Sermon
Armed & Ready (Hearing God In Turbulent Times)
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Joylessly to the Cross Kingdom Sermon of the Week. We
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hope you enjoyed this message from Justin Carpenter Kim. Could
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you give her the mic? She's got a testimony. Could
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you let everybody know who you are as well? I
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go way back with her to impact in the yes
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old days.
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I just want to say, I'm Barbara Derker Ingolman and
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have a son who is sixty years old who lives
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in California, and they call me Thursday night and said
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he had been feeling poorly for a couple of weeks
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and finally his wife just took him to the hospital
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and they said the left ventricle of his heart was
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ballooned out and that if it ruptured it would be fatal,
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and they didn't do.
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That care there.
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So they called four or five towns in California trying
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to find a place for him, and everybody nobody had
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a bed. Finally, the Redlands, which was an hour or
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so away, said that they didn't have one, but as
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soon as they did they would take him. Well, they
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did take him. His heart did rupture and the doctors
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said that a blood clot blocked the hole. And she
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said every doctor that came in said, how are you
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even alive?
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Wow?
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And so I just want to give God glory today
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because he was a god. Yes, thank you.
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This man, thank you for sharing. Yesterday I was in
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a three hour meeting with leaders in Ingram and Hunt
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and we're I was asked to be a part of
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forging kind of a task force, if you will. But
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uh so that West Kerr has a has a clear
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voice and uh in a seat at the table with
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all these other Kerrville uh meetings that no one knows of,
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and uh, we've just been trying to do do our
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part to bring clear communication. We're also there's a pastors
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meeting this week coming up as well, and trying to
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work with all the pastors. Serve Source has had a
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huge part in that. So I don't know if Derek
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is watching online, but he's out of Austin. Him and
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Dennis are the founders of Serve Source and anyways, it's
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it's definitely a marathon. And just so y'all know, we
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did start taking applications. We have three or four checks
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ready to disperse on Monday. We've just received a whole
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bunch of other applications as well, and we just received
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another ten thousand in the mail. I mean checks are
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coming in from all over the United States. Once the
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we have two more donations I know for sure coming
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for an additional forty five thousand, and we've had donations
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to be able to cover the expense of operating as
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a distribution center. And so we will continue to get
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money into the hands of those that have been affected
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by the flood directly, and we have policies and procedures
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in place to vet them to make sure that we're
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not sending funds to stinkers. We'll just say that because
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there have been a few stinkers around in the last
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three weeks. And I've been tempted for fivefold ministry, but
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self control is a fruit of the spirit. Hallelujah. Anyways,
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But yeah, y'all, it's listening to so many, so many
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testimonies over the last week of people that have come
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in and I don't know, I don't know how many
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people literally clung to life or clung to trees to
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save their lives. And John Flowers, the electrician, he ended
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up going into his got his dog, went back in
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his bedroom. There was two or three foot of water
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in his house and the door slam shut with two
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or three water or two or three water, two or
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three feet of water, and it's somehow it slams shut.
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He got on his mattress, floated up with his dog,
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floated back down. Talked to another couple and hunt when
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we were doing applications, and he he woke up, stepped
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into water, thought the water line broke on his fridge,
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went to try to you know. He's walking around and
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he looks outside and sees the sliding glass doors. It's
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like a fish bowl. And he wakes his wife up
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and says, hey, the only way we're going we can't
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get out of here, we can't drive. The only way
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we're gonna make it is if we get in the attic.
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And so he pulls the attic door down, drops the ladder.
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She gets up the ladder, he takes the first step,
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he hears all the glass break because the pressure on
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the sliding glass doors, there's instantly over a foot of water.
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By the time he's into the attic with no windows
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up there, the water was at seven feet inside of
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his house. And they rode it out and survived by
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staying up there. But they were hearing glass break. Didn't
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know what was going on. I mean, there's so so
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many stories. We prayed over three people that were hanging
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onto trees. The lady was pregnant. I mean, just my goodness,
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you know they we know now that this was a
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thousand year flood and at one point water was flowing
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nine hundred and fifty That was interesting. There's a big
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flash of light there, not the light there a light there.
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Nine hundred and fifty thousand gass a second. In three hours,
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more rain fell, more water ran through here than what
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flows in twenty four hours at Niagara Falls. And thank
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god that some of the camps were not in session
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because it would have been way, way worse. But we
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need to continue to pray for the families Mystic. There's
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still a man and one kid from Mystic missing on
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the list, and I would assume as they drain, begin
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to drain sections and really clean up, we'll begin to
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find others that were not on there. So this is
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a marathon, So thank you, thankful for everybody that's been involved.
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And I mean I think everyone's done something and containing
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I mean there are people all through this room. Megan Nichols,
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she came with a box of hib cards, that Ahib
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gave us ten grand were of HIV cards y'all give away,
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and I mean it's I could go all over through
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this room from all of y'all that have that have
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been serving, and so from the bottom of our hearts,
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thank you. If you didn't hear that, that was thank you.
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June of twenty twenty something shifted five years ago. We
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literally shifted into a new era era. I would say
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that we have really stepped into accelerated birth pains. I
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think it's impossible not to understand that floods and earthquakes
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and volcanoes. I mean, it's all over the news every
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other time you turn around. And I would love to
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tell you that things are going to get easier, but
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they're not. We're going to have to have a very
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good theoryology for the sufferings of Christ. And if you
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don't get your mind correct with the sufferings of Christ,
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you will get offended and fall away. I don't know
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that the Western Church has had a healthy understanding and
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the sufferings of Christ because we have been so blessed
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and so hedged in for so long. But we are
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inturbulent times and God is raising up a warrior bride
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in these last days. And so it's my heart, with
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my little peace that I have that I continue to
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feed and lead and equip in the areas that He's
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called me to. And I can't think of another time
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that it's more important than clearly hearing his voice. All
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throughout this process over the last three weeks, there were
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just step by step we had to make decisions. We
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had to deal with disaster organizations that I felt like
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we're trying to sell me a used car to try
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to partner with us. People coming up pretending to be
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from an organization to try to get a list of
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those that have been dispersed so they could take advantage
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of them and run schemes. Watching the ring cameras at
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night with people cussing us out, kicking things over and
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stealing stuff. So we have seen the good, the bad,
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and the ugly. But hearing his voice, y'all, it's you
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have to be able to have peace in the storm.
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Peace is the potting soil for revelation, and if your
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soul is in chaos, it's going to be very difficult
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for you to hear the voice of the Lord. And
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so I just want to talk for the next three
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and a half hours on how you can. Clearly all right,
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you're listening how you can? And Moses cried, Lord, show
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me your ways that I'll know you. This is the
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one who was taught face to face, who saw the
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form of the Lord, who he spoke to him mouth
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to mouth, not in riddles, not in parables. And yet
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he comes out of Egypt, and he stands on that mountain,
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and he realizes that God's way bigger than he thought.
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He realizes that his ways are so much higher than
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Moses's ways. His logic is so much higher it seems illogical.
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And if we're going to have true intimacy with the Lord,
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it's a two way conversation. We can't do all the
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Yakin says, be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow
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to become angry, For the anger of man does not
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produce the righteousness of God. James, And for you fedic
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folks that tend to lack of filter, like I do
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at times, you should memorize that scripture. Quick to listen,
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slow to speak. But since the beginning of time, man
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was made for communion with God. In Genesis three eight,
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we see the Lord walking in the garden the cool
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of the day, longing to meet with Adam and Eve.
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But this day was different because all of humanity had
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just been changed by the choice of man, and instead
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of coming to the Lord for communion, now there was
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a wedge between them. Adam and Eve are hiding from
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the very one who had created them. We see in
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Genesis four twenty six, two hundred and thirty five years
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would pass before man once again begin to call on
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the name of the Lord and the Old Covenant. The
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Holy Spirit only rested on a select few, and one
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of the signs of his presence resting on them was prophecy.
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And Amos three to seven. We see that God does
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nothing without revealing his secrets to his prophets. Moses' heart
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was that God's spirit would rest on all God's children,
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that prayer would be answered on the day of Pentecost,
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shortly after the Resurrection and the New Covenant. Every one
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of you, all of His sons and daughters, have been
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given this amazing gift of His spirit. Now all are
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able to prophesy and God. And God would have us
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earnestly desire all of the gifts, but especially prophecy. Why
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because it's for the edification exhortation and comfort of the church.
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It addresses your tripod being because you are spirit, soul
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and body, and edification is spirit right, comfort is your soul,
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and I exhort you, so edification, exhortation, and comfort, spirit,
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soul and body. There are times where we need a
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comforting word to bring peace to our soul. Anytime you
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see the word exhort, I exhort you, brethren, to offer
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your bodies as a living sacrifice. We have to bring
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our bodies into submission. We've got to choose daily to
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take up our cross. But this issue of hearing God
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and bringing edification, exhortation, and comfort to the body of
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Christ is pretty important, and unfortunately, I think a lot
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of us lack and understanding of the ways in which
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He can speak to us so that we can bring
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those three things to the church. And numbers twelve, six
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to eight. He said, hear my words. If there's a
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prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to
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him in a vision. I speak with him in a dream.
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So there's a characteristic difference between dreams and visions. He
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will make himself known to you through vision, which tends
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to be more literal, but he will speak to you.
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And a dream which tends to be very metaphoric. And
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that's why it tends to be your old men that
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will dream dreams, because the interpretive process is more difficult
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versus visions that are more literal and easier to understand.
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But make no mistake, that is more of a spiritual
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age than just a physical age, so he says, But not,
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my servant, Moses. He's faithful in all my house with him.
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I speak mouth to mouth clearly and not in riddles.
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And he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then
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were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses.
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There was a little family squabble there, if you can
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remember that, just a smidge right. Job thirty three, fourteen
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to sixteen says, for God may speak in one way
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or in another, yet man does not perceive it. And
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a dream and a vision of the night when deep
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sleep falls upon men while slumbering down their beds, He
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opens the ears of men and seals their instruction. Do
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you realize by the time you are sixty years old,
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who's sixty or older in your here? I know I
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look like it, but that's just been for the last
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few weeks of pastoring. But by the time you're sixty
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years old, you'll have slept one third of your life.
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Some of y'all still need to wake up, But that's
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another sermon. And guess what one third of the Bible's
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dreams and visions. But I have a question. Do you
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think God could say something to you in twenty years
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of sleep? Why your mouth is closed and your ears
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are open? That was free? But John ten twenty seven,
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My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
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they follow me. I keep over the last couple of
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weeks I kept seeing eight eighteen. Right now, I'm not
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one of those hyper you know, prophetic people that every
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time I see ten ten, I'm like doing cartwheels, or
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it's eleven eleven, who twelve twelve? Governmental divinement or alignment.
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But when the Lord begins to show you numbers and
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draw your attention to those things, it's important to pay
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attention and always go to the scripture first and foremost,
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always go to the scripture. Interestingly enough, there's a couple scriptures.
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Romans eight eighteen says, for I consider that the suffering
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of this present time are not worth comparing with the
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glory that is to be revealed to us. Let me
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say that again, for I consider that the sufferings of
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this time, at present time, are not worth comparing with
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the glory that is to be revealed to us. Now,
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this is Paul saying this, y'all. You know I giggle
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at times when I hear people go, oh, yeah, I've
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got Paul's thorn. No, you don't. I mean that in
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the most pastoral way possible. You don't have that because
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Paul had this thorn because of the great revelations he
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had received. He was literally taught face to face by
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the risen Lord Jesus, and he had revelation that was
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not even lawful to talk about on earth. That's why
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he had that thorn to buffer him from spiritual pride
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and his sufferings. Last time I checked, there's nobody in
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this room that has his resume, and I don't know
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if there's any of us in our right minds that
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would sign up for that resume. But the other scripture
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is this, and this is what this particular Luke eight
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eighteen ties into what I'm talking about. Take care than
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how you hear, for to the one who has more
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will be given and from the one who has not
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even what he thinks he has, will be taken away. See,
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there's a Kingdom principle that's applica to every aspect of
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our life. And it's simply this, whatever you stuart will grow.
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Your stewardship is a law of promotion. If you're faithful
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and a little, you'll be faithful and much. And if
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you want to hear the voice of the Lord, if
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you want to grow in hearing his voice, then you
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better take heed on how you hear. And this is
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implied that you're actually being obedient to what you're hearing.
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The Hebrews understand when it says here, oh Israel, that
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means obey what is about to be said. That implies
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to if you look at that Hebrew word obedience, it's
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not simply just saying oh yeah, amen, Amen, that's a
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good word. And then walk out of here and live
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like hell. I promise you will not grow in hearing
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the voice of the Lord. In fact, some of you
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have stopped dreaming and stopped having encounters because you're disobedient
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to the last thing he told you. And if you'll
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be obedient to the last thing, if you'll take heat
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and how you hear it's quiet. I didn't write this this,
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You know this was can't blame me. Well, I guess
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you can have fun, but take heat. And how you
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hear now? The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord
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in the presence of Eli, and the word of the
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Lord was rare in those days. Can I tell you
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I really feel like the true word of the Lord
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is much rarer right now than you think. Pull away
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all the charismatic height. Pay attention to how God is
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purifying the prophetic movement right now, which is desperately needed.
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And there's more purification on the doorstep. But we need
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to be in a place with the fear of the
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Lord that when we claim to have said something from
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the Lord that it's actually him. We use his name
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so flippantly when it says, don't take the Lord your
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God's name in vain, You can take his name in
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vain by misusing his name. How about this spiritual manipulation?
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You say, you go, well, the Lord told me because
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you don't want anybody to hold you accountable for the
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word that you had. When I teach on dreams and visions,
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one time I was doing a dream interpretation and this
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particular person gave me the interpretation, or gave me the dream,
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and then asked me for the interpretation. And about midway
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they said, well, that's not what the Lord told me.
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I said, oh, I'm sorry, and I stopped right then
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and there. I said, the Lord's already given you the interpretation.
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Well yeah, I said, then why are you asking me.
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I can't he's already told you. I can't change that.
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And I didn't interpret dream anymore. Y'all. It's we, as
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Bobby Connor says, we have gotten way too familiar with
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the God we hardly know. And I know this that
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in these turbulent times, I want to hear his voice clearly.
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I want him to show me his ways that I
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will know him. And I want to carry his presence
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like the ark. And so the word of the Lord
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was rare in those days. There was no frequent vision.
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At that time, Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow
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dim so that he could not see, was lying down
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in his own place. The lamp of God had not
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yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the
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temple of the Lord where the Ark of God was.
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Then the lords called Samuel, and he said, here, I
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am and he ran to Eli. God calls Samuel, and
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he runs to Eli and says, here, I am why
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because the voice of the Lord sounded like Eli's voice
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to Samuel in that moment. And he was three to
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five years old when the word of the Lord was
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first revealed to him. So there's a way sometimes if
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you hear somebody's voice and I actually, you know, beside
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your spouse, I'm behaving that I have a good dad
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joke there, but I'm leaving it alone. But his voice
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sounded like Eli in that moment. He'd never heard the
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voice of the Lord before. And he was lying there
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in the temple, and he says, I did not call you.
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Lie down again. So he went and laid down, and
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the Lord called again Samuel, and Samuel rose and went
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to Eli and said, here, I am for you called me.
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But he said I did not call my son. Lie
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down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
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and the war of the Lord had not yet been
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revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the
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third time, and he arose and went to Eli and said, here,
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I am for you called me. Then Eli perceived finally
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that was his eyesight was the only thing dull. Then
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Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore
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Eli meantords Samuel in this moment. It doesn't say that,
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but that's what he did. He mentored him and hearing
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the voice of the Lord. See, he was fulfilling part
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of that prophet's role, which in the New Covenant for
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Ephesians four is equipping the body for the work in
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the ministry. And that prophetic role is to actually equip
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you to hear the voice of the Lord, not get
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a massive following line up the entire church and feed
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you sugar words so you feel better about your soulish desires. See,
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you can do soulish prophecy. I can run through this
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room right now, through discerning the spirits and pick up
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on desires you have, and I could craft a word
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for your soul and make you feel really good. And
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you get out there and start running with that word,
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and you shipwreck your faith because it wasn't spirit that
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was soulish burden bearing. And it happens so often, y'all,
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and the men that are doing it, they know it
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because part of the realm of discerning the spirits is
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understanding what's in the soul. What's in the spirit, What
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is angelic? What is good? What is evil? What is demons?
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What are angels? Is what the difference is when the
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Holy Spirit's moving on you versus an angel carrying his presence.
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So therefore Eli said to Samuel, go lie down, and
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if you he calls you, you shall say, speak, Lord,
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for your servant hears. So Samuel went and laid down
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in his place, and the Lord came and stood calling,
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as at other times Samuel Samuel, and Samuel said, speak
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for your servant hears. See the role of the Holy Spirit.
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John sixteen thirteen says that he'll show us things to come. Now,
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we've had theologies creep into the body of Christ, different
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denominations called Cessationianism, where we have boxed his ability to
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speak to us in. But I don't know if you
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recognize he doesn't really stay in the boxes we try
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to put him in. And we have got to sharpen
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our spiritual senses. Hebrews five says to exercise your spiritual
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senses so you can discern between good and evil. We
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are in those days where you have wolves that look
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like sheep. You have false prophets right now, and you
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understand according to Deuteronomy thirteen, they can give a sign
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or a dream and it comes to pass. But yet
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the message behind it is rebellion against the lord. So
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just because it flashes doesn't mean it's gold. The enemy
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will come as an angel alight. There are so called
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prophets moving in a spirit of divination with serious accuracy
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based on existing knowledge. Masquerading is revelation, because if you
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have a gift of prophecy, you're like a satellite. You're
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not the revelation. And so whatever you tune to is
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what you're gonna hear. So important right now, y'all, that
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we especially this season, this moment that we are all in,
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that we take time to decompress, to damn, to process
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the day of the Traumas you know, for married couples,
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there's the connection codes, there's a wheel, and I thought,
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I'll be honest with you, I thought this wheel was like, like,
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what do you need this wheel for? And we were
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sitting in our den and Streetbacks were there, the Kendricks
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were there, and they modeled the wheel, you know, processing
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through the emotions, and I thought it was pretty undamned,
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you know what I mean. And we sat down the
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chair and I got about three emotions into it. I
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was like, it is. Do you like that, piper? It's
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so easy, y'all. Here's the thing. When you walk through
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your day and there's conflict, there's trauma, there's suffering, there's
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a test. You don't notice that first branch dropping into
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the water. You may not notice the third, fourth, fifth,
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or sixth, but eventually there's a damn there and all
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of a sudden, now you don't have the flow that
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you previously had. These things God has revealed to us
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through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the
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depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except
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the spirit of that person, which is in him. So
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also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the
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Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit
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of this world, but the Spirit who is from God,
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that we might understand the things freely given, freely given
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us by God. And we impart this in words not
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taught by human wisdom, not humanism. Do you know how
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much humanism is snuck into the church masquerading his spirituality.
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I could go on that for twenty minutes, interpreting spiritual
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truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does
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not accept the things of the spirit of God for
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their folly to him. Listen, if you're in this room
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this morning and you've not surrendered your life to Jesus,
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I just want to encourage you. A lot of this
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is gonna I might as well as be speaking Mandarin
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to you, because it's not gonna make a whole lot
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of sense. The only thing you're gonna understand is that
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something is there's a void in there, and you'll you'll
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feel a drawing of God's spirit and may not even
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fully understand that. But if you're feeling in a drawing
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this morning, I want to encourage you. Don't walk out
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of here. You're not promised tomorrow. The natural person does
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not accept the things of the spirit of God for
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their folly to him. And it says, there's a way
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that seems right into men, but in the end leads
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to death. Why is the road that leads to destruction?
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But narrow is the path that leads to eternal life?
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And it says few find it. But the spiritual person
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judges all things, but is himself to be judged by
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no one, For who has understood the mind of the
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Lord so as to instruct him. But we have the
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mind of Christ. D'y'all, that's one Corinthians two ten to sixteen.
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Understand this. We have been given the mind of Christ.
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We literally have access to any wisdom or revelation that
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He deems fit that we need in that moment. If
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you act wisdom, what's it saying, James, ask for it,
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and he will give you unbridled wisdom. You ever seen
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a wild horse running in a field, not bridled, no saddle,
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no bit in its mouth, and it's just getting after it.
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That's how he longs to give us wisdom when we
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lack wisdom. He wants to run full throttle right at
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you like a horse to give you wisdom. So we
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got to understand that God's language is parabolic in nature.
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Luke a ten says this. He said to you, it
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has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom
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of God. But for others they're in parables, so that
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seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
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What I love about this is he tells us to
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the disciples. But yet then he keeps talking in parables
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to the disciples later. The difference is is he pulls
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those guys off to the side and gives them the
-
interpretation of the parable. So what does that tell you?
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Only those that are humble and hungry will actually begin
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to walk and carry those mysteries. God speaks through numbers, colors, signs, wonders, parables, dreams, visions, visitations,
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angelic visitations. These are just some of the ways in
-
which God brings us revelation. And I want to focus
-
in the last few minutes on this, and that is
-
the strength of revelation. I have seen too many times
-
where people will get an emotional feeling, they'll be convinced
-
that that feeling is the Lord, and then they'll go
-
out and make some major major change in their life
-
based off of a feeling, and then they end up
-
shipwrecking their faith for a season and they can't understand why. Yeah,
-
already number one feelings, they tend to be from our
-
soul and not the Holy Spirit. Matthew sixteen twenty two.
-
Peter tells Jesus, this shall not happen to you, bless Peter.
-
Peter was in the beginning very much led by his soul.
-
I'm convinced he actually wasn't when he chopped that dude's
-
ear off. I actually think he was going for his head.
-
I think he what a miracle that would have been.
-
And he chopped his head off, and Jesus restored his head. Y'all,
-
hit he took that dude's ear off, and Jesus like
-
number two recognition. So you go from feelings, which tend
-
to be the soul. So you may feel something about something,
-
you may feel very I feel very strongly about red meat.
-
I love it. I have a very strong feeling towards
-
red meat. I honestly have somewhat of a strong feeling
-
towards a good glass of red wine in moderation people,
-
and only if it's okay for you. But that does
-
not mean that this is the word of the Lord
-
over my life. Are y'all with me? Okay? Until? But recognition.
-
The Hebrew word is yadah, meaning to perceive or know,
-
including observation and recognition. This is found in Second King's
-
four nine. She perceived that Elisha was a holy man
-
from God. I when we were at when Mike and
-
I were at Bethel last week, whenever in the last
-
couple of weeks we were at Bethel for a worship school.
-
I took him to and I was meeting with Sean,
-
who's the head of the disaster relief for IRIS Global,
-
and I'd never seen him before, never met him. And
-
he says, well, hew, I'll meet you at the Hebrew's
-
Coffee Shop, which is in the church. And I walked
-
in there, and right when I walked in, my spirit
-
locked in on this guy. I go, oh, that's Sean.
-
So I recognized that was him, and I just he
-
had his head down, He's on his phone and said, hey, buddy,
-
you don't need to text me. I'm here. And I'd
-
never met him before. That is an example of recognition.
-
And number three is word of knowledge. The Greek word
-
is ganosko, meaning to know, perceive, or word of knowledge.
-
You see this in John one forty eight. Jesus answered Nathaniel,
-
I saw you while you were under the fig tree.
-
That's an example of a word of knowledge. And a
-
word of knowledge is a divine piece of information about
-
a person, place, or thing, past, present or future. Do
-
you catch that a word of knowledge is a divine
-
piece of information from the Holy Spirit to your spirit,
-
not your soul, because it's spirit the spirit communication. Number four,
-
and this is important y'all, because as God speaks to
-
you in these seasons, your time to ponder and be
-
obedient to the word of the Lord is going to shrink.
-
There are going to be times when you need to
-
hear him clearly and act swiftly. But you've gotta have
-
wisdom in the midst of it. If you simply have
-
a feeling to do something, you better not go change
-
jobs just because you feel like it. Are y'all with me?
-
Like this is where we have to grow up in
-
our relationship with Jesus, stewarding what he says to us,
-
being quick to be obedient, but also not get presumptuous
-
in the process. So discernment or discerning of spirits means
-
to separate spirits thoroughly, both a spiritual gift and one
-
Grifthians twelve ten and as a result of training your
-
spiritual senses. In Hebrews five fourteen, Act sixteen sixteen to nineteen,
-
Paul discerns the spirit of divination and the slave girl.
-
Interesting fact, there everything that girl that had the spirit
-
of divination, the Pithea's spirit. Everything she said about the
-
disciples were true. She said nothing that was recorded in
-
the scripture that was false. What was she doing. She
-
was aligning herself with the anointing, with the authority of
-
the apostles, so that when the Apostles left that region,
-
that spirit of divination could come in and devour that community.
-
You better be careful who's trying to partner with you,
-
and you better know what is influencing them when they
-
want to partner with you. I think my angel's back there. Yeah,
-
I'm high five and my angel maybe fifth level of revelation,
-
Strength of revelation. Dreams a symbolic message that comes from
-
that comes to us. Whilst obviously dreams can come from God,
-
your soul are the enemy. For instance, last night, I
-
literally came under a demonic attack. A demon came in
-
my room, wrapped his arm around me, had like his
-
hand with a bag over my mouth. I'm feeling this
-
breath on me, and I go to war. I'm fighting,
-
and I wake Lisa up because apparently I'm in the
-
natural in the bed moving a little bit, and I
-
rebuked it in my mind because I couldn't move my mouth,
-
and when I woke up, I was struggling to get
-
my mouth open, and then I had warfare of dreams.
-
The rest of the night. So I was like, Lord,
-
we'd better have a good Sunday. The atmosphere is a
-
little turbulent right now. But these dreams, you see Genesis
-
forty one seventeen to thirty six, feral dreams of seven
-
years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Over
-
the last couple of weeks, you've heard dreams shared concerning
-
the flood. Now, I can't you know. I sat there
-
and I recognized ten or eleven years ago I had
-
a dream driving down junction highway yelling at everyone to
-
get to high ground a flood was coming. And I
-
interpreted that dream as not literal but metaphorical. And it's like,
-
you know, because anytime things happen like that, you pray
-
against them, right And sometimes even when we pray against things,
-
they still happen. And that's again where we get stuck,
-
or can get stuck in that tension a minute of
-
that tension of mystery, and we have to give up
-
our right to understand at times. This is where ruthless
-
trust comes in. Lord, I don't know why this happened,
-
but I know that I'm not going to allow what
-
the enemy just did to tell me what to believe
-
about you right. Sixth level of revelation. Prophetic word the
-
Hebrew word neboo ah, meaning a prediction. This is always
-
spoken by God through people Matthew sixteen eighteen. Jesus tells
-
Peter by his names, by his names meaning rock, and
-
prophesies that Peter will build the rock on the rock.
-
I'm sorry, We'll build the church on the rock, not
-
the rock on the rock. Oh my brain, Lord, help
-
my brain. I just gotta get through this a little
-
bit longer. Number seven. Vision. The Hebrew word is row a,
-
meaning seer. Visions are usually more literal and meaning, and
-
usually occur while awake. Daniel had the vision of the
-
gleaming figure in Daniel ten, Acts ten, You had Cornelius,
-
he had a vision of an angel of the Lord,
-
and Acts ten Peter falls fell into a trance and
-
into a vision. I had an open vision. I've shared
-
this couple of times. But at one point my brother
-
had an apartment and he called me one Saturday morning
-
and asked me to come over because there was a
-
lady over there who was super traumatized. And I remember
-
I walked over there. Him and his roommate not walked
-
over there, drove over there and him and his roommate
-
were in the kitchen, and she was there, and I
-
walk up, I introduced myself, I shake her hand, I
-
have a conversation with her, and then I lay my
-
hands on her to pray, and the power of God
-
hit her. She hit the ground. She gets up. A
-
spirit came all the way forward, who was not happy
-
with me in that moment, and asked me who the
-
f I was, And I told him I was his
-
worst nightmare and he had to come out in the
-
name of Jesus, I really did. I was like, I
-
don't know why I got all Hollywood. But and then
-
she fell on the ground again, and the Lord said,
-
declare over her what she told you. So I just
-
start declaring these things that she told me, and my
-
brother in his roommate Benito or freaking out, and we
-
finish up, you know, the prayer and everything, and my
-
brother goes, how in the world did you know all that?
-
I said, what do you mean? He goes, how you know?
-
How'd you know her boyfriend's name? How did you know
-
she was supposed to be a school teacher? And he
-
rattles off this handful of things. I said, well she
-
told me. He no, she didn't. I said, Jason, are
-
you losing it? And he goes, dude, she didn't tell
-
you any of that. I said, yes, she did. You
-
were right here. I was talking to her. And he goes, Benito,
-
did he did she say any of that to him?
-
And he was over there doing the dishes, had his
-
back to me, looking at the window, and Benito goes, nope,
-
and I goes and I ain't turning around because the
-
fear of the Lord was all over him. And this
-
is why now pay attention to this, because this will
-
give you insight into open vision. It was so natural.
-
I didn't know when I went into it and when
-
I came out of it. And it's the same context
-
as Peter when the angel breaks him out of prison's
-
and he's walking and it says it wasn't until the
-
angel left him that he didn't know he was in
-
a vision. So open visions are this real. I had
-
another open vision when I was ministering in Egypt, in
-
four hours south of Cairo, and I saw what was
-
coming in ten months twelve months later, they were crucifying
-
Christians upside down in that where I was, Isis had
-
been training in the desert outside of there. You know
-
we don't get to It's not like you say, all right, Jesus,
-
this week, I want three visions, a dream, a prophetic word.
-
You don't put your order in, y'all. And I'll also
-
say this, don't sit around waiting for an encounter. If
-
you study the scriptures, when you encounter God and it's
-
on the way, you're already being obedient to what he's
-
called you to. It says, don't despise small beginnings? Are
-
you with me? I've had I've had one angelic visitation.
-
I'm forty eight years old, where I was out of
-
my body in front of this angel and then was
-
back in my body. I've seen angels, I've had dreams, visions,
-
I've had angels come to me in dreams, but a
-
literal visitation one. So when you start hearing these nut
-
jobs claiming to go to heaven every day at will hogwash,
-
I mean that in the nicest way possible. Okay, almost done.
-
Number nine translation The visitation to Heaven by God and
-
the process by which you are taken Genesis five twenty
-
four Enoch was taken home by God. Second Kings two eleven.
-
Elijah was brought up by a whirlwind. Second Corinthians twelve
-
to two. Paul's spirit, or perhaps his whole body, was
-
taken Revelation four to one. John was caught up in
-
the spirit on the Lord's Day. And guess what. Out
-
of those people I just mentioned, two of them have
-
not returned, Enoch and Elijah, and the Bible talks about
-
two witnesses returning prophesying those Regardless of what you think
-
of in times, those two witnesses have not come back yet.
-
They've not laid in the streets of Jerusalem dead. The
-
world has not given gifts to each other and celebrated
-
their death, and they have not resurrected and breathed fire
-
out of their mouths yet. So whether you're pre millennial,
-
'm millennial, or post millennial, you have that scripture to
-
deal with. And Hebrew says it's appointed and de man
-
wants to die and then face the judgment. So there
-
are your two witnesses number ten. Audible voice of God
-
sounds like many waters, a raging fire, a loud thunder,
-
or a still small voice. Can I tell you something
-
He prefers to whisper to us. And if we're not
-
at peace in our soul, and we're full of chaos.
-
It's gonna be very difficult to hear his whisper, very difficult.
-
Look at Elijah, you know, there's an earthquake, there's fire,
-
there's wind, everything's going on. And then it says, and
-
then a still small voice.
-
Elijah, what are you doing here? This would be very
-
hard to hear if there's a lot of chaos in
-
your soul, if your mind is racing a one hundred
-
thousand miles an hour and you have all these thoughts out.
-
Of you, hear this whisper. Peace is the potting soil
-
to revelation Number eleven. Visitation of the Lord a literal
-
physical appearance of the Lord to a human being Matthew
-
twenty eight sixteen. After Jesus has risen from the dead,
-
he appeared to the disciples, and I might say on
-
more than one occasion. And then number twelve pretty much
-
when it comes to strength of revelation, the pinnacle, which
-
would be a throne room encounter, the Greek word has
-
thrown offs, meaning a stately seat, an experience where one
-
is swept up into the throne room of God. Revelation
-
four one to eleven, the apostle John is taken up
-
into the throne room. Y'all, you cannot access heaven by will.
-
That is a false teaching. Going to heaven is invitation only,
-
and some of because what it's done, it's opened the
-
prophetic community up to vain imagination at the lead east
-
to astro projection at best or not best worst. Nowhere
-
in scripture did anyone say I'm going up. Ever, it
-
was always a suddenly, and it was always invitation only,
-
and they never knew it was going to happen beforehand.
-
It's so important y'all understand this, because there are scriptures
-
twisted to make people think that you can access heaven
-
by faith anytime you want, and it is just not biblical, period.
-
And I will fight that all day long. And I
-
can tell you the fruit of many of those folks
-
that believe that way are not the greatest fruit either.
-
You don't have to like me, but you have to
-
love me. Okay. So why did I go through all
-
these the strength of revelation? Because guess what, We're living
-
in turbulent times. Things are going to continue to increase.
-
The birth pains are guaranteed to get closer. So God
-
is raising up an end time army. He's raising up
-
a bride without spot or blemish. He's raising up Joel's army.
-
He's looking for the army of God to literally march
-
in unison, to know their lane, to honor each other,
-
to march forward and be obedient to the king. He's
-
looking for us when we hear his voice, to have
-
swift obedience, not slow. He wants us to have eyes
-
to see and ears to hear. He doesn't want scales
-
over our eyes. He doesn't want wax in our ears.
-
He wants to be able to whisper to you and
-
know that you're allowing His peace to rule and reign
-
inside of you to such a degree that you hear
-
the whisper. And right now, we've had a whole lot
-
of chaos in our region. Right now, I guarantee you,
-
so many of you, all of us, have had difficulties
-
of unwhining, unwhining, whining it too, but unwinding in the
-
evening because regardless if you were on the river, if
-
you were here, if you were running deliveries. Thank you
-
so much for getting rid of so much water, Megan,
-
that's just amazing. There are two things that will haunt
-
me after this for sure. That's clothing and water. I
-
never dreamed that we would be overloaded with those two items.
-
And for those of you that have been serving, you
-
even watched my wife and I disagree over whether or
-
not we should continue with clothing. I guess you had
-
to be there. I'm sorry. Okay, if the prayer teams
-
could come forward, Micah, can I get you on the keys.
-
I'm gonna close this in prayer, But y'all don't leave
-
here if you need prayer, if you're anxious, if you're
-
still fighting trauma, and if you're having memories over the
-
last three weeks that keep intruding into your thoughts. Those
-
are memorials that the enemy loves to set up to
-
bring torment. And so I just want to encourage you.
-
I think we got more than two people on our
-
per team, don't we, And I do believe. As a
-
side note, somebody just got engaged. If I'm not mistaken, woo,
-
congrats y'all. As he went to the men's bathroom, Seriously,
-
I picked a bad time. The gentleman in the back
-
there blowing his nose, he just got engaged. That is uh.
-
That is Ben Junior, or to some of you, Gabriel
-
and that is Ben and Kim's oldest son. And uh
-
are you excited that the the these four will get
-
to get to know each other a whole lot more.
-
I'm so proud of you all. Okay, all right, I'm
-
gonna close this in prayer because I can tell that
-
I'm not gonna be able to complete sentences for much longer.
-
So Father, thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Lord,
-
we lift up everybody in this region. Lord, we lift
-
up everybody in the seven counties that were affected. Lord,
-
would you be with Camp Mystic and all the families
-
that have lost homes and loved ones and and even
-
families that still have people missing. Lord, I pray Father
-
that every single person would be recovered and that there
-
would be families would be able to have closure. Lord.
-
We just lift the young girl from Mystic up to you,
-
and then the man Lord, the last two on the list. Lord,
-
we recognize there's other people that aren't on that list
-
that are out there, and I just pray Lord that
-
you would lead the teams and that every person would
-
be recovered. Lord, I pray for the emotional spiritual health,
-
the mental health of our community. Lord Jesus that by
-
your spirit you would come and that you would minister
-
to our community. Lord again, use us as the hands
-
and feet of you this week for this community. Lord,
-
let us be sensitive. Give us eyes to see and
-
ears to hear. Hearts that receive, knock the callouses off,
-
our souls, pull down our strongholds, expand our spirits for yours. Lord.
-
Would you strengthen the gifts that you've placed in each
-
person here today? Would you cause your anointing to grow
-
in their lives? Lord, we know that through the crushing
-
the oil comes. Lord. Let us not get stuck in
-
the why. Let us not get stuck with demanding understanding
-
of things that we may not have understanding until the
-
other side of eternity. We declare that You're good and
-
that you only give good gifts. We love you, Lord.
-
We thank you for another day on planet Earth. We
-
thank you for our breath, your breath, that you the
-
breath of life. Lord. We thank you for being here
-
in this moment. We thank you for our homes, our cars,
-
our family, our kids, our health, our friends, this community,
-
this state of Texas, Lord, our culture. We thank you
-
for predetermining literally at what moment in history that we
-
would live or we're not here by an accident. So Father,
-
I pray that you would strengthen us this week to
-
have love, to have honor, to be patient with each
-
other in this time, and to continue to minister to
-
those around us, to celebrate victories in one moment and
-
be able to mourn in the next moment with another person. Lord,
-
So fill us with your spirit in the mighty name
-
of Jesus. Amen. Thank you for listening. For more messages
-
and other resources, please subscribe to this podcast or go
-
to our website at www dot Cross Kingdom dot org.