The Glory: Prepare the Way

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Week number four in our series that's entitled

The Glory. Everybody say the glory. Let's start

with Moses. He had spent at least 40 days, at

least a couple of times on Mount Sinai, spending

time with God. After he came down, they had had

time to build the tabernacle, the tent, that

they went for the next 40 years. They had it

with them in the wilderness. And as they were

getting ready to leave, to head to the promised

land, which really should have just been about

five or six days from that point, I would think.

It wound up being 40 years. It wasn't God's fault

that it wound up being 40 years. But before they

leave, Moses talks to God and he says this. He

says, God, your presence among us. sets your

people and me apart from all other people on

the earth. I've read that story a lot. You know,

because Moses says to God, if you're not going

with us, don't send us up from here. That's how

important it was for him. He didn't want to just

visit God at Mount Sinai. He wanted God to be

with him. Just like we just shouldn't want to

visit God at church. but have God with us, right?

But I'd never noticed this verse until we, like

we're working on the first week of this series.

Because in the New Testament, we talk about it

a lot, right? We talk about, they will know that

we are Christ's followers. They will know that

we are Christians by what? Who remembers? By

our love. Everybody say love. But here, We find

out that they don't only know that we are Christians

by our love. They also can recognize that we

are God's people by his presence. Everybody say

his presence. He says, your presence among us,

God. Says your people and me apart from all other

people on earth. So God's presence sets us apart.

And then a few verses later, Moses is talking

with God. He's still talking with God. And he

says this, God, show me your glory. Show me your

glory. Show me your glorious presence. Show me

your glorious presence. Now that word glory in

the Hebrew is kabod. Here's what it means. It

means wait. And this version of the word is used

figuratively in a good sense. It's always good.

Now, there is a version of the word that can

be good or bad, but this version of the Hebrew

word is always talking about wait in a good sense.

And I don't know if you've encountered it or

not, but the encounters I've had with the manifested

presence of God, I could almost always say that

it seems like there's a weight that I can sense

it. I can sense His presence. And it's like a

weight. The word is translated glory, splendor,

honor. Same word can be translated in English

in either one of those. So, here Moses is saying,

God, show me your glory. Let me experience your

glorious presence. Do you think that he had experienced

it before? I mean, obviously, if he spent 40

days on the top of the mountain with God, just

him and God, 40 days at least a couple of times.

Do you think he's experienced the presence of

God? Somebody say yes. Right? And then, as we're

talking about the presence and the glory of God,

we need to recognize that Moses didn't ask for

anything personally at this time. When he was

talking to God, he didn't ask that things would

get better. My circumstances will get better.

God, you know these people are pretty rebellious.

You know they're rebellious. God, could you make

them a little bit less rebellious? Could you

make this trip a little easier? Is that what

we normally say when we're talking to God? Come

on. God, you know, everything's just falling

apart. God, I... Can you fix it? Fix it for me.

My husband or my wife, they're rebellious. God,

can you fix it? That's bad. I shouldn't have

said that. Moses didn't cry out to God for better

circumstances. That everything would go his way

a little bit more. He was hungry for God's presence.

He was hungry for God's presence because he had

experienced God's presence. And you know, when

we encounter the presence of God, God's goodness

flows in his presence. So we can pray to experience

his goodness. Or we can pray to experience his

presence. And when we encounter his presence,

his goodness is automatically going to flow.

Let's go over to Psalm 63, verses 1 and 2. This

Psalms 63:1

is David. Everybody say David. The only person

that God called a man after his own heart. This

is David's prayer to God. Oh God, you are my

God. At this time, he was in a wilderness and

it wasn't a great day. He had some pretty great

days, but this wasn't one of them. He's in the

wilderness. Oh God. Not a, oh God. He says, oh

God, you are my God. I earnestly, wholeheartedly

search for you, seek you. My soul, my thoughts,

my desires, my emotions, my soul thirsts for

you. My whole body longs for you in this parched,

and weary land where there's no water. Has anybody

experienced a day that you would say, oh, it's

like parched and weary land today? Anybody? I

think most of you would agree that there's some

days that you might feel like that. Where there's

no refreshing, no water. What's he doing? He's

declaring to God that, God, I want you. He's

not praying, God, give me water. God, don't let

it be so hot or don't let it be so cold. That

was a joke. You didn't laugh that time. If my

fingers are cold, I know you're probably cold.

But I am still sweating, Riley. I am still sweating.

But my fingers aren't sweating. What did David

say? He says, I have seen you in your sanctuary.

Everybody say the presence of God. I've seen

you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power

and glory. Your presence. David was hungry. Why

was David hungry? Well, because he had seen something.

He was crying out to God because he had experienced

the presence of God before, and now he finds

himself in a place that's not the most comfortable

place, but now he wants the presence of God in

that place. Because he'd seen it. He'd experienced

it before. I've seen you in your sanctuary. So

what is the glory? I kind of already told you.

It's the manifest presence of God. It's the weight

of who he is. It's his goodness revealed. It's

his reality made known. That's what the glory

is. And you might say, well, Dean, you know,

God is omnipresent. Do you not know that? I mean,

you've got a master's degree in theology. Don't

you know that God is omnipresent? Yeah, I know

God's omnipresent. But I've also read some verses.

I've read some other verses that let me know

something. I've read some verses that let me

know that even though God is everywhere all the

time, there's sometimes when He's more here.

If not, the Bible wouldn't say, where two or

three are gathered together in His name, then

He is here. The Bible wouldn't say, you are the

temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit.

God is in you. So the more of us that show up,

the more of God that's in the room. The more

we lift up the name of Jesus together and worship

him, the more he is in the room, his manifested

presence. Not just his promised presence. This

was two weeks ago. Ephesians 5, 25. This is all

recap, just getting us all up to speed with some

new thoughts attached. Christ loved the church.

Not a building, not an organization. That word

church is a compound Greek word that means called

out once. Christ loved the church. He gave up

his life for her. To make her holy. Which means

set apart. And clean. Washed by the cleansing

of God's word. He did this. Why did he do it?

To present her. The called out ones. To himself.

As a glorious church. Glorious church. So that

word glorious. New Testament is endoxos. You

say it. It means in. The E -N always means in

in English. In glory. Everybody say in glory.

So Jesus wants his church to be a church that

is in glory. You might say, well, this is a Greek

word instead of a Hebrew word. Well, glory, the

word is doxa. And guess what? It means glory,

splendor, and honor. It also means worship. It

also means worship. But it means worship because

you are... You are in reverence of and you're

honoring the glory and the splendor and the presence

of God. So you can use that word to mean those

things. Just like the word Hosanna means save

us now, but we can use that word as worship because

you're saying you have saved us, right? So we

can use the word doxa, we can use the word glory

to be a praise unto God because he is here. Right?

When you say glory, as a word of worship or a

word of praise, you're saying, God, I acknowledge

that you are here. And you, I honor your weightiness.

your essence, your presence. That Greek word,

if you do a word study, it corresponds to the

Old Testament word. It's not a completely different

word. It corresponds to that Old Testament word.

Both terms convey God's infinite, intrinsic worth,

His substance, and His essence. Both words. And

again, Jesus is coming for a glorious church.

So he's coming for called out ones in his glory.

His manifest essence, presence, and goodness.

People who are encountering God. Not just encountering

religion, but encountering God. This is last

week. Caught you up a little bit on two weeks.

Here's week number three. To them, God willed

to make known what are the riches of the glory

of this mystery among the Gentiles. That's us,

unless we're Jews. To them, God willed to make

known what are the riches of the... Everybody

say glory. Riches of the glory of this mystery

among the Gentiles. And here's the mystery. Christ

in you. Christ in you. Jesus is seated at the

right hand of the Father in heaven, but he's

also in us. In us. So we are here, but we're

also somewhere else if we're in Christ. We're

seated with Christ in heavenly places. So we

can be here and in heaven at the same time. Look

at the person beside you and say, that's not

too freaky. That's not too freaky. So Jesus is

seated at the right hand of the Father, but He's

also in you. If you are in Him, He is in you.

And what does that mean? What does that give

us? The hope of glory. How many times do we just

read this word glory all through the Bible and

we really don't even think about what it means

or what it's saying? How many times have I read

a verse that had glory in it and I was just like,

well, that's just, it's just a filler word. Hello?

Come on. I know you've always, every time you've

seen the word of glory, you've thought about

the manifest presence of God and His splendor

and His honor and glory. I know every time you've

read it, you've thought that, but I have to be

honest, I have not. And God wills to make known

to you the riches of the glory of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. If

you've been in Lathian church much, you should

know what the word hope means. In the Bible,

it doesn't mean hope, so hope. It doesn't mean

like, I hope it don't rain at one o 'clock because

I don't want to get soaking wet more than once

today. I plan on getting soaking wet one time

today. But it's not a hope so hope. Every time

you read hope in the New Testament, it means

a confident expectation and you can anticipate

with pleasure. That's what the word means. So

Christ in you is the hope of glory. Christ in

you is the confident expectation. You can have

a confident expectation of experiencing the manifested

presence and the goodness of God. Because when

Moses said, God, show me your glory, what did

God say? He says, I'm going to hide you, and

then I'm going to go by. My goodness is going

to pass by you, is what God told him. So Christ

in us gives us, if we understand the Bible, if

we understand Scripture, Christ in us gives us

a confident expectation of experiencing the manifested

presence of God and the goodness of God. He's

in us. And if He's good, we are experiencing

His goodness. If we're acknowledging Him and

acknowledging His presence, If we stand in a

hope of experiencing his glory, Christ in you

is the hope of glory. If I was cold, I would

have got up and ran right then. So where is the

glory? Where is it at? Keep talking about it.

Where is it? In the old covenant, God told his

people that he would meet them. above the mercy

seat. The mercy seat was the angels on top of

the Ark of the Covenant, and right in between

that was the mercy seat. And God's glory, he

says, I'll meet you. That's where I'll meet you.

So God's glory on earth was manifested with the

Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant

just couldn't be carried by anybody. It had to

be carried by priests under God's design. and

it was kept in the Holy of Holies. And after

this time in the wilderness, it wound up just

being in the Holy of Holies, and only one priest

could go, and in the temple, it moved to the

temple, only one priest could go one day of the

year to meet with God. To carry the blood for

the mercy seat. I'm glad it's not like that anymore.

Who's glad it's not like that anymore? We got

to have one person born with a certain lineage.

Who can just go once a year to represent us before

God. I'm glad it's not like that. Because now

we're under a new covenant. Listen, God's glory,

Christ in you, the hope of glory. God's coming

for a glorious church. God's glory manifests

in and through his people. Since Christ is in

you. and you're in Christ, you can carry the

connection to God's presence everywhere you go.

We have access to His goodness and His power.

And it's not just the preacher, it's everybody

who's in Christ. And Christ is in them. I don't

know why so many people think that it's just

the preacher. When they need God, they call the

preacher. I don't mind you calling me. Sometimes

it seems like it's set up that way. You know,

if you need God, go see the preacher. If you

need God, get the preacher to pray. I've hit

on this once when we were talking about prayer,

but it's like every time I go out to eat, everybody

looks at the preacher, the professional prayer,

like I'm the only one that can talk to God. It's

not the way it works. Not the way it works. Each

one of us can be as close to God as we want to

be. I'll go ahead and throw this out there. Each

one of us is already as close to God as you want

to be. That's hard preaching. It's good preaching.

See, God pours out his glory. He doesn't just

pick a spot on the map and say, I'm going to

pour out my glory right there. No, it's not the

way it works. God pours out his glory among his

people, and he displays his glory through his

people. Back in the 80s, some of you aren't that

old. Back in the 80s, we would go to church.

Sometimes there was a fight to get to the front,

not a fight to get to the back seat. You're there

today, right? But in the 80s, it was like a fight

to get to the front row. It was a season because

this was a saying. I want to be near the spout

where the glory comes out. So has anybody ever

heard that phrase before? Just me and Irv. We're

the only ones who've ever heard it. So instead

of a fight to get there early enough to get the

back seat, people want it down front. They call

that the spout where the glory comes out. And

I'll just throw it out. I mean, if you sit in

the back, every person in front of you is a potential

distraction to pull your mind away. So I think

that had more to do with it. But the spout where

the glory comes out. John 7, 37. This is Jesus

talking. He says, anyone who is thirsty may come

to me. Anyone who believes in me may come and

drink. Tell the person beside you to say, drink

up. Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone

who believes in me may come and drink. For the

scriptures declare, rivers of living water will

flow from his heart. Rivers of living water will

flow from his heart. We did a whole series, I

don't know, a couple of years ago based on this

verse. And here's what we discovered. Followers

of Christ should have a flow. Followers of Christ

should have a flow of living water. If we are

connected to God like we're supposed to be, when

we walk in a room like it's available, let's

just say, if we are connected to God like it's

available to us, when we walk in the room, living

water is supposed to just be flowing out of us.

The whole atmosphere of the room should change

when we walk in. Because God's goodness, And

God's life and God's love and God's peace should

be flowing. It should be a river, not a trickle,

but a river flowing out of us. When he said living

water, he was speaking of the spirit who would

be given to everyone believing in him. So God

is in us, but God is not in us. just for our

personal benefit. Most of us, when we look to

God, we say, God, thank you for all you've done.

Thank you for all you're doing. God, thank you

for being for me. God, thank you. And it's just

all about what we can get out of God in this

relationship. I mean, that might be the way we

start. But that shouldn't be the life of a mature

follower of Christ. God should be flowing through

us. Rivers of living water. If it's not, if rivers

of living water are not flowing out of us, it's

not God's fault. It's just that we're not. You

know, we're not serious about it. We're more

serious about everything around us than we are

God. If rivers of living water aren't flowing

out of us. I don't normally preach this hard.

Please come back if you're a first time visitor.

God's glory flows among his people when they

prepare the way for God. That's when the flow

happens. It happens when we prepare the way.

And God wants us to prepare the way. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:6

4, verse 6 and 7. For God who said, let there

be light in darkness. Light be, is what he said.

Same God. Same God who said, Let there be light

in darkness. That's how we can see because there's

light. He has made this light, his light, shine

in our hearts. So we could know what? The glory.

The glory of God. So we can know it. So we can

know the glory of God, the manifested presence

of God, the goodness of God, the essence of God.

He made His light shine in our hearts so we could

know the glory of God that is seen in the face

of Jesus Christ. Last week we talked about Stephen's

face looking like an angel. And it freaked everybody

out. Because the glory of God, just like Moses,

the glory of God was imprinted on his face. Now

with Stephen, the glory of God's coming out of

his face. It didn't come on his face, it came

out of his face. Hello? And God wants his glory

to be seen. Not just by you individually. Because

glory even needs to be seen by the world. Verse

7. We now have this light shining in our hearts.

It's in your heart. It's in your spirit. This

word heart is the core. So we're spirit beings,

right? So now we have this light shining in our

spirit. The same light that God said. Light be,

and there's light in the earth. Same light that

radiates. You know what? There's no sun in heaven

because God is the light. His glory is the light.

We have this light shining in our hearts, but

we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing

this great treasure. This makes it clear. It's

not our glory. It's not our light. This makes

it clear that our great power... Wait a minute.

Is there great power of God's goodness flowing

out of you? Sometimes I... When I'm reading the

Bible, I'm just saying, God, we're so far from

this. We're so far from what you're saying. Why

are we so far away? This makes it clear that

our great power is not our great power. Our great

power is from God, not from ourselves. We're

supposed to be powerful, not pitiful. We are

the conduit. We are the vessel. We are the lamp.

God is the fire, right? But we're the lamp. We're

the vessel. We're the fragile clay pot. So we

need to have a shift in posture. From... Lord,

send your glory. Because that could be our prayer

as we talk about the glory. Our prayer could

be, Lord, send your glory. Send your glory. God,

we want to see your glory. Kind of like Moses.

God, show me your glory. Send your glory. But

under the new covenant, there's a shift. I hate

to use that word paradigm shift because it was

overused for so long, right? We need to shift.

It needs to be, Lord, let your glory flow through

me. Jesus, you are in me. So I have hope of your

glory. And God, I want your glory to flow through

me. Not just for my enjoyment. For your kingdom.

So how is the flow going to be opened or the

flow going to be increased in our lives? We've

looked at this verse already in this series,

but I'm just going to keep putting it out there.

Psalm 145, 11, they will speak of the glory of

your kingdom. They will give examples of your

power. Look to the person beside you and say,

the they is you and me. The they is you and me.

Doesn't sound like good English, but we'll go

with it. The they is you and me. They will speak

of your glory. They will speak of your kingdom.

They will give examples of your power. Our lives

should be examples of the power of God. And when

our lives become the examples of the power of

God, then we can testify of the goodness of God.

Let me tell you something. I used to be here,

but I'm not there anymore. Because I've encountered

God. And God's made a difference. Can you point

to your life and say, you know, I used to be

here, but now I'm here, and it's all because

of God. There's power in your testimony. When

we declare God's goodness, your mouth is part

of what prepares the way for the glory of God.

A silent believer... Oh, we're not silent. We

just don't talk about the glory of God and talk

about giving our testimonies, right? We talk

a lot. But a silent believer... is a closed spout,

like the spout where the glory comes out. A silent

believer, the spout's closed. You're not going

to experience it. Nobody's going to experience

the glory of God around you if you don't open

your mouth. A negative believer, somebody who's

just talking negative all the time, is a clogged

spout. Glory of God's not going to flow through

a negative mouth. It's not going to happen. Will

not happen. Your mouth may not be negative at

church. But how's your mouth the rest of the

week? The glory of God is not going to flow when

our mouths are just speaking negative all the

time. But when our mouths are talking about the

glory of God, the goodness of God, when we're

testifying to the power of God, then our mouths

are praise -filled, and that's an open spout

to see the glory of God. Let's go to the Old

Testament, even though we're in the New Testament.

I'm going to the New Testament after I read this

Old Testament verse. And one cried to another.

And said, holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Actually,

the is are in italics, so they're not there.

Holy, holy, holy, the Lord of hosts. The whole

earth full of his glory. And in this atmosphere,

what happened? The posts of the door were shaken

by the voice of him who cried out and the house

was filled with smoke or a mist. Oh God, let

us see it. Let's go to another. Familiar story

if you spent most time in church. Acts 16, I'm

not going to go through the whole story, verses

25 and 26. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were

praying and singing hymns to God. Now listen,

they were having a rough day, to say the least.

They had been arrested. They had been beaten

with rods. They were in the innermost part of

the prison, which would have been the dirtiest,

mustiest, nastiest place in the prison. They

were chained. How many of you would say that'd

be a pretty bad day? You agree with me, right?

That'd be a bad day. Your back's bleeding. You

got welts all over your back. Your back's bleeding.

If we were there, we'd probably be saying, I

can't believe God let this happen to me. This

is terrible. My back is killing me. All we were

doing was trying to help a lady. Tell you what,

if this is what God's going to give me for living

for Him and serving Him, I just don't know how

much more I can take. Would you blame them if

that's what they've been saying? Would you blame

them? Or would you join in with them? It's not

what they did. Around midnight, Paul and Silas

were praying and singing. They weren't focused

on their miserable day. Hello? How often do we

focus on our miserable day? This is a terrible

day. I hate this day. I can't wait for this day

to be over. I'm so glad it's over. Now I can

go to sleep and pray that God will give me a

better day tomorrow. I can't believe my day went

like this. Nope. They were praying and singing.

And you know what? All the other prisoners were

listening to him. People around you are listening

to your voice. They're listening. They're listening.

Your co -workers are listening. Your boss is

listening. Your employees are listening. Your

family is listening. Everybody is listening.

Everybody's listening. What's coming out? They

were listening. It doesn't say that they were

praying and singing too. I have a feeling they

were about to get really happy. Paul and Silas

were praying and singing. How would our lives

change if we were in a difficult situation and

we started praying and singing? Declaring heavenly

realities. I'm not talking about begging God.

I'm talking about putting your words in agreement

with what God has said and standing up and declaring

heavenly realities. Let it be in my life today

like it is in heaven. How much would our life

change? Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake.

And the prison was shaken to its foundations.

Kind of sounds like what was happening in that

other verse I just read, right? Praise is going

up. All of a sudden, doorposts begin to shake.

Now the prison's shaking. You know why? The other

time, it was in the temple where God's presence

could be displayed. Now it's in the prison and

it's in Paul and Silas and the presence of God

can be displayed in the prison. I wish that was

in my notes. I hope somebody wrote that down

because I need to remember that. The prison was

shaken to its foundations. It's going to be on

the podcast. I'll listen to it about five or

six times. all the doors immediately flew open

and the chains of every prisoner fell off. When

the manifested presence of God shows up, your

problem, your situation, your prison won't be

able to hold it. The manifested presence of God

brings freedom. It brings deliverance. It brings

the goodness of God. The glory. So if we want

to encounter the glory, worship prepares the

way. Worship prepares the way. The pattern in

scripture is we declare his holiness, glory comes.

We honor his presence and glory comes. We magnify

his name. We lift up the name of Jesus and glory

comes. So many times when we talk about praise

and worship now in our society, it's like, oh,

that's that style of music. I better turn on

Christian radio and listen to some praise and

worship. Worship isn't a music style. Genuine

worship is engagement with heaven. Engagement

with heaven. but I can't stand it. Our acknowledgement

prepares the way. Acknowledgement. You've got

to acknowledge His Word and acknowledge what's

available and acknowledge His presence. I would

always tell teenagers when we were doing our

conference, I would tell them, I would say, look,

everybody says that they've kicked God out of

school. Talking to 1 ,800, 1 ,900 teenagers.

You know, it's like they kick God out of school.

I don't want God in school. And I would say,

listen to me. When you walk in the door, you

hit that bar and push that door open and you

make a bold declaration. God is here. I don't

care if it's a Christian school or a secular

school, a public school. I don't even care. When

you walk in the door, God's here because Christ

is in you. You can't walk in without Him. When

you go to work, God is here. God is here. We've

got to have that realization. And we've got to

acknowledge that. That wherever we go, God is

here. More than He was before we got there. Surrender

it. prepares the way for the glory of God. Surrender.

God, use me. What would it be like if every day

this was part of your prayer talking to God?

What if you said, God, use me today? I don't

know what I'm going to face. I don't know who

I'm going to encounter. I don't know the situations

that I'm going to run into in this fallen world.

but God used me today. How much more would we

see the glory of God and the goodness of God

if we just yielded ourselves to Him and said,

use me. God, flow through me. God, speak through

me. God, move through me. God, most days I'm

just concerned about my way, but today... I want

your way more than I want my way. God, use me.

I bet it would change your day. I wish that I

had more time than the little bit of time I had

this morning. But this was late on my heart this

morning. Revivals and awakenings. You know, we

got the Great Awakening, the Second Awakening,

and all this stuff in the history of our nation.

Revivals. Revivals and awakenings are not just

God just saying, I'm just going to pick a spot

anywhere on the globe and there's going to be

a revival or awakening. It's not the way it works.

Every single one of them have, begun with God's

people seeking Him. And if they last any amount

of time, they're sustained by the manifested

presence of God and the glory of God. I'll never

forget, just outside of Columbia, South Carolina,

we went and did a school assembly. You know,

we've done a lot of school assemblies. Over the

years, 21 years on the road, did a lot of things

like this, but I'll never forget this one day

because we did a school assembly. This happened

to be at a Christian school, but how many of

you know Christian schools sometimes have situations?

Anybody know what I'm talking about? There's

been known to be drug dealers going to Christian

schools and people who get kicked out, the meanest

kids who get kicked out of public school wound

up going to a Christian school. So a Christian

school doesn't mean that everybody's a Christian.

But we did an assembly at this school just outside

of Columbia. And I want to tell you something.

The manifest presence of God was thick. And it's

like we went over the time, which that makes

teachers nervous. Because they've got lesson

plans and they're supposed to stay. But it's

like, even after the program was finished, nobody

wanted to leave. Because they were experiencing

the manifested presence of God. It wasn't that

people were up there continuing to talk. It's

just like there was a holy presence in the room

and nobody wanted to leave, not even the kids.

And finally, You know, it's like, okay, everybody

go back to class. You know, just kind of probably

shouldn't have broke it, but we tried to break

it and everybody went to class. But as we were

taking down the sound system and stuff like that,

kids just started walking back in. Teachers began

to recognize that God wasn't done. And it wasn't

like a whole class where the teacher marched

the whole class back. Just one kid, kid from

another room that didn't even see that other

kid come. They just all came back. And they stayed.

No music playing, nobody talking. Those kids

recognized the manifest presence of God. And

they stayed. There were times in our conference.

I talk about having the big God conference in

Myrtle Beach. And there were times in our conference

that the glory of God filled the room. And there's

1 ,800 teenagers in the room. And for 20 or 30

minutes, nobody says a word. Do you think I could

make 18, 1900 teenagers not say anything if they're

in a room with nothing going on? I mean, is that

even possible? It happened. It happened. I was

able to visit Brownsville and Pensacola, Florida.

Millions of people came from around the world.

What started is just like a Sunday through Wednesday

visiting preacher coming in. It lasted for five

years. It's hard enough to get people to come

to church on Sunday morning. But people came.

At least six days a week. I think they started

not coming on Saturday after a while. People

are coming. That church was packed. Packed. If

I said we were going to have a prayer meeting

tonight, I don't know if this many people would

show up. Right? I was able to visit. And listen,

as soon as I walked in that sanctuary, I can't

say that I agree with, you know, you can find.

I'm not supposed to say that word. You can find

ignorant comments if you search hard enough.

I mean, the newspaper was out to destroy the

pastor and the evangelist. I mean, they just,

media was trying its best to shut it down, especially

the main newspaper in Pensacola. I mean, they

were trying their best to shut it down. It lasted

for five years. Church packed. Six days a week

for five years. But it didn't just happen because

God said, I'm going to do that. Watch this. It

happened because God's people were seeking him.

And it was sustained by his glory. Asbury Park

is another place where that's happened in our...

In our lives. Most of our lives. Some of us were

born after that. It was a school. It was a college.

And, you know, they had to shut down classes.

Because people just wanted to linger in the presence

of God. There, there wasn't even a preacher who

preached every day. It's just... God would lay

it on people's hearts to get up to the microphone

and say something. They were there. I can't remember

how long it was. Somebody could probably Google

it and tell me. I know it was a long time. They

were there 24 hours a day, seven days a week

for a long time. I'm going to tell you something.

If it happened there, it can happen anywhere.

You are God's vessel. You are His lamp. You are

His carrier. Christ in you, you're in him. You,

quote unquote, are the spout. It's not going

to happen. You're not going to experience it.

Just by chance. The world, this generation, Four

Corners, we don't need more theories, more religious

theories. Need more opinions. We don't need more

entertainment. We don't need more hype. That's

not what we need. People need to encounter God.

We're not waiting on a cloud. God's waiting on

us. He's waiting on us. This online worship experience

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