It's About To Be Perfect | Philippians 1:6 | Pastor Walter Bowers Jr.

The Spirit of the Living God.

Have your way in this place.

This is your house, oh Lord.

This is your worship service, oh Lord.

We're just here, Lord, to let you know how much we love you.

And we're just here to let you know, Lord, how much we want to say thank you for your faithfulness towards us.

Now, Lord, I just pray that you open our hearts and minds because we need a word.

We need a word for a season such as this.

We need a word.

In the midst of everything that's going on, Lord, we need a word.

But I'm reminding God, you've already been speaking through this worship moment because you said the word is I'm faithful.

And I thank you, God, for being faithful.

In the midst of what's going on in this world, you're faithful.

Missiles flying from country to country, you're faithful.

Economic uncertainty, you're faithful.

A bad diagnosis, you're faithful.

A relationship that didn't go the way that we planned, you're faithful.

And because you're faithful, God, I do.

I really do worship you.

Why?

Because of your goodness, Lord.

I do.

I do worship you.

I really do, Lord.

I worship you.

Oh somebody was facing an eviction, but God, you was faithful.

I do worship.

Sometimes they just don't know what it took for me to come to church today, but I come because I do worship you.

Oh Lord, we give your name the glory.

We give your name the honor.

We give your name all the praise.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

To God be the glory.

To God be the glory.

To God be the glory.

Family, there's a word from the Lord this morning.

Found in Philippians, the first chapter.

We're reading just one verse.

Philippians 1, verse 6.

Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1, verse 6.

Philippians 1:6

Reading from the New Living Translation.

I want to ask that you stand and read the Word of God aloud with me.

Let's do that right now.

Ready?

Set.

Read.

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

And I would just like to use as a subject today if the Holy Spirit would allow.

It's about to be perfect.

Tell somebody, say it's about to be perfect.

Yeah, I know.

You say, What?

What it's about to be perfect.

You gotta say it like you mean it.

Sometimes you gotta prophesy.

We speak prophetically when we when we when we believe it, but we can't see it yet.

Turn to somebody and prophetically declare that it's about to be perfect.

It's about to be perfect.

You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

Now y'all gotta trust your pastor on this one.

I get it.

But what if I were to tell you that God has an expectation for you to be perfect?

What would I what would you say if I if I told you that?

It kind of goes against sayings such as nobody is perfect.

Uh it contradicts the notion that I can stay how I am and be in alignment with the will of God for my life.

Eldermark, what if I was to tell you that God has an expectation for you to be perfect?

Then you'd analyze your life and conclude that this is an impossible standard.

You'd say, Jesus, I can't do it, so I might as well go ahead and tap out now.

Sister Brandy, what if I was to tell you that God has an expectation for you to be perfect?

You might say, Well, the only perfect person that walked the earth is Jesus, and he is not I, and I am not him.

Pastor Young, what if I was to tell you that God has an expectation to be perfect?

You say, Pastor, now, uh, because you're a transparent preacher, and we've heard about 70% of your crazy stories, certainly you ain't up here preaching that God has called us to be perfect.

Well, how I would respond to all of you all is that it wasn't I that set the standard.

As a matter of fact, Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount declared as follows Matthew 5, verse 48, at the end of a powerful sermon about how we should live one another for one another, how we should love one another, how we should forgive one another, how we should turn it our cheek when somebody uh comes against us, how we should be good stewards over everything um that he has uh given us, how we should be who he's called us to be.

Matthew 5:48

At the end of this powerful sermon in Matthew 5, verse 48, he says something.

Matthew 5:48

He says, But you are to be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.

Men and women of God, I need to tell you that there is a clarion call for every last one of us to be perfect.

Now, before you put put up your Baptist finger and tip out the door, walk with me for just a few minutes.

I'm I'm I'm going somewhere because the Lord is saying that in the midst of everything that's going on, there is a call for perfection.

You were watching the news last night, like I was watching the news.

And with the things that are going on with our country, in the midst of wars and rumors of wars, God is saying, I need a perfect church.

In the midst of everything that is going on in society, in the midst of everything that's going on in your community, God is saying, I'm calling for my people to be perfect.

He says this because the reality is that when you are operating in perfection, you are operating in power.

But hear this, men and women of God.

The issue is that we don't really take the time to understand what God was saying when he told us to be perfect.

Because just like you, when I first read that there's a call to be perfect, I said I missed the mark, I might as well turn in my resignation, and maybe somebody else could do it, but that's not me.

But the Lord said you got to keep reading because you're not understanding what the word actually means.

You see, when we go and we look at the call to be perfect in the scripture, um, it comes from the word teleos, uh, which means yes, perfect, but it it uh it also means complete, it means mature, it means full grown, it means aged, it means uh that that that it uh has accomplished that in which God has called it to do.

Somebody says uh the call to be perfect is really the call to be complete.

And what God is saying is that I'm looking for you to be complete in this season of your life.

I'm looking for you to be mature.

Turn to somebody that won't hit you and tell them you need to grow up a little bit.

Tell them somebody that won't hit you now.

We don't want violence, we don't want no drama, but somebody that you can trust, just tell them you need to grow up a little, uh a little bit.

Yeah, you got to get over your feelings, you got to grow up a little bit.

It is not all about you, you gotta grow up a little bit.

God is calling us to maturity.

If you are in a situation and you can only see the wrong that the other person has done, God is saying it's time for you to be perfect and mature and talk to that woman or man in the mirror.

Tell them again, you it's time to grow up uh uh uh a little bit.

Somebody says that uh to be perfect means that I'm I'm I'm perfect in my mental and moral uh character.

I I gotta be um um perfect.

It it means that when I'm operating in perfection, when I'm operating in completion, when I'm operating in uh wholeness, that means that uh more likely than not, I am going to do what is necessary to reach the desired end that God has for my life.

In other words, I'm going to reach the goal.

The other words, I'm going to accomplish the vision.

In other words, my family will be a success.

In other words, my business will be a success.

In other words, my church will be a success.

Because when you look at the root of the word, it means that God is saying, when you are perfect, you will reach the desired end.

I need some people that are realizing that God is calling you to reach the desired end, and He's also calling you to run a little longer and see what the end is going to be.

James 1, verse 4 says, And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete.

James 1:4

Good God Almighty.

Do y'all mind prophesying completeness in the house this morning?

I know there are some prophets in the house.

Uh I know there are some people that believe in the power of prayer.

Will y'all start praying perfectness and completeness into your life?

Would you start praying, praying that until somebody's on your road?

Say, God, I want to declare perfectness and completeness.

I want them to be whole in Jesus' name.

Ah, I thought y'all was gonna help me preach.

I just wish I had about 25 people that believe in the power of declaration because the Bible says that what we bind on earth is bound in heaven, but what we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

And and I've come today as a man of God to release completeness in your life.

You you see there's some incomplete stuff, there are some holes in your uh testimony, there are some holes in your timeline because you've gone through so much, but God is saying that I'm trying to complete you.

And the reality of the situation is that you gotta realize that there is a call on your life to be perfect.

Jesus actually uses this a derivative, the perfect tense of this word when he's on the cross.

He uses the phrase to telesty.

To telesty is the perfect tense of the word telio, which means complete or perfection.

When Jesus was on the cross and he had done what God had called him in the earth to do.

He looked out at those that thought they had power over him, he looked out at those that thought that they had him locked down.

He looked out at those that thought that they had the upper hand, and he looked out at them, and he declared to tell us not, or you may know it better as it is finished.

Good God Almighty.

I feel the Holy Ghost.

I need a few of y'all in the room that you know that you've gone through the burdens of this life, that it impacted your mental health, that it impacted your natural health, that it impacted your relationships, that it impacted your ministry, that it impacted your witness, that it impacted your faith, that it impacted your family, that it impacted what God was trying to do, but you can be like Jesus now and cry.

It is finished.

I need some talkers in the room this morning that don't mind looking at some stuff and saying, you know what?

It is finished.

I'm not going back to that conversation, it is finished.

I'm not going back to that stronghold, it is finished.

I'm not going back to that drama, it is finished.

I need about 17 of y'all in the room to give God some praise.

If you believe in your spirit that some stuff is finished, and it's finished today.

It's time to be perfect.

But the only way you're gonna be perfect is some stuff that's got to come to an end.

The only way you're gonna be complete is you got to just nip some stuff in the bud.

That's from the book of Barney Fife, chapter Andy Griffith show.

I'm trying to help somebody today be perfect because God is saying there's something else I want to do in your life.

Well, God says it like this the first thing you need to understand about this call to be perfect, this call to be complete, this call to be whole, is that you have been called to this life.

You have been called to perfection.

The text says it like this, and I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

The apostle Paul here is writing to the church at Philippi.

Philippi was the first church to be birthed on European soil.

Philippi was uh a city that was present, but they didn't have God.

And it's dangerous to have a city but not have God.

Paul was going about his missionary journeys and he was trying to figure out where to go where and the Holy Spirit would ultimately lead him to Philippi.

And he plants this church here in the midst of uh Greek culture, in the midst of Roman rule, uh, because God was doing something in the city.

Somebody said God is doing something in the city.

Yeah, yeah, God was doing something in the city.

He he birthed this church in the midst of chaos and confusion.

Uh uh, but they were birthed as part of God's apostolic plan for that region of the world.

They they were born to finish.

Somebody said they were born to finish.

Did y'all did y'all catch what I said?

They were they were birthed in chaos and confusion.

They were birthed as part of God's apostolic plan.

That means that God sent Paul because he was doing something in the region.

But I want you to understand, they were born to finish.

And in other words, they they lasted a uh a couple of centuries.

When the Romans faded, the church lasted, when other things faded.

They were they were born to to to to finish.

Men and women of God, I see something in in the church at Philippi.

I see it in you, I see it in the person sitting in your seat.

You know what I see?

I I see that God bursts his best in the midst of chaos.

Yeah, yeah, I have to realize and I've come to the conclusion, Q, that the best version of you is forged in the fire.

Yeah, yeah, we don't like the fire, we don't like the smoke, we don't like the process, we don't like the pain, but the best version of you is born in the fire.

You ought to give God some glory and say, I'm built for this.

Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm built for this because it is part of God's plan to perfect me.

God says through Paul, I am certain.

Good God Almighty.

I got excited when he says, I am certain.

That means that Paul does not have any doubt.

That means that Paul doesn't have any concern.

He says that I am certain.

Paul, what are you certain of?

That God who began the good work.

Can I tell you once again that this work of perfection is being initiated by God?

So you don't have to worry about what you don't have because it's all in his hands.

You don't have to worry about what you can't do because it is all in his hands.

It reminds me of when God took Jeremiah down to the potter's wheel, and he said, I need you to see this marred clay.

I'm going to mold it and shape it uh in the natural so that the children of Israel can see that I'm going to mold and shape them in the spirit realm.

Uh and now some people that got a testimony that this has been a molding year for you, hasn't it?

Yeah, what you have gone through in the pains of your body, it molded your faith, hasn't it?

Yeah, there's a woman that testified that her husband had cancer, but when she defeated the cancer, it molded their faith to know that he is Jehovah Rapha.

I need some people in the room to understand that the situation is not to break you, but it's part of God perfecting you, it's part of God preparing you, that God has begun a good work in your life, and we serve a God that has the ability to finish what he started.

I need to give God some praise right now because when I look at my life, I have to tell you, like I told you a few weeks ago, I'm in good hands, and because I'm in good hands, he's preparing me, he's shaping me, he's transforming me, he's rescued my life, and I'm never going back to where God has delivered me from.

Men and women of God, you have been called to perfection, you have been called to completion, you've been called to wholeness.

If it was up to you, you'd stay broken because you got used to having a broken mindset.

You've bonded with your trauma, you lay down next to it every night.

You you snuggle up to it next in the morning, but but God has said, I'm about tired of you laying down to what is not of my will for you.

He says that I got something greater for you.

You have been called to perfection.

Somebody say, I've been called to perfection.

You may not think I'm deserving of it, but God called me to be whole, He called me to be complete in every aspect of my life.

Men and women of God, He gives us an example of the prophet by the name of Elisha.

Elisha.

He was called by God through Elijah.

Elijah had gotten tired in ministry.

He had just come out of a big fight with Jezebel.

He had gotten tired in ministry, had gotten to the point where he almost thought about taking his life until God whispered in his ear.

I pray that the spirit will whisper to you when you feel like letting go.

Yeah, whisper to him.

That's there's somebody in the room.

I feel it in the spirit that you Lord just whisper to him.

You know, I always tell y'all that there's always a sound that precedes the move of God.

But I forgot to tell you that sometimes that sound is a whisper.

Lord, have mercy.

I pray that you whisper in the ear and tell them it's gonna be all right.

Whisper it tells us it's gonna be all right.

You my daughter.

Whisper in their ear, tell them it's gonna be all right.

You my son.

Whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper in their ear, tell them, Lord, yeah, I'm the one that called you to this.

You good?

You good?

You good?

Stay in the fight.

Matter of fact, I wish you just turn to somebody and whisper and tell them it's gonna be all right.

Just encourage whoever by you, tell them it's gonna be all right, stay in the fight.

Uh uh uh Elijah gets tired and and and and God restores him, but he says it's also time for you to uh to name your successor as an individual by the name of Elisha.

I need you to go find Elisha.

And and when you find him, I need you to take your mantle and and and place it on him.

And Elisha um was in the field working here.

It was 12 oxen teams, and he was on the 12th team, and he was working.

And I want to remind you that God is going to complete you and make you whole when you are in the place doing what you're supposed to do, waiting on God to move.

Uh, too many of us that God can't move in our life because we are not in the right place.

We want to get ahead of God, we want to do uh what we want to do.

But God says, I always award faithfulness.

I need you to be faithful where you are until I get you to the place that you have been praying to be.

And if you can't be faithful where you are, you ain't gonna be faithful in the place that I'm trying to take you.

I need to encourage somebody to remain faithful until God opens the door.

I need to recourage somebody to keep working the field until he takes you to the office.

I need to encourage somebody to be faithful over the little so he can make you a ruler over a lot.

Elisha was faithful.

He was faithful and he was working in the field, and Elijah comes and places his mantle over him.

And and instantly, according to the text, Elisha knew what it meant.

Perhaps because culturally uh he knew what that meant, perhaps spiritually he knew what it meant, but but perhaps through their tradition, he knew what it meant.

But he instantly realized that the placing of the mantle was was was the prophet saying, Tag, man of God, you are it.

And I want to tell somebody that there's a mantle that's about to be placed on you because God is saying, uh, I'm going to complete you because tag, you are it.

Yeah, you ought to thank God for the mantle that's about to fall on you.

Uh, is there anybody that can be excited about the mantle that's coming on you?

You've been praying for an opportunity, you've been praying for another chance, you've been praying to do it, and I want to tell you that the work that you desire is a good work.

Uh, you just gotta be patient to wait on the mantle.

And he waits on the mantle, he waits on the coat.

If you he waits on the coat, think of an overcoat, and he throws it on him and he realizes what has happened.

But watch this.

There are several things that have to happen immediately.

He had to go through a season of transition.

Because when God is trying to make you whole and complete you, there is a heavy season of transition.

Chosen City Church, he's perfecting us, and we are in a season of heavy transition.

You as an individual, you God is perfecting you, and it will require heavy transition.

Elisha, when he realizes that God is up to something, see, the first thing you gotta realize is that when you are in a season of transition, don't miss it.

Don't miss it, don't miss it.

He he realizes that he goes and he says to Elijah, can I go tell my parents that I'm in transition, that I that I gotta leave?

And and Elijah tells him he could, and and he goes and he he he bids his parents farewell.

And that was so much in that text for me, uh Minister Margaret, because I realize there are many times in our life where we talk about leaving people.

We we leave some people, or so we say, with the quickness.

But the reality of transition and being complete and whole is that everybody that we have to leave is not necessarily our enemy.

Everybody that we have to disassociate from for a soul season are not always bad.

As a matter of fact, some of them will be the people that help you to get to the place that you are.

It was Elisha's father that taught him how to work in the field in the first place.

And he now has to stand on his father's shoulder to go to a place.

Here it is, that his father could not go.

Perhaps it was his mother that taught him how to love in the first place.

But now he has to stand on his mother's shoulders to go to a place that his mother cannot go.

And too many times we refer to people that can't go with us as haters and naysayers.

No, but perhaps they had a different assignment.

And I just want to talk to you and let you know that everybody ain't your hater, everybody ain't your naysayer, but their assignment just ain't the same as yours.

But you got the and and it's hard, it's it's easy to leave somebody when when you look at them in a in a negative light.

But what happens when they are the ones that love you to the place that you are at?

But God is trying to do a new thing in your life that requires you to journey a few feet by yourself.

I want to talk to somebody in the room, that's why you have yet to transition, is because you are still holding on to that in which God has released you from.

He's saying that I'm gonna take care of whoever you gotta leave behind, but you gotta go to the place that I'm trying to take you because there's a call on your life to be perfect, and you will never be perfect, you'll never be complete, you'll never be whole if you stay right where you are.

So I want to be nosy in the room.

Which uh raise your hand if you're the one that just been holding on too long.

We ain't gonna talk about it.

Listen, I see some honor.

I love our church.

We got some honest people in the room, good God Almighty, because of your honesty, and we are a house that believes in the power of prayer, and we believe in the prophetic.

The Holy Ghost is gonna give you the strength and the discernment and everything that you need to go forth into this next thing that God has called you to do.

Because God is saying, I need you to be perfect, and you can't be perfect if you can't be complete, you can't be whole if you stay where you are.

That's how some of y'all ended up in Charlotte.

In reality, that's why some of y'all may have to leave Charlotte.

Because the reality is sometimes we can't stay where we are to get where God is gonna take us to be.

So he transitions and he leaves his parents.

He doesn't only leave his parents, he leaves his job.

The Bible says that he takes the time to burn the plow.

Because he realized that if he didn't burn the plow, he may be tempted to come back to the field when the going got tough.

And I want to talk to some people in the room and say that as God is shifting you, even in your career, you got to burn the plow.

As God is shifting you, even in certain relationships, you gotta burn the plow.

When I burn the plow, you no longer have access to me anymore.

And the problem is that you got folks still got access to you.

They can text you when they want to text you and deserve your peace.

They can communicate when they want to communicate and deserve your disturb your peace.

God is saying, burn the plow.

I need about 15 of y'all in the room that's willing to burn the plow.

Delete the doggone number.

Can I say it real plain?

Let me get out of King James so you don't miss it.

Delete the number, use block, send me snail mail, but you don't have access to my mental health anymore.

Because I'm going to a place that only God can take me.

And since you ain't a part of that journey, with all due respect, we ain't got too much to talk about.

I am mad at you.

I pray for you.

I wish you were until we meet again.

May His grace be with thee till we cross that open shore and we study war no more.

May His peace be with thee until we meet again.

But on this side, ain't no more meetings.

Somebody say no more meetings.

Because you can't be complete and be whole as long as you allow people to keep coming into your house and into your mind, tearing the scab off a wound that was trying to heal.

How much longer are you gonna let folk tet us that abandon it all?

God has said it's time to transition.

Burn the plow.

Somebody say burn the plow.

Yeah, he he he he burns the plow.

He he he transitioned.

He he he burns the plow.

Watch this, and then he goes into a season of of mentorship because if I'm going to be perfect, uh I gotta make some necessary endings.

If I'm if I'm going to be perfect, I gotta I gotta burn the plow.

But if I'm going to be perfect, I I need a season of mentorship.

Um business owner, who is your mentor?

Married couple, who is your who's who's your mentor couple?

Pastors, who who's your who's your mentor?

Doctor, who who who is your who is your mentor?

Uh teacher, who who is your mentor?

Uh whatever it is that God has called you to do, who are you looking up to that uh will tell you the truth and and will allow you to uh uh uh observe?

And and and God is saying that that some of you need mentorship.

You need to connect with some people that see what's in you, but they're not impressed by you.

You want to connect to the people that's impressed by you.

Tell you how good you're doing.

You need some people that's unbothered.

They see who you are, but they number one, they're not intimidated and they unbothered.

They want you to win, but they they've seen what you got before.

They ain't they unbothered.

You need some people that'll say, I I know what you're capable of, but I need you to wash this dish today.

I know what you're capable of, but I need you to clean this bathroom today.

Because the people that's the real mentor is gonna keep you humble to get you to the place where God will have you to be.

Elisha, uh, because there's a call on his life to be complete, there's a call on his life to be perfect.

He he he he watches Elijah uh perform, it depends on which count you go by.

Uh he he he uh some accounts include the prophetic utterances, and he uh watches Elijah uh perform at least uh a 14 miracles according to some counts that uh count the prophetic, uh that count the axe head, that count all the he watches Elijah uh perform all of these miracles, and because he was willing to uh transition, but but because he was willing to to to be mentored, because he answered the call, Elisha enters into a season of perfection.

Did you hear what I said?

Because he answered the call, because he was willing to transition, because he was willing to be mentored, he he enters a season of perfection.

Let me see if I can say it one more time.

But because he was willing to answer the call of perfection on his life, because he was willing to make the necessary transitions to perfection in his life, because he was willing to be mentored, because he was willing to burn the plows, he entered a season of perfection, he enters a season of being complete, he enters a season of being whole.

What do you mean?

Yeah, when Elijah's time had come to an end, and it was time for Elijah to leave, and it was time for Elisha to lead.

Did you hear what I said?

It was time for Elijah to leave, and it was time for Elisha to lead.

I'm gonna say it one more time.

It was time for Elijah to leave.

He was going to be with the Lord, and it was time for Elisha to lead, it was time for him to take the mantle.

He he he understands what's happening because it was prophesied to him through his mentor, through his spiritual father, and Elisha asked, uh, he said, Father, if I just got one request since you said um um that I could ask you for anything.

He said, I know that you gotta leave, and I don't want you to leave, but but the one thing that I have a desire of is that if you would just give me a double portion uh of your spirit, if if you just give me double uh what you got, and and and and and some may think that was a selfish prayer, but I see it as a prophetic prayer.

I see that uh Elisha understood that the hell that he was gonna have to go up against uh was gonna be two times worse uh than what Elijah had to deal with uh, the hell uh that he was gonna have to deal with uh with the administration that we have uh is two times worse uh than what the other uh generation had to deal with.

The hell that we have to deal with, uh, with young brothers dying in the streets every weekend is two times worse uh than what we dealt with before.

Uh huh.

And sometimes uh when God has a call on your life, uh, you got to be unafraid to pray for double.

Uh huh.

Ah, I wish I had some people in the room uh that's unafraid to pray for double.

Uh huh.

Lord, I need a double portion.

Uh-huh.

I need a double portion of faith.

Uh-huh.

I need a double portion of healing.

Uh-huh.

I need a double portion of the Holy Ghost.

Uh huh.

Is there anybody beside myself that's unashamed to pray for double?

Uh-huh.

I pray for double.

Uh-huh.

Because God, you said I gotta be perfect.

And if I need gonna be perfect, I need double.

Uh huh.

I need some prayer warriors in the room that's praying for double for your pastor.

Uh huh.

You gotta pray for double for your church.

Uh huh.

And what's crazy is uh, I ain't even talking about money.

Uh huh.

I'm talking about the power of the Holy Ghost.

I need double, uh-huh.

So when I lay hands on somebody, uh, in the name of Jesus, uh, the cancer has no choice but to drop up.

When I lay hands on somebody, uh, in the name of Jesus, uh, the hip has no choice but to get better.

Uh when you go home, uh huh, and Grandma ain't doing well, uh-huh, and the doctor has declared they've done all that they can do.

Uh huh.

Is there anybody that's prayed for double?

Uh-huh.

When you are having mental health issues and you're about to lose your mind, uh, I need some prayer warriors that pray for double.

It's crazy out here in these streets.

I need double.

Somebody say, I need double.

I need double.

Tell God you need double.

Some of God, we need double.

We need double the miracles, we need double the blessings, we need double the power because our assignment is so strong.

And what we saw was that Elijah became complete and perfected.

And the Bible literally records, literally, if you go count them, that Elijah two times as many miracles as Elijah.

I need you to understand something that's happening in your life right now.

God is perfecting you.

God is stirring up the gifts that are in you.

That's why some of you are no longer comfortable with the status quo.

That's why some of you are you keep pressing your way into the word of God.

Because you have been on a search for deeper, you have been on a search for more.

It is not a selfless search.

It is because God has called you to perfection.

He's called you to a complete season.

Ephesians 4, verse 11 says this, and this is what the Lord is doing with his church.

Ephesians 4:11

He's giving some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some pastors and teachers.

Why, God, are you giving us these gifts?

Why are you stirring up people in my very midst?

Why is somebody feeling stirred right now?

They're being stirred.

Verse 12 says, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the statute of the fullness of Christ in a nutshell.

The Lord is saying, You're just like Elisha.

I'm stirring something within you.

And until you tap in and surrender to that in which I've called you to be, you'll never be perfect.

But the moment you tap in and allow me to finish what I started in your life, it's that moment you'll feel me like you've never felt me before.

Is that a moment you'll feel completeness in your life like you've never felt completeness in your life?

You've been a half-person long enough.

You've been a piece of a woman long enough.

You've been a shell of a man long enough.

The Lord is saying, I need you to submit.

Somebody said, Submit, submit, submit to God's will for your life.

And he's gonna stir you.

But you gotta answer the call.

He's stirring no point in him stirring you if you ain't gonna answer the call.

Ain't no point in him stirring you if you ain't gonna make the necessary transition.

Ain't no point in him stirring you if you ain't gonna burn the plow and you're gonna keep going back to what he's delivered you from.

But for the man or woman of God that's willing to answer the call, that's willing to go through the transition, that's willing to burn the power, that's willing to submit yourself to a godly mentor, God is about to pour something in you that you have never seen before.

I prophesy in this house there will be a supernatural release of spiritual gifts because God is saying, I need you in this season when the world is on fire.

Somebody say he's perfecting me.

Many women of God, perfection is initiated by God where perfection is the handiwork of God in our lives.

The text says again, and I am certain that God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Can I bring emphasis to will continue?

Can y'all say that with me?

We'll continue.

Say it like you mean it will continue.

Men and women of God, I want to let you know that the work of perfection that is going on in your life is not only initiated by God, it is maintained by God.

He that began a good work within you will continue.

That means he's maintaining it, that means that he's holding it together, that means that he is funding it, that means that he is holding it, that means that he is protecting it, that means that he is providing for it.

He that began a good work within you will continue it.

That means that it cannot fail.

I don't care what uh somebody says it cannot fail because the Lord started this thing.

I I need you to talk to somebody in the room that's doubting you and let them know say the Lord started this thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I know you didn't believe somebody didn't believe you when you told them that you had a call on your life because they knew about your yesterday, but you need to tell them that the Lord started this thing.

Yeah, somebody didn't believe you when you launched out and started your business or your journey into entrepreneurship, but you got to tell the Lord started this thing.

Somebody didn't need believe you when you wanted to be a manager and you wanted to be elevated in your position that you wanted a higher role in the nonprofit organization.

They didn't believe that you had the chops, but you say, 'I ain't worried about your beliefs.' The Lord started this thing, and since He started it, He's God enough to see it through until the end.

You ought to thank God for the fact that you're walking in something that not was birthed of you, but it was from the hand of God.

He I'm certain, somebody said, I'm certain that God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Men and women of God, God perfects the church and maintains the church by allowing the church to grow in the middle of its mess.

He he perfects the church and he maintains the church by by by uh ascending supernatural healing to make sure that we get to where we need to be.

That's why I'm so glad that we are a group of believers that embrace the fact that God is still in the delivering business.

And the Lord says part of the way that I'm going to maintain the church is I'm going to deliver my church from everything that has held them bound.

Remember now we're we're preaching about the church at Philippi.

And if you want evidence of what God can do for you, uh, look at what God did for Philippi.

Well, we are reminded of a woman named Lydia in Acts the 16th chapter.

Uh, she was a wealthy woman because she was a dealer of fine purple cloth.

Uh, and purple was considered to be rare at that time, and and uh purple linen was not something that an ordinary person would have.

But even though she had money, uh, she did not have God, even though she had uh the bag, she she was lacking in her belief.

But when she had an encounter uh with the apostles, uh, there was a shift that happened in her life, uh, and suddenly she found herself believing in the most high God because God said he is going to maintain his church.

What do you mean, Pastor Wall?

Well, if you know anything about Lydia, when Lydia was saved, uh, God didn't wipe away her wealth.

No, when Lydia was saved, uh, he didn't eliminate her entrepreneurial skills.

No, when Lydia was saved, uh, he didn't take away her leadership abilities, uh, he just shifted it uh for the kingdom work.

In other words, uh, when God is getting ready to maintain you, uh, he's gonna shift some people around you uh that were worse once working for the enemy, and now they'll be working for you.

Uh this same woman uh who was doing everything for the streets is now doing it for the glory of the kingdom.

Uh, and that'll be some good news uh for any pastor out there that may be listening.

Uh, you don't have to worry about how the mortgage is gonna get paid, uh, you ain't gotta worry about the worry that you're gonna feed the homeless.

Uh God is making a lydia, he's preparing a lydia to maintain his work.

Uh can I talk to some entrepreneurial in the room?

Uh I don't care if you got turned down on the loan.

Uh God is preparing a lydia, and Lydia is about to show up and she's gonna be a blessing to you.

Uh you ought to thank God for the lydia that's coming.

Yeah, uh there's a lydia that's coming your way.

Uh she won't ask for anything, uh, she won't want anything, uh, but she's just gonna bless the assignment uh because God says, I'm going to maintain that in which I ordained.

Uh huh.

And then he goes on after Lydia.

Uh huh.

And there's this slave girl.

Uh-huh.

She had this spiritual ability that did not come from God.

Uh did y'all hear what I said?

Uh, every spiritual ability uh may not necessarily come from God.

Uh huh.

She had a demonic spirit within her.

She could see the future.

Uh huh.

And they used this woman as a fortune teller.

Uh-huh.

You know how we used to use Cleo?

Uh-that's how they use this woman.

Uh, and they would get money from her because she would tell fortunes for money.

Uh and when she saw Paul coming, uh, she started to speak about uh these men are followers of the most high God, uh, but she wasn't doing it in a spiritual way.

Uh huh.

She was kind of putting the enemy on notice that there are some troublemakers in the room.

Uh-huh.

The reason that you need to be perfect in this season is because God is calling some of y'all to a season of good trouble.

Uh-huh.

When the enemy sees you coming, uh, they ought to say, There she comes again.

Uh huh.

When the enemy sees you coming, uh, they ought to say, There he go again.

Uh huh.

Every time they see you coming, uh, they ought to see you as a threat to the enemy's kingdom.

Uh huh.

But when the people of God see you, uh-huh, they ought to have some hope.

That's why you gotta be restored.

Uh-huh.

That's why you gotta be complete.

Uh-huh.

Because God wants to use you in this season, uh huh.

So that when you walk in the room, uh-huh, you can shift some stuff.

Uh huh.

And after a while, Paul got tired of this woman with this demonic spirit, uh, and he cast out the spirit because God showed me something.

Uh He says, I'm going to maintain my people, uh, but there's some stuff that gotta be cast out.

Uh I'm going to maintain my church, but there's some stuff that gotta be cast out.

I'm gonna maintain your mental health, uh, but there's some stuff that gotta be cast out.

I'm gonna maintain your relationship, but there's some stuff that gotta be cashed out.

Uh huh.

And I need some people that's unafraid, that's wanna be honest today, uh, and say there's some stuff that's been going on in my mind, uh, but I gotta cast some stuff out because for in order for God to maintain me, there's some stuff that just got to get up out of here.

You ought to start prophesying to yourself, you ought to start speaking to yourself in the name of Jesus.

I cast out doubt in the name of Jesus, I cast out demonic influence in the name of Jesus, I cast out everything that is not like you.

Uh huh.

I'll thank God that he's gonna maintain me because he's told me that there's some stuff that simply got to be cast out.

Because God says I'm gonna maintain you on the way to perfection, but there's some stuff that just got to get cast out.

But not only y'all do you have to cast some stuff out, because there's a mandate for them to be perfect.

I realize that if I'm going to be perfect, I gotta learn to have a perfect praise.

If I'm going to learn to be perfect, I gotta learn to have a complete praise.

And there are too many of us that our praise is imperfect, our praise is incomplete.

Our praise is based on how we feel when we get up in the morning.

Our praise is based on the last time that God answered a prayer.

But the church at Philippi teaches us that if there's a call on my life to be perfect, I gotta have a perfect praise.

I'm so glad that I serve an honest church because since I'm honest with y'all, y'all can be honest with me.

And some of y'all have told me, Pastor, I didn't feel like coming to church today because I've had too much going on in my life.

I didn't feel like worshiping this season because God has yet to answer my prayer.

But I need to help you to understand something.

You have been called to perfection, and you got to have a perfect praise.

It wasn't long ago that Pastor Young preached about this perfect praise.

Well, Paul and Silas found themselves uh incarcerated simply for doing what God has called them to do.

What does it feel like to find yourself in the midst of a bad situation and all you were trying to do is what God called you to do?

It's one thing to be in a bad situation because you drank too much, it's another thing to be in a bad situation because you smoked too much, it's another thing to be in a bad situation because you laid in the wrong bed.

But what do you do when you're in a bad situation and all you were trying to do is to keep your family together?

What do you do when you're in a bad situation and all you was trying to do is go to that job that you didn't really like anyway?

What do you do when you're in a bad situation and all you was trying to be was what God has called you to be?

Good God Almighty, the Lord told me to tell you uh that the reason that some of you uh have had such a bad situation uh is because there is a lesson that has to be learned and for where he's taking you uh and for where you are going, uh, you got to learn the ability to have a perfect praise.

Yeah.

What does a perfect praise look like?

Uh Paul and Silas uh are arrested, and the Bible is clear.

Uh huh.

They didn't have them in the holding facility.

No, they had them at the bottom of the dungeon.

Uh huh.

They had them at the bottom of the bottom, uh huh.

Because that's what life feels like sometimes.

Not only am I arrested by this situation, uh, I'm in the bottom of the bottom.

I'm in the gutter, uh, I'm in the mud, I'm in the dark part where the bats and the spiders at y'all can't even see me.

Uh huh.

The sun can't even reach me.

Uh huh.

It's cold and moldy down here.

It's slimy down here.

Uh there are bones and skeletons down here.

Uh has anybody ever been in that part of the dungeon?

Uh-huh.

Oh, maybe I forgot where I was.

Y'all ain't never been to that part of the dungeon when you almost lost your mind.

Y'all ain't never been to that part of the dungeon when God's answer to your prayer appears to be delayed.

You ain't never been to that part of the dungeon when you prayed and you cried, and you cried and you prayed, and it looked like it got worse before it got any better.

I just need about five witnesses because everybody else too bourgeois.

But if there anybody beside myself that's been in the dungeon, dungeon, is there anybody beside myself that's been in the bottom bottom?

And you was trying to figure out uh whether it's better to kill yourself or to stay in the dungeon.

Yeah, can we be real about this thing?

But Paul teaches us something.

Uh when you find yourself in that part of the dungeon, uh, this is the season of your life that requires a perfect praise.

Uh you see, if Paul and Silas uh had a predator dedicated their praise on their current condition, uh, there wouldn't have been a lot of praise that came from their lips.

Uh they would have sang songs of unbondage, uh, they would have sang songs of slavery, they would have said stuff like love don't leave here anymore.

They would have said stuff think like I better let it go.

Looks like another love TKO.

They would have sang songs that I'm going through a storm and I've been in a storm too long because their praise would have been predicated on their plane.

Uh huh.

But I thank God that God perfected their praise.

I thank God that He's perfected their praise.

And then what I see in the Spirit is God about to perfect your praise.

Your praise can't be perfected when everything is perfect, your praise can't be perfected when everything is in order.

I already told you there are some things that are only forced in the fire, there are some things that bloom in the flood, there are some things that come out of darkness, there are some things uh that come out of the frost of the night, and what the Lord is saying for the perfected praise that you need to live the perfected life that I have for you, uh I had to take you to the bottom so you can learn what your praise is supposed to look like because Paul and Silas showed us something suddenly uh they were no longer praising as it relates to the condition that they were in.

They were no longer praising, uh worried about the Pharisees or the Sadducees, uh they went into a praise simply because God is worthy.

Whether he took the chains off, uh, he was worthy.

Whether he opened the prison door, uh, he was worthy, uh whether he rescued them from the oppressor, uh, he was worthy, uh whether your candidate in the White House or not, he is worthy, uh whether you get you a husband, uh, he is worthy, uh whether you get you a wife, uh, he is worthy, uh whether you get you a job, uh-huh, he is worthy, uh.

God is saying, uh huh, I need to perfect your praise.

Stop praising me because of what I do, uh who I am.

Uh huh.

Do I have any worshippers in the room?

Uh-huh.

Say, God, I'm in the middle of something.

I'm in the middle of something right now.

Uh-huh.

It don't even make sense for me to praise you.

But God perfect my praise.

And I give your name, Glory.

I hear him perfecting somebody's praise.

I hear him perfecting somebody's praise.

You got a bad situation.

You got a bad letter, uh-huh.

You got a bad communication, uh-huh.

But God said, what a wonderful time.

For me to perfect your praise, uh.

I need somebody, uh, who dealt with some bad news this month.

To give God a praise, uh huh.

Like you just hit the lottery, huh?

Did you hear what I said, huh?

I need somebody, uh, that lost some stuff in the last 60 days, uh, to give God some praise, uh, like you recovered it all, huh?

I need somebody, uh, that got their heart broke last year, uh, to give God some praise, uh, like you never went through it, uh.

I need somebody, uh, that went through some ugly stuff, uh.

Got baby mama, brother, huh?

Got baby daddy brothers, uh.

Don't know when you're gonna see your face, huh?

But I need you to give him some praise, huh?

Give him some praise in the ugly, huh?

Give me some praise when it's bad, huh?

Give me some praise when it's broken, huh?

Because the Lord is saying, huh?

In the middle of brokenness, uh, that's when I perfect the praise.

And then suddenly, uh, somebody say suddenly, uh, good God Almighty, suddenly, huh?

I feel the Holy Ghost, uh, every time I say suddenly, uh, do I got it in praise at the end of top cry?

That's not why we get excited all the suddenly.

It don't take much for me.

You can say suddenly, ha ha.

And I'ma cry a little bit.

You can stay subtly, huh?

I mean, take all running, huh?

You can say subtly, ha ha.

I got great expectations.

Is there anybody in the room that can praise God?

Because a subtly is coming your way.

Good God almighty.

Any day now, ha ha ha! I expect a subtly to hit you.

Any day now, ha ha, any minute, ha ha.

Get ready now, ha ha.

It's about to happen suddenly.

Oh my praise is that I believe in God out of nowhere, ha ha.

Out of nowhere, ha ha.

Out of nowhere, ha ha.

The Bible said, and they were praised, and they praise God perfection, and they were praising it.

And they weren't worried about their condition, and they were praising it, and they were looking to the hill for what's coming to him.

Suddenly, God off my Bible said that was an earthquake suddenly.

The Bible said that the jail started to shake.

Somebody said suddenly, uh the thing that was holding you back, uh, the thing that was holding you down, uh, somebody said suddenly, uh suddenly God about to shake it up.

The thing that had you busted, yeah.

The thing that had you wrist it out, somebody said suddenly, uh God's about to shake it up, ha ha.

I wish I had to breathe it in here.

God, give him a vision, uh huh.

Are you shaking some stuff up?

Give him a vision, God.

Are you undisrupting it for?

Somebody say suddenly, uh, and as he did it suddenly, yeah.

The Bible said that the chain, the God Almighty, the chains, the had him stuck, the ha the chain, the hawk, the had him gold, the ha the chains, ha, the had him gone, uh, suddenly, uh, the chains came off.

I want to speak prophetically, uh, that when your praise is perfected, uh, the chains have come off.

When your praise is perfected, uh, the chain of the pressure has to flee.

And the Bible says, uh, after the chains fell, uh-huh, the door flung open.

Uh huh.

Did you hear what I said?

Uh-huh.

That's the door that's been open, uh-huh.

And it's your access to freedom, uh-huh.

That's your access to liberty, uh, that's your access to perfection.

Uh-huh.

And God has said, uh-huh, we ought to give him some glory.

Give him some glory.

Hey, give him some glory.

Because everything that you've gone through, everything that you have been through, is simply part of his plan to perfect you.

Because this is your season to be complete.

This is your season to be whole.

And he that begun.

A great work in you is faithful to perform you.

Can I say it again?

He that begun.

A great work within you is faithful to perform me.

He didn't call y'all to leave you.

He didn't call you.

He put so much in you to leave you where you are.

He's faithful to perform.

He says, get ready now.

What you've been praying for.

The door's about to swing open, son.

For some others in the room.

There's no way that God has kept you thus far.

He's faithful to perform it.

He started this thing with you.

Are you ready for what's about to happen next?

Are you really ready?

For sometimes we're not ready for God to answer the prayer.

But the Lord told me to prepare you for the fact that He's about to answer the prayer, He's about to do it, He's about to do it.

You're about you're being perfected, you're being made complete, you're being made whole.

You're being perfected, you're being made complete, you're being made whole.

Father God, in the name of Jesus, I thank you.

Yeah, yeah, worship right there.

Yeah, worship right there.

I thank you in the name of Jesus for helping us see the incomplete places, the holes.

Complete us right now in the name of Jesus.

Complete us right now in the name of Jesus.

Make us whole right now in the name of Jesus.

No more partial bigs, no more showing up half faith.

Make us whole right now so we can complete the word work that you called us to do.

God, I declare whole saints, perfected saints, holy ghost filled saints.

Thank you, Lord.

You didn't bring us this far to leave us.

Because of that, I feel a fresh friend in Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name.

Let's make a big choir.

Let's make a big choir.

When that was the music, though.

I need to hear the voices of the same.

I need to hear the voices of the same.

Tell you like you mean it.

Ain't no way.

He brought you this far to leave you now.

Ain't no way.

It's not possible.

Ain't no way.

Don't believe it.

I don't believe it.

I got many rows of gold.

I got many more hills of climb.

I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta go all the way.

I gotta, I gotta I gotta go all the way.

Hey, I don't believe in the profit.

Hey, no snake, no snake.

Stay with me, J.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay staying, stay with me, Jack with me.

I need to win.

I need to die.

I need to walk up with Stay with Stay with Stay Whip.

Stay with Stay Wii Stay Whip.

Stay with me.

I thought walking to the valley shadows of death with me.

I will feel no evil.

I will feel no evil.

I'll flower with me.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Everybody, we're going home.

I need every voice.

Every voice.

Stay with me.

Every voice.

All week long.

Say that.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay on a week.

I think we got it.

Keep right there.

Keep right there.

I just want the draw, just the draw.

Stay with me.

Listen, this I'm trying to hear something.

I'm trying to hear something.

Saint.

Every say, come on.

All the students in the room.

You need it.

Every voice.

Come on.

Come on.

Stay with every voice.

Echo voice.

Stay with me with me.

Come on.

This is what kept us.

We could keep ourselves.

Every voice, every voice.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Every voice.

Come on.

Come on.

Stay with me.

Every voice.

Every voice.

Stay with me.

Every voice.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me G.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me, G.

Stay right by me.

Stay with me.

Love.

Stay with me, G.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me, G.

Stay with me long.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me, G Stay with me.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Oh Lord, I feel you.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Stay with me.

I'm about to take the drum out because I need to hear y'all.

We're going home.

Because you might be in the car.

You might not have a drum.

You might not have an ordinance.

Okay, drum, we're gonna take you out.

Let's go.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Listen, listen, listen to that.

Stay with me.

Listen, Lord.

I feel the Holy Ghost.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me.

It was these type of chants that kept our ancestors.

Good God almost.

Stay with me.

Say loud, loud, loud, loud.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

Stay with me, Jeeves.

Stay with me, Lord, two more times.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord, one more time.

Stay with me, Jesus.

Stay with me, Lord.

And let's give God some glory.

I just don't know.

Some of you do know what you're talking about.

He's gonna stay with you.

He's gonna stay with you.

He is gonna stay with you.