and what they're doing for you. But if we're looking at three different types, and we don't know exactly how many angels there are there Myriad's at all. talk to you about that. But it seems like one of the main reasons for angelic beings is for worship. No wonder God is so attracted to our worship. So when you have worried replace it with worship, when you begin to worship God, you attract God. The Bible says that your worship comes before him like if you worship Him in the form of bringing a sacrifice CERN offering it's like a sweet smell, a savor and odor before the very nostrils of God. When he hears you begin to cry out and praises name and begin to say, God, I love you. You are Holy, holy, holy. It is the language that God loves and God has God and God will get what he wants. He said that if you do not praise me, the very rocks will cry out. So sir, friends are going around the throne and their friends are saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And living creatures and his EQ on revelation speak of other kinds of heavenly beings known as living creatures around God's throne. Now these get into even deeper worship, because these are around the very throne room of God and we know what they do. there they're circling the throne room of God, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, but they are called living creatures and easic your chapter Verses five through 14. And Revelation chapter four, verse six through eight, they appear as a lion, as an ox, as a man, as an eagle. We've already studied the eagle through here, representing various parts of God's creation, wild beasts, domesticated animals, human beings, birds, so they to continually worship God. So we've got term firms that seem to do the work and kind of carry out the duties. And we got cell phones and living creatures that spend time and worship. Now that right there tells me if I have to break that down, and I've got three categories of angels chair bum cellphones and living creatures, and two thirds of them are worshiping and one third of them is working. It tells me that the majority of my life should be spent in worship. That as I worship, which doesn't mean just I'm doing a Sunday song or Wednesday praise and worship. What that means is I am building it's from a Latin word, that means we're Skype It means to build a life that denotes the worthiness of God. So everything in my life should denote his worthiness. So right now, I could be home, you could be home, I kind of take this somewhere else and say, oh, let's just plug and play. Let's do that. No, God wants me to bring a rainbow word, a fresh word to you right now. He's got you tuned in. And he says, right now, I do not want you to forsake the assembling of yourself. And and that means like, maybe we can't be in a building, but you can be online right now and be connected to the Word of God and be connected right now. You can lay your hands on that screen and just say, God, I want to worship you. I lift up my hand and I thank you, God, for your presence for the anointing. I'm coming in agreement with the Word of God. I'm coming in agreement that the Lord your word will become re meant to me. You see, you can still partake is what I'm saying. Just like you would lift your hands in the sanctuary. You lift our hands at home. Don't Don't just go around and cooking and kindness. Attention come to the very throne of God. Just like we take time apart and we say this is holy ground where you are as holy ground. And so it's so important because what they would do revelations chapter four verse a day and night, they never cease to sing Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is to come, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and who is to come. And I believe that every time they go around the throne room of God that they see another facet, they see another dimension of God's glory. And just like we'll never be able to fathom the mind of God. Just like we'll never be able to comprehend who God is. Well, we'll never know God in His fullness until we see him face to face, that they're going around the throne. And all they can do is say, holy, how many years? eternity Holy, holy, holy, Lord God. Almighty and the living creatures Where's her angels are encircling the throne of God right now. So if we have three different types chair bones and cellphones and living creatures, three different types of angels, and two thirds of them are worshipping, let me tell you how you're going to get through this. worship your way through it. He gives His angels charge over the worship is right through it because these these creative beings by God God says you two thirds of them are just worship. They're in God's presence. So we tend to work and then give our leftovers to God, thinking that we can earn our way our work our way. And we know Faith without works is dead but the greater part isn't it is to be a berry. And that is yes, we need you Martha. Yes, we need people to do the work to do the service. We understand that all of us should do some kind of service. But we also need you to sit at the feet of Jesus, and God is just calling you to him right now. He's saying, Come to me right now. Sit in me rest in me. Turn off the news. Turn off your phone, get away from all that and come to me right now. I want to do something in you, I'm going to bring deliverance to you. I'm going to bring healing to you. I'm going to bring you revelation and show you who I am. The third thing is that angels have a hierarchy of angels in the bible, have rank and order. The angelic hierarchy is supported by Jude chapter, or Jude verse nine, excuse me, when the angel Michael is called an arc Angel, a title that indicates his authority over other angels. He's also called one of the chief princes in Daniel chapter 10, verse 13, and he appears to lead God's angelic army in Revelation chapter 12. It says, Now war arose and Heaven is chapter 12, verse seven, and eight. Now War arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. So where did the war start? Where did sin start? It started in heaven. And the heaven part is already taken care of. Because when Jesus ascended to heaven, He put his blood upon the altar of God. And when he did that, where were sin had originated, God finished it. And so now where's the fight? That's the fight is down here on Earth. So God has given us angelic beings to help us and assist us I'm going to show you he's given his angels charge over the right to guard the to protect you. He's commanded he's constitute like a constitution. So watch, he says Mike on his angels fighting against the dragon, and the dragon is angels fault, but they were defeated. So again, God does not only not have a problem with Satan, the angels the Archangel Michael is able to defeat the dragon and essentially It. Paul also tells us that the Lord will return from heaven with the ark angels call First Thessalonians chapter four verse 16. Scripture doesn't tell us that this specifically refers to Michael, our if there's some other archangels as well, but it clearly says that the ark, angels will have this call number four. There are only two angels that we know their names of in the entirety of the Bible. So when you go from scripture alone, and you look at scripture, there are two angels that are specifically a name. First one we just talked about. He's the archangel and his name is Michael. He's mentioned in Jude verse nine, Revelation chapter 12, verse seven and eight. Daniel chapter 10, verse 13, verse 21, so he's a strong fighting prince who has numerous angels under his command. Revelation chapter 12, verse seven, Gabriel is the only other ain't But we know his name. He's mentioned in Daniel chapter eight, verse 16. Daniel chapter nine, verse 21. And he's a messenger who comes to speak, he comes from God to speak to Daniel. Gabriel was the angel who commanded to make Daniel understand the strange visions and dreams he was having. Because remember, God would often and still often does, Job says that God puts you to sleep so that he can speak to you through dreams. And so you have to discern, is this a spiritual dream? Or is this my subconscious going to work? So God is often dealing with us in dreams. Now with that they'll come in interpretation. And so the angel of the Lord came to Daniel and gave him the interpretation. And he was able to give them insight as to what the dream what the vision had meaning up. He also identified as God's Heavenly Messenger in Luke chapter one, the Angel of God's presence. He tells Zachariah and Luke 119 I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. So he announces himself as Gabriel and he's going to give, you know, Zacharias and who bring the good tidings to marry, etc. Then we read. In the six month Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin and the virgin same was married Luke chapter one, verse 26, and 27. Remember, he says, Hey, Mary, I'm about to open, the Holy Ghost is about to overshadow you, and you will conceive and you will bring forth the Son of God, you shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. So think about this a God saying, He says his angel, she said she was afraid and he said, don't, don't fear. So we link to bringing forth divine revelations, such as the interpretation of prophetic dreams and visions. On other occasions, angels would visit through these visions and dreams, however, the actual names of the head Heavenly visitors are not listed in the Scripture. So let me give you a few other visitations. All right. So we know that there's Gabriel, we know that there's Michael Archangel messenger Angel. So there are other visitations that were angelic visitations that I believe are applicable for us today. But we don't have their name. Genesis chapter 22, verse 11, an angel from heaven spoke to Abraham, telling him not to slay Isaac on the altar. Remember, he's getting up and he's getting ready he's goddess told him to go up and give his son nine only son and he's got the his knife in his hand, Abraham Abraham, some Angel speaks to him and there's a ram that is caught in the thicket and he gets the revelation that God is Jehovah Chiron again, bring some stops in from from taking his son and revelation that God is one who sees to it and provides Numbers chapter 22 verse 22, I want to work with their faith because God has given his angels charge over the right now you have the angels that are working on your back Half an angel block the path of bayla when he was preparing to curse Israel, you know there are people that are being used their entities being used to try to bring curse on you to try to do things and an angel will block them and the angel is going to stop them right now. So God will use his angel to block something that would try to bring cursor vexation or things to you destruction to you. Angels are watching over your car right now angels are watching over you. And I want you to understand specifically so you have scriptural basis to stand on understanding that God sends His angels to watch over you. An angel appeared to Gideon to direct them in battle Judges, chapter six verse 12. See God is the same today yesterday and forevermore. And so he changes not there's no variance in him, and God will give you direction in the middle of a battle. Right now. We just pray for divine direction for you, your household for your ministry for your business. We pray for divine direction for our president, President Trump right now for vice president for the task force, we pray for divine strategic direction right now that the church would raise up and be as the sons of is the car that they have understanding of the times and the seasons. And we're able to tell his your what to do. Angels will visit those who have favor and they're their mouthpieces for God, that you will be able to give direction you'll know what to do when to do it. Let the direction of the Lord come to governors and mayors and our president, our Vice President, and to county officials and those that rule in a place of authority that we would not live in chaos, but we would live according to the will of God. Even now. I just had to face something you know, other people are doing things that are just aren't aren't the safest and smartest thing and, and right now, we just had people come up and go like, are they following all the guidelines? We've been following guidelines from the very beginning before there was any mandate there wasn't a stay at home because we were saying Hate to help slow this spread. We stay within the six foot we stay within others, but it's the importance of this and you go How does that have to do with that? Because it's important that God directs people. It's important for angelic visitations to come right now. So the more people are going to move in the flesh and the more people that move in carnality, the more frustrated society is going to be. So let's pray right now for divine angelic visitation that God would direct because we are fighting an invisible enemy and let's pray that God would direct in this time a battle against this coronavirus, okay. And it is not something that you can see in the natural you can touch and put your hand on we we know exactly about a god knows exactly every single situation regarding this. He can divinely intervene and so let's pray for divine direction. And angel appeared to Samson's mother predicting the birth of a son Judges chapter 13 verse Have an angel stretched his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it. The Bible says in Second Samuel chapter 24, verse 16, and angels strengthen the prophet Elijah First Kings chapter 19 verse five right now for everybody who is weary and you just feel like you've been carrying so much burden on you. And there's so much weight. I mean, truly Wait, let an angel strength in you right now, remember when Elijah was just so weary because he had been running? He'd been running from Jes Ebell and now he's sitting under a Juniper tree and he wants to just take his own life. And he's discouraged and any here's the still small voice but an angel came and ministered to him. Just like an angel came after Jesus had come out of the wilderness and an angel ministered to our Lord and Savior. Let an angel strength in you right now for everybody who's got weariness for everybody who's lost their sense of pleasure, everybody who's despondent and even depressed right now and you just feel Like your your, your tank is empty that emotionally you're depleted and physically you're depleted and spiritually you're depleted. May the angel of the Lord come and minister to you right now in the name of Jesus. Daniel chapter six, verse 22, and Angel shut the mouth of the lions. So let every demonic force that would come against you, man angel of the Lord shut the mouth of the lion that would go to devour you that every spirit that would bring destruction, every devour every spirit of waste, everything that would come to bring destruction in any way. Let an angel the Lord shut its mouth in the name of Jesus. Zechariah chapter one through six, and Angel rebuild numerous chapter one through chapter six numerous prophetic revelations to Zachariah, may the Lord bring prophetic revelations and prophetic means not just the ability to foresee I've taught so much on prophecy but the ability To tell fourth, it's not just a foretell, as to tell fourth to shift things. So when you have eyes to see and ears to hear that Proverbs chapter 20 says the Lord makes your eye to see in your ear to hear. The prophetic has to do with your future that you have a now word that is so powerful that it's able to mold your future because I've taught so much on prophecy and prophetic. So just go back and get my teachings number five, because I've got to say on angels, number five, angels are not omnipresent. as important. They travel very fast. Because they can go through walls, they can go through doors, we see that like they just that's so cool. Can you imagine just being able to go through a wall right now like Jesus did? I mean, could you imagine just walking into big angels coming through here? And that would be that's just super cool. And God is an awesome guy. They frequently appear as messengers in the Bible track from one place to another, like we saw Gabriel was sent by God to the city of Galilee. So where did he come from Luke chapter one, verse 19, to this place called Nazareth, the fact that angels are not omnipresent, is made very explicit. When an angel comes to Daniel and says this, I have come because of your words. Now watch this. Daniel's praying for 21 days God hears him on the first day of his prayer, right? And just so you'll get the scriptural basis is Daniel chapter 10, verse 12 through 14, so he's praying, and God hears this prayer right away. And the angel says, I have come because of your words. You know, when you begin to pray, God begins to release angels. I want you to see what happens. The Prince of the Kingdom of Persia was stood me 21 days. Now here, he says, But Michael, one of the chief princes came to Help me. So I left him there with the prince of the Kingdom of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to the fall, what is to be fall your people in the latter days. That's some serious stuff right there. You've got a warring Angel and a messenger Angel tag teaming. And he's saying I left Michael to fight on your behalf because for 21 days, and that's a serious principality. And people be like, I didn't get my favorite parking space and so, you know, sings against me, are you kidding me? like really? half the stuff that that is happening? We bring on ourselves. It's just negative thinking toxic thoughts and a bad attitude offenses, unforgiveness, wounding trauma, all that junk that God says I finished the work in Christ Jesus to give you life and life more abundantly and you're choosing to live in death. You're choosing to live in destruction. You're choosing to be hurt by every little whim and offended by every little thing. But I came to give you life. I came to conquer death hell in the grave I came in gave you all power and all authority both in heaven and earth, not so you could just sit around and be mopey and be a victim so you could advance the kingdom of God that the church is the agency, which I extend my role to my role in my realm through, don't you understand who you are the apple of my eye, and era God adjoint era Jesus Christ. So when you get serious and you begin to understand you are God's solution. April is a very important month, this month is going to determine a lot hear me prophetically right now. Because it is so important that we pray, it is so important that we press through just our comfort zone. Many people are doing 714 in the morning or 714 at night, and they're calling to prayer, whatever you're comfortable to do, whether it's 10 minutes or 10 hours, pressin because I'm telling you by the Spirit of God, that outcomes of things are going to be largely determined by the month of April which is so important. We're getting ready to Go into a supernatural miracle working season. As we get ready to enter the Passover and Good Friday and Easter I feel the Holy Spirit right now as we move from April the eighth to the 16th. During this Passover, the blood of Jesus during this season that is so supernatural and holy to God a divine appointment, you better make sure that the blood is on the doorposts of your heart. Make sure that you understand that God is protecting you that God has sent His angels have charged over thee and take your authority Daniel, keep praying, Daniel, God has put you in position with the Prime Minister's where he was in position with with those that were the highest of civil authority and Goddess stood you they're not so that you could just bow down but God has put you in position so that you would not eat what the Kings people are the kingsmen if you were not dressed like they dress, you wouldn't be one as them. You're in this world, not of this world, but you're sent to this world. And Daniel while you're praying Daniel While you're fasting, Daniel while you're eating differently than the kingsmen are Daniel while you're getting rid of me, Daniel, while you're doing your thing, know that I'm working on your behalf, know that you're not hearing from heaven yet. And there's activity and yes, there is a principalities, there's rulers in the spirit realm that are over nations that seek to influence political forces seek to influence powers seek to influence and like I said, there's a clash of the kingdom, what's gonna rise up kingdoms of darkness or kingdoms of life? Much will depend on what the church does right now. The church is not the building the churches, you rise to your position right now. And so as we begin to see what happens in this place, he said, Well, I came and let you know, Hey, he's fighting up there so I could bring the message and bring the word of the Lord to you. The word of the Lord will come to you. If angels were omnipresent Michael would have came to help because he would have already been there and this angel wouldn't need to leave. Michael to bring the message. So in other words, they're not at all places. They're not God. They're not omnipresent. They are sent on assignment. And unlike God, who's omnipresent angels are finite creatures. They're limited to one place at a time. Number six, we don't know how many angels exist, but we know it's a lot. If we look in, we say the population of the world is what a little over 7 billion people. And so we look at America 370 million approximately, but apparently, there's a lot of them. Here's a few ways we know Deuteronomy, chapter 33, verse two on Mount Sinai, God came from 10 thousands of holy ones with flaming fire as his right hand. Psalm 6817. We also learned the chariots of God and 10s of thousands and thousands of thousands. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22, when we come to worship, we come into the presence of innumerable angels. They're not even numbered. So that means like, think about how many Angels are assigned to you people go I always know I have to Surely goodness and mercy. You know what? I know I've got thousands, I don't even know they're innumerable. Maybe you only have to I would double check that. All right, I just got a little bit farther than that. So they're innumerable. There's a myriad. If we can count up to a trillion and zillion. These are innumerable. It's beyond counting. So I know that they're probably all launched into my home right now. They're like, piled on top of each other. Seriously, they're looking for a bunk bed somewhere, because they they are just like they are moving speed of light. I mean, they're just going always working on on behalf. God says, I give my angels charge over the. So let's look at john says in Revelation chapter five, verse 11. I heard around the throne in the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. So every biblical reference To the total number of angels suggests that they're absolutely beyond counting. Now if we can count up to what a zillion, so that's how far we count. We know how much it is zillion be if we just gave up $2 trillion to tree Oh yeah, that's a lot of moolah, guys. We get they go true. Have you ever seen how far that would go like around the globe? It shows dollars, there's signs of how far that goes around. Well, if it's a newer boy, it means that we don't even have a number system for it. That's how many angels there are, that God has created. So angels are very powerful. The angels are called mighty ones who do is word Psalm 103, verse 20, powers Ephesians, chapter one, verse 21, dominions and authorities. Colossians chapter one, verse 16. So there are certainly greater in mind and power than humans. Second Peter chapter 211. Matthew chapter 28, verse two, so angels use their power to battle Satan's demonic forces Daniel chapter 10, verse 13 revelations chapter 12 verse seven through eight, Revelation chapter 20 verse one through three, during our earthly lives now this is this important because people say we're a little bit higher than the angels, but you need to know the word says during our earthly lives, we're lower than the angels. So they're more powerful than us right now. Now we'll judge them one day, okay, so Hebrews chapter two verse seven, that's why they're, they look at us like what what is going on when we act all out of order, as powerful as the angels are, when Jesus returns, follows her Christ will be raised higher than angels, according to First Corinthians chapter six, verse three. So right now we're a little bit lower. We've got this law of nature, this nature and this law working in US according to Romans chapter seven, the things I don't want to do, I end up doing the things I want to do, I don't end up doing so all this stuff. stuffs happening. Number eight angels carry out some of God's plans. There are numerous ways which God uses angels to carry out his plans on the earth. They frequently bring God's messages to people. Luke chapter one, verses 11 through 19. Acts chapter eight verse 26. Acts chapter 10, verse three through eight. I know you're gonna need a lot to watch this over and over Acts, chapter 10, verse 22, see Helen smiling on that? Acts chapter 27. Because I love when you study the Word with me, verse 23, and 24. They carry out some of God's judgments, and nobody wants to talk about this. But when you really begin to study, a lot of times remember judgment is not God coming to get you judgment is God removing his hand from you. And in the Old Testament, we did see where there would be much destruction because sin and disobedience springs forth it says that when you know to do better and you do not it becomes sin and the wages of sin is death. So Second Samuel chapter 24, verse 16, through 17. They were smiting the leaders of this Syrian army. Second Chronicles chapter 32, verse 21, they were striking King Herod dead because he did not give God the glory Acts chapter 12, verse 23, they were pouring out bowls of God's wrath on the earth. Revelation chapter 16, verse one, so when Christ returns, angels will come with him as a great army accompanying their king and Lord Matthew 1627, Luke 926, best Second Thessalonians chapter one, verse seven. So watch this. They also patrol the earth as God's representatives, Zachariah, chapter one, verse 10, and 11. So I think about a massive police force. Now we've already established to the word that they're innumerable. So think about they're patrolling the earth. That's why I say I have a whole lot more than surely and goodness. following me I've got a myriad of angels. patrolling the earth on my behalf because God gives His angels charge over me. I have a covenant with God that extends beyond me to my children and my children's children. How do you know that because I read the word, because I know God's word. And covenant is a legal binding contract that has been sealed by the Spirit of God, that Jesus Christ is the mediator over that nobody can come alter. That's why Psalm chapter 89 says that God says, what I've spoken out on my lips, my covenant cannot be altered. So they carry out war against demonic forces. Daniel chapter 10, verse 13, Revelation chapter 12, verse seven and eight. JOHN records that an angel sees the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for 1000 years and threw him into the pit Revelation chapter 20, verse one through three. when Christ returns that Ark Angel will also return proclaiming of is coming. So we see that all throughout Scripture. So we see some other duties you want to know some cool things that angels do. Do I have about what eight more minutes and we'll pray. Right? Just a few more things they guard gates Revelation chapter 21, verse 12, they guard the tree of life. Genesis chapter three, verse 24, there guarding the bottomless pit, Revelation chapter 20, verse one, I wouldn't want that job. They're the worst like guarding Alcatraz guarding the bottomless pit. You know what the bottomless pit is right now? You go, No, okay, get into Revelation chapter 20 verse one through two. That's a whole nother teaching, executing judgment on the unrighteous Revelation chapter 15 verse one through 16. They assist in giving the law to Moses. Hey, Hebrews, chapter two verse two, separate the good from the bad at judgment, not to chapter 13 verse 39, through 41. They gathered the left after the tribulation, Matthew chapter 24, verse 31, so angels Directly glorify God almost through humans aren't the only intelligent I know we think we are more creatures glorify God. The Psalmist says in Psalm 103, verse 20, ready? angels glorify God for who he is in himself for his excellence and we'll leave off here, bless the Lord. Oh you His angels, you mighty wants to do his word Harkening to the voice of the word. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Sarah from continually praises God for His Holiness, Isaiah chapter six, and so do the four living creatures as he said, Revelation chapter four. So what are they doing? They're worshiping. So right now I want you to do something, john, if you'll just play we'll go into prayer. Angels also glorify God, as his plans begin to unfold. When Christ was born in Bethlehem, a multitude of angels came and they begin to praise God and they said, glory to God and the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is well placed. Luke chapter two verse 14. Jesus tells us there's joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke chapter 15 verse sin so every time one sinner repents, then the angels begin to glorify God. So angels are worshiping, that glorify, they magnify, they show for the splendor of God, they they, they begin to say, God, how great you are, you know, right now God can divinely step in, and if there's coronavirus in your body, he can heal you from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet, we drive that out by the superior blood of Jesus Christ. And the word declares in Isaiah chapter 53, that Jesus was wounded for your transgression, bruise for your iniquity, that chastisement of his pieces upon you, and with the stripes you are healed. You know, there's a great, great salvation that says in Romans chapter 10, verse nine through 10, says if you confess the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart, he's a son of God, you will be saved. You don't have to Live Without God anymore. You don't have to live without angels. You don't have to live without God watching over you. If you just come to him, he's knocking on the door of your heart right now. He's calling you to open up that door and to receive Jesus Christ. You see why you have so many things that are unsure the one Sure thing you can be certain about his God loves you. God is for you. And God will never leave you. He'll never forsake you. He'll walk with you in the valley of the shadow of death. And you also stand with you on the mountaintop. He's not just the God of the high. He's the God of the low when they wanted to defeat Israel. They came in the valley. And they said, I wonder if he's the God of the valleys. And what they found is they got their behind kick because they found out that he's not just the God of the mountaintop, but He's the God of the valley. And yes, as the world as a nation. We might be in a valley right now, but I remind you that He's the God of the valleys. And he is with you right now. You might be looking at a field like is he You did and there was nothing but dry bones. And God said stick to these bones. Tell them right now commanded army to come forth in the name of Jesus. So right now, it might look like just dried dead bones like where is the life? Where's the new? Where's the room? Ha, where's the breath of God speak to it right now. God has given us angels charge over the You see, I wanted you to have an understanding that angels want to glorify God. And at the end we're made overcomers by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. And that word is that God has given you evidence right now let the evidence of God's healing covenant flow through your body. Let the evidence of God's peace come to your mind right now. Let the evidence of God's Holy Spirit come to you with revelation. Let Angel show up right now let angels begin to minister to you right now. Let angels bring you a message of hope and a message of peace right now and the name of Jesus the name which is above every name, then no weapon for him to She was going to be able to prosper 1000 will fall at your side and 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come nigh The only with the eyes will they behold and see the reward of the wicked, the wicked will receive punishment, the righteousness. john and i were having conversation today. And there was a particular situation that came up, and it had popped up on the news. And there's a newsflash, I said, Look, we got we don't even give energy to that stuff, because you only have so much energy. And I can tell you this, that when a person has moved so far from God, and literally, it's as if they are and they probably are possessed by an evil spirit. Like I pray for everyone's salvation, but there are some people that cross the line that we have no idea where that becomes from just being so cold and so hard and so hardened to they become reprobate. And when there's reprobate, there is no there's no repentance, there's no hope. There's no prayer that can save them because they they have gone so beyond the line that they are, they've crossed that line where there's no turning back. And none of us know where that line is. None of us know where that that edge of that is. But I said, I said, it doesn't matter because their plans are not greater than God. and in this situation when somebody is, is in a place of such wickedness, look, God says, I deal with that. I deal with that. Because wickedness is crookedness. And they're so far from God and we need to pray for the salvation of everyone. Not God has sent a son for all people, not everyone will receive them. Not everybody will walk in, and we pray, but there's a time that you just say, I mean, we pray for the world. You understand what I'm saying? There's a time that only with the eyes and I feel like somebody needs to know this that who you behold the reward the wickedness and what do I mean by that? There's payday. Against wickedness, that God does not let his righteous suffer forever telling you there's our greatest reward is eternity. But you need to know that God is with you. And God has you. Someone is saying, I just feel like camping here. Boy, the Holy Spirit took a turn on this one right now. You say, Well, why did the wicked prosper? Why does this happen? I always say, it's not a dumb question. But I say to myself, Paula, don't ask a dumb question. And let me phrase this a little bit better. Like, I would always say, but why, but why, but why? Why does it matter? I just need to know what God has to promise. Like there's a time that the wicked will not prosper. There's a time that they'll not stand there and you might go, Well, why do I seem to suffer? Why does this happen or why did bad things happen to good people? God reveals Things demand that he wants revealed the secret things belong to the Lord. You put your trust in God and know that he's with you.
Recorded on March 29, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us . Pastor Paula White Cain is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paulamichellewhite and Twitter https://twitter.com/Paula_White
Machine transcription: Guess where we're going today? You've got it. Psalm 91. I, I'm like, I don't feel like I'm stuck. I feel like I have great fresh revelation. And I just keep digging deeper. And God keeps giving me more insight. Last week we talked about God is in the protection business. Today I want to talk to you about God is a covenant keeping God. Remember that this is a song that was most likely written by Moses in the time that the children of Israel, the church, Gods distinction, people were wandering for 40 years on what was supposed to be a 11 day journey and God let them know after the prior Solomon 90, which is very dark and very troublesome almost. He says, Look, I am with you in this earthly pilgrim pilgrimage I got you and rabbis today will read this as a psalm of deliverance and protection and healing. And so we have to understand that we can tenue depress him, we continue to pray. Remember that there is a prayer that stops the plague Numbers chapter 16, that when the plague had begun, Moses since Aaron out into the assembly to hold the sensor, to go get fire off the altar and stand between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped when they stood between the dead and the living. We often quotes Second Chronicles chapter seven, verse 14, but we don't get to verse 13. And what had happened is Solomon had dedicated the temple and God is downloading to them. And he says, Look, there will be times when there'll be no rain. There'll be times where there'll be a plague in the land, and the answer he gives to the plague in the land, because Solomon had just brought great sacrifice and dedicated the temple. And what God is saying is when there is no rain, and when my people gone astray, or when there is a plague in the land. He says in verse 14, if my people will humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways, see my face, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land. You see, there is a prayer that stops the plague. We have to be praying during this time because I believe today that God is a God who will divinely intervene. He can step into a situation that someone says impossible but his work shows us just like there was a famine in the land. He said tomorrow by this time. You see, it might be one way where you're eating asses, head and doves dung. I mean, literally, that's what they were eating. And he said tomorrow By this time, you'll have mined flour for less than a shackle. He had fine flour. His process is an eight step process. He has a miracle something that has gone through a process waiting for you. You see, God is working behind the scenes right now and I'm going to talk to you about that he's doing something and I believe that he is working in the hearts of men and that we are waiting Go crisis is this is an opportunity, a turning point either for the better or for the worse. And the key will be what is the church going to do? I believe the church the only legal entity in the earth that is authorized to breathe and bring forth true transformation is rising up. Just like the four lepers rose up in the twilight. They were not it was somewhere between dark and Dawn, they were rising up when it was still dusk, it was still dark outside and they said Let us go over to the enemy's camp let us go over because if we sit here we're just gonna die. But it may be that goddess for us, and they rose up and they brought back blessing that you know that what happened to Assyrians their their God made a noise that they all scattered and, and they went and they got all the supplies of the enemy. And instead of keeping it for themselves, they took it back to the peculiar people come on the set apart nation, God's people because he always distinguishes people who are covenant with them. And God brought supplied God brought revival. You see, he's the same today yesterday and forevermore. So get ready. Let's go into Psalm chapter 91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high God will say, What? What will he say of the Lord? He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him shall I trust? I will say the Lord. Surely he shall deliver the from the snare of the fowler and from the noisy pestilence. He shall cover the with his feathers, and under his wings shut out trust, His truth shall be the shield and buckler. Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walk in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasted that noon day 1000 and this is where we're going to get through today. 1000 shall fall at the right hand, but it will not come nigh the 10,000 a day right hand or 1000 shortfall by side 10,000 at the right hand, but it shall not come nigh The only time I shall behold and see the reward of the wicked, because that was made the Lord which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation, there shall no evil before the neither shall any plague come nigh that dwelling for he shall give His angels charge over the to keep the in all that way. They should bear the up in their hands lest dash die foot against the stone now shall try to pump up lion and after the young lion and the dragon shoutout trample under feet, because he has said his love upon me. Therefore I deliver him. I will set him on high because he had no my name. I he shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him with law life. Somebody say with long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation I want you to memorize it. I want you to get it so deep in your heart and so deep in your spirit. You see, we are in covenant with a covenant keeping God. If you have a relationship, if you're born again, if you prayed that prayer, we prayed, and you have a relationship, whether it was 10 minutes ago, or 10 years ago, or 50 years ago. God is a covenant keeping God, I want you to really get this because Psalm 89 verse 34, says, My covenant will not break, not altered the thing that has gone out of my lips. So we'll see as we've studied that everything, all those promises in Psalm chapter 91, which there's a plethora of them over 20 that I've been chronicling and going through, and there's so many promises that God has from but they're all contingent on verse one. And God says, I won't alter that which has come forth out of my lips, I will not alter my covenant. The first time we ever see covenant in Scripture is ended. A chapter six, verse 18. God says, but I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons wife's with you. He's talking to Noah there. The Bible says in verse 11, that the Earth was corrupt, that it was full of violence that God was displeased, and as a result, it would be destroyed. But before this happened, God gave Noah who the Bible says, is a righteous man, that he was blameless among the people of his time, and that he walked with God. He was a man who was in right standing with God. He was a man and you think about this because we see him later in a cave and he's drunk and you think, how does God call this man righteous? His heart was after God, he loved God and he was in right standing with God. He was blameless, he walked before God. Genesis, chapter five, verse 10, and as a result, God says, No, I have a plan for you. Because you're in covenant with me, God always has a plan. And for those that are in covenant, they will see God's plan come to pass. He told him to build an ark. He was very specific about it. He goes on in those verses before he says, I'm establishing this covenant and he gave him details. Make it out of Cypress wood. It's actually Acacia is what they call ironwood. It has this ability to withstand the storms and he didn't even know what storm was. He didn't even know what lightning looked like or Thunder sounded like a rain felt like he'd never had a storm. He said but make it out of Cypress wood and make rooms in it and coat with pitch and side and on the out and he gave him the dimensions he was very specific about details. He said the ark has to be 450 feet long. I don't have time to get into what all of these have significant meaning for but it needs to be 75 feet wide and 45 feet high and he gives him how to do the rooms. It And how to do the roof and he goes over the details and over the dimensions and God will download heavenly strategies to you, God will speak to you. And during this time for those who are in covenant with God, God's going to give you things that man will not be able to receive by the natural man or even the carnal man, but one who is spiritual, who has a mind that is connected and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Get ready for heavenly downloads. God is going to speak to you in dreams and visions, he's going to speak to you in his spirit, and God knew what no one needed to get through a storm that he had never seen before. Don't you know that God knows what you need, what we need to get through a storm and I believe those of us who have covenant with God will be able to navigate, navigate for the church, navigate for those who God has called us to say God has put you in strategic positions, maybe it is for your family, maybe it is for your business. Maybe it is for the Governor, maybe it is for the pressed whoever God has put you in assignment with, you'll be like the sons of his sokar who understood the times and were able to tell Israel what to do. You see God is not confused right now God is not chaotic. God is not up in heaven, wringing his hands and taking Prozac a nervous. He's not saying angels, what should we do? No, God knew this is Zach day. And while Yes, there's a pandemic that is sweeping across the world, God is a covenant keeping God. When we look at Psalm, Chapter 91, we've learned several things that we've established. Number one, we have to be a people faith. That prayer is essential that we are His Church, that we have a role to play. These are things that you need to go back over the last three weeks that I've already taught that God is sovereign. He's a covenant keeping God that he delivers, protects and heals according to Psalm 91. And now we are getting into the promises and they're all contingent on that verse one. See Psalm 91 is God's way of telling us that whoever runs to him and seeks life and seeks His divine protection will be saved from calamity and saved from destruction. That's what he says through him. He says some people mistakenly think that they are exempt from trials and test pains and problems that when you come to God through Jesus that all of that just goes away. That would be totally contradictory to Scripture. James chapter one says, Let's start with verse two and read through it, Consider it pure joy. I want you to underline that circled in your Bible, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kind, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance. Finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God who gives generally To all without finding fault, and it will be given to you when you ask you must believe. You see, that's why the enemy wants you to get out of faith and into fear so that he can get you in doubt, which is you start to waver. And once you get into doubt, you get into unbelief, which is a disposition of rebellion against God. And so he says, when you ask you must believe and not doubt because the one who doubts are away versus like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind and that person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double minded and unstable in all their ways. Now, what did he say in the midst of your trials, persecution, you're going through something? God says, Count it all joy? That doesn't mean like, Oh, yeah, this is the best day of my life. Hey, yay, God, this is awesome. This is awesome. No, this is this is a serious time. This is a time where we don't take a light but what does he mean when he says count it all. joy when you face personally occasions and you're going through trials. The word count means command, counted all joy means command, calm delight. You see as a priest and you are a New Testament priests, as a priest according to the Word of God, you are a leader of communists right now. You're a leader of calm while the world will be in panic and not know what to do why the media is in frenzy and and is panicking and people are all kind of crazed out as to what do we do? You have a peace, that passeth all understanding and the Spirit of God on the inside of you says, command come delight during this pandemic. Command come to light. The Bible says that we're not even the daughters of Sarah, if we're struck with hysteria if you're all over the place, and you're frantic and frenzy. Part of Covenant is the ability to command Calm delight. Say how can I have a calm delight when things are going on because you are led by the Spirit, you are sons of God errs with God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You're in this world, not of this world, but you're sent to the world. We're admonished in Scripture that when we're facing difficulties, to stand in faith and not be moved by fear, which, as I said, leads to doubt and unbelief. First Timothy 612, fight the good fight of faith. Second Corinthians five seven says, we do not walk by sight, but by faith. So then we have to ask ourself what is faith because I think a lot of times we have a wrong definition. Some people think faith is just hopeful, wishing a high expectation of wrong information, but it's very defined. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now played the Greek word is PCs, which means credence assurance belief. It literally means total. For us, it is so you'd say now total trust is the substance substance is something that is concrete underneath the hold up it means foundation. So now you can say Now faith is the substance you will say now, total trust is the foundation. So faith is total trust. And that is the foundation you know that all structure is built upon a foundation of things hope for the great they're a paid xo means things you expect, what you want to possess or have, what you're looking to happen. So faith now my total trust is the foundation of things hoped for what I expect to possess and I'm looking for, and the evidence the Greek word means of uncertain affinity of proof that has the ability to remove any doubt. So my total trust is the foundation of what I do. Expect to possessed and what I'm looking for, and the proof to remove any doubt. Oh, it even goes further because if we continue to dissect just that one little verse in Hebrews chapter 11, the whole of Faith of our the Hall of Fame of all fake, it says Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen things not seen, means a deed, which has to do with covenant work or continued construction. So when we break the etymology, and break that verse, one down here's what faith is. Now total trust. Now faith. Now total trust is the foundation for what I expect to possess or I am looking for, it is the proof or power to remove doubt and continue construction which is going on, while I'm unaware, you see God is working in areas that you cannot even see. God is building behind the scenes. God has a plan. He has a covenant keeping God and that plan will never fail. Hebrews chapter 11 six tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God, which means to fully agree. And so we understand that total trust, total trust is the foundation. If we don't put total trust in God, and we know God through His Word, we'll get to that in a minute because in the beginning was the Word the Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God says that his word is flawless. It is perfect, it is true. It is an infallible Word of God. The Psalmist says in Psalm 119, I've hid the word of my heart that I might not sin against see that I would not miss that mark. So we understand now that when we put our total trust It is the foundation. God does not separate himself from the word he makes himself synonymous with the word he says the word which is not just a good book, it is the infallible Word Perfect, flawless, true in heaven and earth shall pass away but the word shall remain forever. Isaiah 55. Verse 11, declares that the word shall not return void, but it will prosper, it will advance break through and break out of that which it is sent to. So we often get weakened in our faith. Whenever the word is not enough, think about the Apostle Peter, like we talked about Luke chapter 22, Satan has desired you. Jesus is speaking to him. This is the one that the revelation of upon this rock, this revelation that I am Messiah, I will build my church. And then he turns around, he says, Look, you're going to deny me three times. No, I would never do that Lord. And he says, Simon Simon. st has desired you, which means to demand you for trial to sift you as wheat. And that literally means agitating you to the point of overthrowing your faith. But I have prayed for you, that your faith, not that you won't fail because you're going to fall down. A good man falls seven times, but the interfaith failed the not. So we see here that without faith, total trust and God His character and his word, who he is and what he can do. Without faith, it is impossible to be fully in alignment or fully agree with God. Now Amos three three says can two walk together unless they be agreed? So how can I walk with God if I'm not in full agreement? That's why the enemy always comes with fear comes with anxiety, worries, concerns, all those things that clutter your spirit and your soul your mind so that you will be flying awaiting doubting wavering all the time, your fluctuations between faith in flesh, faith and flesh and that man not ought to think he should get anything from God. Because it says very clearly, can two walk together, how can I walk with God? Enoch walked with God and he was not because he was a friend of God. We just saw that Noah walked with God. And so when you walk with God, that means you are in full agreement. full agreement comes because you have total trust or faith. God, I trust you. I trust you more than I trust in the in the news stations. I trust you more than I trust the government. I trust you more than my best friend. God, as much as I love this man right here. I mean, he is one of the greatest gifts you've ever given me. I trust you God, more than I trust my husband. I totally trust my husband. Because God's saying I want her total trust. Not just when things are working right. Not just when you think you can see the plan but I want your total trust Noah, I'm telling you build an ark. You don't know what is ahead, but I do. Trust me. I've got you these promises and Psalm 91. I'm the same today yesterday and forevermore. So by the power of agreement, truth becomes, truth gets established. And when truth is established, covenant can be formed. There can be no covenant or bonding of relationship without truth. Matthew 1819, that if two of you shall agree on Earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. So according to Hebrews, chapter 11, verse six agreement with God cannot take place without faith. Now Romans chapter 10, verse 17, says so then faith, total trust comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I'm working with your faith today because we're going to get you in a good place. So faith is acting on the truth that you know, that's why Jesus was always saying, Let him that have ears here I pray right now that your spiritual ear would be open, that your eyes would be open every veil would be removed. Proverbs chapter 24. It is the Lord that gives the ability for your ears to hear and your eyes to be open. So faith is acting on the truth that you know, it's a positive response to the word, you do it because God said it. Point number one, the thing that you need during this time, more than ever, no need at all at all times in your life. But I want to give you some relevant rain my word for where we are right now. Number one, you must spend time in God's word. You see, the Bible says in john 738, that out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. It says that the word is like water that washes over our soul often compares to the washing of the word. So how can any things flow out of you, if it's not coming into you. I want you to really press into the word you say, but I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to study it, go to my website. And let me help you with all of that. There's great tools on the internet that you can really get in. Just start reading, at the very least ask the Holy Spirit to give you revelation. And as you get in, at least the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and john, begin to see who Jesus is and that he's a God of miracles. He's a God who is all mighty. He's a God who is able, Jeremiah 32 says, Is there anything too difficult for me? Is there anything that I'm not capable of doing? Psalm chapter 91 verse four says his truth. This is one of the promises His truth, stability, certainty, trustworthiness, shall be that shield and buckler. We studied that shield is something that protects the front of you. But then buckler is a protection that encompasses you all around. It's a fortress life. A mighty wall. So number two. Number one is you must spend time in God's word. Number two is Don't panic. Sit down, have a seat. Take a seat, because all of the promises that I want to get you to that are so hard to get all the way in here. All of them are contingent on verse one. You see position is before provision. God wants her total trust in Him. And so in Psalm chapter 91, verse one he that dwells in the secret place. We have learned this over and over, but I'm gonna keep saying it is Shaab, the Hebraic word. The Hebrew word there literally means to sit down to settle permanently to take a permanent seat it means to homestead in Florida. We know what homestead laws are, so that they could not they started them because they would take advantage of the elderly and so that somebody could not come scam them or during a health crisis or during a financial crisis even if person filed bankruptcy, a claim jumper or possessor, who would lay claim to all of that person's possessions could not take their home because they were settled in that place that was their home. So in the state of Florida, we have homestead laws and God saying, the enemy, the devil, be algebra, no spirit of fear. No, no demonic spirit, no situation no circumstance is able to take you from the secret place. We've already studied that is Christ Jesus Old Testament language, the secret place. So he's saying sit rest. Well, do you have your seat yet? Because if you don't have your seat, then you're not going to be able to walk out all these promises. He who sits is an active willingness, if we want God's protection because the enemy is always going to try to pull you up, pull you out, but God says See, you've got to stay seated. Don't panic. Don't be reactive, respond, but don't react. If we want God's protection for us, we have to sit down. Don't worry, don't fret. Let's look at Second Samuel chapter 23 verse eight. We're just going to keep building this one for sitting in him every time. It says these are the names of David's mighty warriors. Joe Cheb, bash Sabbath. I couldn't they just say like Tom, Dick and Harry or, you know, Sam and john, Sandra, watch this next one. Attack. I can't even say it. A talk per mana night. I don't know you guys say I pick up on tonight. Something like that. That's the best Mississippi girl can get you was chief of the three we've got that down. He raised a spear against 800 men who we killed in one encounter. So David had these mighty men Talk about no army and in one encounter this talk cuz she tonight whatever he is, okay this Chief, he literally kills 800 men, him and two other guys, they just go down that you talk about his repro three of them kill 100 men. Now in the natural that would be impossible, but names are important. The Chiefs name, Taka mana Knight is from the root word have to be wise in mind in word or act. And I want you to see look why he was wise because remember, wisdom does not come from going to an Ivy League college that can be good for you and useful. Wisdom doesn't come from reading 300 books this year. wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord and understanding by departing from evil. And fear is not I'm afraid it's reverence and respect that can be felt. So this man had wisdom he was wise. But look why read the same thing in civitan IV in the King James, and I think it explains it a little bit better. It says these be the names of the mighty men whom David had the tuck monat that sat in the seat. There you go, Chief among the captains. Why was the chief, the one who sits in the seat will accomplish more than the one who doesn't? And God says, Are you getting up and trying to do this within your own strength and your own ability? Is the enemy trying to pull you out? Is he always creating a situation to get you out of a place of peace out of a place of homesteading out of a pain place a permanently resting out of a place of dwelling? Because the person who sits in the seat will be able to kill 100 do something supernatural what I'm saying there is not literally like you're gonna Coco 800 I'm Saying that you'll be able to do more damage to the kingdom of darkness and destruction by sitting in God than you ever will by the arm of flesh. The one who sits in the seat will accomplish more than the one who doesn't. One of the ways that the devil works is to bring worries, cares concerns, anxiety. And God says in Psalm chapter 46, verse one, that God is our very present help in the time of trouble if you keep on reading in verse 10. He says, Be still and know that I am God. Be still is from the word Rafah, which comes from Rafah, which is a root word of healing. So we're falfa means relax. You know what it literally means let go. So he's saying be still relax, let go. Whatever is gripping your heart, whatever is grabbing your mind right now. God's saying let it go. You go How do I do that? kasher cares roll them over to God. God has you I'm showing you line by line how God is a covenant keeping god he's not going to fail you doesn't mean that we won't face situations are I've already shown you that, but you commend come the light. You refuse to be a victim to fear a victim to worry, a victim distress and anxiety for you in your house, you will serve the Lord. God is saying stop, cease be still leave it alone, be at rest. He's a covenant keeping God. The third point. God's names and titles reveal his character to Psalm 91 begins with the names of God in the Old Testament. We've studied this out therefore names that are given here the most high in the Hebrew Eliane meaning lofty and Supreme, all mightiest the second one should die meaning of the strong and mighty one. The third one is Lord, which the Jewish people will not even pronounce. They say I am is I am Moses who sending you who do I say, is sending me I am, I am El Shaddai I am Jehovah jairaj I am Jehovah nisi and so, and it's interpreted to us as Jehovah or this self existence or Eternal One. And then the fourth is God, which is eloheem, the creator who made the world from nothing and the Supreme God of Israel. So even if you combine all the forces in the world, including all of satanic, and Satan's evil forces, nothing can overcome God's ability to protect us from danger. That's what he's saying here. Many stop there. But we've already read verse 16. With long life, shall I satisfy him and show him my salvation. Remember, Old Testament concealed New Testament revealed, you've got to take the old testament names of God in the New Testament, Shall I show them my salvation? It literally means Yeshua. It means Jesus. We all know life at the end of all these promises, he says with a long life while I satisfy him and show him, my Jesus, my Yeshua, my salvation. Awesome God we have number four. God protects you from hidden dangers and complete destruction. verse three says, surely you shall deliver the from the snare of the flower, valor and noise in pestilence. snare is mean some thing that spreads a net foul or something that entangles you. Hunters use a snare to catch those animals, a snares a trap, and something that is well hidden, unsuspecting to the animal that it can easily get caught. But God says I'm going to protect you from anything that would easily catch you and also from the noise and pestilence Havas. It's an interesting thing because it means a Russian calamity, and one that sweeps everything to point a ruin and point of destruction. He says that when Russian calamity, and one that sweeps everything before it with the desire to ruin, I will cover you with my feathers. We studied that and got to that through last week, and that's a feminine term of an eagle. And so God is telling us and there were several things that we learned about that. The female Eagle weighs about 15 pounds more than the male. Her wingspan is eight feet where the male's eagle is about six feet and God she has the ability to put her wings over that clutch that nest and protect her Eagle. It's usually 123 she can fend off those predators, her voices, the deeper one all the things we learned about that, because she has that ability and what God is saying it's one of the few times he uses just like 16 names he only uses the feminine terminology one time El Shaddai the breast he won the one Who nurtures you in this, he's saying my wings are going to protect you. They're going to nurture you. They're going to fend off the predators and under his wings, which means the edge or the extremity. He, thou shalt trust and I love this because this is your part. You're going to have to flee for refuge. So the question is, are you dwelling with him? And do you get up under his wings because if you get out of that nest, you're in danger. But God says, stay, homestead. dwell, sit, rest, relax in my nest, in my bosom. I've got you from the predators. Don't get out of the nest. Stay in the ark. I've got you through the storm. It says his truth, his stability, certainty, truth, his word. He says, that's the place that you're going to flee for the refuge. You shall not be afraid to fear of the terror by night nor for the arrow that follows Fall, nor for the arrow that flies by day, the piercer the room. We studied it last week, nor for the pestilence in the sense of destroying that walk in darkness, nor for the destruction to cut off a ruin that wasted that nude Nay, the psalmist mentioned that God will not just protect you from ordinary pestilence, but from perilous pestilence. It literally refers what this means it refers to epidemics and pandemics that crippled nations all throughout the ages. It talks about the pestilence that walks in darkness. It doesn't mean that these pestilence only happen at night. But it works like darkness. You can't see it. You can't see its progress. It strikes like a thief without warning. All of a sudden people die. This is what passions is all through here. The passions that walk And darkness is reminiscence of the time when the Angel of Death visited Egypt into the lives of the firstborn son. And what did God tell his people? The same thing that God a covenant keeping? God is telling you right now, I'm almost through but this is so powerful and important you get. God is saying, I protected my people. While there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead Exodus chapter 12, verse 30, this is the time to apply the blood to the doorposts of our heart, apply the blood right now to your life. That's why I gave that salvation that call to Christ. Romans chapter 10, verse nine and 10. If any man confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart, then he will be saved. When you make a covenant with your mouth, and you confess that he is the Son of God and you believe in your heart Did He is the Lord then you will be rescued, delivered made whole restored. You say God is saying apply the blood. Don't try to walk through this without a covenant with me, which can only be through the blood that my son, he didn't just shed it. He didn't spill it, he gave his blood. It was a plan before the very foundations of the earth, that the Lamb of God would be slain. And he would be able to endure the cross for the joy that was set before him. What is the joy that he would give you life for life right now, life on this day, life in Christ, abundant life one that a superior quality and quantity, it doesn't mean that you get everything you want. It means that God has given you a kingdom that cannot be shaken or a power, one of righteousness, one of peace, one of joy, one of the Holy Ghost, there is no covenant. Without blood, apply the blood you see in the old tests They had to slain animal was Rams and goats and lambs. But in the New Testament, the New Covenant, it was sealed by the precious blood of the sinless, spotless lamb, Jesus Christ. He not only made the covenant, but he sealed the covenant with his own blood. And it is that blood in old school we say I plead the blood of Jesus. It is that blood that keeps us it is that blood that covers us with a long life will I give him salvation? Matthew chapter 26, verse 28, says this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. It is that blood that washes away our sins. It is that blood, think about what I'm saying that has given us access to God, then we can enter in boldly and obtain mercy and help in time of need. There's no other covenant that all the promises of God are included from the beginning to the end. Hebrews chapter eight verse six says but in fact the ministry Jesus has received is a superior to theirs as the covenant of what she is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises, apply the blood. Listen, we're coming up on Passover, April the eighth at sunset so April 9, we start celebrating it is our most holy season Passover, Good Friday, Easter, and it goes through April 16. Passover, from the very Hebrew word has to do with protection has to do with God's feathers covering you is not so much as to pass over as it is to protect you. And God's saying when I see the blood, I put protection when I see the blood. I'm in covenant with that person. Put the blood on the door post and with a death angle. passes by, God will cover you, God will protect you. The Bible says in Psalm 136 and when they came out there was not a feeble one among them. Right now is not the time that you just learned scripture is the time you live the Scripture. So time that you have more than just a head knowledge, but it's a living knowledge word is rain, the word life on the inside of you. Verse seven is what I want to get you to. And then we're getting ready to pray. 1000 will fall by right hand and 10,000 in your right hand, or 1000 will saw followed your right side and 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come nigh the I want you to write this real big. I'm going to teach for just a few minutes, Minister so it will not come nigh the write this in conclusion, it will not come 90. So 1000 will fall on my right side. The Bible's very specific and 10,000 in my right hand. You see one of the things the enemy loves Do his he makes your eyes horizontally. So when disaster happens, he'll say, Well, if that happened to them, it will happen to you. So, he causes you to almost personalize any situation, and you begin to lose your piece. And this is where you get into panic. You lose your faith and this is where you get into fear. This is your promise, right? It real big, it will not come nigh The 1000 will fall on my side and 10,000 in my right hand. Now, why is the Bible so specific? Because it says 1000 will fall to your side. And it literally means when it says fall is gonna slide off. It's gonna slide off but it's really important what says 10,000 which is the greater degree will fall or slide off of your right hand. Why my right hand because right always mean authority, hand figuratively and literally always means power. So what he's saying is that the enemy is after your position of authority and power. Remember you're seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus according to Ephesians chapter two verse six Ephesians chapter one, verse three reiterates that, and then it goes on to tell you that God has blessed you with all spiritual blessings, everything that you have need of in this life pertaining to this life and the life after this. So why does he want that because Jesus will to you as part of that covenant. He's a covenant keeping God, He will tell you all authority both in heaven and in earth, I want you to hear what I'm saying. The sin problem in heaven was dealt with when Jesus ascended First off, he was crucified right buried on that. He was crucified on the old rugged cross buried in that bone tumor. went down to hell for three days, conquered death, hell in the grave, got the keys ascended to the right hand side of the father put his blood on the altar, because that's where sin started rebellion started in heaven. And when Satan wanted to do an overthrow, put his blood on the altar, covered that mercy seat with his own blood and sat down. It is finished. It's completely complete and perfectly perfect. Nothing can be added to this covenant and nothing can ever be taken away. I am mediator I'm the one that washes over and no man no devil, no generational curse. No hex no witch doctor, note person that is against you, no hater. No jokester can ever come in between the covenant that I have made with you when you put your total trust and you dwell in me. Hear what God is saying right now because you have to know that it will not come nigh The 10,000 will fall and die right hand because what the enemy wants you to do. Is repair lives. It's like Luke chapter six. It's one of the miracles that I was always perplexed about. Like, why if God only recorded about 35 miracles when he put this one in, when he's raising the dead with Lazarus, when he raises the widow son of that inane when he when he turns the water into wine when he opens the blind and eyes, why would he show us this miracle that looks so insignificant. In Luke chapter six is just a man sitting in church, and he's got a withered hand. But it happens to be his right hand pastored for 35 years, but in ministry and long time, I've seen people come in with cast, they were still able to lift their hand and praise, they were still able to open their mouth, they were able to run, it's a winner. And then I started studying one day and God goes Paula pay attention. Because that wizard that pulled back in ability to move right hand means that his power and his authority had been lost. And what the enemy wants is to get you into a place where they are thority withers, your power withers, because you as the agency, the church, the only legal entity in the church is not a building. We know that right now God is saying you are the church. The church is my people which are called by my name, the church is are the chosen people that when I say that you have received Jesus Christ because he loves the entire world. He sends the gospel to the entire world, but not all receive, but those who have received he has given them by adoption, the right to become sons of God. Romans chapter eight. So now we call them up a father, Daddy, and watch all power and both heaven and earth has now been given to you so 1000 will fall will slide at your side, but 10,000 the greater dimension of enemies that work against you and work against my plan. And my purpose will slide at the authority and the power of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you. There is power over sickness, there's power over disease, there is power over poverty, there is power over debt. There is power over destruction not because of you, but because of Christ Jesus. There are five words for power, I'm going to give them to you real quick and we're going to pray. Because what the enemy wants is your power, he won't your authority. So get up in the name of Jesus, because your authority and power will will not be limp it will not be withered it will not be withdrawn. It will not shrink back right now, but it will be released through you. First word is Zuzia. Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, and 19. And Jesus came as bacon to them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth, gold, therefore and teach all nations. That word is Zuzia, which means all authority, its jurisdiction. It's pretty Power of government choice or judicial decision. And so that's important that you understand. Because when you lose your IG Zuzia when you lose your jurisdiction, like a person that doesn't know their zeusie, as a person discussed, say, Hey, excuse me on pasture here, then you've lost your Zuzia. If you've got to sit at home and say, but I that I, Mom, you've already lost it. What do you got to say, but I'm boss, I'm the man of this household, when you have to state that you've already lost your exhaust. Because zeusie is you just walking in the jurisdiction. God is the one that determines your metron and your measure. God is the one that raises one up and sits one down. So God is the one that gives you zeusie that marks off your boundaries. When Sammy would get outside of the three regions that he was called to prophesied in. His words would have fallen to the ground, as long as he stayed within his Zuzia his authority, his power, Then he could prophesied the will of God. You have authority you have power, the second word for powers do anonymous. This is very important right now because this is what you need during this time at chapter one, verse eight, but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in some area and unto the other most parts of the world do know mesas strength, its ability, power for performing miracles, moral power, excellence of soul, the power of influential people, power of resources arising from numbers and armies and means impact Jesus in His disciples out and gave them authority Zuzia over all the power, do animus over all the power do enemies of the devil. Luke chapter 10, verse 19, Luke chapter 24 verse 49, wait to be clothed with power Dunum, US Never forget where this power comes from john chapter 15, verse five, Jesus said, without me, you can do nothing. And the Greek Jesus saying, without me, you have no dunamis power, you have no miracle working power that is inherent to reproduce himself. But with him, you can do all things. So watch the third one is discuss. This is prevailing power. I speak his cause to someone right now. 1000 will fall at your side, and 10,000 she'll slide 10,000 demonic forces 10,000 enemies to try to come and take your discus will not prevail. It's going to slide off you because it's this means prevailing power. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The Greek word for can do is discuss meaning abiding power or strength. have the strength to continue the strength to endure to the end. It means to overcome Philippians chapter four verse 13. So this gives you the ability not to quit, is because God says Zuzia dunamis discuss prevailing power, you're not going to quit. You will not faint. You will not be weary in well doing, you shall mount up with wings is Eagles usual, walking up fame, you shall run and not be weary. The fourth one is Kratos, which is Dominion power. The Greek word Kratos means dominion, Kingdom dominion, manifestation power from the word crop meaning to perfect or complete, is available. It's a grace that is available to dominate until you complete the will of God. So Paul prayed that the spiritual eyes of the Fijian believers would be open so that they would know the exceeding greatness of his power Dunum is towards us who believe according to the working of his mighty Kratos, his prevailing power is this, which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead Ephesians 119. Jesus came that through death, he might describe him who had the power Kratos, the dominion over death. That is the devil. So, watch, Jesus came, I'm not going to keep going into this Hebrews chapter two, verse 14, because I've got so many scriptures, Jesus came that through death, he might destroy him who had power, dominion over debt. The enemy Satan does not have dominion over debt. It shall not come nigh the there's so many more I could give you but I'm gonna give you the last word for for there's so many scriptures I'd love to give you but I'll give you the last word for power is energy. Some of you You just feel faint. You know, I've been a little fumbling over my words today. That's only because I got three hours of sleep. And I got up at 5am and I'm a night person, not an early bird person, but I got the worm today. So the one that gets up early apparently gets the worm so I must have got the worm today. All right, so it is energy Jia, and that's energizing power. The Greek word energy means energy, working efficiency. I was made a minister servant according to the gift of the grace of God given to me through the effective working energy, energizing work of his power doona Miss
Recorded on March 25, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida. For more information, please visit https://cityofdestiny.us
Jonathan Cain performed this piano music during the City of Destiny service recorded on March 15, 2020 by inspiration during Pastor Paula White Cain's sermon and prayer service for the National Day of Prayer.
Pastor Brad Knight recorded on March 8, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida, USA. For more information about our ministry, visit http://cityofdestiny.us
John 8:1-11, Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:5
Transcription by machine: John chapter eight, one through 11. How many of you have parentheses around this passage of your Bible? Are you all how many of you are reading the King James? How many of you are reading ESV? Okay, and my Bible there's parentheses what what other and IV? I'm just curious. Okay. In my Bible, there's parentheses around these passages of Scripture. And that's because in the earliest manuscripts, they did not have this passage of Scripture. And the majority of manuscripts that we have, they have this passage of Scripture, but um, the earliest ones, they don't have this passage of Scripture. So scholars will sometimes put parentheses around this passage of Scripture to say, hey, look, there's been a little debate about whether this was in the original scripture or not, and this is one of the most famous stories of the gospel. This is the story where of the adulterer and they bring, I mean, it's an it's an a lot of movies and stuff. They bring Her before we've heard most people's most famous sermons are often based on this passion of Scripture. So where they bring the adulterer to Jesus and say, you know, she's supposed to be stoned according Mosaic Law, what do you say? Right? We familiar with that. Okay, so, um, that scripture found its way into our text. Now, this is important, and I want to address this before we go any further, because there's a way that you can look at that, that this is the wrong way. The thing is, you can look at that, but you can look at the Word of God the wrong way. Period, right? You can you can go about it the wrong way and this could throw somebody shaky off when you see parentheses in the Bible and you say, Well, why was it in some manuscripts This is the the unfiltered truth and Word of God and and I think sometimes that we get this conception that like, God, like took over these people and they just went into a trance and like, had a quill in which we're doing this. Like they were writing like magically on walls Oh, That's not the case at all. God used them like he uses us. He was moving them, they were inclined to his voice to the point where Paul says, I think I'm writing by the leading of the Holy Spirit. When I write this, they had to wrestle through their flesh to write the word of God as Jesus had to wrestle through his flesh to speak the Word of God and incarnate form, right? So my thing is this, if we approach this from the standpoint of trying to prove that Jesus's God through the word, right, will fail. But if we approach the word as saying the word is proven through Jesus will succeed. Jesus doesn't say, upon the rock of what was spoken, I'll build my church. He doesn't say, build your house upon this rock, of the words that everyone spoke and is written that you can study scholarly and the ones that make are in the majority of manuscripts. Each time he addresses the rock upon which things are built. He addresses himself Let's take a second to look at that because, well, let's read Luke chapter 646 to 49. Because I think this will help. I know, Steven, I saw he was here earlier, Willie, I know we've had some of these conversations that's out there. Yes. Like that. That is not Jr. That's earnest man. We've had these conversations about the Bible and stuff like that before and, and arguments over interpretations of texts. You know, Hebrew interpretations of text versus Christian interpretations of text, people can get caught in the weeds on this. And what's important to me is to make sure that you're not easily swayed by scholarship. I don't want you to be naive. I'm not I'm not one of these people that go don't listen to science. Now. I love science. Science is awesome. Don't listen to scholarship. Don't read it, burn that book. I'm not one of those guys. What I am is somebody that says, Hey, man, when you go into it, make sure that this has some thing that has settled. Make sure that you're good. Make sure that you didn't reach Jesus through here. Okay? So look at Luke six chapter, Luke chapter six, verse 46. All right, I'm gonna dig into this just a little bit because I think it matters as a pastor. I think it matters that you have competence in our word. Okay? Why do you call Me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you? Bam, right there out the gate. Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you Everyone who comes to me and here's my words, and does them I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. He references a rock here, right? laying a foundation on a rock. We're gonna see that again with Peter. He's like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on a rock and when the flood arose, and the stream broke against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built. We will always face floods in our life, especially our spiritual life. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation when the stream broke against it, immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great. Jesus are saying my word which we have received through text is important. You must follow it. But he says, He establishes it by saying those who call Me Lord, Lord, those who know who I am, those who are following me because you saw something that I did that you're inclined towards me, they didn't see the fullness of God's plan at this point, but they're still calling him Lord, Lord, there's people that were submitted to him and see my personal experience with salvation was I came from a very, very text critical place. Being a philosophical collegiate students type I could scholarly try to dismantle The Bible right? Why is there different accounts of the resurrection? And why is it you know, you're like, but when I got saved, my Lord, I wasn't argued into believing Jesus. Believing Jesus brought me to an understanding of his word, believing Jesus and lightened His word, believing Jesus helped me to wrestle through his text, believing Jesus believing Jesus, calling him Lord, Lord, when he revealed himself as as himself, when he revealed Himself is not just a person in history, and not just the claim by preachers, but as God of the universe. That's when I submitted to this text. I didn't submit to Him because this text called him Lord, does that make sense? So if you approach Jesus from that standpoint, you're that house is going to fall. What I mean that standpoint being okay, the text says that he's Lord so he's Lord rather than submitting to Him as Lord to this text as well. That house is gonna fall. That's what we talked about the hermeneutical spiral, right? That's the know why they make things so difficult, like, word wise, but that's what we talk about. If you want to understand God's word, then you have to start from the source point, which is Jesus Christ. Anything in this faith is Jesus Christ. If you look at Matthew 1613 to 19, when Jesus talks to Peter, he says, Now, when Jesus came to the district of guys, y'all will I'm sorry, I'm talking like, I'm drunk. I'm not drunk, I'm tired. I'm not drunk. I did not get into the communion wine. Now, when Jesus came into the district of says, I'm too tired, I don't care. Philippi he asked the disciples, it's not important. Who do people say that the Son of Man is this part's important. And they said, some say john the baptist, others Say alleges and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets here they're approaching Hey, this guy is a mystery to us. Let's go through the text and discover who he is. He looks like Elijah, which is promised and Molokai. He looks like Jeremiah, he looks like he looks like a prophet. He looks like john the baptist because that's who baptized him like they're observing things and they're trying to tie it through text. They're exploring the Old Testament at their time. They're only testament and saying, Let's discover who this person is. He says, But who do you say that I am? You, you, you, you you, not scholars, not Pharisees. Not Jesse's not people who know this appear know the old, not people who know Jeremiah. We're not people who memorize Molokai, not people who sit there and replicated what the words Who did you say that I am. And Simon Peter says you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the promise, you are the fullness of God's plan. You are the Messiah, you are the Christos, the Son of the living God, which means that you are God. And Jesus answered him, bless it, are you Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven, and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven whenever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Okay, so so so even this last part, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound on heaven. Whatever you loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven is tied to what the revelation of who Jesus is, because this is an authority that just didn't go away with Peter. We're going to see in john chapter eight, that this is authority that's retained because Jesus despised the Pharisees yet told people to obey the Pharisees because they sat in Seat of Moses. Okay, that's important for john chapter eight of I don't want to get ahead, help me if I'm getting ahead of myself mom. or missing skipping stuff. But but but what I'm trying to say is that Jesus says, Who do you say I am? And Peter responds, you are the Christ. And Jesus says, Now you've got it. Now that's the foundation upon which I'm going to rest everything else. Now you have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Now, whatever you bind will be bound. And whatever you lose will be loose, because you're not basing your knowledge of me through text sources. You're not trying to guess who I am. You're not trying to argue who I am. But you know who I am, so I can trust you with my kingdom. That's why I say you don't have to go to seminary. To be a minister. You should always explore the gospel you should always but God will call people who are foolish. God will call people who sound an educated God. Call people who can't who don't know what a hermeneutical spiral is. And guess what? That's how he does things. Because what matters is not your ability to write a paper. What matters is your ability to recognize his authority, and the earth and in your life. That's the key that Jesus and I, the reason I emphasize this so much as I talk to people, there's Um, there's this idealization of the pulpit That happens a lot to or prophecy most specifically, or other gifts and offices that people walk in. There's this adoration of that, and there seems to be this disconnect between this aspect of ministry and where you all are at. And I often talk to people, and I referenced this that story life, I was talking to a woman last Sunday, I think, who I knew as a child, and she was telling me about her and her husband's ministry, and I said, Hey, you know, What are y'all doing now? And she's like, Oh, well, we're not, you know, not doing much blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and kind of like hidden Hanging. And she's like, you know, we host a church and the airport we preach as people come in and out of the airport. And I was like, that's a ministry that I've been wanting to do for the longest time. Like, that's where I want story life to start out. And but the thing is, is funny because there was this hesitancy to tell a pastor who has a church who comes to a physical building, with people sitting in it like there was this presentation as though what she was doing was not ministry, when what she was doing was one of the greatest things that I've ever heard of what she was doing, because she doesn't need brick and mortar to do the will of God she needs there's not a physical rock that she needs to build her ministry on. There's not a title of Apostle ship that she needs to build her ministry on. There's not a bank account filled with money that she needs to build her ministry on. There's not a brand that she needs to build her ministry on what she needs to build her ministry on and why God has called her why God trust her and why dogs will trust you is because you have the revelation of who he is. This is fundamental to the faith. And this bypasses every argument. You want to argue we came from monkeys fine. I don't care. I really don't. If we did we did. We didn't we I really don't care. It doesn't affect me one way or another, because I know how God laid out creation in Genesis. I know when he spoke over me that I'm more than a monkey that I'm more than just that I'm more than whatever that you say I am. So even if you have photographic evidence that my grandpa was swinging from trees. I'm cool with that. Because what God spoke I trust more than anything else. I think we get lost in trying to make counter arguments. We get lost in trying to write down why No, No, this can't be that can't be I see all of science. I see the all scholarship you can have it all have it all because I have Jesus and it wasn't an article. You meant that convinced me of who he was, it was a moment where he says, I am the Lord, the resurrected Christ, who I claim to be, I am, I am what I am. And if you'll submit yourself to me, Brad, your life will never be the same. And it hasn't been the same. I'll never forget that moment. I'd claim Christ as a child and everything, but I'd never forget the moment when he said, I am who I claimed to be in my life. That's the starting point of our faith. And if you have not had that, then it's just a matter of time. It's just a matter of time before the winds and the waves and the things will blow your house down. Which is why prayer is the foundation to faith. Because without prayer without a praying mother, who couldn't argue for points against me without somebody who didn't do the who, if my mother didn't do the foolish things of sticking anointing cloth under my bed, In my shoes, and things that I thought were silly, and I threw at her, and I thought were ridiculous, and I'd argue at her, and I'd make points about atheism. And I'd say you don't know what you're talking about. And here's why your books are wrong. And here's why your God doesn't exist. And here's the psychology behind what you're saying, here's the historical evidence behind what you're saying being wrong. I went that route, and she said, You know what, I can argue my way to get him to believe what I believe. But I Sir, can retreat to a prayer closet. I didn't need my mom to have a master's in divinity or a PhD to convince me that God was real. I needed her to pray because she knew God was real. And what was the foundation of that prayer? The foundation of that prayer was not you know what? Let them know that this all makes sense. The foundation of that prayer was God Give him a moment of revelation that overcomes everything in this world. Give him a moment of Revelation where he cannot deny you draw him to you, Holy Spirit. So I'm often approached about, hey, I've got a friend that's unsafe, I got a family member that's unsafe, I got this, how can I convince them that the gospel is real? Get away from them and pray? Because you can't convince them that the gospel is real. But You sure can save them in your prayer closet. I'm not saying that apologetics aren't worth it and all that they're all great. That's wonderful. You have great logical responses. But if you want to see the earth changed, if you want to see your family members say, if you want to see a radical revolution in faith, then you have to see that through prayer. And why does God do it like that? God doesn't like that, because then he says, I'm the one. I'm the one that calls you To me, I'm the one that beckons you. I'm the one that convinces you. I'm the one that leads you on your authority. And you know what, you're not even going to get to the place where you acknowledge that without me in the picture. I'm going to be in the picture from start a to z. All right. So when I see parentheses around john chapter eight, I don't get nervous. I don't go. I don't try to avoid that and telling you guys like, hopefully their Bible doesn't have parentheses. And we could ignore that, right? That doesn't bother me. Because I know who Jesus is. And I say, okay, God, this passage found its way into our church manuscripts. Therefore, it is important. Therefore, it has something to say, because the church has agreed upon its authority enough to include it. Even with parentheses. They include it. So Jesus, what are you trying to teach us through the story? It's easy for me. I don't have a problem with the literal list or non literal missing things. I really don't I just want to know what God is speaking to me through His Word. Alright, so john chapter eight. Is there anything else I need to address with that? Let's see Peter. Peter. Yeah, that's it. So once you come to that point, and this is this is my prayer for everybody. My prayer is that you have come to the point where nothing can shake you from the reality of God being priced that Christ being Lord, that Jesus is the Son of God, right? Once you have that, and that's in you, right, which is why he is the teacher. He is the way the truth and the life he is the source. He is everything. That's why once you have that, then that's what you build your house upon. That's when you go and read john chapter eight and get meaning that's when you study historical text. That's when you know how the temple was built out and what God was trying to do. That's when you do all that stuff. You don't come to the conclusion of Jesus the other way, Jesus makes that point over and over because he goes to people who were authorities on the text and he says, you're going to kill me just like you kill the profits. Who's with me? All right, let me make it practical to Don't be afraid when your kids don't believe in God. Don't be afraid. The transcendent nature of grace, they don't have a choice. I don't care what they're saying. Grace is unstoppable. I don't care. I don't care if they flip you off, flip off. God doesn't exist with all the things I did to I did all of those things. I don't care if they're smarter than you. I don't care if they're more highly educated than you. And while they're cursing your God, they're asking you to play their student loans. I don't care about all that. Showing shelling out all this money, so they walk away from the fear. I don't care. That stuff doesn't faze me. Those words don't faze me. It's jibberish to me, because I know one thing and one thing only that he will beckon you and He wants you to know him. So all I've got to do is say okay, I love you. Let me buy you a cup of Coffee. And then when we're out of the picture, I'm going to hit my knees and pray. And I'm going to say God, there is a binding covenant between my household and your household. There is a binding covenant between my efforts and your kingdom. And Lord, this grace is too great, but his doubt to stop. It's a gift from God, and He will give it and give it freely when you pray. I wasn't even gonna speak on prayer. But I want this to be understood. Because this is foundational to every claim that we make in this church. This is foundational to every sermon, we look at things totally differently than even a lot of the church looks at things. And even a lot of Christians look at things. A lot of modern people look at things we look at it differently. We recognize and we see all authority to God because He retains it all and all we do is cry out to Him to reveal himself. Okay, that again, I just want to make this point crystal clear. Just saying it over and over for a reason. That's why in this church, when we have a conference on evangelism or something, which you're going to see emphasis on is prayer, even more so than words, right? We should preach on street corners. I love it. We should preach the gospel, we should proclaim the truth. But we shouldn't lean on that. To believe that that's going to make the changes that we want to see possible. The majority of our time should be leaning on our intimacy with God and discussing with him, Hey, Lord, I care about this person. And in Timothy, it says that you desire all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. So God, if that's your desire, that's my desire, we come into agreement right now over so and so. And God reveal yourself to them. If that requires a disease that needs healing in their life, then give it to them and heal them. If that requires hardship, and let them walk through hardship, because life is more than just about what we have or don't have in a moment or how easy It is difficult it is it's about our knowledge of who made us and the intimacy of our relationship with Him. And I will walk through whatever I need to walk through to get to that. And I will pray that everyone else does too. My primary prayer is not that you have an easy life, it's that you know your maker. This shoe is ridiculous. Give me a second Oh, I don't know what's going on here. devils trying to trip me up. So everything's gonna be different. When you come to me and you talk to me about your loved ones and stuff and you say, how should I talk to them? I'm gonna say, with love. Tell me love them. Listen to them. Don't argue with them. Just okay. That's great. That's wonderful. And then when they step away, you pray. And you pray, not with an uncertainty, but with the competence that what God has done in my life. Great. He's a final word. He's the final say. All right, You with me? Pastor Doug? Seems like the women respond to that more than the men wonder why that is? Yeah, I noticed that women pray more. Women pray more intercessor with women is always greater, where there's, there's a larger moment. It's like something intuitively women know. It's like something about maybe I don't know, because positionally, they pray for their household or something. And men are doers. Maybe men like to go out and do with their hands and see immediate results. And if we can't do it with our hands, or do it with our mouth, or do it at something we don't think it can be done. When the reality is it requires the humility of praying men to build this church back up. And then you will find yourself hitting your head over and over and over. If you don't pray, you will find yourself frustrated because God will be standing there saying I'm not going to do anything. That makes you think you can do this yourself. We haven't even gotten to the text yet. 1113 Oh my Lord. It'll be quick. I promise you it will be quick. john chapter eight. Did I make that point? I really feel leaning on that point. That's important. Everybody understand that? Okay. The Lord really wants that to be understood. So pray, pray, people pray, pray when I say that. When I say that, that's how I mean it. When I say pray. That's how the Lord wants us. That's what he's drawing. So that's why we're different. That's why we're marked. That's why we'll change things. That's why the revolution will come through us because we understand that God has called us to pray and not just pray out of a text, not just pray, words that have been passed down by churches, not just pray what we hear Africans pray, not just know but pray with an intimacy of the knowledge of our Lord, and upon that rock, build every house that we intend to build. You don't have to have good words. That's why tongues matter. I love tongues. I don't love tongue simply because it's a it's a cool language. I don't love tongues. Victor's simply because you can interpret and that's cool. That's awesome. But I love tongues because of their foolishness. I love tongues because I don't know how to pray, but the Spirit praises I all. I don't know what's going to grab God's heart, but I know it's going to be grabbed because my hearts aligned with this. I see through Scripture. As he says, David, you know me, therefore, I'm not going to do this thing to you, or I'm going to do this thing through you. Okay, that's the thing even about worship. And why worship worship? The thing about worship, is that we often worship in reverse. We sing songs, we come together and we sing songs that talk about music. character of God without having first encountered the character of God. And we interpret worship as an action, rather than as a state of being. I don't sing a lot you guys don't see me down there and I don't cry a lot, but I'm a worshiper. I'm a worshiper, because I know the character of God. And in my way, I am worshiping God. And there's moments that the right song comes on or something. And I had that experience so intimately with God, a Travis, his musical Come on. And I'll hear that I've had that experience so intimately with God that it causes me to express my worship in a specific way. But for us to think that worship is just a part of the service, that worship can be done by anybody without experiencing and encountering the character of God. And that's a mistake. Because David was a nobody was a nobody in a field was sheep. And Sam, you went through all the sons and said, not at not at not at not it? Is there another bring them on? You're the king. David's encounter with God was remarkable. He didn't start out by writing the songs by talking about the majesty of God, he started out being called by God, it blew his mind. And from there, he became the greatest worship in history. I've talked to worship leaders who wonder about their music and why they talk about atmosphere in the environment. And I'm like, man, like we've preached you carry that because you carry an encounter with God. And you don't need everybody you'd be crying to be worshiping. All you need to be doing is serving your Lord and whether they're stepping stone face, whether they turn your backs to you whether they're crying, it doesn't matter because you are doing your part. Even my preaching, that's why my preaching is stylistically I sometimes seem loose or seem whatever, I care deeply, but I don't care enough to think that I can do anything. My preaching is informed by the fact that But that the decision to be obedient to God did everything that he's going to do before I ever showed up. Before I stepped foot into those doors, my decision to submit my life to the will of God and to hear his voice and to do what he says did everything that he needs me to do. There's nothing clever enough to save you that I can say, but there's a God who desires you to be saved, and he will do it. I'm almost done. I mean, we're really gonna rush through this john chapter eight. They went to each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning, he came into the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst. They said to him, teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery, which is pretty intense. Like these peeping Toms are like watching I saw busted perverts I mean, that's what commentary says like caught in the act means caught in the act. So I mean, like, wow, okay, what are you guys doing man? Now when the law Moses commanded us to stone such women so what do you say they're trying to trap Jesus by saying no forgive her big and break Mosaic law or saying no follow Mosaic Law stone her and turn against the compassion and teachings of mercy that he's been preaching thus far. Right? This they said to test him that they might have some charge to bring against him, Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, before before I read it, a lot of art pieces and a lot of commentary in the later centuries. That what he wrote was, Earth accuses Earth. Now whether that's true or not, that's how it's been presented at Earth accuses Earth, which which I just find it beautiful. And I just like to say that because Jesus gets down and writes in the earth that Earth accuses Earth from dust we came from dust dust we will return. Who are you to accuse dust dust. As they continue to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who was without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more, he bent down and wrote on the ground, but when they heard it, they went away one beginning with the older ones, and Jesus, the wiser ones, beginning with the older ones, and the wise ones. Oh, yeah, that's right. I've lived long enough to know I've said he's right. I'm getting out of here, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her woman, where are they has no one condemned you? She said, No one Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on sin no more. I want to point out a couple of things and then I'm going to be done. Leviticus 2010, prescribes stoning or adultery, as does Deuteronomy 22 and 23. I think I want to read Deuteronomy 22 and 23. Because it was a specific way it was said that's important. If I can remember and recall but the Spirit of the Lord let's see, Deuteronomy 2222. If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die. The man who lay with the woman and the woman, Oh, here it is, so you shall purge evil from Israel. If there is verse 23, if there is a trough diversion, the man meets her in the city and lives with her, then you shall bring them both out of the gate to that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones. The young woman because she did not cry for help. She was in the city and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. And then it ends with so you shall purge the evil from your midst here. God is giving harsh consequences to human sin. Not To punish an individual but to preserve people. And that's I wanted to make that point about Deuteronomy. It wasn't simply about punishing an individual because it doesn't say, so that you can judge this individual so that you can punish this individual. It says that you can purge evil from your midst because it spreads like a virus. We should be much more concerned with the spread of evil than the spread of Corona virus. evils a real pandemic. And God says you don't have the maturity to recognize the Lord, my son that I'm sending you. So I'm going to give you law and by that law, you're going to have to be rigid so that evil doesn't perpetuate itself and I lose my people in the earth to golden calves. Harsh responses happen for immature people. All right. That's important to note Because here we see a reflective gospel. And this is actually what I'm going to end on a reflective gospel. We see Jesus, look back to the accusers say you without sin cast the first stone. Keep that in mind. What he's writing, I think is less relevant at this point than then that aspect. Then he's looking down. He looks back up, they've all gone. And he says, woman were your accusers has no one condemned you? Right? She says no one Lord. He says, neither do I condemn, which is interesting there is that Jesus does this with the knowledge that nobody is going to condemn her. But at the same time, he leaves open the door for somebody to judge her. for somebody to actually follow through with the law. Understanding that if you want to invoke God's judgment against her, then God's judgment will also be invoked against you. Jesus is saying, neither do I, because they didn't which is interesting because we just talked about upon the revelation of this I will build my church, whatever you bind on Heaven will be bound, whatever you loose will be loosed. Jesus says, Hey, you have the authority to stone her. Based on this accusation, you have the authority to do that. If you want to destroy, destroy, but know that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Jesus submits himself to his church and it's authority because he trust that they know him and therefore will enact His will. That's a statement of such power. That when you busy yourself with judgment, when you busy yourself with gossip, when you busy yourself with looking at what everybody else is doing, then you are not only doing what God does not want you to do but you are doing With power, I believe she could have been stoned to death. I don't think God would have put her in that situation without the knowledge beforehand. But the knowledge beforehand doesn't mean that they didn't have the will to do it. She could have been stoned to death. And the thing is, many of us are stoning people to death, left and right and left and right and a wondering why we too, are being stoned and we're just throwing stones at one another. And Jesus is sitting back saying, I gave you the authority to loose and bind. I gave you the authority to forgive or retain I gave you authority, not only are you acting outside of what I want you to do, but you sit in the seat of Moses, therefore you follow me. We can destroy ourselves. If we can hasten the coming of the Lord, and we can delay the coming of the Lord okay. What I'm trying to say is the church has authority, we as a people have a lot of authority, and we think about it the wrong way. We think about it, like we can call things out of the sky, and it'll just materialize right in front of us. But really, that authority is more fully expressed, and how we interact with one another. Okay. So I'm actually wrapping up so. So he looks to them, let him who is without sin. And now this is a key theme in Jesus's ministry, and it should be a key theme in ours. We talked about there not being a Christian culture, and I agree, we don't live in a Christian culture. But what I observe, and why I think the church is just as guilty. Why I think people are just as guilty. I don't say, We live in a Christian we don't live but we live in an unchristian culture because people aren't proclaiming Christ. I don't say we live in an unchristian culture because everybody's having sex, or doing whatever or listening whatever the music is at the time. That's not why I say that we're living in an unchristian culture, whatever we like to point to, because atheism is on the rise, secular Because, you know, all the political things that are the norms or whatever, that's not what I look to, when I say that we have an unchristian culture which shows me that we really have an unchristian culture is how we are more NRI or done our identities, how we are so anchored in identities other than Christ that we're a non merciful people are in a non merciful age, it's an us versus them era. Politically, it's us versus them racially, it's us versus them, gender, it's us versus them, whatever it is, it's us versus them within the church, there's us and then there's them. And that shows me that we're further away from Christ than we realize not because of some things that we do and the sins that we commit, but because we don't have the heart of God in order to enact his authority in the earth properly. Our faith is a reflective one. So what would a Christian culture look like it would look at their own eye before looking at their brothers, it would look before casting a stone at their own hearts. Their own sins before we were so quick to point how other people have done something to us and deserve some type of penalty, we would look at ourselves and say what can I do to enact this gospel in my own life? on Christian unchristian cultures are quick to judge. She should have died according to Mosaic Law. But the Christian thing to do was to look and say, You know what, I should die too. You should be punished according to you, not being able to control your anger, your mouth, your habits, whatever it is, but you know what I look at you and I say, I want to get you to the place of sanctification because I should be punished to it doesn't become an excuse to sin, as we see because Jesus says go forth and sin no more. He says, they have authority. They can do it. But, but I'm gonna point out the fact they too will be judged. But then I'm going to end with something I'm going to end with don't send any more because adultery is a sin. I'm going to end by saying, you know what, hey, I'm not letting you off the hook. I'm not just saying you know what, you can go have sex now, which is a misinterpretation of grace. I mean, not sex. Sex is awesome, but like with your spouse, you know what I'm saying? He's not saying you can go commit adultery and they had a bad, you know, just go have fun because they're not gonna throw stones at you because they're bad, too. That's what a lot of preachers do. That's what a lot of you know, I know you can name preachers right now mom who have preached that message, and they're really just making excuses for sin. Because if you do it, I do it. We're all human. Oh, that's not what God's saying. God's saying, yes, we're all human. We're all sinners. And what's interesting about this is how did they know they were sinners? Well, we have Romans, right. We know that but they didn't have Romans because Roman says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and Romans 323. But they had a class this class, these, Ecclesiastes, these 720, which says, surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never since. So they knew enough of God's Word to know that they were condemned the very thing that they were trying to hold her by they were condemned by right not enrollments, because they didn't have Romans yet, but in Ecclesiastes, but I think more importantly, is in their encounter with God, the true and living Lord, they begin to have a reflective nature when he pointed things out. That's how our encounters with God should be. Because he doesn't let us off the hook for sin. He doesn't go to her and say, You know what? Grace is grace, free love. Go commit as much adultery as you want, and just do all the things that I instruct you not to do. That's not what he does. He says you've encountered me now. You've seen my mercy now. You've seen my love. You've seen my effect. Though you deserve it, everyone has held back stones because I intervened on your behalf. Now all I have to do because you know me is simply say, Go forth and send no more. I don't have to remind you that you could have been stoned. I don't have to warn you that you can be stoned in the future. Brad, I don't need to remind you that when you screw up, it hurts you and other people. I don't need to remind you of that. All I need to remind you up is my love and my role in your life. And you will move towards sanctification with the help of the Holy Spirit. If you want people to stop sinning, show them the character of Jesus. If you want people to change their behavior, don't look and say that deserves stones look and say I have a God who can help you do better. It's the encounter with Jesus that causes her to go forward and not send anymore. It's not the fear of Leviticus. It's not the Feel Deuteronomy. It's not the fear of consequences. It's the encounter with Christ. Okay, I'm gonna be done on this point. Let's look at Matthew 7325. Real quick. I do fear for where we at and where we are at in a culture. I see. Human beings are meant to have identity. God makes us in this image. Therefore we're supposed to think, Oh, I'm supposed to replicate according to God's image. He instructs us to replicate his image. He wants us to pursue his identity. We're made in God's image. When we accept that and we accept the identity of Jesus just like this woman who committed adultery, we should say, Oh, I need to be more like this man. Right? When we accept who God is, we say I want to be more like Him because that's where my identity is rooted secular culture. When you see the rise of detachment from the church, when you see the rise of detachment from that identity, people are still going to fill that hole with something. And every time that hole is filled with something else, it becomes accusatory in nature. one versus the other. One group versus another. And the gospel is the exact opposite. God says in Matthew seven three to five YD Okay, let's start with verse seven or chapter seven in general judge not that you be not judged. Very clear. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? or How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there To log in your own eye, you hypocrite first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. I think the thing that most interesting to me about this passage is that Jesus says surgery is required for your brother. I know it doesn't say that in the Bible, you're like, what is he reading? Jesus says, then you will be able to take the speck out of his eye. I want a holy people. I want people who don't have things jamming up their vision. Because when you can't see you can't see the things that I'm pointing you to. If you can't see the promised land, you don't know what the promise is. I don't want your vision to be jammed up by sin. I don't want your prophetic antennas to be blocked by sin. I don't want my voice to be destiny echo because sin in your life has overcome it. Right. I don't want that for you. I want you to perform surgery, even on an I want the church to push towards sanctification before you can pick up those tweezers and see clearly in your brother's eye, you need to perform surgery on yourself. Surgery requires clear eyesight. The thing that God does here, and this is in closing, this is where we should really push ourselves as a people. If we're the thing that God does here is he says you have authority. You have the ability to judge, you have the ability to forgive, you can kill this woman with stones. I don't want you to send But nevertheless, this is not an accusatory religion. This is not something what I want you to do is not get to sanctification through consequence. But I want you to get to sanctification through relationship. He says I it's not that I don't want you to be holy. I want you to be Holy, I want you to be in right standing before me I want you to move and progress and behavior that I have for you. When we talk about holiness. It just means becoming more and more of the image of God. I want you to become more and more that image, I want you to see it clearly. And in order to do that, you have to be constantly reflecting on my work in your life. You have Jesus talking to us as you have to constantly reflect my word and your life. You know who I am, you know that I'm Lord, I know you don't understand everything. But you should always be moving in the direction that I have laid out for you for your life by looking inward before you begin to look at other people's patterns and behaviors. Therefore, I advise you to spend more time on the things that make you the file than the things that make your family to file. What I mean to file is rad spend more time getting your anger under under control then Judging somebody who's in your midst for whatever thing that they have, I'm not going to be able to minister effectively and help this other person out. If I'm not in a constant state of reflection. That doesn't mean I can't have problems, but it means my heart has to be anchored in the place where I'm constantly looking at the mirror of the Holy Spirit and moving in the direction that he wants me to move before I can begin to have surgery and perform surgery on you. I'm not just going to be a loosey goosey. You can do whatever you want. Because of grace. We've seen that pastor Doug over and over. He God wants us to do surgery. He wants to perform surgery that search is supposed to perform surgery on one another, we are supposed to get to a place that Grace has already provided. But in order to do that, we have to change our mindset. From How does this apply to everyone around me to how does this apply to me? How do how does everyone around me submit to this? How does this submit to me again, prayer again Things that God does. And the way his faith is truly reflected is not in religious ideations and expressions, right? It's an it's in the place of privacy. It's internal in nature. It's in the place where no one sees you, for the fullness of the faith is not expressed when we're here. It's expressed when we're alone at night, and where our thoughts are driven, and where our mind goes and how we interact with God's word in the privacy of our home and in our lives. That's why prayer matters, because it's humility. And that's why you will see more fruit in your life. When you hold up the mirror to perform surgery on yourself, then you will when you try to perform surgery on everybody around you. Your identity is God's image and that image is one of mercy. Therefore be merciful. When you look at people around you, you can't look through the lens of any other identity socially or individually. As an oppressor as a victim. It doesn't matter. where you're standing is in life. It doesn't matter what you've gone through. All that stuff is used for one purpose to drive you and those around you towards the image of God. And if if we are looking through the lens of anything but the image of God, we are failing. And we are deserving of judgment. So I'm going to close on this, my prayer for you is to hear the voice of the Spirit so that you might look and pull it out of your own eye and letting God because you never do it yourself. When I say perform surgery on yourself, you're not performing surgery on yourself. There's an invisible hand called the Holy Spirit guiding you the whole time pulling that log out of your eye. You don't have the ability to do right before God on your own. But you have the ability to do right before God with the help of the Holy Spirit who is with you I think what we'll see is a revolution in our culture in the church. And with that revolution of culture in the church, we will suddenly see a revolution in the world because Grace is undeniable love is undeniable. What happens here is Jesus steps in for an individual, but he changes the heart of a crowd. We'll see a lasting difference. When we aggressively pursue God's word for our own life, we'll begin to see that people around us change, we begin to see that our family changes that our work twice changes, that everything changes that our environment changes, and God has made us fruitful and effective. Not because we have the ability to look around and say that's not part of God's Word. That's not part of God's Word. That is, this is right this is wrong, because we have the ability to say God guide me in every waking hour of my life. All of a sudden suffering has a role in your blessing. All of a sudden the things that you thought were bad you realize God is working for your good because you're a tuned to this planet. in your life. Or I would pray right now that, that you empower those to do this. And God, I don't even know how to sum up this prayer, or this message in a way that would help them outside God when they walk out the doors today, but I know I don't need to. I know you can do it. Now there are those here today who might be here on the basis that they think they need to go to church and they're trying their best. And they their family did this and all that stuff. And that's God, take them beyond that point. God, that's not even a starting point. That's not even the point to where they can do anything. That the starting point has to be the fullness of Revelation and who you are. And in Scripture, you constantly and consistently point back to yourself and say, start with me, and you'll end where I want you to be. So God if there's anybody in this room who has not had that moment, like I've had done, where I was standing up on a front row, nobody had to wait hands on me. I didn't have to go up. I didn't have to say the specific right formula words, I didn't have to do any of that I simply saw who you were. And it changed my insides. God, I ask that you anchor people right now, by the Spirit of the Lord, and the truth and reality of Jesus Christ, the centerpiece of our world, the centerpiece of creation. not do that now, please, I ask. And then as we walk through this process of faith, I would ask God that we spend more time with the hand of the Holy Spirit, performing surgery on ourselves so that we see clearly what is around us. Therefore, God, invoke mercy in our lives and allow us to be a people of mercy. Allow us to be a people of sympathy and empathy. Allow us to listen before we speak, allow us to be sensitive to your words, allow us God not to try to lean on the arm of the flesh to get things done, but to leave on your prophetic promises in your word through prayer. transform us God and then transforming us to be broken and smaller and more private and less talking and less actionable. When you when you transform us to be all those things God we will see everything change in our life because you are taking over. Take over now. Jesus Christ in
Pastor Brad Knight recorded on February 23, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida, USA. For more information about our ministry, visit http://cityofdestiny.us
Transcription by machine: The gospel is usually framed as a heaven or hell issue. Right? It's usually framed as this is why we preach. This is why we have church. This is why we do things, because we want to go to heaven, and we don't want to go to hell. That's what most of us experienced. But there's a kind of emptiness in that presentation of the gospel, and that it lacks an immediacy that the gospel really responds to. Jesus did talk about eternity, he talked about heaven. And he talked about judgment. He talked about gahanna. But more more than anything else, he talked about the kingdom of God being here. The kingdom of God is now I have brought to you the kingdom of God, there was an urgency to the gospel that still exists today. So if we frame the presentation of the gospel as just something that's often the distance, and if you make the right choice, you get a gold crown. And if you make the wrong one lightnings going to strike you for eternity. That's kind of a weird presentation of the gospel because the gospel is much more immediate. It has much more of an immediate effect on you and So I don't come to church thinking about most of the time I do this because one day God will reward me or one day God will judge me, I have this really relational nature with God that is immediate, that its present tense that it's now and I want to share that with the rest of the world. So when I say, why am I doing this? Why am I preaching the gospel? Why does city of destiny matter? Why does storyline matter? Why do you matter? Why does coming to church matter? You can either look at it religiously, and through the lens of regulatory lens, and we're going to talk about that, or you can look at it through a relational lens. And I think that the church for very long time has looked at it through a regulatory lens. It's looked at it through a religious lens, it's created a set of rules that said, If you abide by these rules, this is what happens long term. They've taken a kernel of truth, something that is discussed something that is real, but they've emphasized it in a way that God did not intend because God is saying, I'm an immediate god. I'm not waiting to respond to you. You future tense. I'm not waiting to respond to you in eternity. I'm here for you now. I love you now. I'm your balm of Gilead, now. I want to have relationship with you. Now, I want to be involved in every aspect of your life now, and there's an urgency to the message of Christ. There's an urgency to who God is. And that urgency for me is not even trying to save you from hell. That's not my urgency. That's not why I preach. My urgency, both reflected in God's word and out of my own experience is to share with you this unconditional, vast, enormous love of God that when you're walking through life, and you're looking around, and you're not prioritized by anybody else, and the world has forgotten you, and you just want to just want to bury your head. You just want to cry. Sometimes you just want to end it, no matter what it is. There is a God that says I'm not a god. That's often the distance. I'm a god for you now. I'm a god. That's obsessed with you. I'm a God that prioritizes you. I'm a God that wants relationship with you. I don't care if the world doesn't love you. I'm a God that loves you and loves you obsessively. That's the urgency of the gospel. That's why I'm passionate and demonstrative and excited. That's why I get up here and share it with you because it's not me just trying to give you the rules to get by it's me trying to say the creator of the universe is obsessed with you. All right. So let's talk about love. The Gospels and balm for the soul. And the reason that preaching is urgent The reason that church gathering is urgent The reason that being connected to a community is urgent because the love and what's interest I'm already out of breath. What's interesting is that there's many Greek words for love. And I think it's important to discuss love because one of the most successful things that Satan does is the story. terms in the Bible. Satan gets in and he can manipulate words, Master of language. Satan doesn't present himself as Satan. He presents himself as an angel of light. I make this argument all the time that when Jesus was in the wilderness, I think Satan was as invisible as he could be. You know why? Satan being fully God and fully man, it makes a lot more sense that God was wrestling with thoughts that were projected that Jesus was wrestling with his humanity and asking himself, Is this me thinking this? Or is this the devil? And his ability to identify the voice of Satan was key and overcoming plots of Satan in his life. See, what I'm saying? Is this when you're walking through your everyday life, if a demon shows up, and it's like, hey, let me tell you something, you're gonna be like, oh, Sunday, thought about and the name of Jesus, you're gonna cast that sucker out, and you're going to be amped up and be like, yeah, demons are trying to attack me. So I'm on the right path, but when you're walking through Life and there's a subtle voice. Does God really love you or to Eve? Did God really tell you not to eat of that tree, he suddenly twists the Word of God against Jesus, he uses the very word of god against them against the eve he uses the very word of god against her. So what Satan likes to do is begin to manipulate present himself as an angel of light and manipulate the Word of God until you're believing the wrong things going down the wrong path. And if you think you're religious, and you're going down the wrong path, and you're emphasizing the wrong things, you end up in a place where you don't know God at all. That's why Jesus says you neither know God nor scripture, when he's talking to the side just sees who's with me all with me. Alright. So let's talk about love. And in order to talk about love, we have to talk about what love is not. So let's go through the Greek words of love because there's one word that refers to the love of God more than any other word and it's the word that when we say God is love, this is the word that used that word is a Guppy and we are familiar with that term to a degree. It's used. in church, but we really want to dig into what that means today. And we want to contrast that with what it's not. There's other words for love that the Greeks used. One of them was arrows. That was a sexual love. It's a passionate love. It's a fleshly love. This is what the Satan likes to do now. He likes to tie love to sexuality. He likes to say love is love, love whoever you want and love and love is not sex. Love might be displayed in sex might my love might be expressed in sex. I love having sex. It's a little different with my wife with my wife case, I need to clarify that I'm I I but love itself is not sex. Love itself is not my feelings that I have for my spouse when it comes to being attracted to her love is not me looking at her like I do and and she just works me up so well. That's not love though. That's a type of Love, that's the heroes. But that's not the love that God is talking about. So we can't go through life, saying, you know what, I'm having a fling with somebody, therefore I love them. And we can interpret love as sex or feelings or feelings or dating or a transactional relationship that we have with somebody that's primarily physical in nature, because that's not the word that God uses for loving the Bible. Then you have filia, which is friendship. It's a fraternal love. It's this sense of brotherhood, and it's the friendships that you have with your girlfriends and your boyfriends and the relationships that you have with them. It's my best friend Hank, and it's this filia that I have, we're close. We're brothers. It's the football type love and yeah, mainly love and whatever love that the girls have when they talk on the phone and chat it up. It's that kind of love. But it's not the type of love that is used to describe your relationship with God. God does not describe himself in his love as filia he does not say I am a friend to you. He does I'm a friend to you, but he doesn't describe his love in a friendship manner. Interesting, because we can eliminate that. So love isn't friendships, it's not sex. It's not friendship. It's not just, you liking somebody, it's not being part of an organization. It's not fraternal in nature. It's not just you'd be part of a rotary club or whatever club you're part of. That's not love. You might enjoy that thing. You might love that thing. But that's not love. Let me say this right, flew out to Philadelphia. This is the next word for love. Okay, and this one is about loving yourself is another word for love. This love is self actualization. And this is an emphasis that we talk about. I can't love you unless I love me lose. Right? We hear that all the time, right, Roosevelt, I can't love you unless I love me. And society really emphasizes this type of love, which is self actualization, that the pinnacle of love is to reach your highest self is to be the best that you can be, is to be all you can be. And there's the In this presentation of God, as though this is the kind of love that he is that God is about himself. We hear this in church subtly and overtly that God is about himself. That love is really his self aggrandizement. But nowhere in the Bible is God described in terms of self actualizing love, and you can't look at love and a self actualizing sense, the pinnacle is of love is not relationships that gets you to a certain point in life where you are thriving. That's not what love is. This is important. Okay, bear with me. The next the story, and this is a soft affection and empathy, a beautiful love. This is the this is a rarely used word. It's a lot more rarely used, but it indicates sometimes a parental love. And what's interesting about this is that that even though it refers to parents and children, even though it has that kind of usage at various times, it's more rooted in duty than it is rooted in, in a god Bay. So meaning this, that when this word is used in terms of love, it's a love that is mandatory in nature. It's a sense of duty. It's a sense of, I love my children because I must. I love my children, because I have the responsibility to I love my wife, because I must. It's a passionless thing. It's more of a soft affection than it is the word that's used in the Bible. It's interesting. So God does not look at us beautifully. He does not look at us as friends. It is not looking at us as lovers in a physical sense. He does not look at us as just being part of his responsibility. He does not look at us as stepping stones to his own self actualization. y'all with me? Man, Maya, my writings terrible. That's what happens. The next one I'm Xenia. Okay, and this is the last one we're gonna move on. And this is guests friendship. That's what the literal meaning is guest friendship. And its hospitality. It's a it's the love of a dignitary its diplomatic love It's when you host somebody and you're showing them a hospital a hospital you know what I'm trying to say? hospitality hospitable ability What does that word house portability? No But when it what is it when the hospital Oh my Okay, so that is like a dignitary love diplomatic love. There's this love that when you're hosting somebody when one one nation host another. It's a diplomatic love. It's a kingdom oriented love, right. And God is not a dignitary and we are not diplomats relating to one another. It's not simply hospitality, that God expresses when he says he loves you. He's not simply hosting you in His Kingdom. Right? You're with me. So what is the word that is used? A God. a God thing. God is a Got a says john and see we're actually not diverting too far from john because we're routing ourselves in the writings of john, instead of the gospel of john. It's going to be first john today. And the thing is the term for God's love is a god base. So much so that there's one characteristic that God has described as being in it is a God, a God is love. God is a God, a God so loved the world God got paid. God's love is a god Bay, which means it is transcendent in nature, and it's love that's felt in the family unit, especially towards children. It's one that is expressed primarily from a father and a mother to their children, but not in the beautiful sense. Like I have the responsibility to love my kids, but in an obsessive sense. The love that I have for my children is obsessive. I'm obsessed with my kids. It transcends any other love that I've experienced in my life. And what you see in the relationship that we have with God and how he structures familiar life in the Bible, is that our relationship to our children It's supposed to be the love of a cafe. It's this love that we have where, where it's not just bound and duty. It's not just bound in familiarity. It's not just bound and what they'll grow up to be. It's not just bound in the fact that you need to have a family to self actualize. It's a love that transcends anything you can comprehend. And even though a gopa is used repeatedly in the Bible, there's no firm final thing that it can point to, to say, that's the love except for the sacrifice of Jesus. That's the fullest way that it's expressed, and his sacrifice and his death, but even that does not fully express how obsessed God is with you. It's the most that he could give you his own life, His own Son, God Himself, and then we think about that he just gave us his life, but he also gave us his humiliation. He was humiliated. He gave us so he gave us this dignity. He gave us his sense of self worth. He gave us injustice. Which was done to him because he said not and he did not deserve death. So all these things he gave us that extend past just the pain of the cross, but the very indignity of God having to suffer when he shouldn't have to suffer because he's the fountainhead of creation. These are just glimmers and expressions of a God thing. So it should begin to give us a sense of what it means when it means when we say that God loves us and the urgency that's behind it, this Tran cendant love. This is what we talk about when we talk about our children. This is what we talk about when we talk about a deeper relationship with our spouse. This love that we have one towards another is a love of prioritization. God prioritized his creation. This is a mind blowing concept, and it's why the Gospels so urgent, and I said this before, like we go through life experiencing a lot of pain, we go through life, not feeling prioritized and often we are But we have to rest and be inspired by the fact that God has prioritized us that his a god Bay is not simply affection towards us. It's not simply an expression of love towards us or it's not simply a temporary outpouring. It's a consistent and eternal prioritization of his creation. That's an amazing concept. Alright, first john 419, so we can get the scripture behind him, y'all with me so far? We love because he first loved us. This is the scripture that God told me when I was processing this, why do I Why do I serve you God? Why do I preach for you, God, why do I want to? Why do I want to do these things for you, God and God said, We love you. You love me because I first loved you. I loved you first. It's not enough. It's not in a way that he's saying. I loved you first. And so you love me. It's not God's not in competition with us. God's not attacking. God, we treat him like that, like he's a tag here at God. But that's not him at all. The entire Bible is a love letter to his people. And that's us. We love because he first loved us. God says, You love because this thing that I gave you was so immense is so enormous. You were so undeserving of it, because you were so incapable of it, that this a god Bay that I have given you, inspires you to love me back. First, john three, one, and I love this first because it tells us even more explicitly what kind of love God is giving us. See what kind of love the Father has given to us. That we should be what called children of God. Here we know that God loves us, but it's expressed even more explicitly and a type of love. What kind of love did God give you? He made you his children. That's a powerful concept because Even in the Old Testament, we see that God is referred to as father to the people of Israel. And for the sake of time, I'm going to reference the scriptures but I won't read them today, Jeremiah three, four, Jeremiah 319, Isaiah 6316, Isaiah 64, eight, Deuteronomy 32, six, Jeremiah 31, nine, Molokai to 10, which will be reading that passage. But what we see is that God is talking to Israel as a father. He says, I'm, I'm your father, but he doesn't kind of vaguely, indirectly, he mentions it. But then he moves on to being Lord, he says, refers to himself as LORD of hosts and all this, but it's never it's never over. What's interesting is, it was when Jesus comes he changes everything. Because he says, Abba, which is the equivalent of like daddy or papa. Hey, Papa. And even when the disciples say, how do we pray, he says, Our Father, referring to them, like hey, so what's interesting about this too, is He says he never he always distinguishes his nature in relationship to God even from us. He constantly says, if you look at john 2017, he says, My Father and your Father, my God and your God, there's always the slight distinction. And the only time that we see that isn't the case is when he teaches the disciples how to pray, and he speaking as them Our Father who art in heaven, our daddy. Now this is a remarkable development because nobody in the Old Testament the people of Israel, who collectively were considered the children of God would not have thought to be as so relational, so intimate is just to call God daddy. Jesus comes and says, Daddy, I'm doing your will, daddy. Everything that you do, I've watched daddy. It's like my relationship to Nicholas, where the boy imitates everything that I do. He just goes around and and he just wants to be his daddy. It's an amazing feeling. It's an amazing experience to have a son where he goes forth and wants to be his daddy. And here Jesus is saying, Daddy, Father, Abba, Papa. What's interesting is that it doesn't just stop with Jesus as a second member of the Trinity, but he extends that very thing to us. Let's look. Let's look, before we go to Romans 814, I want to do this first. I want to do this. First, let's look at Malika. I want to show you an example of something. I'm gonna try to make this point quickly. But I think it's important to to understand how Jesus is using Scripture with us. Malik has the last book of the Old Testament, right before Matthew that helps you get to it. So follow me here. So So Jeez, I went through it last night. And I was underlining everything. Where it says Lord of hosts, because this is Lord of hosts a lot says at 21 times in Molokai, Lord of hosts. This is interesting. Because in order to fully appreciate Jesus using the word Daddy, Father, Papa, we have to see how God has referred to himself even in the closing passages of the Old Testament. This is how the Old Testament the Old Covenant closes itself out. This is the last thing that God says to his people in the book of Malika. It's God's letter of hurt to his people. What's funny is we refer to it all the time. The only time you guys usually hear Malika is when it comes to tithe and offering right. You know, we talked about the Devourer. What's interesting is if you explicitly use Malika in that sense, you're falling into a trap of regulatory thinking that the OP it's the exact opposite of what Molokai is. Molokai is full of passion. Malika is full of God's hurt. Malik is full of pain towards his children. Turn, and you see God going back and forth, even with what he calls himself to the people of Israel. And what he says to them is that I don't want you to just be a people of regulation who just follows rules because you have to who just brings time because I mandated it. I want you to be relational in nature, because I'm your father. And what's interesting is he's talking to the people of Israel here. And this ends on kind of a sour note. If you read the prophets A lot of times, Goddess is it sounds angry, he sounds frustrated. But if you if you really dig into it, there's more hurt and God, even when God says, oh, that I regret ever making you to humankind, that's not out of a place of spite. It's not out of a place of wrath purely as an I hate these people. It's out of a place of hurt. You can hurt God's feelings. That in and of itself is an amazing thing. So when we get to Malecon God refers to himself as father. We have to think of This when we transition to Jesus and see that Jesus has no no, it's more than just the general sense of father with Israel. It's a personal relational dad and I am the fullest expression of the type of relationship that you're supposed to have with this eternal God. But in order to understand that, let's understand Malika for just a second. It's going to be a long time to read. I might summarize the passages of it. Okay. Molokai, chapter one, the Lord starts out by saying, I have loved you. They say how have you loved us is not Esau Jacob's brother declared the Lord yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I've hated and the really the Hebrew word for hated is rejected. It's not one where God's passionately hating something. It's one where he's saying, I favored you over Esau. He goes on to say that he DOM is is is burned to the ground that the Lord is angry with him forever, but it's not out of a place of just look at my hatred for Esau, because he's talking to the people of Jacob saying, Look my life Love for you, is extensive. And what's interesting is when you get to verse five, he says your own I shall see this and you shall stay great as the Lord beyond the border of Israel. That's a key verse here, beyond the border of Israel. So he talks about how I've loved he starts off the book of Malika by saying, I love you. And he's saying, Let me show you how I loved you, your enemies and the people that are away from you have a totally different outcome in life than you've had. And now, I want you to say, greatest the Lord beyond the border of Israel, immediately God is trying to establish himself This is going to be important for later God is trying to establish himself even outside of the limited scope of who he calls his people. The priests polluted offer. Now think of this, go into this. The first thing that God says when he goes into his gripes when he goes into his complaints about his people, the very first thing that he says is a son honors his father and a servant, his master If then I am a father. Where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? And listen to this says the Lord of hosts. This is interesting because from now on God is going to refer to himself as the Lord of hosts. Am I boring you guys? Okay? All right. I know you can tell me if I am. I promise you, I'll wrap it up. He refers to himself. I love this stuff. This is like my wheelhouse. So this is exciting to me. But I know sometimes it sound like we're getting lost in the weeds more and some of you really come to church last week. So he refers to himself as LORD of hosts, which is interesting, because he's saying I am master over all the angels host is actually the plural for armies. He's saying I am God over the armies out and I Savoie Lord over the armies, he keeps referring to his authority and militancy and this passage of Scripture, but he doesn't start out there. He doesn't say, he doesn't say a son or a soldier honors the LORD of hosts a soldier honors the commander in chief, a soldier honors the head honcho, he says, a son, honors his father. And then he begins to recede from there. He begins to say, a servant honors his master. And then he begins to refer to himself as the Lord of hosts, you actually see God pulling away from his claim of fatherhood here, and moving back to his claim of power. This is interesting because when you view religion through the lens of what God can do to you, you're going to get that result elder when you look and treat God as somebody who just has power over you, who is Lord over you who can just determine whether your life is good or bad, he'll begin to present himself in that fashion to you and so to the people of Israel as he begins to list his complaints, he says, I am the LORD of hosts. Let me remind you that I'm the head honcho. I'm the commander in chief, you want to worship all these other gods. I'm the one that created them, all these other angels that you think have power with these nations on the one that rules over them all, every being in heaven. Guess what, on boss, this is important to them. Because people were drawn to power in these days, they were just chasing anything that gave them power. And Israel was really drawn to idolatry, even to the point where right when they're delivered from Egypt, they built a golden calf and start to worship it instead of God. So God begins to refer to himself militantly. I'm the lord of host. He goes, Oh priest, who despise my name. But how have we despised your name? By offering polluted food upon my altar? How have we polluted you by saying the Lord's table may be despised when you offer blind animals and sacrifices and that not evil, when you offer those that are lame or sick? Is that not evil? present that to your governor? Will he accept you and show you favor says the Lord of hosts. Now he's getting into language where he says if you presented that to the highest official in the land, you wouldn't do that to your own governor. You wouldn't do that to your own King, your natural King, your natural governor, why are you doing that to me? He's retreating from intimacy, and going towards militancy. Why does this matter in this passage, because this gives you profound insight into the mindset of God. This gives you profound insight into how religion goes wrong. When you begin to retreat from a relational nature and you become regulatory in your thinking, God begins to retreat as well. When you think I have to go to church, because I want God to give me good things. Then God begins to say, Okay, if that's the game that we're playing, then I'm going to measure every sacrifice you make. You're not going to give me the best. You're going to give me your blood. minded lambs, I know why you're not doing it, you're not giving me the best not because of any other reason than you think that this is a regulatory thing and you can get away with it. See, we tend to think that God is saying, that's not good enough. When we read this passage, that's not what God is saying at all. what God is saying is you don't think that I'm worth having a relationship with. So if that's what you're going to do, I'm going to retreat from calling myself daddy. And I'm going to start reminding you of my authority. And now and treat the favor of God that He might be gracious with us with a gift from your hand. Will he show favor to any of you says the Lord of hosts, Lord of hosts, he says, 21 times more than anything else in the book of Malika? Oh, that there are one among you who would not shut the doors that you might not Kindle Fire on my altar in vain. I don't care about what you're doing. The ritual, these rituals that I gave you, I don't care about them, because your heart's not in them. They're empty. You're coming to church. We're going to talk about Tie them here you're coming to church, you're giving me 10% I don't care. That's what God's doing. From the rising of the sun to the setting on the name will be great among the nations, and in every place instance will be offered to my name and the pure offering for my name will be great among the nation says the Lord of hosts, but you Israel profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted that its fruit that is a food maybe despise ready. This is a key verse to understanding the logic of Bad Religion. But you say, a weariness This is and snort at it. How many of you have found religion to be weary? How many of you have grown weary of religion? How many of you have got tired of going to church? How many of you just are again following the routine? Because this is what my parents expect. So what my family expects, and ultimately, this is what God expects, and as long as I show up I'm not gonna think about the fact that he knows the recesses of my heart, I'm not going to think about the fact that he really knows every idea that I have every thought that I have everything about me. I'm just going to do what I think he expects of me. And maybe he'll be favorable toward me if I just simply show up. I mean, we begin to get detached and we begin to feel the social obligation. And here you see Israel saying, You know what, I am a Jew. So I'm going to bring a sacrifice, but just pick that lamb right there. Just burn this right there. Just Just grab whatever and let's get this over with because we got a barbecue after church that we want to go to. We got a football game that we want to watch. We got better things to do. We got to give God our Sunday, or in this case, we got to give God our Sabbath so that we can get on with our life. And really, God knows their hearts. He knows their grumblings, and he's saying what a weariness. This is. I'm tired of God. Corey, I'm I'm weary of coming to church. I don't Want to preach anymore? I don't want to give any more. I don't want to talk to you people anymore. I don't want to see you guys. I don't want to know your problems. I don't want to do what God's asked me to do. I'm weary of it. This is a problem that emerges when there's a disconnect between the people's view of God and who he wants to present himself as to them when they begin to say, Oh, he's the boss, instead of Oh, he's daddy. This begins to creep into their hearts and everything starts to fall apart. God begins to say I'm a great king. Cursed be the Cheetos male in his flock and bows it yet sacrifices to the Lord. What is blemished? Then he goes on to the priest, and now a priest. This command is for you. If you will not listen, you will not let me back up just a second. He starts to really get aggressive with his people. Why? Why lose? Why does he get aggressive with them? Why doesn't he just appeal to to buy the Hey guys, look at what I've done for you. He does appeal to that. But why does it need to stay there in a place of love and affection, we present God like he doesn't have any feelings. We present God like he's not like similar to us, like we're not created in his image. We act like we're not created in God's image and that, that every affront that just comes our way we're not going to respond emotionally to we're just going to be disconnected. And that is a further offense against God. Because the idea of him is that he's disconnected intimately from your life, that you can't hurt him, and he's above your actions to him. Here's the thing he tells Israel he says, the nations are going to worship My name due to you. They're supposed to praise my name all the world is supposed to know my name, my glory, my greatness, and he doesn't say this from a place of, of just like, hey, you're not doing your job. He's saying, Wait a minute. You're supposed to know me. You're supposed to have a relationship with me. You're supposed to be inspired by me. You're supposed to desire me. That fire supposed to burn so intensely that it catches the whole world ablaze. That you the people of Israel will distinguish yourselves not in ritual alone, but in worship and spirit and truth to me. All right, let me draw it to now you believers are supposed to spread the gospel, not by simply regurgitating scriptures, not by simply regurgitating rules, not by simply saying, you go to church, not by doing the things of rigor that God ends up not caring about because you end up slipping away from it anyways, here the people of Israel are doing what they're supposed to do, but their heart's not in it. And they forgotten God as a father. And so God saying, Look, your responsibility to evangelize Israel, your responsibility to evangelize Christians, is not rooted in a place that if you do this, I'll give you a reward. It's supposed to be rooted in a plaque place where you passionately know who I am, that you wake up and when you first feeling loved by the world around you, you're reminded that I love you obsessively. When you feel hurt by the world around you, you're reminded that I'm the one that's there for you at all times, when you feel like the world has abandoned you, you're reminded that I have not abandoned you and that I'm by your side, and that I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death, and that I have your hands and that you know what, it doesn't matter what this world is going to do to you because I have a positive outcome in your life. And you might be suffering now. You might be struggling now but son, daughter, I have not forgotten you. goes to the regulations. And he says, I will lay curse upon you. I've already cursed your blessings. He says I've already curse them. Why? Because you do not lay it to heart. You do not lay it to heart. Let's go on for the sake of time. He's talking to the lights. The priest covenant with him was one of life and peace. And I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name, true instruction was in his mouth and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me and peace and uprightness, for he turned me away from iniquity. Listen to the testimony that he's talking about with Levi here, which is where the priesthood emerges from. Levi stood up, right? He didn't stand religiously, but he turned people away from iniquity. Why? Because he knew who I was. Pastor Doug, you're not just going to pastor? Because because it's something that you do. This is just an industry and now we're turning out another church. And but there's something inside of you, that should turn people from iniquity, not because you know what this says, and you can regurgitate it to them and tell them when they're right or when they're wrong, but you know, the very character of God and it breaks your heart. When you see people who forget that character. When you see people who are willing to choose iniquity, who are willing to choose sin, who are willing to choose death, who are willing to choose destitution over all the things that God has for them. For he is a messenger of the LORD of hosts, you have corrupted the covenant of Levi says the Lord of hosts, again, God's referring himself as the boss of the angels. I'm the military man, I'm the commander in chief. And as much as you do not keep my ways but show partiality and your instruction, he rebukes pastors by saying, You're you just preach what you think that people want to hear your partiality. Listen to this. What's funny about this, is that when we refer to this very letter, exclusively, when we teach Malik I only for tyvan offering or guilty of the very instruction that Malik harab uses for this fun, he says, but you show partiality and your instruction when we get down to this next part, and say, bring your time because otherwise, I'm gonna curse you if you don't win. I'll bless you if you do and I'll open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you. We get to that part and we isolate it and we make sure that people come in and give their money. We like that. We like that. But but but even fat, if we don't begin to expound on that, and educate you and show you the fullness of what God's saying, then you know what, then we're guilty of the very thing that the Levitical priesthood here is being reviewed for by showing partiality and our instruction by taking one verse two versus three verses here and there and using it to the advantage of our institution of power, using it to the advantage of what will bring people through the doors using it to the advantage of what will bring the most money in using it to the advantage of what will get us the most air time using it to the advantage of what will make us look the smartest, using it to the advantage of what will sell the most books, I don't know. And it's not even that most people don't even care about that. Most pastors pastor, less than 50 people, but you know what, they still have egos. They might not be able to get on TV, they might not be able to pack out conferences and always work. too large churches and the corruption that permeates itself the Malecon nature that permeates itself through there. But the reality is that happens in small churches to size is no reflector of whether somebody's heart is connected to God or not. When a pastor seeks to control his people, instead of empower his people, when a pastor seeks to isolate verses and is unwilling to go through the entirety of the word, when a pastor is unwilling to do that, then they're showing partiality and God explicitly rebukes them. And look, here comes the sensitivity of God again in verse 10. Have we not all one father? Has God not created this? There's this interplay, God going back and saying, Look, you're the one that wants me to judge your works. You're the one that wants me to judge the quality of your offerings. You're the one that wants me to analyze your teachings. You're the one that invited Me in this very rigorous manner. So I, the Lord of hosts will judge them and they're never going to be good enough. Your religion will never be good enough for me. But then it goes back. Have we not all one father? Let me try to remind you again that I'm daddy. Let me try to remind you again that this is more than just me being Lord of hosts, I am the boss of everything. I am the creator. But I'm more than that. And I desperately want you to recognize me as daddy profaning, the covenant the abomination for the Lord of hosts. He says, which he loves and has married the daughter of a foreign God, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob's any descendant of the man who does this and brings an offering to the Lord of hosts. He's begins rebuking them for taking in the daughters of foreign gods. Okay, why does that matter? Well, if God is trying to create this reflection of him and the family institution, and we can't create fame, the family institution. If God is cut, think about this. Okay, I got into a discussion with the pastor. I know I'm taking up time you guys give me 20 more minutes. Okay? And if you need to leave seriously no problem. I'm not I mean that don't ever feel weird about it. Um, so so I was talking to a pastor. And he said that the most important thing is marriage. And, and yes, the Bible talks about marriage a lot. And it emphasizes the relationship, we are the bride of Christ. And that's a good metaphor, but the metaphor is incomplete without the family. If we reduce love to me and my wife, then we're not understanding what the point of marriage actually is. Because it's actually discussed in Malika and I'm going to, I'm going to skip ahead to that for just a second. He says, you cover the Lord's altar with tears with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offerings are acceptable. You say, Why does he not because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant? Did he not make them one with the portion of the spirit and their union? And what was the one seeking ready? And what was the one seeking? What was the point of your marriage? God's saying godly offspring? What's the first instruction that it gives Adam and Eve go? reproduce, make offspring, multiply yourself, the image of God. And here he's rebuking the people of Israel for abandoning their wives. And it's not simply a matter of adultery. And so we like to reduce it to you know what, you're an adulterer, get out of the church, you're disqualified because you had an affair. And you know what, that there's a basis for dealing with those things. But we haven't explained why God care so much when you run around on your wife. we all we all interpreted the judgment of it. We've all been interpreted the shame of it. We all carry the fact that we know if our neighbor catches us cheating, that it's going to be bad news for us that if our wife Or our husband catches us cheating that it's going to break our marriage. But what we've forgotten is the deeper truth that the reason that it matters is because you're supposed to gain union with this portion where God pours out a portion of his spirit and reproduces himself through your offspring. That's why we don't get to just change marriage willy nilly. We don't get to just the Supreme Court doesn't get the change marriage. I'm sorry, guys. We if we want to have that debate, theologically, we can have that debate theologically, if we want to engage that discussion, we can engage that discussion. My problem is that the institution of the state thinks that they're the ones that has the mandate and the priority over marriage. When God is saying this is the very way that I teach you about my fundamental nature and relationship to you. Why did I put you together to produce godly offspring? Why? Because I want you to learn through the godly offspring to carry my traditions why Why do I want you to carry my traditions, because I want you to be so passionately in love with me that you're willing to come here and give me the best of your sacrifices, the most of your time, the most of your worship. And in doing so people will say, wait a minute, what's different about them, and they will be drawn to you and all the nations of the world of acclaim them, the god the true and living God, the true and living Lord of hosts and eventually father, because they see your passion for me. religious duty without the passion of relationships is empty, and it's a turn off to people. Here God is saying your marriage should be sacred. Not simply because I told you to get married, but because it's a reflection of my relationship to you. That when those kids are running around driving you crazy. You drive me crazy, but I can't take my eyes off of you. Nonetheless, when those kids are breaking things and messing things up and ignoring you and forgetting you when they're a teenager. You did all those things to me too. But guess what, I love you give my life for you. I'll give my inheritance to you. I'm obsessed with you. I wake up thinking about you, I go to bed thinking about you, I can't stop thinking about you. We have such a high responsibility to be good fathers to be good mothers to be good husbands and wives. But this very reason, because instead of breaking up families, and just saying, It breaks my heart, I try not to be judgmental, but it breaks my heart. I want to explain to people why it hurts when families are devastated when they break up when divorce happens. It's because if you have children especially you're you're not reflecting the ideal perspective of God in their life. God is saying I created this very thing to teach you, you they're supposed to recognize at some point how much you sacrifice for them. They're supposed to recognize how much you love them, just like you're supposed to recognize how much I love you. And when we break that thing apart when we don't encourage it when we when we remove it when we say you know what, I don't love this person anymore. So I'm gonna move on with My life or doing something much deeper, much deeper than being purely selfish in a moment or breaking up the very lessons that God has to teach our children through our serving them in life. Does that make sense? Okay, this is longer than I thought it'd be okay. He says you cover your garment with violence. I'm not going to get into that now. But that's that's interesting. You have worried the word with your your you've wearied the Lord with your words. But you say how we were read him by saying everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and He delights in them, or by asking, where's the God of justice? Where's the so called God of justice? All these bad things are happening in my life. Where is this? Where's God in that? What's interesting is that this is a different tone than God takes with Job. Job asked the same questions like God, why, why did this happen to me? Why did this happen to me? And God actually shows up for job and reveals His glory. But here he's talking to people that say, where's the God of justice? And what's different is not the question. But it's the attitude behind it. Because God recognizes that they've already forgotten his character that they've already moved on, and that they're just fulfilling a religious duty, wondering when he's going to show up. But who can endure this come? Let's skip down. Let's skip down to verse five, I will draw near to you for judgment, I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers against the adulterers, against those who are falsely against those who oppress the higher worker his wages, who the widow and the fatherless against those who thrust aside the sojourner and, and do not fear me says the Lord of hosts. Here God comes and rebukes everyone. Again, it's not just the list of rules, but it's a list of character. And we do this a lot. When Paul talks about here's the things that you can't do in order to get into the kingdom of heaven. And when Revelation says, These people will not enter the kingdom of heaven, we tend to make that a checklist and say, This is what but really, it's reflecting this character. It's reflecting this idea that people Who are intimate with God are drawn and move by His Spirit into a new way of being. And if you're practicing sorcery, if you're practicing adultery, if you're practicing witchcraft, if you've forgotten the widow and the fatherless, you don't care about your hurting neighbor, if you don't care about the poor among you, if you don't care about the sick, then you don't know something about God. Okay, so God again responds in judgment when people have forgotten him. I the LORD of hosts going to come and judge all these things, and instead of getting the point it just keep making more and more rules that they can't do. by the Lord do not change you children of host let you will say How shall we return will a man Rob God Here we go. It's the famous line. Let's go down to verse eight will a man Rob God yet you are robbing me But you say how have we robbed you? In your tithe and contributions you are cursed with the curse, but you are robbing me the whole nation of you bring the full tie that to my storehouse that there may be food in my house and there by put me to the test says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need, I will rebuke the Devourer for you so that you will not destroy the fruits of the soil and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear so the LORD of hosts, then all nations will call you blessed, but you will be a land of light thus says the Lord of hosts. Okay? We use that scripture and say, This is what happens when you tie we isolate that scripture. I'm going to pull it up, but this is actually a devastating scripture. The scripture sad. I've subtitled Malika I wrote under Malika because I'm writing in this Bible. It's a development for me, God's letter of hurt at the people's rejection. That's what I've titled Mallika, God's letter have heard of the People's rejection. And we read this verse as though it's a positive thing. But God has to argue for his own character. still argue for who he is to this people. He's like, yeah, you know what? Bring in your time, because I'm a God that will do all these things for you. Because apparently you forgot And if we isolated from the rest of the chapters, then we just say, okay, God is transactional in nature. If I bring up this money, this is what happens if I get the exact percentage, right? This is what happens if I give during this time of year. This is what happens if I do this thing. If I dress this way, if I look this way, if I act this way, if I say these words by whatever formula we have, that's been passed to us, we say if I do this formula, then God being transactional in nature will give me something in return. Because he said, in America when God's saying, Wait a minute, wait a minute, if you know me, I'll be there for you. If you know me, you'll be inspired to give everything to me. If you know me, you know that I'm gonna bless you even when it doesn't look like it. If you know me, you know that injustice is temporary, and that justice is soon to emerge. If you know me, then you know that I'm a God of mercy. I shouldn't have to continually argue about my merits. So you in life I grow weary of trying to convince you of who I am as your Father, because if you knew me, this wouldn't be a burden to you. Your words have been hard against me says the Lord, you say, have we spoken against me? You have said it is in vain to serve God. What is the profit? What is the prophet of our keeping his charge, are walking in morning before the Lord of hosts. See, it's interesting that he's reflecting their language here. What's fascinating is God says, You have said it is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping this charge or walking as an morning before the Lord of hosts? He's speaking as the people. You know what they don't call them there. They don't say this. They don't say what is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as a morning before our father before our daddy before they say before the Lord of hosts before The so called God of all the other gods, God above all, the one that's in charge of all the angels, the one that rules over gods of all the land. What's the point of following him? If he's not doing what we expect at this given moment? And it's interesting that when you refer to God a certain way, and there's a truth in it, God done response. God says, You know what? You are the one that approached me and said, Lord of Hosts was, you're the one that grumbled, used my name at n eyes that blot grumbled about it. You're the one that brought up the LORD of hosts things. You're the one that said, this is a supposed title for God. You're the one that came out of your mouth and your grumbling. So guess what, when I write this to you through my Prophet, when I respond to that's what's going to show up. You want to talk to the Lord of hosts, here comes the LORD of hosts. You want to talk to daddy, here comes daddy. How do you talk to God? How do you think of God? Yes, he's Lord of hosts, but he emphasizes what you emphasize in him. He will reveal his You're going to say, you know what, God, where are you when you're supposed to follow these things, you better watch out because he's going to come and you're not going to meet his measure. And these things that we think are our God responding to why they didn't do rules, right is really them putting riggers on themselves, then putting regulations on themselves, then putting burdens on themselves, which is Jesus. That's why Jesus says, follow me because my burden is easy. My yoke is light. Jesus says these things, because he's saying, you know what, if you know me, if you follow me, if you're intimate with me, if you have relationship with me, then you'll have mercy. The mercy that a Father gives a child, you'll have God as a daddy. If you look to me as Daddy, then I won't need to show up as LORD of hosts. Because if you keep provoking me as LORD of hosts, if you keep testing me, then I'm going to show you how you failed and you're going to invoke curses on my life, not because I want to because that's what you asked for. God gives us what we asked for. God gives us all God always. gives us what we asked for. We don't know we're asking for it at times, but he gives us exactly what we asked for. You don't want to be with him. He gives you how you want to treat them as though he's a checklist for your demands. And he's going to judge you on your checklist as well. Those who fear the Lord spoke with one another. Ready? And then here's how it closes out. It begins to close out the they speak together. They shall be mine says the Lord of hosts in the day when I will make up my treasured possession. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves them. God goes on in chapter four to say behold a day is coming. He starts with Father and listen to this. He says I'm going to set ablaze and leaving Captain Saul okay, but let's go down to verse four and five remember the law of my servant Moses and statutes and rules that I commanded them at Horeb all Israel, he could have stopped right here. He could have stopped and said, just remember my laws. Remember my statutes since that works we're discussing, but that's not really what's being discussed here. The laws and statutes are ancillary to what God's really discussing. Because he closes this out, saying, Behold, I will send you a life of the Prophet. Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. What does he say? And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction. God is balancing between Yes, I'm Lord of host, but he's earnestly saying, But listen, are you not getting the metaphor of sonship? Are you not getting that I'm your daddy, are you? Are you just not understanding that because that's the deepest desire of my heart. What's interesting is Jesus would refer to this and Luke chapter 12, verse 51, to 53. He refers to this verse, And I always thought it was simply to show that He wasn't allowed to because he says I'm going to turn father against son, right? He says, I'm going to turn if I didn't come to bring peace. That's what he says. I came to turn father against son. And I thought, well, that's interesting contrast to Malika, because God says, I'm going to turn father towards son. But what's interesting is Jesus says, I'm not trying to bring you a carnal peace. I'm not trying to bring you a natural peace. I'm trying to bring you in eternal relationship, that if you know me, then you'll know the Father. Listen, those of you who have misinterpreted the end of Molokai, Jesus is saying, and think that I'm the alijah. That's supposed to make your relationship better with your kids. Most of us will make the relationships in Israel better that if you think that I'm the god, that's going to just bring you together because you're all in the same church, then you're mistaken, because the first thing that you have to do is follow me. The first thing that you have to do is pick up your cross and come with me, the first thing that you have to do is embrace me because I am the fullness of life. I am the fullness of God. I am everything and if you see me You see him so you don't get to have him unless you have me. And when you have a me, then your heart is torn towards the Father. And the Father's heart is torn towards the sun. I'm almost done. Is it? so encouraging? Let's look at why this was misinterpreted. It's interesting. I know this is a little different than what we normally do but, but I think it's fascinating that Jesus has to say that I'm not alijah I'm not the one that's going to make peace among you, which shows me something elder, it shows me that people continue to misinterpret God's scripture. How do you listen to me? This word is a priority. It absolutely is a priority. You need to memorize it. You need to study it. You need to engage it as much as possible. But I assure you if you don't know God, you can have this entire thing. I read a story about a pastor recently who had 19 I think books of the Bible now Memorize, memorize 19 books of the Bible all of Romans a bunch of books of the Bible memorized and gave up his faith and became an atheist. Raised in church connected everything pastor to significant church. Pastor after pastor kills themselves. I think pastors have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession. It's insane. preach this thing every Sunday. Go and ruin your own life. Walk out on your family, preach this thing every Sunday, show a struggle behind the scenes with drug addiction and atheism and preach this thing every Sunday. You know, this happens. We've seen it here. This is not foreign to us. This hits home with us. These things happen. Because if you're not constantly engaging God as Father than you're engaging God as a professional, you're engaging some other aspect of God and the brokenness that is required to say Daddy has to be checked for the entirety of your life for the entirety of your ministry. So that God's mercies are continually invoked to you, and you don't fall astray. It's when we begin to say, you know what, this is regulatory in nature, and God is transactional in nature. And I need to get something. So I need to do something that things fall apart. So here he says, Listen, I am going to turn you towards me. And when you're turned towards me, you're going to have peace. people continue to misinterpret it. God sends his Peacemaker, and they reject Him. God sends his Peacemaker, and they kill him. I wrote something that I think was good, and I want to say it. Jesus makes religion, relational rather than regulatory. he embodies what God has always expected, but here it is. Regulatory religion. Do you guys know what I mean by that? What I'm saying is this when you reduce religion to a set of rules, when you when you when you begin to misinterpret scripture, you begin to say if I do these things, I mean, and it goes far if you reduce it to a set of rules, then you're living a regulatory religion, then you're then you're trying to do something just to appease a certain part of God while forgetting that he's your father. Right. Okay. Regulatory religion creates captives, Pharisees and profit killers. relational religion creates live aerators true worshippers and martyrs. Hear me. Regulatory religion creates captives, it binds you, you're bound, your offerings will never be good enough. Your words will never be true enough, and God will measure you as you have measured him. Regulatory religion produces Pharisees produces people who can quote scripture all day, but don't know a thing about God to the point that when he shows up to their face, they kill him. It produces people who spend more time are quibbling over words and letters and die. doctrinal things in the church and destroying flawed people. Bye bye and break tearing down the church by by pointing to every little small thing that they can. I see this with my mom all the time, people who are smarter than her. She knows this will spend her hours tearing her down. Instead of investing and building her up as my mom perfect. No, she's an easy target. She's an easy target. I'm an easy target. We're all easy targets. If people want to target us, they can target us. But you can see the fair cycle nature and people spending all their time quibbling about her when she has a heart for God and instead of spending that time building up your neighbor instead of spending that time engaging in them. People spend their times being regulatory in nature. They become bureaucrats, not Christians. And the regulatory religion creates profit killers. The thing that sucks is it doesn't just stop with the Pharisees. It doesn't just stop in the pulpit. They go out of their way to kill the prophets of the Lord. God says you've killed the prophets before me, you're going to kill me. They go out of their way to kill the prophets, relational religion changes all of that relational religion creates liberators because whom the sun is set free is free indeed. And that scripture becomes more than something we just put to get something off our back, it becomes something that is embedded in us, because we know that He's the God of freedom, and we know him. So we know that we can share this gospel to liberate others. But this is the God that when I rejected him, when I smoked crack when I didn't believe in Him, when I cursed him, nevertheless pulled me out and gave me a life and gave me healing and gave me a wife and gave me children and gave me love and gave me a church. He liberated me. Then, then we don't we don't become fair. See, some of us might not be able to tell you all the details of Isaiah and everything that revelation means we might not have our eschatological things in order We might not be able to tell you explain hypostasis to you, we might not be able to tell you exactly how the Trinity works. But nevertheless, you'll see us on our face before God crying, you'll see a celebrated God. And let me tell you something, God would much rather have true worshipers than Theological Seminary graduates. God doesn't need another seminarian. He needs people who know him. He doesn't need somebody who can argue like a heresy and say, Here's why you're wrong. Doug, you're wrong because you believe this and you said this and bubbeleh he needs people that say, you know what, you know me. You know me and you're going to go light on fire because you have me and I have you and this relationship. You don't need to articulate it, articulate it through you. And then instead of profit killers, it creates martyrs you cannot be a martyr for God. This is why it's the highest reward. The martyrs reward is the highest reward. Not simply because you've given your life because what it requires to give your life to such intimacy with God, that if somebody has an axe to your head, you say, You know what? I'm good. Go ahead. This sucks. I don't want to deal with this. This is painful. But you know what I know my God. I know who he is. I'm not afraid in this life. And I'm not afraid and eternity. I don't care what my children are going through. I don't care what I'm going through. I don't care about any of this. It's painful, I feel it in my flesh, but in my spirit, I know the God that I serve and my spirit. I know the God that I worship. And this is a good God. I don't have to look at my circumstances right now and wonder about the transactional nature of God. I simply have to look up work and realize his character and I'll give you my life. Oh, man, I've got so much more but I'm going to end it. I really got a lot more on that. It's it's a lot. I really got into this message. Um thanks, Victor. Romans 814 let's look at that real quick. I'm almost done. What time is it 1217 it's not terrible. Romans 814 for all who are led by the Spirit of God or sons of God, for you did not receive the Spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. But you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God and the children than heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we might also be glorified with him. I think ABA is used pastor Todd like 165 times the New Testament, not once in the Old Testament, but 165 times in the New Testament, because there's this emphasis on Hey, you know, what is real religions failing you? Hey, a church, a Southern Baptist, hey, Methodist, hey, whatever nondenominational. Hey, evangelicals, hey, whatever you are, that denomination. Ain't going to save you. You abiding by the letters of what they say, and giving to that church and being an upstanding citizen in the Southern Baptist Convention or whatever isn't going to save you. Knowing God is Daddy will. And he says, Where does this come from? This comes from Jesus. This is interesting. And this is where I have a lot of notes, but I'm not going to get into this. I'm just going to talk about this real quick. This is this is interesting. This is where it there's a balance that has to take place in Christianity. I'm, I'm more intuitive with God, I'm articulate and can understand the Bible. I was a philosophy major. And I like to read and I read theology and stuff like that, but at the at the base of who I am, it's it's in here, it's not appear, the base of who I am is here. And so, intuitively, some certain things that we're talking about Hi, son, intuitively certain things that are taught and religion bothered me because they didn't line up exactly this was used but it didn't line up quite right with what I knew God did in my own life. Like, like the teaching that God rejected me and, and I was despised by him that this this that I was totally depraved that I knew no good and that he he hated me that he wanted nothing to do with me that he wanted to pour His wrath out on me. But Jesus intervened and stopped the fist of God from hitting my face. I always thought that that's not what the scripture really is communicating here. I saw this communicating and then then I heard scriptures use like Isaiah 48, nine and 11 various scriptures that like Ezekiel 3622 and 23. It talks about how God operates out of his own glory and for his own glory. This is a common theme, that the purpose of God is his own glory. This is this is gonna step on some toes today. But that's okay. Becaus
Pastor Brad Knight recorded on February 16, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida, USA. For more information about our ministry, visit http://cityofdestiny.us
Transcription by machine: john chapter six, verse 16. This is what we're covering. And this is interesting, my messages, I usually feel a little more confident about the specifics of the message. But today, there's so much content that emerges just from the theme of water alone, Jesus walking on water, that reading these passages, I'm overwhelmed with how much God began to reveal to me. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat and started across the sea to comfort them. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rode about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, it is I do not be afraid, then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going now. This is also in Matthew and Mark in this version. It's the famous one. This is the famous version of the story, and we're going to cover all the gospel stories of this particular story. But the first thing that I think it's important to do is establish this as fact, because there's the temptation to say, Well, people can't walk on water. So this just was the allegory, etc, etc. And I think we don't want to do that with the stories of Jesus. And though most of us probably do, except this as fact, I would like to point to the text to say that john is also establishing these things as fact, if you want it to say that this was just simply a metaphor, or an allegory, or he was trying to make some theological point, he would just say it and leave it alone. But the thing that interests me is actually in another chapter, chapter four, verse 46, he says, so he came again to Cana and Galilee where he had made water made the water wine. Now, that seems like a throwaway line when he's referring to an earlier miracle that Jesus did. But to me, it's a very, very key to the rest of the passages in john because what John's saying is, is this as a real incident, he returned to a place where something that took place before actually happened, see if he was just trying to establish a metaphor he wouldn't have rooted in historical fact. So when we read this gospel of john, and we read about the miracles of Jesus, it's important that we know that the writers are saying, hey, these things really took place. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said he would have told the story about the water to wine. But he would not have repeated it as a historical fact, when he said, this is the place where Jesus came, I'm not going to say something ridiculous or outlandish, or something that I intend to be a metaphor and then refer to the actual physical location of where it's at later. So we have to know is that this guy, Jesus actually walked on water. It's pretty amazing, right? He actually turned water into wine. He actually because here's the thing, the fundamental thing to the faith of Jesus Christ, the fundamental thing about being a Christian is your belief in the resurrection of Christ. Paul says, without the resurrection of Christ or faith is in vain. So what we want to do is there's a lot of leeway in the Bible. Whether God created the earth in six days, whether a day is as 1000 years or thousand years is a day whether that's a literal six days. That's the way there's certainly ways that you have in the Bible when you read Scripture. But when it comes to the miracles of Jesus, I think it's a dangerous thing not to take it as fact. And this is fact. So Jesus is walking on water here, which is not simply a miracle because he's walking on water. But because of everything that water represents. This is bigger than we can ever anticipate. First of all, it's an obvious relation to the parting of the Red Sea. We know that we know that these events take time, take a place in the time around Passover, we know that there's allusions to Jesus saying, I'm your deliverer. But it goes deeper than this. When you read the Old Testament, and you study the religions of the time when you look at scholars how they described the the Judaic God, Yahweh, he's, he's a war and whether God is a God of War and he's a God of storms. And this was a common theme for the people of the times when when you look at the religions of old everyone talked about water because the water was chaotic. They were a seafaring people and the Israelites were the least seafaring of these peoples, they associated the water with chaos. We see that in Isaiah 43 two and verse 16. We see that let's actually read that for a second. Let's read that just so you can establish it as fact. Listen to how the Bible refers to waters and God's handling of the waters. When you pass through the waters I will be with you okay, when you pass through, I will be with you and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you, okay? When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned in the flame shall not consume you. God says here that waters are chaotic, but I'm going to be with you nonetheless. Similarly, Liam, verse 16, he says, Thus says the Lord, who makes away in the sea, a path in the mighty water so clearly God's ability to tame waters is associated with his character and his power. Let's look at Psalm 89 verses eight through nine, O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty You are Oh Lord with your faithfulness all around you, you rule the raging of the sea. When it's Ray waves rise, you still them. So here we're seeing this association with the God of the Old Testament and Jesus is ability to still the waters around him. It gets even more interesting in the creation story of Genesis one, one and two. In the beginning God created the heavens in the earth, the earth was without form and void and the darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. The suggestion is that there we see that there was boy there was nothing as the take home. It's called town it but we're really this water is representative of a chaos that was widely accepted at the time as being the origin of creation. Everybody had to deal with the mystery of the waters we see that there's an abyss we say it's a similar to an abyss, we see that there's creatures that rise out of the water, we see these references and joke, the water is an untamable thing, but God says I take chaos. I make order out of it. I take chaos. And so from the beginning, we see that there's a chaos associated with water. But I think the most interesting of scriptures is revelations 21. one and four. I'm going to read through four. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away in the sea was no more. All you beach lovers kissing goodbye in heaven. It's interesting. He says, I saw a new heaven and I saw a new earth. The first Earth was gone, the one that was corrupted by sin, the one that was chaotic, the one that was disordered, the one that was contaminated was gone, and the sea was no more. I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem coming out of the heaven from God I prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be as people and God himself will be with them as their God. And we see the Association of the abolishment of the sea that the disappearance of the sea and peace itself he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. It's amazing that that in an effort to bring peace to all people, God says the sea is gone. And so we see that there's a clearly an association between chaos and water, we see that out of the sea, comes disorder comes, darkness comes many things and Jesus has ability to calm the sea will speak a lot to who he is, but it's not simply his ability to calm the sea that matters. And what's interesting is even though these stories are facts, even though that we know they really happen, Jesus picks his miracles to make points still. Right We know that's that's the temptation make it allegorical. y'all with me? The temptation to make it allegorical is to say oh, well He's trying to make a point through the story. So it didn't really happen. No, Jesus performed physical miracles, to make a point, Jesus will heal cancer to show that he has authority over cancer. Jesus, Jesus resurrected from the dead to show that he has authority over death. He established his his authority through miracles. And he's hoping that you're rooted enough in a tradition of God's Word to associate certain things. So when he walks on water, and when he calls water, he wants you to think that when the people of Israel were delivered, the waters were parted and God made a way for them to go to the promised land, right? Jesus is making allusions to God's character and his history with his people. So every time God performs a miracle in your life, it will be to teach you something about himself. Okay. What's interesting in john as we see him walk on the water. My message is almost done a thing. I think it's good. We say in john, we see Jesus walk on the water. But we see this also in Matthew and Mark but here's the interesting thing that before we see Jesus walk on the water and Matthew and Mark, we see that Jesus stills the water. Let's look at Matthew nine, three. My notes are a little messy today, so bear with me. Thank you. Nope, I got the wrong verse here. Okay. 823 I don't know why I wrote nine three. First, chapter eight, verse 23, and Matthew, and when he got into the boat, his disciples thought followed him and behold, there arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep and they went and woke him. Saying, save us, Lord, we are perishing. And he said to them, why are you afraid Are you of little faith? Then he rose and revoke, rebuked the winds in the sea, and there was a great calm, and the men marveled, saying, what sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him? This is interesting that God Himself is sitting on their boat. They're in the middle of a storm, and this man has the ability to calm the storm. They don't recognize Him as God, though they say what sort of man is this? We've seen this before in Moses. We've seen this before in profits, the ability to deal with water is still something that is rooted in a man who might be blessed from God, but it's not God Himself. So here Jesus is very presence in the boat leads him to think, man, this man is special, but it does not lead them to think this man is God. Okay, it's going to be an important part. So look at Mark 648. Hopefully that's the right verse. I'm sorry, Mark 435, I'm my okay. On that day, when the evening had come, he said to them, let us cross to the other side and leaving the crowd they took him and in the boat just as he was the other boats were with him and a great wind storm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern asleep in the cushion, and they woke to him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said, Peace, be still and the winds ceased, and there was a great calm? And he said to them, Why are you so afraid, Have you no faith, and they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who is this then that even that the wind and sea obey Him Jesus again, and Mark, we see that he calms the storm. And people say, Man, there's something special about this guy, but they don't go beyond that. They don't they don't say this is God. We see that contrast it with john 616 21, Matthew 1420 to 33 and Mark 648, which we're going to read, we see that contrast with these very stories when it comes to the actual walking on the water, that something shifts when God goes from being in the boat with them and calming the water to being outside of the boat and walking on the water. That's interesting to me, because we're going to see if God is trying to teach us something through his miracles, then we have to pay attention to these little details. He already established his authority over the waters, but it's not until his absence from their crisis that they can see he's God. Okay. Jesus walked on the water. JOHN 616. When the evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat and started across the sea, the comfort them, it was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because strong wind was blowing. When they have wrote about three or four miles they saw you Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. He says do not be frightened. It is I, then they were glad to take them on the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Remember that it says immediately, immediately the boat was up the land to where they were going. Immediately their course was corrected. Immediately they went where God wanted them to go immediately everything that they thought they were going to had changed and shifted to the direction that God wanted them to be at. Let's look at Matthew chapter 1422 to 33. Please be right. It is. Is that awkward when I drink water? I know like, remember Marco Rubio did that. And that speech. I was thinking that. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And then after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain himself to pray. When the evening came, he was there alone but the boat by this time was long away from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them a love that the wind was against them. And then the fourth watch of the night. Now the fourth watch of the night is between 3am and 6am 3am and 6am. But an interesting time to be out on the sea and a storm. The fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him on the sea, they were terrified and said, it is a ghost. It's three in the morning, it's dark out, and here's this presence walking on water. I would say it was a ghost. That'd be pretty freaked out. My first thought wouldn't be or Rabbi or teacher. As walking on water. My first thought would be Y'all better hide, that's high. Let's roll this thing out of here. There's some freaky thing in the waters about to get us. My mind would immediately think of a horror movie instead of a sort of God. But when the disciples says it's a ghost, they cried out and fear but immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, Take heart it is I do not be afraid. And Peter answered them, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, Come to I think we've read this scripture wrong for years now. Peter said Him, Lord, fish, you command me to come. He said, Come. So Peter got out onto the boat and walked onto the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord saved me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took a hold of him saying, Oh, you have little faith? Why did you doubt and then when they got into the boat, the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshiped him saying, truly, you are the Son of God. Notice the difference here. This time, they don't say what kind of man is this? When he gets into the boat, this time they say, Whoa, we got to worship this guy, because he's more than just a man truly, he is the Son of God. And if you're the Son of God, then you are God being birthed out of him, right. Okay, let's look at Mark 648. Because each one of these has a specific thing that I want you to see. And he saw that they were making headway painfully the disciples are on the boat. When even came the boat was on the sea. He was alone on land, and he saw that they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them. And a The fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. He meant this is a key here. He meant to pass by them. Jesus has taken a stroll at three in the morning and stormy weathers he, we think that he's going to help the disciples and he's not. Mark says he meant to pass by them Jesus is just it's like waves blowing. His his followers are dying. The boat sinking. Jesus is like man, I just thought it was pretty out. I was gonna take a walk right by you guys. That that blows me away it says he meant to pass it by them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, Take heart it is I do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded. But they did not understand about the loaves but their heart were hardened. They were utterly astounded because the possibility of this man being God did not reach their conception. They didn't even conceive it. They thought he was a great prophet, they would call him rabbi, his teacher, but they didn't elevate him to that point yet now, the fact that Jesus was meaning to pass by is a very interesting side note. See, we read the story as though Jesus went out on the waters to approach the disciples. And then when we read the story of Peter, we often celebrate the fact that Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water with Jesus. And when you realize that water is associated with chaos, waters associated with storms and destruction, you see that Jesus is making a very interesting point here about life in general. You see in the previous miracles and Matthew and Mark, Jesus is in the boat. Okay. That doesn't sound like a big deal. But it sounds like the religion of a lot of people that I know. Jesus is in the boat with you. You were raised with them. You got them is by your side. You know that you can call on Him when the storm start to hit. He's in the boat, and you're thankful for who he is. He's revealed himself as a prophet in your life. He's a name that you can trust when demons show up the cast and society is somebody that you know can do things. What kind of man is this, he can call them the storms of my life. I like having them here in the cabin asleep, so that I can call on a pump when I need him, but it's not until his absence in your life, and you don't know what's going to happen. You're going the wrong direction. You're about to go wonder he's no longer visible in the cabin. He's not an idol that you can call upon and say Jesus, when all the sudden he comes walking on the water, and you have to invite him into the boat, and then you recognize Him as God. What this shows me is that God will sometimes reveal himself by revealing his absence. We want Jesus to stay in the boat with us. We want him to be available to us anytime a storm arises. We Want to be able to call upon that name and say, Jesus be here, and he is often. But there are times when he says I have a greater point to make to you in life, it's not going to be as easy as looking in the cabin and saying, help us out. You're going to look for me and I'm not going to be there. You're going to call my name and I'm not going to hear it. But I'm going to be passing by. I'm going to be passing by, and this storm that you're going through is going to blow you right into my direction. It's interesting. When you contrast the story with the story of Jonah, Jonah gets thrown into the waters for not going where God wants him to go. And in this case, I think more along the lines of Jonah with Peter than I do, a man of faith I'll tell you why. You see that how God interacts with people. He's trying to reveal himself as God. And this is going to be the final point of God's relationship. And he's like, he will show you his authority. He will show you that he's a great man. He will show you he's a prophet, but even Islam believes he's a prophet. God is going to establish at some point in your life that he is God or you're going to be encountering storms persistently. And we see two storms type we see. We see a storm that occurs because Jonah is running from God. And then we see a storm that occurs to drink disciples into God. Jesus, according to Mark was going a different direction. He meant to pass by Where was he going? He had moved on yet the disciples were determined to get to the place they thought he last was. There, they're on their way to they where they think Jesus is and he's already moved. Dawn and they're in the midst of this storm. And they think that this storm is going to take them out. But they don't realize that God is setting them up for the storm to be right in the path of where Jesus is, and reveal himself as God in their life. Sometimes we look at storms and we think what have we done wrong, and there are times that we have done something wrong. We have not obeyed an instruction from God. God has said to us go to Nineveh and preach my word, and we've refused to go. And so we encounter storms and we see that the storms around us will not be satiated until we're cast into the waters. I don't know about y'all, but I don't want to have to be swallowed by a whale to get the point of God. His mercies are readily available to me. When he says go to Nineveh. I'm going to go to Nineveh when he says go to a paka I'm gonna go to a parka. When he says go to the White House. I'm going to go to White House, whatever He says to do, I'm going to do because I know that not obeying His instruction. He'll send some waves my way to make this point. But there are other times that I faced crises I faced situations that are clearly chaotic in nature. I face water, I faced storms, I faced wind. And I've looked around and I said, God is absent. He was with me before he was in the cabin. I don't know what I've done. I must have disappointed him. I must have disobeyed him. I was headed to where I thought he told me to be and I start to curse my storm. I start to say what is going on, I start to get afraid. I start to lack faith, I start to wonder where Jesus is. And then all of a sudden, I don't realize that God has set up a storm that are under the wrong place. Here me he set up a storm not to cause me just to, to blow it just to create some difficulty but he set up the storm to make sure that he didn't pass me by in the stillness of waters. Jesus was moving on from where the disciples were going and had they not had the storm They would have ended up in the wrong place and been playing a game of catch up with Jesus himself, but the rest of their time. Jesus doesn't need a boat to get to where you're going. He doesn't need the tools that you need to get to where you're going. You think he's in one place because you're obeying just now a little too late. Oh, prophetic instruction, and he's already moving on. And you're wondering why you're facing situations and you begin to think that God has abandoned you because you can't see him. Your prayers fall silent. You don't know where he's at. But you don't realize that storm is to course correct you so that you're right into this path and end up exactly where he wants you to be. What's interesting about what Peter does is Peter, we always celebrate it. And we always think that Peter did the right thing by getting out on the water. And that could be possible. I'm not saying it's not. But I just want to look at this again. Because Peter is an audacious guy cuts off ears. He denies God but he's also the rock the church. He also has a revelation about who Jesus is. Peter's a lot like me. I miss a lot of things up and do a couple things right. Jesus is better than bread thank god Peter answered him Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water. Jesus already said take heart desire. Jesus is already walking chillin. Headed to this next place. If it is you, he says wait a minute, I already said it was me. you not recognize my voice, Peter. This is the same voice that has been speaking to you everything to this point. What what all the sudden Don't you understand? Is it the winds that have distorted my voice? Have the waves cause distortions in my voices all the sudden, when chaos erupts around you? Can I not trust that? You know, it's me? What What is it now, Peter? When you're praying, you don't hear what it is that I have to say, What? Why do you need to test me? In order to know that it is me? He says Peter got into the boat and walked in the water and came to Jesus. And we always say, wow, this is cool that he took a couple steps of faith. When he saw the wind, he was afraid beginning to sink he cried out Lord saved me. Jesus reached out his hand and took a hold of him saying, Oh, you have little faith. Why did you belt? Now we always say that he was saying no, you have little faith. Why did you doubt when you were walking on the water because you could have been walking on the water with me. But we know that Jesus is trying to establish himself as God to them. He never intended Peter to walk on that water with him. He said, Oh, you have little faith. Why did you get out The boat. Why did you get out of the vessel that you were using to get where I wanted you to get to? Why are you trying to be me instead of serve me? Why are you trying to be me? So don't listen to me. Oh, you have little faith? Why did you doubt it? It reminds me very much of Luke chapter four, verses nine through 12 where Jesus Himself fixes the same thing with Satan. And Satan says, hey, you're God, cast yourself from this ledge, and the angels will cure you. And God says, Wait a minute, I know not the tempt the Lord my God. Jesus, I know better than that. I know that I could do a counter call on a legion of angels. I know that God would save me from destruction. But I'm not going to test God because I already know my God. I don't need to test him to be sure of what he'll do in my life. I don't need to test him to be sure that he's going to preserve me. I don't need to test him to make sure that God is going to show up when I need a most. Peter, why are you walking on this water Why are you stepping out and walking on this water when you know as a human being your faith is not going to sustain itself long enough for you to get to where I'm trying to take you stay in the boat sun and hear my voice and know that when I say I've got you I've got you know, when I showed you that I was still the waters before are still the waters again. And I want to make sure, I think what I want and I've seen is this tendency for us, especially in the charismatic church. Now I'm done. Especially in the charismatic church, we we have this tendency to be the Peter we celebrate the Peter, we celebrate Peter, and he should be celebrated their strengths about Peter and I could be totally wrong about the story. I'm open to that. I'm open to that. But I think when Jesus says oh, you have little faith He's saying, hey, Peter, you're the one that's supposed to know me. Peter, you're the one that I'm about to base my church upon. You're the one that has the revelation of who I am Brad, what are you doing? testing me? Why are you trying to get out of the vessel that I gave you? Why are you trying to get out of this building so quick or that land so quick, or wherever it is, you want to go and use your own two feet which are not equipped to walk on water because you are not God? And soon enough that when it's going to make enough noise, that you're going to lose your focus and start to drown? What is it, you can't just sit still and know that I am God and that I will speak to your situation and get in this boat. See what you are trying to do too often is get out of the boat and run to God and ways that you cannot win. You need to say Lord, I recognize your vote, and I'm ready for you anytime you're ready to get in. And we see our Storms as a distraction from where God is taking us. We see our storms, as a way as a way that God is doing something that is taking us away or allowing something that is taking us away from where he wants to be. And when we talk about storms, and we talk about direction, all of us have moments where God has told us we're going to go somewhere, and then with the winds start blowing, and the waves start crashing, and God is absent. And we're saying, Where is he? And we think that this is an interference with where we're supposed to go. We think that this is an interference with our destiny. And reality is it's a course correction. And if you'll just sit in the boat and wait for God, he's gonna show what calm the waters, you're going to find yourself immediately, as john says, where you need to be. I'm done. I'm done. I just want to say one more thing. Wow. Jesus is constantly on the move. But one time he repeats, Peter Peters has a pattern of doing this. He has a pattern of saying, hey, let's go over here and Jesus says, Satan Shut up. calls him Satan. Let's pray. Jesus called me Satan, I cry, I wouldn't let anybody see. Me Man, I was just trying to say, good intention. Peter's like, you know, here's an easier path. Similarly, Peter, in this situation is saying, Well, if he can do it, I can do it because he doesn't understand who this man is fully. This form of idolatry is form of I can do anything you can do, I can do better. I can do better, anything better than you. We play that game with Jesus. And we think because we've seen power, and we can exhibit power, and we have authority over things that we can tempt the Lord When God's ultimate lesson is to stay in the vessel that he's appointed for you, and if you're off course he might use a storm but he's going to get you exactly where he wants you to be. So what do you do in a situation? What do you do? Do you start you're facing a storm in life? Do you start talking to that storm? You start walking on water do you start? I don't think Peter should have done any of that. I don't think it was Peters place to calm the storm. I don't think it was Peters place to walk on water. I don't think it was Peters place to doubt God and say Is this your voice? Who else is going to be talking to you the saying it is I crisis is the time that we lose perception. The Jesus said, My sheep know My voice, Christ. This is the time when that is truly tested. And if we don't have that in our life, and we can recognize him as a prophet, but will never establish him of God as God in our life. So we need that crisis. And we need that faith to be able to say, you know what, I remember this voice Everything looks destructive around me. But if he's capable of doing it in the boat, he's capable of doing it on the waters. He's capable of doing it on the shore. He doesn't need to be where I expect him to be to do the miracle that I need him to do in my life. So what do we do? We've got to face these storms, with an anticipation that God is walking our direction. We've got to ask ourself, have I disobeyed God's instruction and going to the wrong place? Have I not gone to Nineveh, and that case, you're going to face storms over and over because God is a jealous God. And when he tells you to do something, he means it. If God tells you to do something, and you try to run from that, because you're embarrassed about what he has to say, or the instruction that he's given you, or it's just not pleasant, you're going to find yourself and storms over and over and the only solution is to cast yourself into the chaos. But then there are these other moments where we're doing right on the path God has set for us that we're headed to the place where we think he is. As leaders as individuals, and all of a sudden, a storm comes, all of a sudden waves rise up. This is where we buckle down. This is where we as believers, when we're facing the scariest moments of our life, when the water is coming into the cabins, when everything looks like chaos, all we need to remember is it is I. All we need to remember is I am all we need to remember as this is not simply a man who has to be here to solve my problems, but this is the eternal God Himself. And that same name that I called upon in this situation is that name that already realized this was going to happen and set the storm in the first place to blow me in the right direction. Because there's something worse than dying in a storm. What's worse than dying in a storm is not being where Jesus wants you to be. And this is where we as believers have to mature. We have to mature to a place that We have to be sensitive to understanding that something's coming our life to course correct us for future generations to course correct our destiny to course correct where God is going. There's things that shift, there's things that change. And if we think that every wind that blows is a barrier to our destiny, then we're going to be in a situation where we're talking to the wrong things, instead of inviting Jesus into the boat. And our prayer life should be anchored always around, inviting Jesus into the boat. The boat is your vessel to get where God is where he's told you to be. your boat is whatever it is that God has appointed for you to ride in to get to where he's told you to go. Don't step out of your boat. When things get rough. Don't Don't look around you and think that you are God. But instead wait upon the voice of the Lord. Instead wait upon God to say and to recognize your situation to say, You know what? I've obeyed you God. I've listened to you God. So this can only mean one thing. This means that you are Shifting me to where you're going so that you don't pass me by. God come into the vessel, come into my boat, come into the situation I don't even want to step out. My faith will never be strong enough to sustain itself on these waters. I am human. I need to stay where you told me to be. I need to do what you told me to do. And I need to buckle down and say Lord, step on in
Pastor Brad Knight recorded on February 9, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida, USA. For more information about our ministry, visit http://cityofdestiny.us Transcript by machine: So when we talk about story life, that's the church. That's the message. That's, that's the message of the gospel. When we talk about the city of destiny, this is the infrastructure for that gospel. So when I say that the message, and its communication has failed, what I'm actually saying is that I think the majority of people would say that the gospel has been preached across all the world. Now I agree that if you believe the gospel is a set of verbal communications, then yes, it has been preached across the world. I agree that if you think the gospel is simply saying, turn or burn, accept Jesus Christ, and he'll save you then sure everybody's seeing that at three o'clock in the morning when they can't sleep on TV. But I don't think that that's communicating the gospel. I think that that sharing an idea, I think that that's referencing the gospel. I think it's touching upon it, but I don't think it's communicating the gospel. Because when you look at what, what God does, historically, he uses a community. He uses people, not only to save Something but to embody something. They not only preach at the world around them, but they carry the word in them that the world can view. So we can preach all we want about how great Jesus is. But if we aren't functioning as a community, we will fail to communicate the fundamentals of the gospel. I was raised in church and walked away an atheist, because I did not hear the gospel. You hear me? I was raised in church and ended up an atheist, because I did not see the gospel. There's a difference I heard about an elder. I heard about Jesus being crucified and resurrected and given me life and given me hope, but I felt bitterness, despair, hurt, abuse. People were viciously different behind the scenes excluding my mother, I'm not talking about my mom. So let's get that out of the way. People were different behind the scenes than they were in public. There was dying. pastors, I remember doing cocaine with one of the pastors that would preach on Sundays. So I'd seriously. So I mean, he would ask me to go run and get him cocaine and weed and I would sit there and do blow on his patio. Is that rough for you guys to hear? Okay, so when you hear the gospel, but you see that it's communicates a little bit something different. You might hear that Jesus's life, Jesus's deliverance, Jesus's resurrection power but you see the same death and decay and more so unacknowledged and dishonesty when people live that kind of life. Similarly, we talk about how God brings us together and works through the church, but we hand over all the responsibilities of the church to every other institution. Let me give you an example. Most Christians get antagonistic towards public education, and they do so for the wrong reason. They say You know, they're teaching evolution. They're teaching our kids sex. They're teaching these ideas. And I don't want my kids to know these ideas. I'm not afraid of ideas. Ideas don't have the power you think you do. They do. If you're ingrained in something, if you see the right thing, you can tell me all day about evolution, it's not going to change my faith. You can talk to me all day about ideas, you're not going to talk me into, you could talk to me about sex, you're not going to talk me into cheating on my wife. You can talk to me about whatever you want, but I'm ingrained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The danger of these institutions is not that they promote ideas, which a lot of those ideas are terrible. Some of them are great. But the danger of these institutions is that they replace us. They replace our role in the church. So what ends up happening and what's happened in America is people are preached at, but there's no mirror of the gospel in their everyday life. This is this is something that that will debilitate the American church specifically. And we see in this post industrial nation like we see in Europe, the decline of Christianity, right now we're seeing a decline. And it's not a decline because of simply ideas. It's a decline because there's a lack of community. It's a decline that's rooted in isolation. It's a decline because the church has failed to do anything but preach. And they've handed over the responsibility to the poor to the government. They've handed over the responsibility to to their people, to other institutions to other charities, they've handed over all the works that are supposed to do and function as a community to every other institution and every other person. So So doctors, hospitals, second, basically, what I'm saying is this. You come to church to hear things on Sunday, but Monday to Saturday, every other institution services, your needs and the gospel is not reflected in those institutions. that's problematic. Okay, that's why when we see the New Testament church and in Acts, chapter four, they shared all things in common. They sold their properties and then brought things together, not simply so that they can preach the gospel at them, but that they could be ingrained in the Gospel that they could be around righteous people that they could be in an institution that not only a talked about Jesus, but that live the gospel itself. So what do we want to do with the city of destiny, we want to be the institution that responds to human needs. We want to be a people that that allows people not only to hear the gospel, but to come in and see it reflected in how do you do that? All right, let me let me back up a little bit. What do I mean by carrying the gospel Okay, Is this okay so far, good heart. The goal is the message of Christ. Anytime we preach right? The goal is the message of Christ. But what does that mean? We see in Acts chapter four, verse 12, there is salvation and no one else for there's no other name under heaven given among men and women, by which we must be saved. There is nothing more important In the name of Jesus Christ, there is nothing that that there's no religious precept that is greater than the person of Jesus Christ. And the fact that it's a person and not an idea is is a distinct one from most religions. That of itself should teach us tell us that we're on a different path. Buddhism is rooted in an idea that life is suffering, and that we're supposed to escape the will of samsara, that that that it's not rooted in the worship of a person. It's rooted in the idea that we're supposed to achieve nirvana and escape life. Even even Judaism is rooted in a nameless God who is one has many names, but is not personified. But no man has seen God. Right. Okay, Islam has five pillars to serve God. Allah being his name, five pillars. To serve God which is rooted in ideas, everything is rooted in ideas. But there's one religion that's not trying to promote an idea or rooted an idea. It's promoted and rooted in a person and that should teach us something off the bat. We're not trying to tell you an idea about Jesus alone. We're trying to personify Jesus, which means that we are more our religion. Our faith is greater than an idea. It is a personification. Our Lord personified every idea about God, our Lord personified every idea about life, our Lord personified resurrection and power. Our Lord personified the fullness of faith. And we too are called the personify that faith. Okay. So Rachel talked about episodic ministry this morning. And I think it's important to know that that's what fundamentally when we're talking about we've been talking about the city of destiny. First Corinthians For one, this is how this is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mystery of God. This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God, stewards of the mysteries of God, you are a steward of the mystery of God. God wants to do something through us as stewards of that mystery and whatever he intends to do, he will do through his people. God is always prophesizing, Amos three, seven that he does nothing without revealing it to his profits. Let me say this, that God is doing something more than just simply communicating ideas through you He is prophesied through your life. Okay? This is important to understand. God does not simply want you to communicate what he's done. He wants you to communicate what he will do. There is a unique relationship that we have with time. There's a unique relationship that we have with God's will. There's a unique relationship that we have with the End of things as believers, we can tap into things that other people don't tap into. We get to sense when things are coming. God tells us secrets that he does not tell others. Okay? The most important and fundamental thing that we can do as a community is draw people in so that the mysteries of God are stewarded around them. Here's what I'm saying, I need people to be part of this community, not simply so that I can count them coming up to the stage and saying, Yes, I accept Jesus and get a tally sheet. I need people to be part of this community not simply to follow certain rules. I need people part of this community not simply to say that they're Christian, or to add to our numbers. I need people part of this community because God has mysteries about their life. God has mysteries about their children. God has mysteries about his plan for them. God has mysteries that you can only unveil when you're connected to his people. God has mysteries that he Can only unveil when you're connected to this prophets, God has mysteries that he will only convey unveil. When you're connected to the systolic that means God does not allow you as an individual to experience the fullness of who he is. But he allows us as a people to experience the fullness of who he is. There's a humility in it, God holds nothing back from us as a people, but you as an individual will not get there by yourself. What do I mean practically, about prophecy and, and mysteries and stuff? I mean, this, there is a level of your faith that causes you to, to love that causes you to be kind, which is the greatest of all things that causes you to proclaim Christ. all Christians share these things, or should be pursuing these things. But then you have those weird people, the weird ones, and we're one of the weird ones because we not only say Yeah, we're preaching about the resurrection of Jesus, and what God has done. And yeah, we're feeding the hungry, because we love our neighbor in Yeah, we do the things that we read in the Bible because it's important to do them, but we also go, I have secrets. I have mysteries. I know things about you that you don't know about yourself yet. I'm a steward of God's mysteries. God talks to me in a ways that he doesn't talk to everybody else. I know when I'm supposed to shift a certain way. What is this manifestation? I constantly am talking about? the fullness of faith being personified in prayer. And this is what I mean, when I say that the fullness of faith is personified as an individual in prayer. It's because when God is communicating to you, all of a sudden you are responsible for a mystery and you begin to communicate back to God about that mystery that he revealed to you and you begin to contend with that mystery. What do I mean? I mean, my son has a destiny. I know that destiny is important that it's not like I look at my boy and say, You know what, whatever he was wants to do in life he gets to do I are as mysteries about my son's life which Gods unfolds to me and speaks to me and I was mysteries trickle out at night when I pray for him, and I hold him and I put my hand on his head, and I begin to declare things over him. And as God unveils those mysteries, I begin to speak those mysteries, and his life is shaped by his father who understands the mysteries of God for His life. I won't look at my son and say, be whatever you want. I'll say be whatever God says within the context of what he's spoken about your life. And God protects that prophecy. God protects that mystery. God protects that plan yesterday, Rachel took the kids to Disney. And I something was off. Before we left, something was off. And I always pray general prayer for my kids say, you know, God, bless my kids, protect my kids and all that but I felt I thought the mystery was unfolded. So was revealed. And I said, something's not right. Rachel, I might want to keep Nick with me. I want to keep Nick with me. I said, then something's not right. So I thought about him. It's like, I'm going to pray this thing through. God reveals to redeem, we know that we say that so, so I'm praying for my son. And I pray specifically that he would not be lost. Specifically that he would not be taken specifically that tragedy would be thwarted that day. And it wasn't something that I just did in general. It was something that I knew by the Spirit of God I needed to take care of specifically, well at Disney. My wife went down she decided to let him out of the stroller. She went down to get a diaper and he was gone. Gone. for about two minutes. She could have heard Scott and Cameron. Were looking for Nick and could not find him. could not find him anywhere. He's fast little bugger. He takes off man. He's a baseball loving fool. He just ran and he took off. And Rachel, you know, that's the worst two minutes of your life. You start to panic. You're looking around. There's crowds of people. You can't see him anywhere. Rachel's looking around, she's looking for a son. Of course, all these families are seeing a boy run across with no parent, and they're not doing anything to help. But one man picks him up. And Rachel says, I'm looking for my son, I'm looking for my son. And he says, Is this your son? Rachel says thank you and prays for them and blesses them. She calls me and tells me that happens. And I say, okay, God, I know. There's mysteries about your life. This outcome because of what I'm connected to was different than the outcome of somebody who's not connected to this. God when you're connected to his purpose, why does he do things like that? Because you're part of his people. You're part of his plan. He's got to do something through you and he wants that lineage to continue. He wants to do something through Nick, so you're responsive to his unveiled mysteries. You're responsive to them, and it manifests in your prayer life and what was meant for evil turns to good. It doesn't just happen at a personal level. Where we see it most, but it happens at a national level happens wherever you're called. You'll hear things there. And I'll be careful. My mom works with the President. Something that I personally advised her not to do. Initially, we had two totally different ideas. And then God began to reveal things to me. God began to show me things. And I remember a few years ago, I began to prophesied her I was in St. Augustine on a vacation. I was on vacation with my wife, and I felt the Spirit of the Lord overtake me. And I began to see things. And I called my mom and I said, this is what's going to happen. I began to talk to her about things. And to a tee, every single thing that God revealed to us has happened. The reason that God used me in that moment to communicate that to her was because she needed to understand the mystery of God that was unfolding. So when chaos began to a rock around her, she would not be moved by it, she would not be shattered by it she would not be rocked and where other people begin to fall off because they're observing with their natural set of eyes. My mom just recalled a mystery of God that was unveiled to her years before any of this began to happen. And she said, okay, God, I see your plan coming into manifestation and where other people see destruction, chaos and bad news. I say, Oh, this is a good thing because I know where it's going. I'm stewarding a mystery. stewarding a mystery. stewarding a mystery, God's plan. We are the new Israel God's plan is through us stewarding mysteries about our family stewarding mysteries about the nation stewarding mysteries about the church. we embody what he wants to do, including what he's done. God always works through a people. God always works through people. We look at the people of Israel. What was God trying to accomplish through them? It was through it. It could have been through anybody. God accomplishes his purpose on the earth. But he chose a specific people. And through them, he communicates his law through them, he delivers his son. Through them he accomplishes more than they ever anticipated would be accomplished through them in life. Right? Through the people of Israel. God communicates his mysteries. What's interesting is that I sometimes think that we go off so over this that that it was a people that God used that it was people that that not only said, Hey, you know what God has one, but experience the delivering power of God and I was reviewing the Bible in preparation for this message. And it was interesting to me that God uses people I was reviewing the Bible in preparation, of course, I was reviewing the Bible in preparation of the message. I decided to pick up this thing called the Bible. And I was like, Oh man, this talks about God. I noticed that there's four things that Israel had the people had in order to communicate God's plans, there was four things that God set up within them. And we're no different, except this, where they had the law that was written on parchment, where they had the law that was written on stone, we have the Spirit of God Himself resting in us, they communicated rules that they had to see outside of themselves, and we communicate righteousness as well as within our very being. And I'll talk about this in a minute. I'll talk about I'll get more into what that means. Hopefully, I'm tied together. But I noticed that Israel needed for things to do God's plan, why does God work through a people and not just a person? He works through people because he can only do certain things or communicate certain things to a group through a group right. Number one, what it Israel needed they needed leaders. First thing we see is God reveal himself to Moses. We see him reveal himself to Abraham we see, but specifically, God calls forth individuals to be leaders for a people. He calls them forth and he says, This is what I'm going to do. This is what I want you to communicate. This is what I want you to say to Pharaoh. This is how I want you to talk to your people. He communicates to Moses his law first and Moses communicates it to the people. He chooses leadership. Number two, it gives them liberty. Number three gifts them law number four, he gives them land but anyways, leaders liberty, law and land leaders, it gives them then he gives them liberty, these leaders go forth and call these people to freedom. God hears the prayers of the of the nation of Israel, what would become the nation of Israel, he hears the prayers of the Jews and he go choose them. He chooses to deliver them from their slavery, he chooses to deliver them from their bondage. And when you look throughout the Bible, it's not simply ideas that they communicate. It's not simply a Hey, Oh, you know what we were recognized that God is one and we want to share this with everybody. But what people when they bound to Israel, when they would recognize the God of Israel, they would recognize the fact that he delivered them from Egypt. What am I saying? I'm saying that without the Liberty, they did not communicate who God was. They could not have stayed slaves in Egypt and said, by the way, our God is the true and living God. By the way, God is one and the leadership here, they couldn't stay slaves and get the message through, they couldn't stay slaves. And then say here, the prophet of Isaiah has something to say to you about what's going to happen to Assyria and Babylon. They couldn't stay slaves. And so here the prophet Isaiah has something to communicate about the Messiah, they couldn't stay slaves and say, Jonah go to Nineveh and preach this message. They couldn't stay slaves and introduce the Messiah that says, this is the one that is called to redeem the world's they could not stay slaves. God had to evidence himself through their liberty. Freedom. He moves them out of slavery. And when you see people talking about the faith of Israel, they talk not about the ideas What about the evidence that God has freed them? And he introduces his law. He says, Now that I have freed you, I want you to follow these rules. These rules are not simply for your benefit, but these are for all of mankind. I want you to follow these rules. It gives them law. And it gives them land. says not only will I deliver you, not only will I give you leaders, not only am I going to give you my law, but I'm not going to leave you in a wilderness. Not going to just let you wander around as nomads from place to place. I'm going to establish you and the earth. And by establishing you in the earth and giving you land, I'm going to perpetuate my purpose. I'm going to perpetuate my cause. I'm going to manifest my destiny through you as a people. How does that relate to us as a church God operates The very same way now and this is going to be a little scripture heavy you guys still with me? Living 16 I think right now we have apostles who function as leaders and I know that we get turned off by that term because every person who shines their shoes calls themselves an apostle and it's pretty ridiculous they usually do it and a kiss the ring type away just the ring I'm a possible sponsor here an apostle you don't have to call yourself a possible you're an apostle you don't need to introduce yourself as a possible so and so as a matter of fact, I think it's more harmful to do that and good at this is one of the mysteries of God you hold on to the app systolic in your prayer closet you begin to pray to God about the app install it but when you walk out in public you say Hey, my name is Brad. Nice to meet you. You don't need man to credential you God is already credentials. But the Apostolic is important because the leaders have to carry a message. It is a message of liberty. It is a message of law, it is a message of land, they have to carry a message. Romans 1014 says how then will they call on him and whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him, of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without somebody preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? Paul says, Listen, what do you expect people to do if they don't hear the gospel? What do you expect people to do if they don't hear the message, there has to be leaders who are appointed to communicate the mysteries of God. There have to be leaders who are appointed to communicate the power of Christ, there has to be somebody to carry within them the verbal aspects of this gospel. And there's plenty of people that do that. But it tends to stop there. It tends to stop there. Let's look at Romans 815. Because romans eight, one through five, and first john five for the key to the next thing, we go forth and we preach, we have plenty of apostles, we have plenty of true apostles, even people that don't call themselves apostles, we have plenty of leaders in the body of Christ who've taken the message through various outlets to the world. But then what happens and what I noticed happened and what we're trying to be the solution to, is that everybody says, What next? What next? I walked down to the altar call accepted Jesus Christ. I'm a Christian, what next? What do I do? It couldn't continue with my life. I guess I'll just just have a new label, right? It tells me I'm a new creature. It tells me all these things are supposed to be different. I feel a lot the same way. I'm going through a lot of the same things. everything around me still looks the same. What next? This is something that we have to solve, because the very next step is supposed to be deliverance. And I don't simply mean deliverance from things but I mean, eventually deliverance to things as well. But deliverance is next. After leaders are introduced, then all of a sudden liberty is introduced to the people of Israel. And so it is for the church. When the message is communicated through leadership, the very next thing that people should begin to experience is deliverance. And that requires a people that requires us to function together that requires not simply us to pray and say you're delivered, but that requires an embodiment of God's community. We have to be willing to be a new Israel, we have to be willing to be a people in order to see people's deliverance because God is doing something through us, not through you, not through me but through us. Okay, Romans 815, there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ, for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death, for God has done with the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his son in the law. likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. But those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirits that their minds on things of the Spirit, this is a key to your deliverance, the understanding that not only have you just accepted Christ and heard a message, but in an embracing that message you now are delivered from death itself, which is one of the most exciting things about the gospel. I love how the gospel starts from the end and works backwards. I love how revelation is available to us that we don't, we don't have to wonder what happens to our people. We don't have to wonder what God's going to do. We knew, we know that he's going to create a new heaven and new earth. We know that we're going to be participants in the New Jerusalem and we start from that place and work backwards in our life. First, john Five, four, I'm going to get into that in a second. This is Hopefully, going a place for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith, our faith, who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? According to to this the scriptures not only do you experience the message of God, the message of God brings you deliverance. After that, it should bring you sanctity sanctity and place of the law I don't often reference people as holiness like we heard the terms holy just like I don't say a possible a lot of them so you need to be holy. Because I think it's just an intuitively I have a negative reaction to that. I think it's a bias that I have that when people say I need to be holy, I'm like, What are you telling me I need to be like what do you mean by that? Like, what exactly are you saying I need to be I feel like it's like a slight you need to be holy. Doug, you need to be holy. And better be holy. It Holy Son. It's always felt like that to me. So I'm hesitant to use it. But that's what the Bible talks about holiness, sanctification, right? So what does it actually mean? What does it mean to be holy? Because God wants us to be holy? Well, if we understand it properly, it won't come across as religious. It won't come across as judgmental. It won't come across as us versus them. What we understand by sanctification is that what God wrote to the people of Israel, he now lives in us. Okay? Romans 618 step up the pace a little bit too guys. And having been set free from sin have become what slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. I'm glad that Paul says that. Anytime you begin to refer to slavery doesn't say very appealing. But he says and having been set free from sin, having become slaves of righteousness status, a stark image. Let's look at Second Peter one two and four. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God, the knowledge of God of and of Jesus of our Lord, here's the knowledge of God and have Jesus now Grace is multiplied His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who calls us to his own glory and excellence, by which he is granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers and the divine nature, well, this is a scripture that should blow your mind. Not only are you doing delivered from sin. Not only are you delivered from the things of the flesh, but you're carried into God's divine nature through him, you become a partaker and God's divine nature. That is a heavy statement that Peter makes. His divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us His precious and very great promises, his mysteries, but he is granted to us is precious and very great promises not simply a promise, but his mysteries, his promises, the many things that he wants to do through you, the many things that he wants to prove through you the many things that he wants to accomplish in the earth with you. He has a lot of you the grace to do these things. You are delivered to these things so that through them you might become partakers of the divine nature. having escaped from the corruption that is the world because of sinful desire. You're delivered from the world and into entity into holiness. What that means is that no longer do you need to look outside of yourself to know what is right. But the Spirit of the Lord speaks inside of you through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, that you went to it. And you know, when you begin to walk in a place of Revelation, that God's rule and line, I'm going to show you something cool about this. I had a revelation and studying this is pretty cool. As a matter of fact, I think I'm gonna talk about it now. Yeah, I'm going to talk about it now. All right. God, what does God do when he gets the people of Israel and he calls them together as a nation? What is their success contingent upon their obedience to the law? It's a form of governance says how you interact with one another. It's a divine command. It's a system of ethics. It's how they're supposed to behave. It's rules. It's what is written Right. He writes it down on tablets, and he gives it to them. And we see, according to Ezekiel 2011, I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which if a person does them he shall live. So God associates his rule with life. He says, Here is your land, here are your people, here is your liberty, here is my law. This law should govern your behavior. And in doing so you shall have life if you obey this law, you will have life we see that often in Proverbs that with association with the law is life. I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules by which if a person does them he shall live. When you obey God you live Okay, that's great. But aren't we free from the law? People say well, you are the law. I am the Law Judge Dredd. You are the low what do I mean by that this, this struck me as pretty wild God, forms of government and Israel. And he says, You are my people, and I'm going to govern the world through you. I'm going to govern society through you. What's cool about this odor is if you go to revelations, Chapter 21, this, this hit me in a way that I did not realize before you go to Revelation 21, God says the same thing to us. He says, Here was my master plan. We know that in the book of Hebrews, that there was a greater city that Abraham had, right? We know that there was something greater than even he understood for himself. He understood its lineage. It's forming a nation, but there was something greater than he even he understood that that nation would save and rescue the world. And we have a responsibility that is even greater than the people of Israel because not only are we here to establish a kingdom on this earth, but we're here to establish and be governed by an eternal kingdom. Jesus talked about the kingdom of God. He came to introduce the kingdom of God, he came to introduce a set of rules. was to live by by which we could live and have life and be governed. Right? Okay, so this is what's amazing when you look at revelations chapter 21. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem coming down and of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, he will dwell with them, and he they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither neither shall they'll be mourning nor crying or pain anymore for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. Also, he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end to the thirsty. I will get the spring of water of life without payment, the one who Congress will have this heritage and I will be his God and He will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, idolaters and liars, their portion shall be in the lake of fire and software which is the second death before I go any further, I want you to know that that was the first scripture I had to memorize. I lied about stealing cookies. and memorize that all all liars have their place in the lake of fire. That had positive impacts made me love religion. Then came one of the seven angels who had seven bowls full of seven plagues and spoke to me saying, Come I will show you the bride of the wife of the lamb and he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming out of heaven. from God having the glory of God its radiance, like a most rare jewel like a Jasper clears crystal. I had a great high wall with 12 gates. I'm going to skip down just a little bit. And the one who spoke me had a verse 15 measuring rod of gold. All right, let me let me just skip the details of the walls. Okay, let me go to chapter 20, verse 22, and I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives its light and its lamps is the Lamb. By by its light, the nation's will the nation's walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be shut by day and there will not be no night there, they will bring into the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false. And here's the key I want you to remember. But only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. We've hear about the Rams Lamb's book of life a lot, right. But it's interesting that the metaphor of being written into it. Those who are written in the Lamb's book of life is so closely associated with God's form of governance. Here is a very detailed description of God's future kingdom. Something that we're all looking for Were to something that we should begin manifesting here on Earth. God gives rules and his kingdom. He gives rules in Israel. This is what's fascinating. He gives rules in Israel, he takes Moses up, and he writes rules on a tablet. That tablet becomes precious, carried in the Ark of the Covenant becomes one of Israel's most holy objects. And it governs who they are as a people governs who they are as a people. Similarly, God says, The detestable will not enter, neither will idolatries, neither the world liars, neither will all these things. And this has been fascinating because it's like, it sounds like God is saying, here's a list of things you cannot be if you want to go to heaven. What we tend to do is we tend to say, liar, adulterer, all these things to say, Heaven is not your place. But something deeper is happening here. There's something more impactful that is happening here that is fully revealed and verse 27. What is meaningful here is that God's written rules still in But how does it exist? Now the reason that idolaters that that that adulterers that all these things don't enter the, the gates of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is not simply because you're a rule violator, but because somehow the process of sanctification has has passed you over you did not know God and therefore you his image in you has not been restored when you begin to break his rules. Okay, this is what I'm trying to say that where God had to write his rules for people to form a government, you now become the writing itself as the rules of God, when your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. What's so powerful about this is God no longer says, Thou shalt not murder. He simply writes down shackleford He said, You no longer says Thou shalt not covet. He simply writes out a Marguerite, you no longer says, Thou shalt not steal. He simply writes Nelson, he no longer says, Thou shalt not steal, or Thou shalt not whatever the next one is, he says he says Bradley night you embody his law. You will body is righteousness. You are the very governing structure of the New Jerusalem. You are the governing body. This process of sanctification and righteousness is not simply for us to be better here on Earth, but God is entrusting us with his future kingdom. He does not have to say this is the things that you shouldn't, should not do. But the law that I wrote on tablets is not written in your heart and I simply have to write your name down in the Lamb's book of life and my kingdom will be perfected. This is an amazing concept that you carry God's law. This is the fullness of the gospel, that when we are ministering the gospel to people, we are not simply say I want you to believe an idea. We're saying I want you to be a governor, and God's future kingdom. When we say I want your name to be written in the Lamb's book of life, we're not simply saying I want you Say that Jesus is king so that we can get your name in the safety passage. But instead, we're saying I want you to embody the very righteousness of God Himself become a partaker in the divine nature so that when the time comes, you are a governing institution and the New Jerusalem. God no longer has to worry about whether will obey his mandate because we are his mandate. God no longer has to worry whether we obey His law because we are His law. Let's take a look. You guys are saying you sound crazy, Brad. All right, let's take a look at Romans. Romans two chapter two, Romans two verse 12, to 29 and I'm almost done. And I am going to tell you how this relates to city of destiny. Romans chapter 212 to 29. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law for it is not the hearing. of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified? It's not the heroes of the law who are righteous. For him right standing, we have to talk about what is right. What is right is not always what is good. That's a distinction that we have to make that that is something that we have to understand that righteousness is different than blessing. righteousness is different than them a good outcome. There are things that are right to do before God might produce pain in your life. Right? And there are times that we think we're doing the right thing because the outcome is good, but it's not righteous at all. All right. There will be a day when you embody the righteous the spirit is righteous before God but the doers of the law who will be justified, but when Gentiles this is interesting when Gentiles who do not have a law by nature, do what the law requires. They are a law to themselves, even though that they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accused or even excuse them. On that day when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men of Jesus Christ. This should be foundational in our understanding of where the church is going. We should be saying, We don't want simply to come up into an altar call and say that Jesus is Lord. But in that embodiment of Christ Himself, we want you to be a law unto yourself. We're not preparing you simply to make it into heaven by the skin of your teeth. We're not preparing you to just be free from hell, we're preparing you to be part of the governing institutions of God's New Kingdom. So what does that cause us to do now, we have to view ourselves in that same mandate here on Earth. We have to create institutions that allow people to not contend did not falter and fail because their sinful nature can pull them away from the things of the Lord, but we have to create institutions that allow the righteousness of God to perpetuate itself in this life. Community is a buffer against sinful nature because this is what I say. And I think this is important to hear, because an empty belly is more likely to produce anger than obedience. If we're called to be God's very system of governments a law unto ourselves, written in the Lamb's book of life, if we're called to be the fullness of everything that God wants to accomplish, not just on Earth, but in his new heaven and new earth, then we have to begin to reflect those institutions that we will be now. We can't allow somebody to say simply that they acknowledge Jesus and then go look to the world for all their solutions in life. We can't say, okay, you have Jesus Christ and you acknowledge them, you're good to go. And then let's say now, here's your education, the government, here's your your money, a secular employee, here's this Oh, every other institution aside from the church, we have to Okay, now that you have Jesus Christ now that you're participating in Christ and moving towards the divine nature, you need to become a law unto yourself. Get ready because you're moving towards perfection itself, that you begin to govern here on Earth, the way that you'll govern in heaven, that God will trust you with relationships, that God will trust your character, that God will trust your righteousness, and write your name and place of His commandments. So what does that mean? That means we can preach all day to people, and the word is important. But if we don't have a place where people can do life, then we're setting them up to fail. We all still struggle with this flesh, Doug, we all still struggle, we have the image of God, and church is supposed to cultivate that image. It's supposed to remind us that we're new creatures, it's supposed to perpetuate us toward good. See what's interesting about that as we look at the scriptures that are written to people who were struggling and say, Well, look, they say you're a new creature in Christ, the reason that they were writing that is to remind the new creatures in Christ that they were new creatures in Christ. If you go through life, hearing nothing but ideas, and everybody else is showing you kindness, everybody else is employing you. Everybody else is working on your vehicle. Everybody else is giving you education, everybody else's feeding you everybody else is doing every other thing to your life. You are in your heart moving towards different institutions, whether you recognize it or not. And the reason that we have dropped out in church is not because we don't preach the gospel. It's because we don't embody the gospel. We don't embody the kingdom of God. We don't embody this institutions. Too many people pursued the benefits the blessing the land, instead of becoming a law unto themselves. They saw the blessing that God had for them. And they said, I have my territory. I don't need to take new ones. They have nowhere to go so many Christians say what do I do now? And the idea is that you just believe in a God that exists that Jesus resurrected. And that's it. And that's not it at all. God is calling upon you to be a governing structure in His Kingdom, he's calling upon you to be alone to yourself. And I can't say this enough, because it's so vital that we begin to recognize that and rally around that and create that and community now. us we the people here should be saying, you know what, my services are not for this world. My services are for God's people. My services are not for every other institution. My services are for God's people. I'm not simply called to be an American citizen. I'm called to be a citizen of the kingdom of God. Let me embody that structure. Let me be patriotic about my true destination. What's interesting about Jesus and governance, but just interesting about what happens to people. There's It's called ethical intuition ism. I'm going to be careful here. I think this will take me off track a little bit. But community, thank you. Community cultivates an environment. Okay, let me put it like this, I said there's a difference between right and good. A common idea even in churches is what we would call consequentialism or utilitarianism. Basically, there's a common idea that if it has a good outcome, it's the right thing to do. Right? If it has a positive outcome, it's the right thing to do. What do I mean by a positive outcome? If it fills a belly, it's the right thing to do. If it makes somebody's life easier, it's the right thing to do. If it produces wealth, it's the right thing to do. We are a consequentialist society. We believe that if we benefit from it, it's the right thing to do. And God calls us to be a righteous society. So what happens is we can get the benefits of the good sometimes without being what is right. Right? And what this causes us over a lineage over a period of time in our heritage. This is what allows the enemy to creep back in even as believers, because we're pursuing the good over the right. God has said, No, no, I don't want you to simply be good. I want you to take the harder path. I want you to do what is right over even what is good, right? Because we know that all good things come from God and He is righteous. And if we become righteous, then we will embody those good things, but we have to be willing to suffer for his righteousness. Listen to this when Jesus says when Jesus says in Matthew 712, let's look at it real quick. Because these are extreme examples, and I was thinking about this. And Matthew 712 11 for them, I'm almost done guys. Sorry. So whatever you wish, wish that others would You do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. Jesus says, Whatever you wish that others would do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. That is an extreme statement. And it's something that he continues to back up and we have to look at Matthew chapter 12, to see practical examples of it. We see Have you not read with David okay. They said, but the Pharisees said to it, they said to him, look at your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. He said to them, have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who are with them how he entered the house of God, and ate the bread of presence, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor those who are with him, but only for the priest? Or have you not read in the law on how the Sabbath, the priest in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless. I tell you something greater is the temple here. And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath, that last line there begins to reveal something that's a little different. Jesus and therefore a little different about us. Jesus says, I'm not simply obeying a rule. I'm not I'm not sinless, because simply because I obey divine commands, but I am body the room. I am Lord of the Sabbath. I am God Himself. And when you participate in me, it's not simply you obeying divine commands, but it's you becoming divine partakers. Look at mark to actually look at, look at. Let's look at Matthew 1921. I have a lot of examples listed but I got to be selective. Jesus said to him, if you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven come follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful but he had great possessions and Jesus says truly I say to you only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for A rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. And this is what's fascinating about this passage of Scripture. And I've come to understand that the disciples understood blessing of God's God's favor. So they understood wealth as God's favor in your life, something that carried into many societies. The disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and say, with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Let's quickly look at Matthew 15, one through nine. Why do you disciples break the traditions of the elders but they do not wash their hands and when you eat? And he answered them, why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition for God commanded Honor your father and mother and whoever vials father and mother must surely die. But you say if anyone tells his father or mother what you would have gained from me is given to God. It's funny means the Pharisees were taking up offerings from the people who had money made it for their parents. He need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the Word of God, you hypocrites, you hypocrites. Okay? What we see repeatedly dayglo, Matthew 712. Okay, let's look at Matthew 19, seven and eight. I'm going to give one more example. They said to him, Why then did Moses This is important, okay? Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away? And he said to them, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so and I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery. It's fascinating how Jesus is approaching God's law and these examples, he goes on and various scriptures to say that If you look at your brother in anger, you've committed a sin. If you look at those somebody with lust, you've committed adultery in your heart, he sets up these impossible standards, right? He sets up a situation where you go, my Lord, I can't accomplish any of this. And what we tend to do is we tend to make it a binary thing where it's like, okay, after you accept Jesus, he just doesn't work for you. Well, Jesus has done the work for you. But it's a little more complicated than that. Jesus is saying there's a true, right. And I'm going to refer to this this passage again, with with Moses, there's a true, right. And then there's a good and in this sinful world, you're going to wrestle between what is right and what is good. God gave Moses the authority to issue you writs of divorce, because he didn't want you to have the consequences of sin, but it was sin. Nonetheless, it was the good thing to do, but it wasn't right because it wasn't God's eternal law and it's not something that'll be part of his kingdom. Anger is something that you might struggle with, but it's not part of God's kingdom. lust is something that You might struggle with but it's not part of God's kingdom. It's and what Jesus is saying here when he lays down these harsh realities is that I've come to introduce the kingdom of God. And this kingdom is governed in a very specific way. It's governed with eternal rules that are not simply written in the law, that you keep misunderstanding Pharisees, but are embodied in me, for I am Lord of the Sabbath. So I understand it better than you understand it. I am Lord of all things. So I understand all things better than you understand things. And your law says simply that you should not murder but I'm telling you that it goes even deeper than the society that I'm bringing in the kingdom that God wants. You can't even have anger towards your brother. It has no place because it's it's the equivalent of murder. When you think about this, this righteous standard I don't think it's enough for us to simply go Okay. Well, thank God, Jesus, you did it and I don't have to worry about it. Okay, I haven't Nothing. This doesn't apply to me because I have his imputed righteousness. I don't think that that's the right way to look at these things. I think that the way we should look at this as to say this is my future kingdom. This is my future standard. This is what sanctification will produce in my life. This is the society that God was talking about reintroducing to his people. And we are to be participants in that. He says it's called a priori. ethics is intuitions when when Paul says they are a law unto themselves, Gentiles who do not have the law or law unto themselves. This is fascinating because he's saying he's indicating something that we know that there is good in people that still trickles down from Adam and Eve where the image of God comes down and they sometimes respond to their conscious they respond to their heart in a way that they just intuitive. Know that they shouldn't kill somebody just intuitively know that they shouldn't do some things, right. And then on the other hand, he says you have the law, you disobey the law, and you nullify the whole thing. You talk about circumcision, but by disobeying one part, you nullify your circumcision. And there's this tension between the written word and the embodied word. And what we do in Christianity and what we're, we're completely doing is we're not simply creating a list of rules for people to live by, and a list of doctrines for people to leave live. But we're we're doing what's called an ontological change. We're changing their very being, and by creating communities around them, there were mirrors and reflections of their being. Here's the thing about Jesus Christ and serving Him, you you are participating in Him and you all of a sudden the mysteries of God manifest so what I mean is this, churches should not simply be focused upon creating, communicating standards of the law communicating rules, communicating how behavior should exist, but they should create institutions that cultivate the righteousness of God. They should create the conditions by which people have the ability to obey God, if we don't serve people in the way that we were intended to serve people, if we don't become the community that God wants us to become, then we become an obstacle to their faith, not a stepping stone to their faith and even the preaching of the word which is not backed up by love, what it is not backed up by togetherness, when it is not backed up by health, when it is not backed up by the kingdom of God can become a hindrance. I want I want you to understand that that we are to produce the right and we are to produce the good. What I mean by that is why a city of destiny important. It might not seem important to fix your car might not seem like an eternal thing. But when I do that for you, I'm removing one more barrier between you and the sinful nature of man. I'm institutionalizing the righteousness of God. I'm saying we are a people That nowhere we're headed, we're headed to be the foundation of God's kingdom. We know what we're called to be, we're headed to be the law in and of ourselves were written in the Lamb's book of life. I know our future outcome. And so when you become a believer, you're not simply participating in a set of ideas, but you're just participating in this body itself. You're not simply obeying the law, but you're becoming the law. You're not simply looking at scripture, but you're becoming a living epistle. And the responsibility is on us to see the deeper deeper meaning of the gospel that it is embodied and not simply spoken about. And we have to have churches that preach which is why story life will preach. We have to have the sacraments, which is why this is important. The reason the sacraments are so important. Sometimes I get accused of being a Catholic or whatever people accuse me of being too Catholic and various things but the reality is sacraments are important, because you must recognize that it's not simply words that we're talking about. There's a lot of nonverbal elements to gospel, there's a lot of nonverbal traditions to the gospel that communicate its embodiment. So when we say that we're eating the blood, or drinking the blood and eating the body of Christ, we are saying that we are participating even through crackers and grape juice in the divine nature of God. It is a fullness reminder that not only do we have a set of ideas that changed the way our mind thinks, but we are fundamentally different because we participate in God Himself. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we become a law. And the thing is, the Holy Spirit was not given to one person it was given to us. On the day of Pentecost, it was not one person praying, it was many praying, God's power and evidence, His goodness, his his authority is revealed through people. So we don't just preach and then scatter. Our resources are dedicated to the church. Our life is dedicated to the church. If we talk about revival, it's not going to be a revival, that in services, it's not going to be a revival where for 300 nights, we have People coming and filling in a sanctuary and then four years from now they said, Whatever happened to that thing in that city, that's not what revival is. It's a revival that says 10 years from now my children will have a safe place, it will have an arc, there will be a place where they can carry and trust in the things of God. There is a community that they can call upon to reflect righteousness, that my son, my daughter will not have to look to other people to get the answers that they need in everyday life, but they have people around them that say, not only am I doing this with you, not only are we believing this, but we're headed toward something together and they steward the mysteries of God. We need people that I if I don't rub shoulders with you, I can't steward your mysteries. And I can't rub shoulders with you if I can't do life with you. And this is what I'm closing. This is done. I feel like I didn't make sense but when we talk When we talk about the city of destiny, I'm saying it's so much deeper than charity. It's even so much deeper than our obligation to the poor. It's so much deeper than just following command. It's institutionalizing the righteousness of God, I'm essentially saying, God, let Your kingdom come now. And let us be participants in this kingdom. And let people look let us let them not just see land, let them not just see liberty, but let them see the law and us. Let's just not preach at people and say, God will deliver you and you gotta obey the set of rules, let's body them ourselves and say, You know what, let me pick you up when you're down. If you're suffering in your marriage, I'm here to counsel you to the very end. If you're suffering in poverty, I'm here to help you break through to the very end, whatever you're dealing with is my burden as well. And we're going to pursue the kingdom of God together and every time I look at my neighbor, and I don't see the principles of the kingdom of God operating in their life, I recognize my own responsibility because it affects me as well. And short, the reason we call it phase one, because there is no end to this until God calls us home to glory. There's no stopping point where I say we did it. There's no place where I say that's it. It's final. I simply will be building the kingdom of God here, preaching the message, living the message, embodying the message, so that people have a place to where they can not only hear the gospel, but they can experience the gospel, and they can live the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, I just thank you for your word. I thank you that you've given us this unique prophetic opportunity. I think you got that we will steward the mysteries, not just of our family God, but of the earth of the nation's God of your people. I think you got that we will recognize our responsibility. I think you've got that we will recognize our responsibility not simply an obeying precepts God but in embodying your governance Scott and embodied Your wish for the nations and embodying your future Kingdom God, let us embody that now. Let us be the people that walk in the liberty that walk in the land, that walk in law that walk in leadership now God, bring forth your leaders God bring forth your atmosphere with leadership in this house and elsewhere. God who can hear your message and see what you are intending to do and begin to steward your mysteries God and God I ask that you would begin to reveal the mysteries to others people in here who have not stewarded Well, God people in here who have not who have silenced your voice, who have punched your voice who have ignored your voice, God, I ask that you forgive them God and I ask that you would redeem their ability to steward your mysteries God, I ask that you would connect them to the body. We know that the enemy's plan is to isolate. We know that the enemy's plan is subtle. It's crafty. He wants to disavow the church by the from the inside out by removing the power of us through our activities as a community God and I thank you that you're not allowing that but you're raising up people Who can see what your gospel actually means that we will embody it that we will pursue it and we will live it God and that we will be your government on Earth as we will be in heaven in Jesus mighty name.
Pastor Brad Knight recorded on January 26, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida, USA. For more information about our ministry, visit http://cityofdestiny.us
Transcript by machine: We're in john chapter five, verses 19 to 29. Today and, and having my son run around is great because we see this intimate relationship between father and son. So much so that I was talking to a pastor one time and he said that the most important relationship is marriage. And this is a common refrain that marriage is the most important relationship that you can have. And while there are biblical equivalents of marriage, Israel is married to God and we are the bride of Christ as the church, the most potent, powerful relationship, the one that was eternal in nature, the one that stands out the most, biblically, is the relationship between father and son. And the point of marriage, even us being the bride of Christ. We we the church collectively being his bride is to produce his sons. We are together his bride, but individually we are his sons and daughters. And God wants to have such an intimacy with us, his child, and we're going to go through some of that today. Today's going to be a little more technical. Again, last week we talked about the Sabbath and stuff. This week, we're really going to talk on some doctrinal things. And it's going to feel like seminary a little bit. But it's important. It's important to, it's good for you to understand things, because there's concepts that you've probably heard, but don't fully understand or there's things have been, that maybe you've had questions about, but don't fully understand. And hopefully I can address some of those things today. Namely, we're going to talk on two doctrinal issues called the Trinity and the incarnation of Christ. Those are two very important concepts to understand. And they're referenced in passing. implicitly, I should say, in this chapter five, alright, verse 19. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. Now remember, this is after the Sabbath. This is after that he was accused of breaking the Sabbath or more explicitly instructing someone to pick up their palate. The SAP therefore break the rules of the Sabbath. So Jesus is responding in regards to his authority. Truly, truly I say to you, the sun can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing for whatever the father does, that the sun does likewise for the Father loves the sun and shows him all that he is doing. And greater works than these will he showed them so that you may Marvel, for as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the sun gives life to whom he will for the father judges, no one, but has given all judgment to the sun, that all may honor the sun just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the sun does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes him has passed, believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly I say to you an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and the Who here will live for as the Father has life in himself, so he is granted the son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man, Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. All right, that's our focus for today. And that's a mouthful. Reading that can be dense, it's packed with stuff. But let's start here. The first thing that we see is that there is a distinction between Jesus and God and heaven. And this is something that a lot of people can get wrong, because we say, Well, Jesus is God. And yet you see this interplay and distinction between the Father and Son, you see the preeminence of this relationship, but this is a mind blowing development because you Jesus is saying to a people who don't believe that God has a son. They don't believe that God fathered children, in this case, but got a son. They don't believe that Jesus is saying, I am the son, which means I am God. But at the same time, it means that I am God, but distinct from God the Father. So let's talk about this for a second. This is implicitly suggesting the Trinitarian nature of God. And we see that Trinitarian nature of God explicitly put on display at the baptism of Jesus when he's baptized, and the father says, This is my son, with whom I'm well pleased, and the Holy Spirit descends on him as a dove. And what we see is we see the three persons of Christ exemplified in that passage of scripture, but here we get to see the intimacy of father and son, Father in heaven and son here on Earth pastor Doug Nelson, if you'll come up here for just a second. I'm going to I'm going to try to explain this doctrinally, how is it the case that God is one and yet three? distinct persons. He came not to be served but to serve. Okay, so you guys stand up behind me, I stand behind me, right? You're the tallest. So you should technically be the father but I'm the father to the here stand, stand behind pastor Doug. We say Jesus was forgotten. Okay. And there's a big controversy in the church that goes back. It's called the filioque way, right? I'm not going to get into that mostly, but basically, what we believe here and what we embrace is that the Father be God from the Father proceedeth the son and the spirit, right? Some people say from the Father proceeds the son from the son proceeds the spirit. Well, that caused a big fight in the church early on, and their original Nicene Creed was from the Father proceedeth, the son and the spirit. So I know just follow me guys, I'm going to try to explain the Trinity. There is no perfect analogy because God's essence is functionally unknowable. It's immaterial. So there's no, there's no perfect analogy for me to say, you know, you hear it's like an egg and there's a yolk and or you hear, it's like water and there's no water turns into ice and water turns into vapor and water has liquid. And that's like the three and when you hear those things, but even those analogies are imperfect for their own reasons. This analogy is imperfect. But it's, it's like how I like to explain it. I am made up of atoms, right? I have an atomic makeup, right? I have a individual identity, but I am composed of matter on a molecular scale that can be broken down. Okay, right. You heard some people like say we are stardust. We are stardust. I love that. That's cool. Because everything that's in the universe is also composed in us. Now. If you take that atoms, those atoms which fundamental components of who I am, right, and you look at pastor Doug, and you look at Nelson, they two are composed of atoms. They To have their own, but they to also have their own identity. Right? So you see them composed at a molecular level of the same thing that I am composed of, and yet they are distinct from me. Does that make sense? Okay, so so in this case, I am the fountainhead I am the source and who they are is an extension of my essence. atomically if my essence was God, if it was divinity, then when we say that Jesus was forgotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeded, that means that out of my essence come Jesus Christ, and out of my essence comes the Holy Spirit, and the father is the source head of the Trinity. Does that make sense? Okay, so now with that in mind, there's this interplay, because we we there's a lot of terms to describe it, we say, unknowable essence and noble energies. That's how we say it, that the Trinity is unknowable essence that the essence of God can never be fully known by man or else We would be God. We can never be fully divine, yet we get to participate in divinity through the energies expressed through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And we're going to discuss that some, because what you seeing is you go how who is God in this scenario? Is it two gods? Is there a God the Father and God the sun is totally separate? Well, they share the same core makeup, they share the same equal essence it's fully equal, it's fully complete, and yet it's fully distinct from the rest of creation, however, their energies and their makeup is expressed differently. Does that make sense? Okay, you can be seated. I hope that that helps explain the concept of the Trinity son. Alright. So three persons. Now also important to that, when we see this as is Jesus incarnation. I'm going to talk about how this affects us. And I know this is this is a lot of stuff, but I'm going to talk about how this affects us. So essentially, God is one and Since, but distinct in persons, right, we've got that like I am one we are one and Adams but distinct and how those atoms combine to form persons, right? Alright. So now we see not only is Jesus divine, but he's also fully human. We call this hypostasis of the hypostatic Union. He has two natures to complete nature's joined together, united, I should say, fully God, fully divine and fully man, fully divine and fully man. And we call the Incarnation when he was come to earth, we call that the incarnation, which means God took on flesh, full humanity, the fullness of our pain, the fullness of our experience, that is the Incarnation that God took on flesh. Some people used to say, throughout the church of historical saying is that God became man so that man might become God. It's a powerful statement. And I know your instinct that has go, Oh, no man can't become God. But the reality is that that we'll see is through the participation in the sun. As we participate in the sun, we participate in divinity. Does that make sense? Okay. So we have to understand that when he is talking about I do whatever the father tells me to do, I do. He's saying that I have the fullness of God's essence in me. And I only relay that essence to my actions here on Earth. Right? All right, let's let's break this down further. Jesus, who is fully human is telling other for humans, that I only do what God tells me to do. Now, how do we as humans know what God tells us to do? There are two ways that we know how God tells us to do what God tells us in His Word. And God tells us by His Spirit. What's interesting about Jesus here is how is he as a full human being, knowing what God wants him to do? Well, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as a full human, Jesus went through the same process that we went through, as when we want to hear the voice of God, we have to submit our flesh to the Spirit of God to understand what the Lord is saying. So just as you have to have insight from the Holy Spirit, and your fullness of your humanity and your full humanity, just as you have to have an insight from the Holy Spirit to know what God is saying in the Scriptures, and to know what God is saying for your life. So Jesus submitted himself and his flesh to the Holy Spirit, yet he shared essence with that very spirit. Does that make sense? fully human, fully divine. So when Jesus is saying, I do whatever the father tells me to do, I do what I see him doing. I do what He tells me to do. That is not something that is outside of our grasp. But that's actually something that we are too commanded to do. That is something that that before Christ and the day Pentecost would have been impossible for any person. But now it's possible for us, yet we still don't do it. We still fail, we still fumble. We are fully human, and Jesus was fully human. And we have the same access to the Spirit of God that instructed him to do what God told him to do. And yet we don't do it. Okay? That's something that we have to understand. Because sometimes we look at the concept of Jesus and say, Well, he's Jesus. He's God, therefore, I can't match my actions According to him, but Jesus sets a precedent that we're going to explore fully that says, No, not only am I doing what the father tells me to do and what saying what he tells me to say, but you have to do the same thing. Okay. As a father, this relationship between father and son is beautiful. My son walks up to me like you see today and he does things that I noticed at home when I'm doing things. He does things as well. If I do something, my son Something, if I say something, he imitates that something. And there's this intimate relationship that we have, and this major responsibility that we have and how much how important is it? If, if God has a son, and there's an interplay of relationship between father and son, and the son emulates what the Father is doing, how important is it for us, parents, fathers, mothers, for us to emulate godly behavior to our children, if it's done at an eternal level, if it's done at the level of deity, how much more important is it for us to model and emulate at the level of humanity? We have an amazing responsibility. As matter of fact, it's our number one responsibility to our children, to emulate the ways of the Lord to show them love to be there for them to provide for them. It is our number one responsibility because it was eternal in nature. It's not something that happened by accident. It's not something that that just happens as a biological side note to sexual activity, but rather it is something that is divinely orchestrated in your life to emulate the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. Right? I want to emphasize that importance. So what we see Jesus doing is we see him saying, I see the father and I hear the Father, I can tap in through my full humanity to the voice of the Holy Spirit, that instructions of the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit, so that I am guided and where I go so much so that when Peter recommends him taking another course, he says, Get behind Me, Satan. Get behind Me tempter. Peter wasn't suggesting that he break a rule. Peter wasn't suggesting that he violated biblical mandate. Peter was just suggesting another road to take. And Jesus responded with Get behind Me, Satan. This applies to you because there are some of you that think why follow the Rules of the Bible. I stick according to what the Bible says, I love my neighbor, I give to charity I give to the church, I am following all the mandates of the Bible, yet God has a path for you that he has designated and somebody else has told you to do another path. And when you don't follow the path that God has designated, you are listening to the voice of Satan. If Peter Bhikkhu can be called Satan, then your parents can be called Satan. If Peter can be called Satan, then your boss can be called Satan. If Peter can be called Satan, than your neighbor or your whoever stimulates your ego or your flesh can also be called Satan. Talking about a father and son relationship, if Peter and his goodwill can say, let's take this other path, and Jesus says, Get behind Me, Satan tempter get behind me one who would designate me away from the purpose of God, how responsible are we for our children to hear what God is saying about their life? How much more responsible are we to pray about our children and to know whether or not God wants them to go to that college that were so On, have that career that we're set on. We want what's best for our children, and we want what's best for our life. But what's best for our children is what God has purposed for them. And if we aren't choosing the road that God has laid out for them through much prayer, through fasting through a life of intercession around them through navigating through the voice of the Holy Spirit, then we too, are acting as Satan and their lives. All right. Jesus talks about the authority that he's given, he's given the authority of judgment. He's given the authority of life. But one of the things that I like about this and we talked about it a little bit last week is in verse 20. He says, For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing in greater works than these will. He showed them so that you may Marvel. God wants you to marvel at who he is. Last week I talked about how I've prayed for a lot of people People who are sick, and yet nothing happened with the times it does happen are spectacular. And yesterday, I got to hear a wonderful testimony about someone who had cancer, that cancer is in remission. It was it was a dire circumstance. And I asked him to share the testimony. But no, not so far not yet one day that it was a dire circumstance, and yet God came through we prayed, and there was much faith and much belief. And God came through and healed circumstance that doctors couldn't. It's an amazing thing to see. And you know what that does for someone like me? Who goes through all the the charades of ministries, who who does all the formalities of ministries, but I'm not built for it, who who likes to preach and likes to talk about the truth of God's word, but the actual church business thing I'm not built for? I'm not very social. There's a lot of things that I don't like about my job. I don't there's a lot of things I don't like about it. But when I hear something like that, and I marvel at the works of God, and I think no other thing I could have done could have produced that result. There is no other path I could have taken, that would produce that result were to agree in prayer. Healing emerges where someone's faith is applied, and cancer dries up. And Jesus gives the disciples the authority over unclean spirits and all diseases. And that's the same authority that we carry in us today. And there's moments of disappointment. There's moments of discouragement. There's moments where we believe and we pray at the bedside of someone and they die anyways. But then there's moments when you persist in faith and say, that doesn't define who God is. He's still the same God that gave us authority over disease. He's still the same God that gave us authority over unclean spirits. He's still the same God that broke the back of poverty. He's still the same God and you persist in that faith. Then you hear testimonies like that. Alright. God's work is marvelous. Next week I'm going to focus more on judgment and, and the resurrection, because the verses continue in verses 30 to 47. But as we talked about the Trinity and the incarnation, I need to tie these concepts together, because the last thing that will focus on and I'm actually almost done is the extension of authority that we have. This passage is all about the authority. For the father judges, no one but has given all judgment to the sun that all may honor the sun just as they honor the Father, whoever does not honor the sun does not honor the Father who sent him truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him has sent eternal life. He does not Come into judgment but has passed from death to life. This is shocking. This is shocking not only at this point in history, but it should shock us today as we grow in knowledge. You had a people see, the Jews were revolutionary, and their religion at the time, not only was polytheism the way the route that most cultures went to, but there was what we called Thiago knees, which is every culture at the time had a story about how God Himself originated. Every culture said that God had an origin story. Just like man had an origin story. God has an origin story. And yet this people, people we would call Israel come forth and say No, God always was. God always existed. There is no origin story for God. There is no theogony he simply was an out of nothing. He created everything. x Nilo out of nothing, he created everything. That's an amazing developer. movement. And these people who were criticizing Jesus believed that they were radicals in history themselves. And now here comes another radical. Here comes person who says, not only is that true, you've got that part, right? But that same God that you don't see, has granted me all authority on heaven on earth. That same God that you do not see but you worship the same God that you're about to stone me and honor of that, God, everything that he does, I do everything that he says. I say, everything that you want out of him can be found in me. That's radical. Here's a guy that they could touch. Here's a guy that they could shoot craps with. They had that then Bible talks about casting lots. I don't know what that was. Yeah, that's a funny story. All the Bible talks about casting lots, the disciple to replace Judas. They were praying and praying. They were trying to figure out who to pick them. And God didn't tell them who to pick. So it said they cast lots. They'll roll with dice. disciple. That's funny man, that cracks me up that those are my kind of people. Jesus is saying, I am an extension of the Father. And what he says, I say what he does, I do, but not only that, he has given me the authority to judge. He has given me the keys to life and death. He has given me the keys to resurrection in judgment, I embody that, that is radical, that is a radical development, and that is one that most of us accept. Most of us accept that as Matter of fact, that's the foundation of our faith. Accepting who Jesus is accepting that radical development, but it doesn't stop there. We tend to think that it stops there, Pastor Doug, but it doesn't. What's amazing about that is that it further develops, it doesn't stop at Jesus. We go to the book of backson we see that it now extends to us. Let's look at john 1515. No longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends. For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you since Jesus speaking to the disciples. And Matthew 1818. It gives them the authority to bind them loose. Let's read it. Matthew 1818, Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 2820 Matthew 2818 says that all authority of heaven and earth has been given to Christ and this is an authority that he begins to give to us and the most shocking example of this is found in john 2021 Jesus said to them again, peace be with you, as the Father sent me, even so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said have received the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any it is withheld. Okay, that should shock you. That should surprise you that should that should stir something up inside of you. Because that didn't end with simply the disciples, but that extended in permeated through the whole of Jesus's church. Jesus said, Hey, not only have I been given all authority, but I am now granting you that authority. authority over unclean spirits. You have it authority over diseases, you have it the authority to form Give and retain sin is an authority of life or judgment. And you have it. Think about that for a second. God has extended his authority Jesus has extended his authority to you. You as a believer are not simply one that comes into church and worships who God is. But through that worship, you carry who God is to the rest of the world. Forgiveness, life, love, divine energy, miracles, these things you now carry. Because Jesus said, this authority doesn't stop with me. I give you the Holy Spirit, and you are partakers of the divine, as Peter says, you now carry in you God. And so you are responsible for what I was responsible here when you walk this worth. So we carry the same responsibility that Jesus Himself carries. This is why when we talk about the dominion of the church, this is what I think we're aiming for man. My mouth is dry today. Excuse me. When we talk about the dominion of the church, this is what we're aiming for you hear my mom, say things like the church is the only rightful authority to govern things on the earth. And this is what she's talking about. We're not talking about a theocracy, where we want the government to be the leaders of the church. And if they do, if somebody does something bad, we want to stone them. That's not what we're talking about. That's how it gets portrayed when we talk about the kingdom of God ruling everything, but that's not what it's saying. What it's saying is, and what we mean when we say that is that regardless of whether people want it or not, this is a theocracy. The church is the governing body for all of the world. The church is the final authority and the connection to the incarnate Christ for everyone, which means you who have participated in Jesus have accepted the revelation of him, participate in his blood and his body and have received the Spirit of the Lord are now a king. You now walk around as servant, a sender and an envoy, which in Jewish thinking was legally binding, when a sender would send an envoy, there was a legally binding precedent that was sent with it. And that envoy would go forth. And whatever they said it was as though the sender of the envoy set it. And if they they determined the law right then and there according to the sender, which means this that you don't get to just pick what you want to pick. Jesus is interesting that you hear his voice enough that you're in prayer enough that you've submitted your flesh to his will enough that you're in His Word enough that this authority that he's granted you will be handled correctly. This is a major responsibility we have as believers, that's why it's not sufficient for simply us to come together and say, I go to this church and hand out your church business card and saying our praise and worship is this and this is that in my pastors that, you know, that's all fine, but there's a much greater responsibility that the church should shape before we shouldn't simply get your money and get you excited and get you to sing songs. We should remind you of an eternal responsible ability that you have as delegates of God, where you're carrying forth his very presence, and that you have the authority to change the world itself, because you are the final and the only authority of God on the earth. What an amazing responsibility. You have a lineage of sin in your bloodline, your parents divorce your your parents abused you, your parents, but you accept Jesus, you have the authority to change all. Not only do you have the authority to change it, you have the authority to forgive them. Think about this for a second, we talked about forgiveness as just letting go of something as emotionally let go. I'm letting go of this issue. That's not what forgiveness is. The concept of forgiveness is so weighty, so heavy, so emotionally full, that if we really processed it and thought about it, I don't think many of us would, would I think many of us would be guilty of not forgiving others which means this Jesus said to us, You forgive, I will forgive, and who you judge sense that you retain, I will retain. So if somebody hurts you, God, the God of justice, you're part of his camp. You're part of his people. You're an extension of the incarnate Christ, the God of justice will look to serve justice on your behalf. Think about this, Victor if somebody hurts you, if one of your bosses or somebody guns for you, man, and they're outside what God's scope is his rules, his his delegates, if they're outside of what he said about you, in regards to his word, if they're treating you unkind, if they're kicking you while you're down, if they're doing something to you, and they step up, God says Victor, judgment. You can have judgment, forgiveness, you can have forgiveness. Think about this for a second. That means that you have to look at the people in your life and say, You know what, God, I'm going to forgo judgment and favor of mercy for them. We talk about forgiveness as though it's us letting go of emotions. It's Not you can retain anger, you can retain not liking somebody, when you forgive somebody, you can retain feelings. But as Jesus said, when he was being put upon the cross, forgive them Father, for they know not what they do. Jesus said, despite the fact that they are killing God Himself, incarnate Christ, forgive them, which means release them of the judgment that would come upon them for what they're doing to me. So when you talk about forgiveness, and this, this is, I think, the biggest authority, we get excited, we get excited about casting out devils, we get excited about curing diseases, and yes, we marvel at the works of God. When I heard that testimony, it just reminded me that my god has the final say, That's a powerful thing. It reminded me that there's nothing that my God cannot do, and I marvel at it. And I worship and I'm, I'm encouraged by that and it's like, read to me where I feed off of that manna for the next thing that I have to do. And I show up today more enthusiastic, believing that God will do something in your life that you will marvel at. But I think the greatest thing that we encounter in the greatest authority that we have is not casting out Devils is not healing diseases is none of that not even the binding and loosing which that and of itself we think that binding and loosing means that we get to bind something in heaven. And what we what we tend to do is interpret that as a prayer, right? If I if I bind something in heaven, it will be done. If I lose something, it'll be done right that we tend to interpret that through the lens of prayer, but that was really interpreted through the lens of legislation. When you're bound by something you were bound by the law, you were bound by interpretations of the law. Jesus was giving the authority to the church to bind in loose on an ecumenical scale on a wide scale saying you people get to make the rules Think about that. We see that in the council in Jerusalem, when circumcision is for gone for the Gentiles, when they say you no longer have to be circumcised. Here's the rules. Don't eat the blood of animals don't eat strangled things. This abstain from sexual immorality, don't worship idols. That's what they laid out the church was given authority to bind them to a certain set of rules and loose them from circumcision. Does that make sense? That's an amazing thing. We see that even in the times of Moses, or when asked about divorce, Jesus says, Moses issued certificates of divorce so that you would not be in sin against God so that you wouldn't be judged by God. He did that for your sake, but God's ideal is marriage that go unbroken, right? Which means Moses got to maneuver within a legislative capacity, according to God's mandate. Think about that. We have that same responsibility and that in and of itself is a major one. Yet Nevertheless, I think the biggest one that we carry is the ability to forgive or retain sense. And this is what a radical This is the radical concept that I think we talked about sometimes where we go. Yeah, I'm filled with the Holy Spirit, and I'm a Christian and all this stuff but but we stopped short of realizing that we now carry God. We stopped short of realizing that every day we wake up, that God is in us, God is in us, God, the Holy Spirit actually abides in us to the point where when you do something sexually immoral, Paul said that when you sleep with the prostitute, you're making him do it to everything you do. The Holy Spirit is participating in as a believer in Christ. Now how does that work? Even when we talked about Jesus today? You're Jesus, Pastor Doug, we talked about him being fully human. What's amazing about This is that God was God and he created, but by him becoming fully human, he perfected our course, he perfected humanity. He created the first of many brother and he's the firstborn. He's the initial model, not only for what the God is for as God, but primarily in his humanity for who we are. So what that means is that through participation in Jesus Christ, we now are carriers of divinity. And as we carry that divinity, we not only carry that authority of divinity, but we carry that responsibility of divinity. So think about when we think about how God will view things for us, even when this this this passage where it says, Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment that in and of itself is an interesting passage, because we often think if we come up and say, I accept you, Jesus, we have the right erection of life. But Jesus doesn't simply say those who believe in me have eternal life, resurrection of life and those who don't have the resurrection of judgment, but he says those who have done good, and those who have done evil, he distinguishes it into works. Saying, not only must you receive me, as we see in the beginning of john, not only must you receive the fullness of who I am, but you must carry the weight of that responsibility with you every day. And you might pretend like you're a Christian, you might claim to be a Christian, you might call yourself a Christian and go to church. But unless you're listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and forgiving those that God says to forgive, and judging that which God says, judge and saying that which God says, say, and doing that which God says, Do, your works are evil, if he will call Peter, Satan. Satan is the source of evil. He's the liar from the beginning, he's been doing it from beginning that means that somebody who was serving God who would go on to be called the foundation of God's Church upon this rock, I'll build myself Church upon the revelation of who I am, Peter had that the rock, I'll build this church and now the Catholic Church is what came from Peter, essentially, if he could be called Satan, how aware must we be at every time we court a take a course charter course that is against what God has spoken for our lives regarding ourselves or others? Are we operating out of evil works? This is so true that in the book of James, James says, Don't don't plan your tomorrow in arrogance. He's like, some of you are saying that you're going to go to the marketplace and sell this and make a profit here. And James says, Don't do that. say if a God wills I will do this mean before you even plan business. Submit your business plans to the will of God. And if God wills it, your business will prosper. He says to not do so as evil, arrogant and simple. Boasting that's an amazing thing. We celebrate the power that we carry with with Jesus. Hopefully everybody here believes in that power that you carry with the Holy Spirit, that you every single one of you who are part of Christ Church, every single one of you who have the right to participate in the blood and body of Christ, what we call the Eucharist or what's commonly called communion, every single one of you who have the right to participate in that, who won't produce judgment on your flesh because your heart is right before God, not only carry the power with the responsibility of Jesus himself, but the rest of mankind. This would radically change our thinking, if we believe this change our behavior would change how we respond to things we would reprioritize our life so that the issues the hindrances, the blocks that were preventing us from from fully hearing the voice of the Lord, fully understanding his word, fully following his instruction, whatever it was the thorns in our flesh that stopped us from doing everything that God wants us to do. We wouldn't just give up and say he accepts me as I am due to grace and all these other things, but we would recognize our responsibility to do good works as Jesus did good works our responsibility to as carriers of the Holy Spirit as carriers of the Divine to go forth as emissaries of Christ Himself, we would recognize that responsibility, and we would reprioritize our life to look like like people who fasted over an issue instead of people who planned over an issue. People, people who prayed and sought God over people who saw a way out through material means we would we would slow life down, the church would be should be much slower. We're in a hurry to get to Monday through Tuesday through Wednesday, and Sundays church and everything but the church the church operates according to the same same market mentality. The churches church operates according to the same market mentality and if we really believe what God is saying through Scripture, We would step back and slow down and say, You know what, I don't have natural plans yet. I don't have plans for growth. I don't have plans for this. I don't have plans for that. I don't know how I'm going to tell you, I'm going to do all these things. I know that I'm going to wait upon the Lord. I'm going to hear his voice and make sure that my course is charted by him. And a world that pressures you to make quick decisions about your business about your kids. We don't even have a choice but to put your kids in school. You the state says you know what, they have to go to school, they have to have an education. And that's Hey, education is amazing. your desires are amazing. Your your hopes and dreams are amazing, but guess what? They're secondary to God's plan for your life. If I followed my hopes and dreams, I most likely be dead. But even if I wasn't dead externally, even if my life wasn't lost, I'd be spiritually dead. And the very responsibility I'd probably be directing short films living in Memphis Love Memphis, my favorite city on Earth. I'd be directing films if I could working in that industry. I'd be following my dreams, my passions. I'd wanted to be a film director, I wouldn't be here preaching for you. But you know what, I also wouldn't see the results of the goodness of God that I have seen evidence in my life. I could have pursued my passions, pursued my dreams and said, You know what, God is a stepping stone for that. And we never say that. But that's what we treat that as a stepping stone for our dreams, our desires, our ego, our desire to be rich or desire to be famous. Whatever it is that our needs are producing in us. We often make God secondary to those needs. God is treated as a stepping stone our prayer life is is treated as a as a way to get to those ends. Church if a church isn't charismatic enough will go to a church that is where the pastor can can endorse my dreams and make them come to past, we only want the prophets that tell us about the breakthrough, not the profits that tell us about the judgment. We tend to pursue these things of the flesh. And God says no, invert that you have to pursue the things of the Spirit because in prioritizing this because you do have a responsibility. You do have power, you do have authority, you can change things. You can forgive sins, you can heal people, you can change the landscape of the earth. The trick is doing it how God wants it done. I believe there are people who probably can within the Christian world speak things into existence. I believe they can. I believe that, that God will honor his own statements to bind and loose. God will honor their very authority. We see that so much that Jesus says depart from you workers of iniquity, even though they said we cast out devils Which is a part of that 40 and your name and prophesied in your name. That means that there are people who can go forth and do things with the authority of Christ. And yet be completely wrong. And what they're doing so much so that Jesus to say, I never knew you. So there's a lot that we have to deal with as believers, and I'm closing up. There's a lot that we deal with as believers and I'm going to put it in in three terms and three ways. Making sure that our dreams, our goals, our desires, don't get in the path of Christ's will for our life. There are people who, who don't really acknowledge the full authority of God and I would venture to say that most Christians fall into this category. Most Christians don't recognize the fullness their responsibility. When you accept Jesus Christ, you're not only gaining eternal life, which is part of it, you're gaining an enormous obligation. you're gaining a transformed life. You can't accept Jesus and go back to the things now what we do is we like to say you can't accept Jesus and go back to horn around. You can't accept Jesus go back to drinking. You can't accept Jesus and go back to smoking all the sins that the pastors don't do. That's what they preach against. Or or if they preach hard enough against it, that's the sins that they do. That's the real trick. The ones that they preach against that's the ones that you know that pastor is struggling with that issue. But we tend to just do the observable things. If you were a smoker before I prayed with a guy here who wept and I thought, My God, somebody must be dying. He must be dealing with something serious. This must be serious. And he's like, man, I I got saved and I can't quit cigarettes. I was like, all right, man. Use a nicotine patch, bro. Like it's all good. You'll be all right. You're not going to hell, bro. Chill. It's good man. I was a smoker for most of my life. I was a smoker when I was a believer. This most of my life man I can I can give you Nicorette gum, I'll pray for you. But hey, I have some tricks that not smoke, you know, where people, people focus on all these external things right? And this is easy to preach against. We can rail against people for their sexual choices, their lifestyle choices, all this, but the sin that God really does not want you to commit and the sin that is most observable is the course of your life before you met Jesus and the course of your life after you met Jesus. It's not simply whether or not you go to a bar, you can go to a bar and have a night where you do that and God will have more mercy on you if you are still following his path than if you don't go to a bar and are sitting with your self righteous self coming into church every Sunday but are still stuck in your ways. Instead of his what it does is it changes your train, it transforms your thinking where you encounter Christ. And you say, now I'm different because I'm carrying God. And I'm carrying that responsibility. And I can't just do whatever I want. Because these decisions have consequences. Not just for me, but for others. And the second category of people are those who think that they are living the Christian life because they actually exemplify the power. Most of us deny the power. We just do what we want. We accepted Jesus, we're part of a church and we go on with our life. But then you have people that actually embrace the power of God. Embrace the authority that they've been given. And misuse it because they're not submitted to the voice of Lord. You have preachers that are so anointed, who when they preach the cross can get the whole room saved. And yet our live in live so let's send them right to hell. You have people Better building mega churches, probably blessed by God. How many of you know that Islam is blessed by God? Sounds crazy, right? God blesses. God blesses things through covenant. The seed of Abraham and Ishmael is blessed by God. He says, Don't be stubborn like an ass, but I'm blessing them. That's what he says, read in the Bible. Something that that is antithetical to everything that we're trying to do within the church is nevertheless blessed by God serves his purpose in the earth. Think about that for a second, that should blow your mind. That can happen with preachers with churches with people who proclaim Christ, you can see the blessing of God, the authority of God, part of what God is doing operating through them and nevertheless than be on the wrong course. Because something fundamentally did not shift where they had one foot in and one foot out, and that's ultimately what Jesus is saying when he talks about being a lukewarm and wanting to spew you out of his mouth. It's not just Oh, you got this foot in because it's the comfortable one, where you get to cast out devils and build something by speaking into existence and operate under my authority when it feels good, but you won't forgive that person that hurts you, and you won't submit yourself to my plans, and you won't submit yourself to my word. And now that you think you've studied enough, you stop studying now that you think you've prayed enough, you stop praying, you don't seek my face anymore. You don't Humble yourself anymore. You don't walk with a contrite spirit anymore. Now that you've got money, you think the job is done, now that you've got position you think the job is done. That's a dangerous place to be because you can see the effects of God's authority without seeing the consequences of your disobedience, and you don't want to be in that position. Which is why our faith is a matter of the heart, which is why it's one that is not observable fully from the outside. But the reason that the love takes preeminent In everything, the reason that Paul says love is the greatest thing I want you to prophesied. I want you to speak in tongues, but the greatest of these is love. Even so he says, Faith, hope and love abide. But the greatest of these is love, greater than faith. How is that? Because you can be sitting on a street corner with nothing broken, people ignoring you and passing you by which you change these generations through forgiveness in your heart, and the authority that God has granted you your life of prayer, nobody might know your name. Nobody might know who you are, you might have nothing that anybody would look to you for, but you still have the authority to forgive or retain sins, and God is looking upon you as one of his children as one of his emissaries as one of the people that he has sent out. He's looking at you and he's saying, whatever you say, Pastor top, I've got your back and you better make sure that you're hearing the voice of the Lord because he's going to follow through on what you do. I would rather be a person who hears the voice of God and has nothing than a person has everything, and switches the Holy Spirit, as Paul says, I would rather try and fail at doing what God wants me to do, and try and succeed at doing something he didn't. I would rather chart a course where I hear the voice of the Lord and stumble along the way, but can appeal to the mercies of God and appeal to the fact that I was willing to transform everything about my life, to follow His will, rather than do my own thing rest in his authority, and have nothing to appeal to on the day of on the Day of Judgment. Does that make sense? I'm going to close with that. You have all the authority on heaven on earth because it has been given to Christ and Christ has given it to you You are the carriers of That authority, binding and loosing forgiveness. And the reason that love is the greatest of these The reason that that they've shown no you by your loved one to another. The reason that love is the one observable thing is because love is the hardest thing. True Love is the most difficult thing. True Love is the most sacrificial thing Jesus says no greater love than this than one to lay down his life for his brother. And that applies to all circumstances. no greater love Is it for you that then this to the new foot, lay down your life for anyone. And lay down your life isn't just physical martyrdom. It's the ability to push back your ego when you're hurt. It's the ability it's the ability to be raped, and be violated and be and be victimized by somebody and grow to a place of wisdom and stature where you say God released them from the consequences. Think about that for a second. Someone who abuses you, someone who mistreat you. Someone who God is willing to crush and destroy, because of what they've done for you. The highest thing that you can do is say not only, it's not about I'm letting this go when I'm over it, and I'm ignoring it, but saying and appealing to the mercies of God and saying, relinquish all consequences for that action. If they face judgment, don't let it be because of what they did to me. Let them stand by me and see the gates of heaven. Let them walk in a mansion next to mine, let them encounter the glory of God. Let them see your face that suggest that when you are a believer, your appetite for God must be greater than your appetite for anything else, that your appetite for who he is, must be greater than any sort of judgment or recompense that your appetite for God has to be so strong when we talk about worship. Worship is found most an acts of forgiveness. Worship is found most an acts of love you worship God, when you love others because you recognize you know what, there's been a lot of bad things that happened to me in life, but you're a good God. And I cannot get justice for those bad things without foregoing your goodness and other people's life. And you are a God that says that you desire all come to the truth and have a knowledge of you. So that's my desire as well. But everyone who has hurt me, come to the truth and have a knowledge of you. Let my life be a living sacrifice so that everyone might proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, justice, justice, the secondary justice is secondary to your mercies that have operated in my life. Therefore, when I go first, I'm going to be an emissary of forgiveness. When I go forth, I'm going to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and I'm going to bind that which needs to be bound and loose that which needs to be loosed. Lord, I pray that I pray that I taught something that makes sense God is tangible. That is imparted. And God I pray to reveal yourself to everyone and the specificities of their life, God that you would, that you would reveal all the details of their life to them, and how your fingers are all up in it. God, I'd ask that you would begin to show them plans, that you would begin to reveal your word, that you would begin to change their heart, and God that they would recognize the fullness of their responsibilities as extensions of your Son, Jesus Christ, that we are not simply people who congregate, and and our Christians when we're here in a building, or Christians because we say we're Christians, but God that we are saints, and we are vessels of you that we carry your Spirit in us. And therefore, we carry the keys to redemption for all of the earth. This is a redemptive theology, Lord, let us operate out of that place. Let us heal our land. Heal the soil let us heal and mend broken hearts that heal the sick. Let us be people that forgive more than anything God and if we have our priorities out of order, even me, Lord, if I have any priorities out of order, if I have any unforgiveness in my heart, there's anything that I have done that is not according to your perfect will. And Lord, I ask that you grace me with the ability to follow it, and that you would have mercy on me and forgive me. I forgive anyone who has harmed me, who has hurt me. I proclaim their forgiveness, free them from your judgment, God. And let me be one who carries Your mercy, Scott, let me be one who carries your healing powers. Let people marvel at my life that no matter what has been done to me, your goodness prevails. And I pray that for everyone in this room, and the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who was supreme overall, to be glorified overall. gave us the ability to have resurrection life who gave us eternity and gave us fellowship with you. I thank you in his name, amen.
Pastor Brad Knight recorded on January 19, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida, USA. The topics of this sermon include the Sabbath, sin, and judgement. For more information about our ministry, visit http://cityofdestiny.us
Pastor Brad Knight recorded on January 12, 2020 at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida, USA. For more information about our ministry, visit http://cityofdestiny.us
Transcription by machine: Okay, today we are in john four. We're closing out john chapter four. Yeah, we're staying in john until we're done with john. Lord, help me to say what you want me to say. Help me to be what you want me to be. God let that be the case for everyone here. You are wonders God. And may we bask in those wonders with you in Jesus name, amen. All right. So I'm going to read verse 46. You guys remember the previous passages see we, when we got the scripts of the Bible, they're not chapter and verse we say chapter four verse, whatever, but they were written continuously on scrolls. However, there is a cool thing about having chapters because we can get sections and piece them together in a way that man there's a lot of people today. A lot of people Hey, guys, Everybody funny faces. We can piece them together in ways that allow us to see certain themes and get into the writers head a little bit. And getting into the writers head, we get into the mind of God a little bit because this is the word of God. So let's start with verse 46. And we're going to see something. So he came again to Cana and Galilee, where he had made the water wine and complain them there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard, was that Jesus had come from Judah to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe official said to him, Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus said to him, Go, your son will live. I love that response. Jesus was being theological. He was talking about a people is talking about a generation whom and another synoptic gospel, he says, it's a wicked generation to see signs and miracles and here he's saying Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe in this guy's like, dude, I don't even know what you're talking about. But I know my son sick. And I love that that's in the Bible, because that's many of our lives. We don't have every doctrinal bit of knowledge. Many of us don't read the Bible as much as we need to. Most of us don't understand the book of Ezekiel. Most of us don't understand the book of Revelation, which we try to pretend we do. We act like we do. We read a book on it, but really, we're just like, dude, I know my son's dying, and I need you to step in. And that's the kind of relationship that God responds to ultimately, it's not one of head knowledge. It's not one where you have to know all the right responses. It's not one where you have to engage with him on a theological debate about the the wickedness of a generation and whether you need signs and wonders. It's one where he is moved by compassion to act in your life and you are moved to call him Lord. My son is ill Jesus said to him, Go, your son will live. The man believed the word that you Jesus spoke to him and he went on his way. As he was going down his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So we asked them the hour when he began to get better. And they said to him yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him. The father knew that that was the that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, your son will live. And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judah to Galilee. Let me just say that God is not only interested in your salvation, he's interested in the salvation of your bloodline, we get short sighted when we think about our lives only. Listen, I have a promise to fill by God I have to to build a church called story life and a denomination called the city of destiny. I have to do it and it's taking time and there's a lot of barriers and there's a lot of obstacles, but you know what my faith says, it's not only about me, if I have to lay the last brick on my deathbed, then that's the way it is so that my children will inherit that Land, because it's about bloodlines. deliverance doesn't just happen in your life. It happens through bloodlines, it happens for generations. prosperity and provision doesn't just happen in your life that happens through bloodlines, and God sees bloodlines. That's important for you to remember you're continuing a work that started generations ago. And you're continuing that work. And hopefully, if you do what God wants you to do that work will be perpetuated for another four or five generations because of your obedience. He himself was saved and his household. Paul says that the grace of the saved mother extends to the unsaved household. Paul talks about the the potency of grace, that God is going to work through you to get to your household. God is going to work for you to get to your family. It's not just about you. And if we can get out of that mindset where we're constantly needing to God to respond to our undivided individual needs, we will see God work in miracles more than we see him now. You see God work in the miraculous most When you begin praying for others and pressing in for others, and sacrificing and giving in and fasting for others, that's when God really shows up. Because he's interested in your love and their testimony. We're going to talk about this. All right, there's four things. There's four things that I think I would like to extract from all of chapter four. I didn't read the woman in some area, we read it last time, I'm assuming all you new people were here last time, so. So I don't have to read the rest of chapter four. But the bottom line is that Jesus goes to the woman at some area, who is most likely an adulterer. She's been married multiple times. And he ministers to her and he gives her a word of knowledge where he informs her about her situation. She says, Surely you're a prophet. And he says, No, I'm the son of God. I'm the Messiah. I'm the one you're waiting for. She goes forth and everyone's saved. And what I want to do is just taking these four points here, and real quickly just work through what is this text telling us and it's telling us A lot more than then it looks like on the surface number one, when we contrast the woman of some area with the the Galilean official, we see this intentional contrast in chapter four, where john is letting us know that when Jesus does miracles, he does internal miracles and external miracles. With the woman of scenario we see an internal work, there's no healing that takes place. She wasn't lip, she wasn't crippled, she wasn't deaf. She wasn't blind, she was broken. She was broken. And so a lot of the miraculous things that we need God to do or inside of us. And see it's funny that the most the dedicated part is to what's inside this woman the hurt that's inside this woman. You she went back and what did she have to tell the other Samaritans? She couldn't say? I was blinded. Now I see. She couldn't say I was crippled. Now I walk. She couldn't say some thing that we always look for in church services, but she can just tell you You know what, I know that something inside of me that was thirsty. Something inside of me that was hungry, something inside of me that was hurting this man touch this man fixed, this man has an answer for you. And all of us look for these external things often to be the answer. But when people ask us about Jesus in our life, but there is an internal work that is happening and that Jesus wants to do in you, that is exponentially more impressive than any external work that he does. It is. I actually think it's easier to heal the lame than to heal a broken heart. It's easier to see a leg mended than it is to see a 35 years of bitterness go away. God wants both. God will heal you when your body is afflicted. But he's interested in your heart. He's interested in peace. He's interested in love. He's interested in this fruit and his fruit aren't expressed as outward things but inward things and that's the evidence of the Holy Spirit operating in your life. You want to see it God's operating in your life see if every day you're walking a little bit more towards love. It crosses every line. It reaches the rich it reaches the poor, it reaches the sick it reaches the healthy when God is in your life The evidence is love. First and foremost. You guys mind if I take my time today? Just more because I'm got a dry mouth not because I've got a lot to say. But the second thing that we see is that Jesus does work externally. Now if we focus on one or the other, and I noticed churches tend to do this, churches usually will split and their focus to one of two camps, either they'll focus and their message will be mostly about external miracles, Word of Faith style churches that we talk about prosperity, gospel, provisionary gospel, there's a lot of that that happens when you focus on external miracles and the public With that is that it really can become dangerous, that can become dangerous because it overlooks the internal work that God's doing. And then what really happens when you focus on the external miracles primarily is that you begin to judge people, even on some semi conscious basis, you begin to judge people because you think, well, if God is healing the lame, if God is providing money, if God is doing all these things, and why don't you have these things in your life? Why are you still sick? Why are you still struggling? Why are you still poor? Well, you know what, that's we're all going to be struggling in some ways, externally. And if we begin to measure it, then what if we begin to measure things by people's wealth as the evidence of God and their life, wealth especially, or people's success by the evidence of God, or even the the size of their churches, the size of their conferences, I don't care what it is, if you begin measuring people like that, to see if God is in their life, you are going down a dangerous path that will quickly lead to destruction as evidence by the book of James as evidence by the book of Jeremiah as evidence by book of the Bible that says, the rich Be warned, the rich Be warned, you're closer to judgment than the poor. I mean, these are heavy things that the Bible talks about. And we're so eager to seek external things sometimes that we realized that narrow is the path to God. And we and I'm going to talk about covetousness. A little bit today. I'm going to talk about covetousness. A little bit, we're going to get there when I get to point number four, but I'm going to number three, I'm going to talk about it because because when Jesus talks about a narrow path, and when he talks about doing works, like we see this internal work, you really going to recognize that the 10th command, I'm skipping it, I'm getting ahead, hold on. I'm getting ahead. Getting that hold on. Alright. So if you focus too much on outer works, then what happens is you'll overlook the inner work that Jesus Jesus wants to do in your life. But if you focus too much on inner works, and you think, Well, Jesus will only show up nowadays and an inner life and we don't boldly pray for the sick. We don't boldly go in hospitals and declare that they will be holy. We don't boldly expect that God can do the miraculous, then we are forfeiting the opportunity for God to show up and actually do the miraculous in our life. We should be a people whose primary emphasis is love, whose primary focus is on growing internally. But be a people that are radically bold and unashamed to say, No, I believe you're going to be healed. I believe you're going to walk again. I believe this cancer is going to dry up. I believe that poverty is going to break over your bloodline, I believe it. And the evidence of God is on the inside. But we believe that God changes things on the outside. And if we focus just exclusively on one, then we're cutting down some of the things that God does even in this very chapter. He's willing to heal a son of a physical ailment, and he's willing to heal a woman of a broken heart and God is willing to do both for your life. Point number two evangelism is not selling telling people about Jesus. evangelism is bringing healing to people. Hear me, when Jesus, Jesus doesn't go and start talking about himself, first and foremost, he first and foremost provides evidence of who he is. He first and foremost gives a word of knowledge and then says, I'm the one that you're looking for. And to the woman of some area, she has context because she expects a Messiah. But the man from Galilee, he doesn't have a messianic context. And so Jesus doesn't even go there. He doesn't need to sit there and explain a lot of Jewish thought to the Galilean official. In order for him to get on the same page as Jesus, he simply needs to be the one that healed his son. What am I trying to say to you, if we get in the tendency to think that sharing Christ is about our ability to relay verbal things, our ability to convince somebody to say the magic formula to get saved then we're missing with Jesus himself. And all the Gospels, your life of evangelism is a life of love and service. You let people know the reality of Jesus and His power by being there for them. You let them know the reality of Jesus and His power by being there consistently when they're sick. And when they're better you let them know not only by saying, Hey, he is Lord, but by living the fact that he is Lord in your life with the love that you have as evidence that he's there. People don't want another doctrine. They don't want another church. People don't want another message. They want evidence and they want healing. And we have that power guys. The reality is that God Himself lives in us. And we are the community that is supposed to take out this healing message and this healing reality to all the world. It doesn't simply mean knocking on doors and saying, did you know that Jesus is this? It means Hey, let me see. You let me persist with you. Let me suffer with you. Let me cry with you. Let me doubt with you. We're afraid. We get afraid that God's so small, we have to argue him into existence. Just be there. When God's in you, all you have to do is be there for people, he'll show up. But you got to push yourself to be there. You got to put yourself in situations where you're willing to love. We're This is what our life should look like. It's what our life should look like. It shouldn't just be about preaching on a Sunday, my primary emphasis I if I could do anything, the highest thing that I love to do, the thing that I love to do more than anything is hope children. If I could just if I could just be around people. It's not just preaching on a Sunday mom, but it's actually helping people in saying the goodness and the healing and the kindness that I have in my life as a result of the goodness he and kindness of my God. There'll be a time when I get to tell you his name, his name is Jesus Christ. You tell me when you're ready, I don't need to push him down your throat. My love is evidence, you'll come to me because you're hurting and you won't find an answer. I guess what I'm trying to say is Jesus never went to these people and pushed himself without having giving them something. If you're going to talk about Jesus with people, then give people something evidence that Jesus is in your life, talk to them about their life. Don't talk to them about religion, talk to them about your life, talk them about your testimony, talk to them about their life, talk to them about their testimony, figure out where they're hurting and where God is going to evidence himself. know people grow in intimacy with people and watch God show up. All right. Not least my I'm almost done. That leads to my third point. My third point is that the gospel is for everyone. The gospel is for everyone. This chapter doesn't seem that radical now. But chapter four is absolutely radical. It's crazy that the Samaritans were reviled by the Jews. They're considered an entirely different religion. They're not even of the same lineage, according to the Jews, so the fact that Jesus is ministering to the Samaritan woman, and bringing her in the fold, when he shouldn't be doing so. Not only that, but the fact that she's a woman which the disciples were shocked about. Not only that, but we don't think much of the Galilean official, but he was most likely from type serious, which was built on a grave, which is an unclean city, so he brought his very residence was unclean. Furthermore, he worked in the court of Herod, and that would have made him reviled by most people as well. So you have to Revival figures here. You have two people who have no business, hearing the Word of God by religious standards. It's easy for us to now say yeah administered to a Samaritan woman to that's easy because we don't have that bias. It's easy to say yeah, admin administer to a Galilean official to, that's easy, because we don't have this bias. All about your homosexual neighbor. What about all the acronyms of the alphabet that make you feel icky? Because the way you were raised? What about all the people that you can't relate to? What about the politically different people in your life? What about the What about the wealthy when you're poor? What about the poor when you're wealthy? What about the people that that revile you? What about the people you were raised? Used to be taught were different from you. I'm realizing that racism exists and permeates itself throughout the church in more ways than we realize. And we might think that chapter four is irrelevant to us in our modern context. But it's not because there's issues of our heart that we all have to work through. There's areas where we feel more comfortable with our own, whether that might be men, or women, or the same color or the same whatever. There's issues where we have to work through because the gospel is for everyone. Not only is it for everyone, but it's specifically for the sick and for the hurting, and it should be your desire to relate to everybody, no matter their station in life. Jesus comes and preaches to an adulterous, a sinner, a Samaritan, almost an entirely different religion with a different Torah. She preached he preaches to a woman, the six hour when nobody was with her Because she was she was shameful. He preaches to the Galilean official. He eats and drinks and goes out with tax collectors and they call him a glutton and a drunkard. They say what kind of Messiah is this? He's our Messiah, and he's for everyone. And the plan of God isn't simply for those that are within this four walls. It's for every single person on the face of the earth. And we have an obligation to have broken hearts when we see their suffering, not simply that they don't proclaim the name Jesus Christ, but the extension of that as their suffering is their brokenness is their destitution and we are the answer to that. I know I'm preaching the truth here. The reason that I know it is because in church what you see is this tendency to separate even cliquishness and church, even intergroup relationships in church. You have this group of people, then this group of people in this group of people in this group of people and then there's the subtle buildup of toxic A city that happens, where they begin to judge each other. We're only they pray more. They'd be like this. Well, if only they did this more. This is the giving group. This is the praying group. These are the prophets. This is the this. These are the servants. These are the God's design for everyone. What are you doing? You're all broken. You're all crippled. You're all laying the ninth and 10th commandment still specifically with our relationship with people and I've been meditating much on the word what it means to covet, because I don't hear it talked about much. And the ninth one is don't bear false witness. And the 10th one is do not cover it and cover it means to desire earnestly. We usually talk about it as though it's the desires other people's stuff. But it's really just to desire earnestly which is interesting, because God puts caution in general on yearning for things that outside of your reach. I'm going to get back to this point here. The reason that that matters, the word Cohmad to desire, the reason that it matters is because we noticed that resentment builds up when things are outside of our reach. When giftings are outside of our reach, there can be this opportunity for covetousness to work in your life, when wealth is outside your reach covenant to work in your life, and how do you respond to that? you respond to that by by focusing on the things that differentiate you. How do you how do you focus? How do you make yourself feel better? When somebody else has more, you got to bring them down Baby, you got to tear them down or show how you're different. You see it in the church all the time. You see it in the world all the time, but we shouldn't see it in the church. That's the problem. And the thing is, is is by bearing false witness, like one of the number one problems that we see in the church is people talking about one another. Sometimes it's presented as pray for so and so because as they're going through this now I will say I talked to my wife some there's times I talked to my wife and I sincerely say, hey Rachel, honey, I really need you to pray for the X y&z because this is happening, all this is happening, but I know that she's not doing it so she can wag her tongue. She's doing it this way she can pray. So I'm not saying you can't do that. But I am saying that the gospel should be causing you to search your own heart, search your own motives and see the areas of your life and why are you carrying this piece of information from one person to another? I know for a fact every single one of us struggle in various ways with being different than other people, thinking that we're better than other people being jealous of other people. It's It's human nature. And we have to realize that not only are all people called to hear the gospel, but all people have a purpose and plan it from God in their life. That includes you wherever you're at right now. That includes you tomorrow. That includes You in 30 years. So hear me, God might want you to be exactly where you are for the rest of your life. When he says do not covet, he does not say just want things to change. Some are just one things that he's saying, as they said in the book of James, before you go to the marketplace, ask if it's the will of God. So we're gonna go sell some things. And James says, That's arrogance. It's sinful and it's evil. That's crazy to think about, which means that God has assigned you specifically to where you are, in order to you fulfill an order for you to fulfill a very specific assignment. And we all want to be the Paul but some of you might be the antonius you hear me? People in the back you're not feeling this way. Let me just let me know you're with me now. And a nice was the one who God spoke to to allow Paul to come to his home after Paul had a vision right And a nice was equally important if it wasn't for Anna nice we wouldn't have the gospel to the Gentiles either. But we always talk about Paul. What I'm trying to say to you is we hear about and is one time. That doesn't diminish his importance and God's plan for things. I might not know your name, but I know your importance. I might not know what you do, but I know what's important to the kingdom of God. I might not know what you have, but you have enough to fulfill God's plan for your life. God will always bless what's in your hand. If it's a prayer, if it's finances, if it's intelligence, if it's the ability to work, if it's the ability to sing, He will bless what's in your hand. You don't need anything outside of it. You are perfect and you are ready to go. The gospel is for everyone. And we must Work with the grace of the Holy Spirit to become more empathetic and to die to ourselves, to kill our ego, to be more and more detached from the things that posture us and build us up, and more and more attached to the kingdom of God. Come on y'all. Mom the back is like nope, nope. Nope. I'm not looking at you guys anymore, staring here. The thing is, is had Jesus followed the predilections of his time he would not have women minister to the woman of some area. Had he followed the path charted by most religious figures, he would have considered the Galilean aristocrat, unclean and avoided him. Instead, he said, No, I have I have a solution. I am the solution. I embody the solution. And I can go anywhere I love one of the things that Gideon always says to me and I love this my friend Gideon says, we were talking about atmospheres and environments and he says, I don't worry about atmospheres and environments. Like I don't worry about it. He's like bad environment, good environment, witchcraft, no witchcraft worship, no worship by these, like, I don't worry about atmospheres. He said, I carry the atmosphere. Said I carry it in me. He said, If the atmosphere is messed up, I'm bringing the change. I'm going to make it right. And that redemptive mindset is what we have. Yes, people are broken. Yes, they're different. Yes, they're imperfect. Yes, there's all these things that you can look at and measure with your mind. But God has put something inside of you to transform and provide whatever they need. You owe it to the people that are different from you, to love them. You owe it to God, not to them. All right. Thanks. That's enough on that subject. But seriously, let us let us do an analysis of our hearts and see where it is that we lack empathy. I'll put it like that. I noticed political divisions, Republican churches, democratic churches, you have a situation and then you have a situation. Where were you believe that a certain politician is doing the work of the Lord, then some people either reject that entirely, or they embrace it entirely and then begin to idolize the politician as though they were the Lord. When you walk in the faith, you can recognize when God is doing something through somebody without with while simultaneously recognizing that that person is not God. We're not called to idolize Peter, and Paul and john We're called to idolize Jesus. We should have this ability to walk through life and see where God is moving without all the sudden worshipping the movers. I pray that God uses me to speak to an entire generation of people and do so much I pray that that's the case, but it has nothing to do with me. I am as much a loser now as I was 10 years ago. I'm not very impressive. With God in my life, God in my life is we have to watch these areas where we grow an affinity and we get in our social circles, and then we settle. And anybody outside of that is not part of us. And therefore when God is doing something we go up to the person doing and say, Why are you talking to that person? You hear me, as the disciples did to Jesus. You have a responsibility to recognize that all brokenness, all pain, all hurt is a result of the sin condition that we're all a part of, and that we've all experienced, and the same healing. The only thing the same healing that you experienced when God does touch a part of your body or touch a part of your heart is the healing that you must extend to others regardless of how they present themselves, regardless of their political affiliation, regardless of their race, their sexuality, anything else that might separate you from them. All right. Finally, what I like about this passage is that we see how faith works. We see how faith works. And this is cool, and I touched on this a little bit at the beginning, but I like this I like I like where I'm at in life mom, because I can just be kind of honest, I have nothing to lose, I have nothing to gain. And it's exciting. It's freeing. And so and so the reason I say that is because I was thinking a lot about this passage when it comes to faith. I think what I'm about to say, is not typical for most pastors, but I think it's important. First, let's analyze this interaction real quick, between Jesus and the Galilean servant. Jesus says to him, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe the official said to him, Sir, come down before my child dies. I love that I really do. Jesus said to him, Go, your son will live. The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and then went on his way. You go on to see at verse 53, it's not our verse 52 that it's not until they tell him the hour his son was healed. And in verse 53, he says, the father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, your son will live and then he himself leaved. And it's also believed. So you have two beliefs here. You have two beliefs happening. First, this guy believes in Christ's word, without believing in Christ. This is interesting. This is just a nugget of faith. This is just a little bit of faith. And this is really telling to our lives. Because we are all or nothing people most the time. We believe that you have to trust everything that says about you are nothing but the reality is that our heart struggles with certain things that this word says about our lives. We might believe that, that God can bless us, but we're not sure that if he loves us, or we have the ability to call them Father, we might believe that we can call them father but we're not sure if he has the ability to heal us. There might be things in our heart where we have a partial faith, and the thing that's encouraging about that is God will meet you nonetheless, which is the opposite of what we're taught most of the time. See, about 70% of the time that I pray for people with major diseases or stuff, they die or they don't get healed. Like, I would say, probably 70% of the time, I'm just throwing it out there. And that sounds like well, you know, it's like there's something we don't talk about in church, it's become taboo to say, like, yeah, I prayed for this person with cancer and they die. And what I've heard often is that you didn't have enough faith, or your faith didn't match theirs, or they didn't have enough faith, or those this whole faith metric that didn't get reached, and you're like, Where are you pulling this from biblical? Well, you know, faith is a mustard seed. And therefore, if your faith was just a little bit, they would have been healed. And if their faith your two mustard seeds would have grown a healing tree and a healing tree would. And I'm like, Nah, man, I've pretty much believed. I believed. I believed that I was going to see this Person healed. Like I believe, I know. They sure were hoping for it. I don't know what's happening here. I believe that I would assume to see this person walk again. I'd say 70% of the time, I'm disappointed and I've had to wrestle with that, especially as a minister I will say 30% of the time I'm blown away. That 30% of the time makes every prayer worth it that 30% of the time. And what I see here is that there are some mysteries and I know this can sound like a cop out. There are some mysteries that we won't fully understand. But I think that we have an obligation to press in on the area of faith and hold God to the fullness of his word, no matter what. I think a healthy irreverence is necessary. I mean, your religious sensibilities, meaning like wrestling with God, as Jacob wrestled, I mean, petitioning and arguing with God as lot and Abraham Abraham argues for a lot. I mean, you have to be able to wrestle with God say, God, You know what, I want to see more evidence of you These people's lives, I want to see more evidence of you and your healing power, and so and so's live, I think we should walk with the fullness of expectation to save this is going to happen even until the day they pull the plug. And when it doesn't, you have to move on. You have to move on with the heart full of faith. Hear me, because there's going to be times that your expectation is not met. There's going to be time that your heart is broken in situations that you don't understand why God didn't respond. What I'm telling you and what I think we have to begin to resolve is that the will of God begins to operate in other areas down the line, if something doesn't happen, this is where faith comes in. Ready? Hebrews 11 one says what? that faith is what the assurance of my Version says the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So when we talk about even this Galileans faith, we talked about the faith of our prayers in general, we talked about our friends Faith in general, the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. We have a surety that's rooted in hope. I love that because even that is riddled with uncertainty. It's riddled with a what if it's riddled with a maybe it's just a possibility. Hope is not a promise. It's a possibility. But God will take that possibility and say, anchor yourself to it. And I will show up. What I love about this Galilean man is that his faith was a hope that his son would be healed. I don't know who this guy is. I just know that he's performing miracles. I don't know if he's the Messiah. I don't know about the Jews in their religion. All I know is that my son is sick. And he says, unless you see signs, you're not gonna believe I don't even know what that means, man, my son is dying. Go, he will be healed. He believed his word. What does that mean that he believed his word. That mean he was like, Ah, it's done and blah, blah, blah and was cocky and went worship was just like, knew it was going to happen. Mentally he had this assurance of hope that there was a man Who was doing miracles, and he had to pray one of those miracles was for his son. And he had this surety somewhere deep inside of them, he held on to the hope and the conviction that even though the evidence is not there, yet it will come to pass. And his son is healed. And then he believes who Jesus is. What I'm trying to tell you, is that you will grow in faith even in the face of disappointment, if you recognize what faith is. If you're not so short sighted, as to think that God has abandoned you, in your situation, when a loved one dies, then you'll recognize that God is setting up generations of deliverance to what he's going to do next. If you think in terms of your life alone, then your faith will disappoint you. I'm telling you, your faith will disappoint you. But if you begin to think in terms of generations, all the time if you think God did not hear you or respond to your call, he was working a Greater plan that you could not conceive. So how does your faith manifest? How does your faith manifest in the midst of pain in the midst of disappointment in the midst of discouragement and assurance of hope that this is the same God who turns all things for good, no matter what happens in our lives, that this is the God that even when we're destitute, and the thing that we've been praying about over and over and over, that just needs a little bit of your assurance and hope in his nature and his character and who he is that he's a God that will respond to you. And when he doesn't do it in one area of your life, you better be sure he's going to answer and another that you weren't even anticipating. Now I know that that's not something that a lot of people want to hear. But I don't care. I know that you guys don't like hearing like you're not going to applaud them like yeah, 70% of people with cancer I pray for died. Like what's up some applause line. It's not exciting, but it's the truth. We can either choose to start talking about the things and reality with the Bible or we can choose to ignore it. because let me tell you why I have an assurance of hope. When I seen people who were brain dead, they said, I don't have a chance come back. When I've seen a fetus and a miscarriage with the doctor said, You bled it out. And then the next time the other doctor came and said, I don't know what they're talking about your baby's fine. But when I've seen these things that were purely miraculous, I have an assurance that there is a God who is capable of doing a radical things. I have the assurance of hope, that I might have seen people die when I pray for them. But I'm also going to see people live at some point when I pray for them. I have this assurance of hope, that no matter that a loved one of mine died at the age of 17, that there's still a promise that God has through her lineage and her family I have an assurance of hope that my God is a good God, that my god is a powerful God that my God is a God that hears me that my God is a God that cares about me. My God is a God, that war flesh wears flesh so that he can feel our pain and experience our sufferings. He is not a God that is foreign to those things. He's a God that understands those things. And I know he's a God that will respond. And so I might have faith of varying degrees at varying moments. But that's a faith that regardless of circumstances can grow when you press into the promise of his word. I believed in his word that I believed in him, sometimes we have to believe in Him to believe in His Word. Sometimes, His Word will say one thing that we're not experiencing in our life. And so we have to remember the character of Jesus to believe in His Word. It's good to have faith in His Word to believe in him. It's good to have an area of your life where God responds to you so that you have evidence of and fruit to believe in him, but sometimes You just have to remember the times that he has respond to you when he's not responding to you so that you can move forward and the character of who he is. And this is where a contrite heart and and a humble spirit matters. It matters because your ability to detach yourself from your plans and your design and your expectations and invite God's into your life is what matters most. God does answer prayers. He does work miracles. He does do astonishing things, and he will do astonishing things in your life and your faith is sufficient. Don't let any preacher tell you when you have an unanswered prayer that you lack faith. You don't like faith. We lack an understanding of God's sovereign plan.