Sermon
Light makes darkness obvious
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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But Satan himself strains and struggles under great
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limitations. One of the strengths of this
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house is worship. It just is.
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You do the priestly so well, and the priestly always goes 1st and
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then the kingly. Judah always went first into
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battle. And when Judah went first they
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paved the way for victory in battle.
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The priestly always happens before the kingly.
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And as Pastor Dave said about authority, authority is in the
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that part of who God says we are by identity as both priests and
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kings unto Him. And not to preach on authority,
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but just as to give you a little encouragement, we all through
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Jesus blood and name have a first level general, general
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authority in his name through his blood.
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Amen. And then there there are other
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layers of authority. I like to call the next layer
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authority by assignment or authority by mission.
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There's a Bible word metron, which means measured out place
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or metered out place. Literally it means this.
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So when God gives you something to do for Him, He will measure
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out a jurisdictional level of authority from where you are now
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to where you complete that assignment.
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And that is another layer of authority, and it's operational
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authority. So we have a general authority
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that we all have in Jesus through His name and by his
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blood, Amen. But we also all walk in
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assignments from the Lord. All of us are men and women on a
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mission, and he gives us operational authority or
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jurisdictional authority that extends all the way to the
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completion of your assignment and mission.
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That's very important to understand that there's a
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military term that is said in the Pentagon.
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From what I'm told there is that there's a concept in military
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called inherited authority. An inherited authority simply
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means this, that if you are a captain in one of the branches
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of service, let's say in the Army and and you work at the
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Pentagon for let's say a four-star general, and that
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four-star general sends you down the hall to deliver some
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classified information to another general.
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Then when you leave that office of the general you work for, you
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then operate under what's called an inherited authority of that
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general's 4 four-star rank until you finish delivering those
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papers and come back and report that that your task was
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completed. And then you go back into, if
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you're a captain, back to the captain rank.
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So there's a technical part that anyone that is sent by a
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superior officer is operating under an inherited authority of
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the one who sent you. And then in Matthew 28, Jesus
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said all authority has been given unto me in heaven and in
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earth. So he was making a declaration
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that he had been given all authority in all realms of
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existence. And then he said, therefore you
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go and disciple the nations. And so there is a perfect
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picture of inherited authority that comes from Jesus.
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It's never ours by ownership, but we have been loaned that
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operational authority to to more than conquer darkness and to
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complete the mission of the Lord.
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Amen. But I believe that this house
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has been marked by the Lord for the things that are the most
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important to him, and worship is one of those.
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The church at Antioch came together and the first thing
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they did when they met was they ministered unto the Lord.
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You know that. And then it says as they
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ministered under the Lord, that's the, that's the priestly,
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that's the worship, that's praise and even intercession
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falls in there. It said.
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Then the Holy Spirit spoke and then the Holy Spirit sent out
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Saul and Barnabas to the missions that they went out to
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do, and they were sent by the Holy Spirit.
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So everything begins with the priestly and culminates and
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climaxes at the completion of missions in the kingly.
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But I heard the Lord say about you, is this He said there would
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be worship that is now emerging out of this house that will
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break the spiritual sound barriers because there are sound
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barriers that block the fullness of what God really wants to
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release through you and me and worship and in praise.
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I believe we're doing the best we can out of a heart after God.
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But I think there are some limitations to regions and
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territories and things and places that often try to limit
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the full release of the worship God is worthy of through his.
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People but he said you here are going to break the spiritual
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sound barriers. That will also create the Sonic
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boom because that's what happens when an aircraft breaks the
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sound barrier. Usually there's a Sonic boom to
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follow, right? We've all been around those, I'm
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sure. And in the pictures on the walls
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of your house vibrate from the the boom of the Sonic boom.
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But I believe God is releasing. From.
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Your worship that is breaking the sound barrier to create the
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Sonic boom in the deep places of darkness that are the real true
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core structures of the of enemy evil things in the world, both
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locally and clear across around the world.
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Amen. So you're you're destined to
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break the spiritual sound barriers.
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You're also destined to exceed the spiritual light spectrum.
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Jesus is going to use this house to bring light into the darkest
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places of the world. Amen.
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I like the story of 1 missionary who spent his entire life taking
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the gospel of Jesus into some of the darkest and the most
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difficult regions of Africa, eventually dying on that mission
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field, showing honor to that missionary they had come to love
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so dearly. The African tribesmen of that
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territory buried the missionary in the jungle at the spot that
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he came and preached the gospel for the first time.
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They placed a cross at the head of his grave and then they
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placed a small plaque beside the cross and hear the words that
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the Africans inscribed upon that plaque.
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They said when he came there was no light, when he left there was
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no darkness. And I think that should be said
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of all of us, that when God sends us on a mission under His
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inherited authority, he doesn't just give you his authority to
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take the gospel as a message, but also to bring even nations
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into the discipline, because that's what he said.
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He said to disciple the nations. There's an inference to bring
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discipline to nations and bring them out of incorrect places
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into an alignment pleasing to the Lord.
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Amen. So I hope that would be your
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testimony, that wherever God sends you, you may not have
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found a lot of light there, but when you left that assignment
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and completed it, you didn't have much darkness there, if any
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at all. Amen.
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Isaiah 60 says arise and shine, for your light has come, and the
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glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
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For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and even a deep
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darkness shall cover the people. Do you believe we're living in
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such a time when it seems so? But the Lord will arise over you
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and His glory will be seen upon you.
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And then I love what verse 3 says.
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The Gentiles, that is, the unbeliever, shall come to your
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light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
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We're living in the days of the sharpening contrast between
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darkness and light. I know of no other time in my
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lifetime where evil seems to be apparently conspicuously evil
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and light and righteousness is obviously right and righteous
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and the Lord is drawing the contrast.
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You know, as a as a kid, I remember when we got our first
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televisions set, you know, it wasn't the big string, big
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screen TV's we have today. It was a big block of wood and
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it had this big tube and you had to turn the the TV on by
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twisting this knob that powered it up.
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But it took like 5 minutes for it to warm up before a picture
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ever came on the screen, right? And, and I remember the
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excitement of when my dad would turn on the TV and we would see
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this little flicker of light on the street.
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You know it's black and white TV, right?
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Nobody even thought about color TV in that time.
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And then the little black, the, the little white dot just kind
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of filled out the screen and it was like a mess.
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And then finally, you know, if you move the antenna around and
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put some aluminum foil on the antenna, how many of you ever
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been there and done that? And you finally get in the best
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signal you can from the antenna and the aluminum foil and it's
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still not real clear. It's black and white and kind of
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fuzzy. And then there was a, there was
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a knob on the TV called contrast and you could turn up the
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contrast that sharpened the dark tones and the light tones so
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that you got a clear picture. We're living in an hour when God
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is turning up the contrast to obviously show us the
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differences between dark and light.
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Amen. And kings are coming to the
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brightness of our rising in the sharpening of contrast.
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The clarity of difference between evil and good is
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sharpening. And kings that are hungry for
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learning how to govern righteously are coming to that
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light. I've never had more government
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officials and presidents come and ask to be trained how to
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rule and govern righteously in their realms of authority.
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And it's wonderful to watch. And it's a fulfillment of the
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Isaiah prophecy. But I believe kings are also
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coming to the light, not to be trained because they don't want
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to be trained, but they're coming to the light because
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God's bringing them into judgment.
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The evil kings of the earth are being brought to the light to
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expose themselves and they're they're horrible evil deeds that
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are that they've been doing. So we're living in the hour when
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kings are coming either with hearts open to the Lord to be
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trained and taught, or they're being pulled into the light and
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their darkness is being exposed. Amen.
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Now we know that God is omnipotent, that is, that is, He
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is all powerful. He is omniscient.
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That means he knows everything. And he is also omnipresent.
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That means He's everywhere, all at one time.
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But did you know that Satan has none of those characteristics?
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He has none of those qualities. He is not omnipotent, He is not
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all powerful, He is certainly not all knowing, and he is
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certainly not everywhere all at the same time.
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Now he has his generals and his principalities that are
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scattered around everywhere. But Satan himself strains and
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struggles under great limitations.
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Amen. And you know, somebody said to
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me the other day, boy, it just seems like the devil's getting
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stronger. But you know what I said to
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them? I said that's impossible because
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his power levels were set. He cannot get more powerful
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because he is not omnipotent. And omnipotence is not a
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characteristic that Satan enjoys.
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So his. His.
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Powers are greatly limited and he cannot get strength by power.
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They're fixed. But what it feels like sometimes
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is when darkness is being exposed by the light of God,
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darkness becomes more reactionary by the exposure
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itself. And when darkness reacts, it
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looks like that it might be getting stronger, but it's not.
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It's just becoming more reactionary because it begins to
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UN destable at the exposure of light.
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So a lot of good things are happening around the world.
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Amen. But I believe this house has a
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has a powerful, powerful assignment from the Lord.
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And a big bulk of your assignment is worship and
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intercession. You're going to break the sound
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barriers, you're going to exceed the light spectrum limitations.
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Most of you know about Hubble telescope.
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When NASA sent up Hubble many years ago, the mission of Hubble
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was ultimately to find the end of the universe, the edge, the
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outer limits of the universe. But Hubble could not see far
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enough to see the edge. So they set up James Webb
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telescope with much higher technology and better optics
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than Hubble. And James Webb is sending back
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some new batches of photographs of looking at the farthest
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reaching edge of the universe. And there's a couple of things
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that is puzzling the scientific community is what they thought
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was just going to taper off into nothingness is actually they're
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seeing new galaxies being created because when God said
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let there be light, he set creation into motion.
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And His word, just like the words that you speak, are
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vibrating when you speak. Them.
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They never stop. Can you imagine God's word never
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stopping And it has the power of creative energy to create.
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And so science through James Webb Telescope is discovering
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some fascinating facts that they can see new galaxies unfolding.
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And the further out you look, science has believed the dimmer
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light is the further out you look.
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And they're finding that light from these stars and galaxies is
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getting brighter the farther out James Webb Telescope sees, which
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is by itself a miracle. But we serve the God of light.
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Light exposes darkness. And when darkness gets exposed,
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it becomes reactionary. Amen.
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You know, in Texas. We have these snakes where I
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live called copperheads, and copperheads are everywhere in
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East Texas, where the Piney woods part of Texas, we call it
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the pretty part of Texas, East Texas, But copperheads are
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everywhere. And we used to have a lot of
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trouble with these copperheads coming to try to get inside our
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house. And we would get very near to
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almost step on some of these copperheads.
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Then they're very aggressive. They're not like some snakes
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that'll try to get away from you.
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They will come after you. They're very offensive.
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And my wife had had enough of that and she just started to
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pray. So God, I want you to put a
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boundary around our property. We have one acre of land we live
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on. And she started to pray that God
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would put a spiritual boundary. And we've not had a copperhead
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since then. So she's got faith for that.
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You know, she's really got more faith than I do.
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She's got a faith that when she goes to the shopping mall, she
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believes her parking places at the front door of the mall.
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And when I'm with her, I'm so I'm saying to her, honey, don't
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bother God with a parking spot up front.
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I said, besides, we probably need to walk.
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We need the exercise. And lo and behold, the Lord will
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give us a parking spot right up at the entrance of the mall.
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So she's got faith for parking spots at the mall and keeping
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Copperheads off of our property. But that's what darkness does.
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It reacts. It actually comes after you.
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It moves into an aggressive, offensive posture when you're
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exposing it. But read that the way it is.
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Read that as a positive and not a negative.
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Some of you are feeling the push back of darkness and it's
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causing you to even question maybe your assignment or what
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you're believing for. See that as a positive,
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guaranteed evidence that you're on the right track, doing the
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right thing. If you're getting a reaction
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from darkness, that's a good sign.
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Amen. Amen.
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Daniel chapter 2 verse 20 through 22.
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Daniel chapter 2 verse 20 through 22 Daniel.
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Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God
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forever and ever. I like that because he begins
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with worship and praise for wisdom and might are his.
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Now watch what he says in verse 21.
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He says he changes times and seasons.
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So Daniel recognized that God is a God who's first of all worthy
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of worship, worthy of praise. And then he declares that God is
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the one who changes times and seasons and removes kings and
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raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and
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knowledge to those who have understanding, and he reveals
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deep and secret things. He knows what is in the
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darkness, and light dwells with him.
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We're serving a God who commands in his first the winds and the
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ways of everything, and he even owns and sees what is in
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darkness. Last year I was struck by a
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contrast between darkness and light at the US Capitol building
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in Washington, DC I was there for an evening to speak to a
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group of US Congressmen and we were in the Rayburn Room of the
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Capitol. And when I was standing at the
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podium to speak to this group of members of Congress, I was
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struck by the contrast because behind me was a full length
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original painting of George Washington.
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So within a a three or four feet was were the feet of George
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Washington. And then as I looked out the
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Rayburn room, I could see in the corridor the the door of Hakeem
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Jeffries office building or office array.
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Hakeem Jeffries is the Minority Leader, Democrat leader, and and
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I was struck by the contrast of being right at the foot of
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George Washington, which reminded me of our history as a
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nation and yet seeing the darkness represented there as
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well. But I love the fact that God is
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changing times and seasons and removing kings and raising kings
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up. I'm going to tell you dark evil
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kings are lining up to be removed.
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They're standing in a sequential order of removal, not by the
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United States government, but by the king of all kings, Amen.
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And we're going to see more kings, dark kings, removed,
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especially in the next couple of months.
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Amen. Well, Daniel said it would
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happen. He changes times.
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I don't know about you, but it just feels like time is speeding
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up to me. I don't know if I'm just getting
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older, but it just seems like yesterday we were celebrating
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Christmas and the New year and here we are just pushing toward
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the end of the month of February and spring is right around the
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corner. What is happening to time?
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Is it possible that God, who is enthroned in the eternity of
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heaven, that is not bound by time or space?
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Is it possible God is speeding things up?
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He said he would hasten his word to perform it.
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That means he he wants to do his word.
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He wants to do what he's promised, maybe earlier and
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certainly never later. Then I thought about the wedding
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at Cana that in John chapter 2, we won't take time to read
John 2 chapter mention
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through it, but you know the story well, when Jesus and his
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disciples and even Jesus mother Mary were invited to a very
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important wedding. Obviously it was some someone
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wealthy and they had, they had set up a beautiful wedding and
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during the wedding there at Cana, something terrible
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happened. The worst thing that could ever
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happen at a wedding was they ran out of wine.
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And in that culture and in that time period and that part of the
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world, that was a crisis. And Mary, mother of Jesus,
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overheard the servants who discovered that the the wine had
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replenished, went to the master of the wedding feast to tell
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him, we're out of wine. And what does Mary do?
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Mary walks right over to Jesus and says, son, they've run out
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of wine. They've run out of wine and
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Jesus. Almost sounded disrespectful,
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but I think he was speaking out of the strength of knowing what
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heaven's plans and timing were. When he said woman, what does
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that have to do with me? My time has not yet come.
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He knew that if he did a miracle to meet the need of that wedding
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feast, that his identity would surely be exposed as to who he
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was. And it wasn't yet on Heaven's
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schedule for that to happen. And so he says to Mama Mary,
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It's not my time. And Mary didn't try to argue
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with him. She just walked over a few feet
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to those servants and she says whatever he says for you to do,
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do it right. And then he said to them, fill
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the water pots full of water. By the way, that wasn't clean
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water. That was kind of dirty water
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because those water pots were there for purification and
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washing, ceremonial washing of the Jews.
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So it wasn't clean water. He said fill them all the way to
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the top with water. And you know the rest of the
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story. He turned that dirty water
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miraculously into not just not just cheap wine, but the best
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wine anyone had ever tasted. The point is this, he changed
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his mind and when he changed his mind, he changed time itself.
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He literally at the persuasion of his.
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Mother. He moved Heaven's plans and
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timetable forward and did a miracle that exposed and
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identified who he was before it was on the schedule.
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For that to happen, and that's what we do in intercessory
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prayer, we come into the place of making petition to the King
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of all kings and to our Heavenly Father.
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We come and ask God to change his mind.
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Think of all the times God's changed his mind.
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When Moses and Abraham and others came and made an appeal
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to heaven and it changed the mind of God to do something that
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he wasn't planning to do. You had the power of persuasion.
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I think we do that when we step into the place of prayer.
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We're asking God to change his mind.
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And when he changes his mind, sometimes he changes time
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itself. So he was moving time forward to
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do something earlier than had been planned.
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He also might have been moving time out because he changed the
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water into not just ordinary cheap wine, but he changed it
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into the best wine, which was wine with age.
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So I just wonder if God was just messing with earthly time,
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turning the dial up and turning it back.
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Daniel said he would. He's the God who changes times
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and seasons and removes kings and raises kings up.
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So there are evil dark kings in the world lined, lined up,
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waiting their turn to be removed.
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And that's a good thing. Amen.
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Now I'm going to shift gears a little bit here with you and
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talk about the Middle East for just a few minutes.
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I want to give you a briefing on what God is doing in the Middle
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East, specifically with Israel and Iran, and I'd like to take
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you on a little scriptural journey here for a minute.
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First of all, in Psalm 74, Psalm 74, verses 18 through 20, now
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before we read that God has a protection plan for Israel and
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He has a redemptive plan for Iran.
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He has a protective plan for Israel and He has a redemptive
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plan for Iran. So there are evil kings and
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there are evil systems that are warring against Israel, against
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God's people, against America, against you and me.
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We are the enemy of an old ancient Persian principality
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that is in a hierarchical, structured place in what is
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modern Iran or ancient Persia. God has a protection plan for
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Israel. He will protect Israel at all
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cost. And.
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When I began working with Israel and helping them on some of
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their security matters years ago, he spoke to me and he said,
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I want to get this very clear to you as you begin what I have you
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to do for Israel, to bless Israel and to keep them safe.
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He said I will protect them at all costs.
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And the reason I do is because of the covenant I have with
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Israel. The covenant that God made with
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Abraham is the reason we should bless Israel and the reason we
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should pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
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We should have respect to the covenant that God made.
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But he went on and just said I will protect them because of my
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covenant. And he said, if I have to, I'm
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going to rain on the Iranians, I'm going to rock the Iraqis,
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I'm going to sear the Syrians, and if I have to, I'm going to
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roast a Turkey. I never had God speak that to me
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in prayer ever. And I wrote it down.
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It was just kind of stunning and almost shocking because God was
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just matter of factly saying, here's how it's going to be.
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I'm going to protect Israel because I have a covenant with
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them, not because they do everything righteous.
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Because guess what? We got a whole Bible of Old
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Testament history where Israel was wicked more than anyone else
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and disobeyed God and rebelled against God more than any other
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people. We got a biblical history of the
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disobedience of Israel. But that doesn't mean we don't
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bless them. We bless them because of the
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covenant that God will never break with them.
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Amen. Now, I don't believe in
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replacement theology. I don't believe the church
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replaces Israel. I believe through the blood of
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Jesus, you and I are grafted into that family.
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We become God's people too, the cause of the blood of Jesus
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sacrifice, Amen. So let's get that straight.
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I don't know where you stand on that, but that's my theology.
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I was brought up in a denomination that strongly
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believed in replacement theology, that the church just
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outright straight up replaces Israel.
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I don't think so. I think Israel still has a very
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prominent special place in God's heart because of the covenant.
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Amen. So God has a protection plan for
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Israel. He has a redemptive plan for
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Iran. Here the problem, I called him
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the three H problem of the Middle East.
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Number one is Hamas. Hamas #2 is Hezbollah #3 are the
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hoodies. So you have the Hamas primarily
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in Iran, you have Hezbollah primarily in Lebanon, you have
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the hoodies primarily operating out of Yemen.
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But all three of those HS are spread out throughout the entire
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Middle East. So God's God's going to deal
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with those 3HS. Those hierarchies of evil are
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satanic, They are demonic. They are not just another form
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of government. They are of a structure of dark
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evil that hates God and hates anyone who serves the Lord and
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God's dealing with those 3 entities.
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Look at Psalm 74 and I want to show you a little bit of what I
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mean regarding Hamas verse 18. Remember this, and by the way,
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this is a prayer of Asaph, but it sounds like an imprecatory
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prayer of David. It's a prayer of God being asked
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to judge his enemies. So he says, remember this, he's
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telling God remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O
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Lord, and that a foolish people has blasphemed your name.
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So looking at the Hebrew meanings here, when it says a
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foolish people, it is literally referring to a Pagan and godless
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people. And the word blasphemy literally
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means to be openly defiant and disrespectful to the Lord.
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So there is an amazing thing that Asaph does He's.
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Calling God into remembrance. God's not this old forgetful man
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that sometimes forgets things that we need to remind him of.
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But you know what? Sometimes it's a, it's good for
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us to call out to God and bring him to remembrance of the things
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that he already wants to do. He didn't forget any of them.
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But I think sometimes it's us that need to be reminded that
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we're bringing God into remembrance, but we're really
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remembering ourself and it brings our faith into a level
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that God is pleased with. All right then verse 19.
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Oh, do not deliver the life of your turtle dove to the wild
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beast. The word turtle dove, there is a
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reference to Israel. Do not forget the life of your
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poor forever. Another direct reference to
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Israel. So he's asking God to recognize
-
and remember what darkness and what the enemy is up to, but
-
he's also asking God to bless and protect Israel.
-
And then he ends verse 19 by saying, and have respect to the
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covenant, the covenant. It's all about the covenant.
-
That's why we should bless Israel.
-
We're blessing Israel, but beyond Israel itself, we're
-
blessing the covenant that God made with Israel.
-
Amen. So Asaph is actually asking God
-
not just to remember what the enemy's doing, but to remember
-
and respect his own covenant that he has with Israel.
-
Verse 20 says for the dark places of the earth.
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The dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.
-
Some of your translations may say violence, very important
-
verse because the word cruelty or violence there is literally
-
the Hebrew word Hamas. It is the exact word Hamas.
-
So in that day that Asaph prayed this prayer, he was praying
-
against an enemy force. That is today operational in the
-
nation of Iran. And in fact the first part of
-
verse 20 says for the dark places of the earth, this is
-
where he's saying Hamas is. And in the Hebrew, it means the
-
very underground tunnels and caverns underneath the ground,
-
which is primarily where Hamas operates, not only Hamas but
-
Hezbollah and. And some other terrorist
-
organizations. Their primary place of
-
transportation of weapons and soldiers is in deep underground
-
tunnels. Some of those are 40 feet
-
beneath the surface of the desert, and others are as deep
-
as 100 feet underneath. Some are only a few feet wide
-
enough for one man in his gear and equipment as weapons to get
-
through the tunnel. Others are 10 feet wide that you
-
can drive it's small military vehicles, vehicles through.
-
But isn't that amazing? This is where a lot of military
-
operations are going on right now.
-
And being formulated and planned is to do a final blow to these
-
tunnels and underground passages of Hamas, because in doing so,
-
we cut off their activities, their supply lines, and all of
-
their ability to position themselves strategically against
-
Israel and even our own folks. All right, so that's a little
-
bit of something to give an insight of how God has set a
-
plan to to do something to stop the darkness.
-
God, we sang about it today. Did you notice everything we
-
were singing in worship had to do with God dealing with
-
breaking darkness? It's a win, win.
-
It's a win for God and a win for you and me.
-
And I think Israel will win. Amen.
-
All right, then one other verse or maybe two more.
-
Jeremiah chapter 49. Jeremiah chapter 49, and verses
Jeremiah 49 chapter mention Jeremiah 49 chapter mention
-
34 through about 39. One morning recently I woke up
-
out of a dead sleep and I woke up shouting Elam, Elam, Elam.
-
I think I literally woke myself up shouting Elam, Elam Elam and
-
Sherry. My wife said what is?
-
Who is Elam? I was like calling unto
-
something. I didn't even know what it was.
-
Well, here's what Elam is. Verse 34, the word of the Lord
-
that came to Jeremiah, the prophet against Elam in the
-
beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah
-
saying thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I will break the
-
bow of Elam, the foremost of their might.
-
So what is Elam? Elam in that time period was
-
what was a sliver or a little portion of modern Iraq today,
-
but primarily it was a portion of Iran, mostly Iran.
-
So Elam is modern Iran, and God's talking about dealing with
-
and breaking the bow of Elam. That's a weapon system.
-
In fact, he says even the foremost of their might, you
-
know what that is? That is nuclear weapons, so Elam
-
is modern Iran and what is the big to do?
-
It's all about stopping the nuclear weapons development of
-
Iran, which is tagged and purpose to destroy the whole
-
nation of Israel. Just to bring you into
-
remembrance, in June of last year, AUS military operation
-
under the code name Operation Midnight Hammer, where our
-
aircrafts, some of our most advanced aircraft carried about
-
a dozen GBU Dash 57 massive ordnance deep penetration bomb
-
bunker Busters. We call them unnoticed,
-
undetected right into the heart of Iran and at three different
-
target locations, which represented some of the most
-
advanced portions of the nuclear weapons development program of
-
Iran. Our guys dropped, surgically
-
struck those facilities, dropping some of those GBU Dash
-
57 bombs down a four foot wide ventilation shaft that came up
-
out of those deep bunkers up to the surface of the desert.
-
Try that when you're trying to avoid enemy anti aircraft
-
batteries. And it was a great success, but
-
it did not destroy the entire weapons program.
-
But it set Iran back significantly in their pursuit
-
of nuclear weapons. Well, God said to Jeremiah, this
-
is my plan. I'm going to break the bow of
-
Elam. I'm going to destroy and break
-
the foremost of their might. That's nuclear weapons.
-
Amen. God cares about it.
-
Did you know in 2009 I literally taught the Israelis how to use
-
the. Power of prayer.
-
To defeat inbound enemy missiles.
-
And they'll never admit it, but there are people in in Israel
-
today that deploy that as part of their missile defense system.
-
Because I showed them that if you knew what the enemy was
-
about to send your way, you could do something in prayer to
-
pray against the guidance system module, which is the most
-
sensitive part of a guided missile.
-
And I said, you could literally cause a disturbance and create a
-
catastrophic failure in the guidance system module of an
-
inbound enemy missile. And you know what?
-
They listened to me, they took notes.
-
I was there teaching on this in Israel when they were being
-
bombarded by thousands of Katusha rockets out of the West
-
Bank and out of out of the Gaza Strip.
-
And there was a couple there. And that's one of those sessions
-
that I was teaching this on. And I just said, it's a, when
-
you pray, you pray with the target in mind, right?
-
If you have a financial need, you're asking God to meet a
-
financial need, right? God answers specifically when we
-
what pray specifically. I learned that in Sunday school.
-
God likes it for us to tell Him what our target list is and then
-
He answers accordingly. So I said, what is the
-
difference between praying for a healing for somebody or praying
-
against a Katusha rocket or enemy inbound missile?
-
Because God can change that situation just like He can heal
-
someone of cancer. It's really easy.
-
So a couple that were there that headed up what's called the
-
House of Pre House of Peace in Jerusalem, a couple that have
-
been there leading, that's Gwyn Shaw's ministry, for those that
-
may know. They're in that, that one
-
session. I'm teaching them how to combat
-
enemy missiles. They're taking notes because
-
everybody's spending more time in the bomb shelters in
-
Jerusalem than up above ground because we were getting hit,
-
bombarded. I was, I was staying in a secure
-
location, but not right next to my pillow.
-
I had a gas mask every night because of the threat of the
-
chemical weapons of Hezbollah. So Jean and Mary Ann, the, the,
-
the couple I'm talking about, they went home that on that
-
Friday afternoon and went to their home.
-
It was located on the outskirts of Jerusalem and the, the, the
-
bomb sirens went off and everybody's supposed to go to
-
the bomb shelters in Jerusalem. Instead they went up onto the
-
flat roof house that they lived in.
-
All the roofs over there are usually flat and, and they they
-
look toward the Gaza and they could see not the missiles, but
-
they could see the white smoke contrails of two Fodger 5
-
Iranian made missiles being fired toward Jerusalem.
-
They saw them in the distance, but they could tell they were on
-
a parallel trajectory to Israel from the Gaza and they knew they
-
had a matter of seconds to pray. They threw their hands up and
-
they just said we command failure and confusion in the
-
guidance system module of these two missiles.
-
And they didn't even yet have a chance to say Amen.
-
And those two parallel missiles side by side parted ways.
-
One went the other one way, the other the opposite, and both
-
nose down into the ground and exploded in an unpopulated area
-
just outside of Jerusalem. I believe they used the power of
-
interruptive intercession to save Jerusalem.
-
Later I found out through the Pentagon, because anytime
-
anybody shoots a missile anywhere on the planet, we know
-
all about it. We know it before they shoot.
-
We know what it is. We know that all the technical
-
data, if it's guided, unguided, etcetera.
-
So I checked in with the Pentagon and I found out those
-
were two Fazer 5 Iranian made guided missiles and they were
-
considered what we call tactical nuclear small charge.
-
Not like a strategic nuclear like an ICBM missile that
-
carries A nuke, but these have these for small tactical nukes.
-
Enough explosive in both of the warheads of those two missiles,
-
one was designated for Jerusalem, the other was going
-
to go right on past to Tel Aviv, enough to destroy entirely the
-
two cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
-
But for that couple that believed, you see, because they
-
know the word of God, God promises to protect Israel.
-
God has a protection plan for Israel.
-
Amen. And it's part of what Jeremiah
-
talked about, Amen. So here in a nutshell, as I
-
close this today is what I believe God is going to do and
-
is doing and as we speak He's doing right now by the way, He
-
is going to destroy the three HS that have breathed out the most
-
terrifying and violent threats against the United States and
-
against Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah and the hoodies.
-
Now listen, Ezekiel says, God said in Ezekiel, I take no
-
pleasure in the death of even the wicked, but he goes on and
-
he says, therefore repent and live because even when God is is
-
releasing judgment, he also has a redemptive plan of his mercy
-
connected with the judgment. And if you don't believe that,
-
think about your own life. I think about my life that even
-
in God's kindness and mercy, sometimes he's had to bring
-
judgment to my front door. But with it has always been a
-
component of mercy, that if I would turn away from wickedness,
-
I would receive the redemptive power of his mercy.
-
So God has a plan even for the wicked, but he says if they
-
don't repent, he says I'm going to bring death to their door.
-
So my thought and my belief of everything I'm looking at on the
-
landscape of what's happening in the Middle East, God is going to
-
further destroy the hierarchy of evil, of radicalized Islamic
-
terrorism being perpetrated primarily through Hamas,
-
Hezbollah and the hoodies. But he's going to redeem the
-
Persian people of Iran. God is not going to destroy the
-
nation of Iran. Now listen, there are folks, let
-
me just say, there are some people in government that would
-
like to see Iran destroyed. But I don't think that's God's
-
plan. I don't think it's his will.
-
I don't think it's his way. He's going to destroy the the
-
foremost weapons of Islam, but he's going to redeem and save
-
the people of Iran. He is.
-
But, and we're seeing it happen to this day, more people are
-
coming to Jesus in Iran than anywhere else in the world, even
-
more than in China. China has held the record for
-
the most hour to hour, day-to-day salvations of people
-
coming to Jesus right in China. But Iran has just has just run
-
right past China. They hold the world's record for
-
the most people coming to know Jesus.
-
It's incredible. So I believe we have the
-
evidence that God is going to redeem and restore the Persian
-
people. He's going to destroy the
-
hierarchy of evil of Islam, including the Iranian
-
Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the military might and the
-
real core evil that drives what is happening in the the the
-
destruction and killing of over 30,000 Iranian protesters
-
against their government. And that's probably going to end
-
up being a conservative figure. God's going to take out these
-
kings and they're just standing in line waiting their turn.
-
But God's got a redemptive plan. He's got a protective plan for
-
Israel and he's got a redemptive plan for the people of Iran.
-
Think about the Persian the the Persian people in the history of
-
the Persian people when it was. King Darius and King Cyrus and
-
other Persian Pagan kings that even did the will of God and
-
rebuilt Jerusalem, paid for it out of their own treasuries and
-
in those days were a friend to Israel.
-
It was only beginning really after 1979 when the Shah of Iran
-
was disposed and and radical Islam came into power.
-
The Persians loved Israel, Mordecai and Esther.
-
Esther was Jewish by birth, but she was Persian by nationality
-
and culture. And Mordecai said, don't tell
-
these Persian officials that you're Jewish.
-
So he gave her a her name, Esther, her Persian name.
-
And it was Esther and Mordecai that were given the ring of
-
authority over the entire Kingdom of Persia.
-
They exposed Haman, who was out to destroy the Jewish people.
-
I'm telling you, Mordecai and Esther today are still counted
-
as heroes in Iran, and school children are still required to
-
read the book of Esther in Iran because they are counted as
-
heroes. There was a day there is a
-
righteous thread that runs through ancient Persia that is
-
righteous. And I believe God is going to
-
pull that thread of righteousness and pull out the
-
harvest from Iran, which he's doing now.
-
But he's going to destroy these wicked systems that are killing
-
the innocent people. Oh, God's got a redemptive plan.
-
So when you pray for Israel, pray for Iran, pray for the
-
harvest in Iran Church, get ready.
-
Some of you are going to go to Iran.
-
Some of you are going to be sent there to steward the harvest of
-
souls. What are they going to do?
-
Who's going to go and train them?
-
I can't go over there. They won't.
-
Washington won't let me go. But you can go if you have a
-
heart for the Persian people and even if you have a heart for
-
Israel. I believe God's going to do
-
this. We're not in the Ezekiel 38 time
-
period yet. In Ezekiel 38, it talks about
-
all nations rising against Israel.
-
That is the end of the very end. I think we're probably around
-
Ezekiel 36, maybe 37, but I believe the day is coming when
-
God is going to cause Iran to be a bright shining light to the
-
world and maybe even a good friend of Israel.
-
In fact in that same chapter of Jeremiah chapter 49, this is
Jeremiah 49 chapter mention
-
amazing what God said in verse 38 after he does all of this to
-
deal with the hierarchy of evil of that ancient principality of
-
Persian structure, that anti God Antichrist system.
-
In verse 38 he declares I will set my throne in Elam.
-
It's the only place I found in scripture besides Jerusalem
-
where God said he would set his throne in Iran.
-
How is that possible? Because I believe God is so
-
going to so thoroughly deal with the three HS, the real threats
-
against God in his Kingdom and his people, that he will have a
-
presence in Iran. It will be so rich and so real
-
and so powerful. And, and to think about this,
-
think about all the souls getting saved in Iran right now.
-
What are they doing? They're worshipping first thing
-
they do. They're going to be worshippers
-
of Messiah Yeshua and they. Are and what are they doing?
-
They're doing what the Bible says, that God is enthroned upon
-
the praises of his people. Israel.
-
When we worshiped this morning, we were creating a throne for
-
God to sit into. In fact, the Hebrew says for the
-
word enthroned there, it literally means to be seated
-
deep into a throne. When we worship, we create a
-
throne. Listen, the the, the body of
-
Christ is expanding and Iran is coming into the Kingdom.
-
They're coming to know Jesus and they're worshiping and by
-
worshiping they're creating a throne.
-
Any lamb and God is going to rule from that throne.
-
We're in an hour. When God is doing the most
-
unusual things in the most unexpected places, and it's just
-
like God to do that of all places, to set up his throne and
-
do something incredibly powerful and righteous would be Iran.
-
Are you kidding me? But I think God loves to do what
-
everybody says he couldn't do or wouldn't do in some ways just to
-
prove us wrong. I've heard a lot of talk about
-
your neighboring state of Illinois.
-
Oh, it just, it's so dark there. Chicago, Springfield, so dark.
-
And, and listen, just because people call it that has got
-
God's attention. And he's going to turn the
-
states of Illinois and Iowa right around.
-
Watch it. He's going to do the most
-
phenomenal things in these two states that are divided by the
-
great Mississippi River. He's going to do what everybody
-
said could not happen and you're going to be a part of it here in
-
Iowa. The other day I was in Moline,
-
IL, and they put me in a hotel right on the Mississippi.
-
So out of my window I could see the the great waters of the
-
Mississippi River. And I had an open vision.
-
And I'm not a prophet, so might want to judge this and take it
-
for what it's worth. But I had a prophetic vision and
-
I saw the waters of the Mississippi stop and reverse and
-
flow the other direction. And I said, Lord, what does that
-
mean? Because I thought the only thing
-
that could cause that would be some kind of seismic event in
-
the natural right. He said no, this is, he said
-
this is a spiritual signal to you that everything in Iowa and
-
Illinois is about to have a turn around and flow the right
-
direction. So I speak that to you today.
-
But the Lord is going to set up his throne.
-
He is setting it up in Iran. He is.
-
Do you know that 10 to 15% of the Muslim population of Iran
-
even go to mosque? Do you know that?
-
You see, we have this concept that all these Muslims, they're
-
all just so powerful and plentiful that they're just
-
packing into the mosque to worship Allah, to read the
-
Quran? No, not so.
-
They've abandoned most of the mosque.
-
Hundreds and hundreds of mosques are boarded up, closed up,
-
because no one was showing up. Do you know that 10 to 15% of
-
the population of Iran even go to mosque?
-
The Muslims, the Christians that are coming to know Jesus, are
-
now opening up some of those mosques and having worship to
-
Jesus in those mosques, not in Tehran, but in outlying areas
-
throughout Iran. In the smaller town areas,
-
they're literally taking possession of mosque where Allah
-
and Muhammad and the Quran were worshipped and adored, and now
-
Jesus is being enthroned there. Amen.
-
So we need to pray and pray for the protective plan of God for
-
Israel, but we also need to pray for the redemptive plan for
-
Iran. Do you feel it?
-
Does anybody sense that? You know, I, I'm here because
-
I'm, I, I bring what I believe the Lord says to bring.
-
And that's what I, I believe. He wants to cast vision today
-
that we, we shift our thinking that we want to see Iran
-
destroyed. No, we don't.
-
We want to see the precious Persian people of Iran redeemed
-
and brought into the Kingdom of God.
-
Amen. And as we pray for the peace of
-
Jerusalem and the blessing of Israel, you should continue to
-
do that. I do it every day.
-
I pray for a blessing on Israel. But when I pray for a blessing
-
in my blessing, I'm praying and asking God for for Israel
-
contains justice and judgment and correction.
-
The Bible says God disciplines the Son He loves.
-
He does that for us, doesn't He? The discipline of the Lord is a
-
sign and evidence of His love for you.
-
Well, why doesn't he do that for nations?
-
I believe he's going to discipline Israel and bring
-
Israel into a knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
-
Remember this, Islam is an Antichrist system, an ungodly,
-
unholy, false religious system, Islam, and they believe in the
-
implementation of Sharia law. And I promise you, there's a
-
plan for implementation right here.
-
Hey, thanks for watching. At Heartland Church, we love to
-
worship the Lord and we love His Word.
-
In fact, if you could jump on and subscribe to our YouTube
-
channel, you could make sure that you don't miss any of the
-
services. We'd love to have you join us
-
live or in person every week. See you next time.