Waypoint Conference 2021 (Sunday 1st Service) - Pastor Dale Everett (September 19, 2021) | Life Bible Church

Thank you, Jesus. Praise God. He's an amazing

God, isn't he? And he's doing great things right

here today among us because he has no boundaries.

Oh, you didn't hear that. He's not great somewhere

else. He's great everywhere. Everywhere. You

need to believe that and embrace that. The Lord

has dropped a word within my heart that I'm just

so delighted to share with you today. And let

me tell you something about my ministry right

now, my ministry today. My son -in -law, who

you saw on the video, the heavyset Hispanic young

man there, he asked me a question. Some time

ago, he said to me, Dad, he's a pastor now and

preacher. And he said, how long does it take

you to prepare one of your messages? And he's

listened to so many of the experts today that

do the seminars and so on. And some of them will

tell you, like, for every minute they preach,

they take an hour of study. Yeah. And so he said,

well, how long do you take? I said, well, that's

changed over the years. In the early days, when

I was first beginning in ministry, in June, Mark,

the 50th year of this ministry, but in the early

days, I said, this is pretty well what it would

take for me, all right? And the pastors or speakers

here will understand maybe a little better about

what I'm going to say. I said, I'm going to take

out of the equation the time it took for me to

figure out what I was supposed to speak on. All

right, sometimes that takes half a week before

you even know where you're going. So let's take

that out of the equation. And let's also take

out of the equation the amount of time it took

to come to the text, maybe to pull resources

that would help you put that together, or books

that you might have that will help you, assist

you in bringing the thought forth. If we take

that out of the equation, let's bring it right

down to the moment where I understand the text

I'll be working with, I know where I'm going

on this thing, I've got the resources now on

the desk before me. Now that's going to take

me somewhere between an hour and a half to three

hours to put that together. I said that was in

my early days and for a great number of years.

I said today, the messages that you hear me speak,

they've taken over 40 years. Because today, I

don't speak so much out of my study, although

I do study, I speak more out of my journey. I

talk to you about the things that he's talked

to me about. And what he's walked me through

gives me something to say unto you. Today's message

was birthed out of a time in my life where I

came to a very dry period. I don't know why.

I actually, then I didn't understand it. I was

pastoring at that time. I pastored three churches,

two that were existing churches and one that

I planted, the last one I planted. But it was

in my second church that I found myself at a

point where all the color had gone out of life.

And I couldn't, I didn't understand why. It wasn't

like we were having a hard time. People weren't

being mean. The church was growing. In fact,

in our area, I was a presbyter or a bishop over

it with multiple churches under me and our church

when I came to it was in financial struggle.

They were about to lose their building within

90 days and instead we paid it off in two and

a half years. Most people would have looked at

that and said you're on top of the game. But

I knew something wasn't right and I couldn't

put my finger on it. Now if it had been an issue

of Sin or secret sin. I was keeping my heart

open before God and I can look back at that time

now and say that wasn't it because that can sure

dry stuff up on you. You understand I'm not bragging

or trying to make myself look holy. I was trying

to figure out what in the world is going on.

Why is it that all of the, I don't know, the

fun had gone out? Do you understand what I mean

by that? I examined my prayer life. Are you not

praying anymore? And I could honestly say it

wasn't really that. What about the word? Have

you deviated from that? Are you just preaching

whatever stuff instead of getting into the life

-giving word? And I looked at that. I said, I

was desperate. I was looking. I said, I don't

know. It doesn't appear to be that way. What

is it? So the only thing I knew to do is what

I had been taught from a child. I grew up in

a great full gospel church. I grew up in a church

of deep prayer. I grew up in a time in which

many services, but especially Sunday night services,

we would have altar time and not just with people

praying or prophesying over you. We came and

waited before the Lord and honestly, our service

would start about seven o 'clock at night and

it was very rare, very rare that before I as

a child would leave the altar before nine or

10. I learned before I was nine years of age

how to pray two consecutive hours. before his

presence. And I wasn't alone with that. I wasn't

a house of prayer like that. We had a culture

of prayer. And when things get tough and I can't

figure anything else out, all I know to do is

to shut myself in with him. And so I went into

a time of fasting and prayer. I was gonna take

about a week, maybe a little more on that. But

while I was in there, he came to me and he kept

saying to me, stay with me a little longer. Stay

with me a little longer. I didn't intend on it,

but it turned out to be 40 days and nights of

no solid food going past these lips at all. As

I was going through that time period, I wasn't

announcing it to the church or anything like

that, but you can't hardly, you know, you can't

hardly stay away from food for 30 days before

someone figures it out. You start looking a little

different. And so people were asking questions.

And when they found out what I was doing, the

key question is, well, what is God saying? What

is God saying? Well, you know, he had said several

things to me during that time, but every one

of them was simplistic. I'm going to tell you

something. It's the simple words that God will

speak to your heart that will transform you.

If you're looking for something that is shrouded

in secrecy and is Da Vinci code -like, you're

probably never going to figure it out because

it's the simplicity of the gospel that connects

with our heart. And so I would say to them, I

would say, well, you know, he said a lot of things,

but I don't think they would make any sense to

you. So I'd rather not talk about them. And I

wasn't trying to say, oh, I'm so spiritual and

so above you. You can't figure this out. I just

said, it's going to be so simple. You're going

to think, huh? And so this went on, and like

I said, 40 days, but about 30 days into it, and

my wife included asked me these questions and

my leaders and so on, but I remember it was a

Sunday morning service, and I was in my office,

which Jan has been in the place where he's ministered

with me there, and it was a separate building

from where the sanctuary was. It was a large

complex that we had there, and so you had to

go through the office buildings and then come

through a little breezeway and into what would

be the educational wing of the facility. and

then on down to what would be about the 600 -seat

sanctuary. And so I was ready. We were close

to service time now, maybe 10 minutes before

service, and I'm about to leave my office, and

I opened my door, and when I did, and this is

no joke, my wife and one of my elders was literally,

they had their noses right up to the door. They

didn't open it. They were just standing there.

So when I opened the door, it was, oh, wow, they're

just right there, you know? And my wife said

to me, they said, we have decided that you are

going to tell us what God is saying to you. I

was like, wow. And I said, we're going to surface,

come on. They said, no, no. And they talked to

me all the way through the office complex, all

the way across the breezeway, all the way through

the educational building. We're right at where

now we would go into the sanctuary. I said, I

said, you know, it's not that God's not saying

stuff, but it's so simple. I don't think it would,

I don't think it'd make any sense to you. And

so finally, I forget it was either her or him

spoke up and said, we don't care. Just tell us

what he's saying. I said, okay. I said, there's

a lot of things he said, but the key thing he

said to me that has been the transformation for

me is he told me, he said, Dale, all you need

is Jesus. And if he's manifest, everything else

will come together. Now, I wish you could have

seen the look on their face, especially my wife.

When I said he is, this is now almost 40 days

of no food. And it's like, and so all you need

is Jesus. And my wife looked at me and said,

my damn, I could have told you that 30 days ago

and saved you the whole deal here. Are you getting

it? And that's what I would have told you. Before

that. But something happens when you meet with

him. And he speaks these things to you. If you

would have asked me before that, Dale, do you

think there's anything more important to Jesus?

I would have looked you in the eye and said,

what are you talking about, man? You have no

idea, you know, my life and what I believe. Would

you ask me a question like that? Of course. Of

course I understand. It was like that day in

the boat when the storm had come up and he was

asleep. It looked like the boat's gonna sink.

And they wake him and they say, Lord, we're perishing.

Imagine that. They talked to the God of hope.

He's right there. And they said, you know what

perishing means? We're dying without any hope.

That's what perish means. I'm dying without.

He turned to him, the God of all hope, and they

said, we're dying without any hope. They watched

him. He's multiplied to loaves and fish. They've

been there when he's raised the dead. They've

seen him give sight to the blind and cleanse

the lepers. Now they tell him we're dying without

any hope. He turns and he speaks to the winds

and the waves and he said, be peaceful and be

calm. And boom, the storm is gone just like that.

And then it says, and then they worshiped him,

saying truly, truly. Truly, you are the son of

God. But I think if you'd have asked any one

of those men before they got in the boat, you

think he's the son of God? They'd have said,

are you kidding? You understand who we are? We're

his disciples. We walk with him. He teaches us

privately. We got the inside scoop. We already

know about this. But when you go through this

storm and you hear him speak. You stand back

there and you go, oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, wow.

Truly you are the son of God. I'm going to talk

to you for the next few moments of this manifest

presence of Christ. Because when I came out of

that time, the transformation happened in me

because I became a pursuer of the one. That's

the only one that's important in life. I love

his gifts, his anointings, the miracles he does,

and all the wonderful ways he pours out of his

glory among us. But I hunger more than anything

else for this Jesus. We sit before him to hear

his voice. It's literally all of life from him

and through him and to him are all things. When

Jesus is not front and center, nothing else makes

sense. When he's not the kingpin, nothing really

revolves properly. It's literally all. About

him. And do we recognize this presence of God?

I travel all over the world and I'm in churches

all the time. And on every now and then I hear

people, in fact, quite often, I hear people get

up and say, oh, the Lord is here. And I'm like,

yeah, where? Because not every place has manifest

presence like you guys have. The glorious one

is here in this room today. He's here right now.

And I'm not trying to flatter you. I've been

in some really dry places. But they'll all say,

hey, the Lord is here. And I'm like, well, I

know. Look, I get that. I get it. He's omnipresent.

I get that. He's everywhere all the time and

all at the same time. So he's here in this room

right now, but he's also in New York. Not only

in New York, but he's in London. And not only

is he in London, come on, he's in Cape Town.

But not only is he in Cape Town, he's in the

mosque. Oh, you didn't like that, but it's true.

Yeah, yeah, and he's in the crack house. Mm -hmm.

He's everywhere all the time and all at the same

time. There's no place that you will ever go

that you cannot step into the dimension of his

presence. He's not far. You really know when

he's there? Can you recognize, not the omnipresence,

but the manifest presence? Because there's a

difference. He's everywhere all the time and

all at the same time, but he's not manifest everywhere.

When he is manifest, do you understand what manifest

means? The revealing, the unveiling. That's when

heaven and earth intersect. When that happens,

that's when miracles take place. That's when

deliverances are found. That's when the glory

of God transforms the moment. Let me show you

a setting in Scripture where his presence was

manifest. There was many of them, but I'm choosing

to look at the Gospel of John chapter 20 and

John 20 · chapter mention

verses 19 through 23. John 20, verses 19 through

John 20:19–23

23. While you're finding that, I'm going to tell

you again. Several years after the moment I spoke

of already, the time of fasting, it came to me

about 2, 3 in the morning. I just finished a

crusade that night, and he said these simple

words. Dale, whenever Jesus comes, something

special always happens. Hear my words, because

what I'm going to do, I'm going to walk through

this passage, and I'm going to show you what

it's really like when Jesus comes. I'm going

to get it past culture and stuff we feel and

like. Because, you know, for some of us, if they

would ever play those old hymns again, then we

could really feel Jesus. And for some of us,

if they play those old hymns, it kills us. We

want to see Jesus. All right. But let's get past

culture and taste that makes us think that we're

experiencing Jesus. Let's look at a passage that

shows us what it's really like when he comes.

You got it now, John 20, verse 19. This is now.

John 20:19

You understand the setting. He has already walked

this earth as a man. He has been crucified. He

has risen from the dead. But the majority are

still struggling with the fact that this could

be so. And it says then the same day at evening,

being the first day of the week, when the doors

were shut. Did you listen? Did you hear that?

Pay attention to this now. Watch the moment.

Watch what it's like. Watch how he could come.

It says where the doors were shut, where the

disciples were assembled for fear. Someone say

for fear. For fear of the Jews. Jesus came. The

moment, I'm going to read more, but the moment

is now that he has been crucified and they're

scared spitless. All of their hope is gone. The

one they thought would be the Messiah, the one

that now was going to come and overthrow the

Roman rule and was going to establish his theocracy

on the earth, the one the prophets had talked

about, and they've watched him now. They've seen

him do the incredible, the amazing. This is him.

This is it. And then, whoa, in one weekend, the

whole thing's wiped out. They're reeling in confusion.

And they're wondering what in the world has just

taken place. And now they're shut up in this

room. Not because they're men of faith. They're

going to pray it through. They're scared out

of their mind. Because I'm probably next. We

saw what they did to him. And you know what's

coming down on us. Not in an atmosphere of praise.

Not in a place of faith. Not in high worship.

But in a room that is saturated with fear. The

scripture simply says, Jesus came. I'm going

to tell you about someone who comes when we exalt

his name. Someone who will show himself when

we... open our heart and our faith toward him,

but I'm gonna tell you about someone that knows

how to enter a room when a child is dying and

the doctors have given us no hope and we're scared

out of our mind. What is this gonna be like?

And we think that because of our confusion and

because of our fear, we have blocked him from

coming in. But I'm gonna tell you about someone

that has no barriers. And has no limitations.

He can enter the room full of praise and of faith.

He can also enter the place, and we've seen it,

where the witch doctors have ruled. Where fear

has been triumphant. He can still come in and

be who he is. This guy got to get past the text,

excuse me. The disciples were assembled for fear

of the Jews. Jesus came. stood in the midst and

said to them, peace be with you. And when he

said this, now watch this progression. There's

gonna be an ongoing, you're gonna hear the words,

and when he said this, several times in this

setting, peace be with you. And when he said

this, he showed them his hands and his sides.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the

Lord. So Jesus said to them again, Peace be to

you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them

and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If

you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.

If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

Wow, there's a lot there, isn't there? But let's

talk about it. What is it like? When he comes,

I'll tell you, the first thing that I've always

noticed that happens when Jesus comes is that

he stops fear and he releases peace. I can tell

when he enters the room. I know when he comes

into the room because all of my frustration,

all of my anxiety, all of the fear, all of the

worry of life just, whoa, it just goes. You don't

have to work on it. You don't have to rebuke

it. When he enters a room, the first thing he

does is he stops fear and he releases peace.

Scripture says Jesus came and stood in the midst

of them and said, peace be to you. I'm gonna

show you throughout this message that was more

than a Middle Eastern greeting. When the Prince

of Peace speaks, peace be unto you. That's not

a cordial statement. This is the one when there

was nothing but darkness anywhere that said,

let there be light. And it's never stopped. He's

the one that said to the winds and waves, be

peaceful and be still. And they stopped. The

storm right there. He's the one that said to

the leper that was riddled with disease, stinking

with the corruption of rotting flesh. That no

one could reverse. He said to him, be whole.

And it happened in an instant just like that.

Wow, there isn't a complexion cream available

on the planet that would change someone's skin

like what happened that day. The disease left

the guy. And not a week later, not a month later,

but right in front of their eyes, it went down

just like this. And the guy's completely whole.

And the fingers that were gone were back on.

And the ear that had rotted off had returned.

And now he steps into this room that is saturated

with fear. And the first thing he does is he

stops that fear and he says, peace be to you.

And I'm gonna tell you what happened. Rivers

of peace went through that room. There was no

fear anymore in anybody's heart. I can always

tell when he enters the room because when he

comes, there's an amazing. Peace of God. Peace

is the threshold that you cross to walk into

the supernatural. Someone says, well, you know,

I don't know. Maybe it's a healing service. I

don't know if I really got healed tonight. You

know, I would have to have a battery of exams

by the doctors. I'm kind of hoping I got healed,

but I don't know. While I was out there and you

were preaching, all of a sudden there came a

great peace over me and the fear of this thing

just left at that time. So I hope I got healed.

I look at him, oh my, don't you know what just

happened? Do you not realize what just took place?

When he broke the power of fear and he poured

that peace within your heart, you just stepped

into the place of the miracle right there. You

can count on it. You can be assured of it. This

thing is so. What is it like when Jesus enters

a moment? When he enters a room? I can tell you.

Fear is going to go, buddy. It will. And the

peace of God will fill you. Look at verse 20.

The scripture says, and when he had said this,

see, you won't be able to get what he's about

to do until the fear goes. When he said this,

he showed them his hands. And his side. Now there's

a lot being said there. But let me explain something

to you. Whenever he comes. You'll always know

it's him. Because he will reveal who he is. And

his suffering. His covenant. Unto you. Now let

me be more clear. When we got problems and we're

calling out to him, this is what we want. We

want answers. And we want strategy. We want to

know how to get from this mess over here. We

want to know the steps that we need to take.

And Lord, we need direction. That's what we need.

Let me tell you what he will always do. When

he comes, there may be methods, there may be

strategy, there may be systems, but they're going

to be way back there. When he comes, he will

show himself unto you. You didn't enter the kingdom

because you figured out the theology of new birth.

You didn't understand it because you understood.

The detail of covenant and sacrifice. Something

happened when you met the Savior. And he shows

you himself as your hope. Himself as your salvation.

He alone, then, now, and forever will be your

assurance. Are you hearing me? And will be your

confidence. My confidence is not in what I believe,

but in him whom I believe. He is the one that

has created this within me. It goes beyond my

understanding and it goes beyond my articulate

skills. I just know that I know because he has

showed me himself as his hope, as my hope. And

so I find that when Jesus comes, I have a cry.

I have a need or whatever it is. He's going to

lead me. He's going to guide me. He'll speak

to me about stuff. But not first. I know when

I'm really hearing from him because he is magnified.

He is manifest. He is clear. He is front and

center. I found that sometimes when we pray and

we get ideas and we get strategies, what they

become is nothing more than rules and regulation

and maybe even legalism unto us. And it binds

us up because now we think we have to step here

and then there. It's almost like a twister game.

And then you get over here and then you got to

touch that and speak this. If you don't do that,

you're not going to be free. You haven't heard

from God. If all you've got is systems and methods,

you've not heard from God. I don't care how enlightening

they look, how thrilling they seem to be. I don't

care how uh -huh they come across to you. If

Jesus wasn't first, you didn't get it. When he

comes, he will always show you himself. He will

be the all -important one. He will amaze you.

And in fact, when he comes, he won't care about

anything else. All of the answers I have to have.

Well, he'll end up giving them to you, but you

won't even care anymore. You understand that?

Because all of this, it said, look at me. And

all of this, it said, I'm going to put you down.

And all of this, it said, I'm going to tear you

apart. When you see him, it's like, whoa. Look

at that, will you? Moses is there to lead the

people of Israel out and God has given him ways.

He's shown him signs and wonders that'll work

within his life. And he's now spoken to the leaders

of Israel and they bought into it, you know,

but now he goes before Pharaoh and he's kind

of on a roll. I mean, you know, he's kind of

on a roll right now with this thing, the burning

bush deal out there, you know, and the thing

of putting a hand in the coat and coming out

with leprosy and putting in and come out clean.

Well, all the elders said, dude, you're the guy,

you know? And now he goes before Pharaoh and

he says, let my people go. And Pharaoh says,

I don't think so. And so Moses says, well, while

you're thinking it over, here's a few plagues

you can stick under your belt. And I'm paraphrasing

just a little bit. And after that happened several

times, he stands before Pharaoh again because

he keeps changing his mind. He's flip -flopping

back and forth. True politician. I didn't say

that out loud, did I? Anyhow, getting back to

the message. Moses comes before him and now Pharaoh's

ticked off. He's ticked off big time. And you

don't tick off monarchies in days like that because

they could take your head off just because you

burnt the bread. You know that? Pharaoh's mad.

I mean, he's irate. And this is what Hebrews

11 tells us. I mean, he's coming down. He's telling

Moses, and he's red in the face. He says, if

I ever see you again, I'm going to kill you.

Everybody else in the court is backing off like

this, but not Moses. What's Moses doing? Well,

Hebrews 11 writes it this way, and I love the

way the Amplified Bible says it. It says, Moses

was unawed and undismayed at the wrath of the

king because he was looking steadfastly at him

who is invisible. You get what was going on?

So here's this little dude that thinks he's a

big shot sitting on this throne saying, I'm going

to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to

do this. And he's flipping out. And Moses is

unimpressed because he's looking a little higher

over this guy's throne, a little higher, and

he sees him who sits on the throne. And he says,

look at him, everything's cool. Yeah, he will

reveal himself when he comes. All you'll see

is Jesus. He will fill your entire vision and

your heart. Let's look at verse 20 again. Something

else I notice that happens when he comes. It

says, then the disciples were glad when they

saw the Lord. He will make you. He will make

you glad. I'm telling you, the guy that says,

well, that's, you know, I'm not like those. This

is more like me. Let me tell you what's going

to happen to that guy. He's going to at least

go like this. There's something about Jesus that

even in the place where fear has abound, when

he steps into the room, will turn your heart

around. It'll put a smile on your face, even

though tears are still on your cheeks. It will

bring a spring in your step when no one else

understands why. I'm telling you, he will make

you glad. Sometimes people say to me, well, you

are obviously a man of prayer. How long do you

pray? How long do you pray? And it's not that

I don't have a time that I set, really I do,

that I set before him, but I actually don't work

it by the clock. You say, well, how long do you

pray then? I pray until the song comes. Do you

understand what I said? I pray until the joy

arises. I pray until the shout fills my heart.

I pray. until my feet want to dance. And when

I get to that point, I know I've entered in.

He will. He will make you glad. He will. I was

married in the early 80s, and we were part of

a church in St. Louis that had grown from 30

people to 3 ,003 years. They've continued to

grow, but during that time, most of our music

that we had in the 60s and 70s would have been

still somewhere in the area of hymnals or choruses

that we would sing. And then this guy comes up

with an anointing of God with a type of sound

and music that we didn't have any terminology

before. We called it... Then we ended up calling

it praise and worship music. And it was birthed

out of that man's heart, Ron Tucker, at Grace

Church in St. Louis. It became the opening, the

first recordings of the... Well, I think they

called it the hosanna music or integrity music

back then. And it was amazing as it spread across

the country. And of course, in the services on

Sunday, they would have 45 minutes or so of worship.

But people always say, oh, we want more of this.

We want more of this. We want more of this. So

they would have periodically, not every week,

but every now and then, they'd have just a praise

and worship night. Now we have stuff like this

all the time, but that wasn't being done at all

in those days. And I remember, and those would

go for three hours. There was no teaching or

preaching. We just came together to worship the

Lord and there'd be 1 ,000, 2 ,000 people that

would come on like a Tuesday night or a Wednesday

night or a Thursday night and just worship, worship,

worship. And I remember I was in one of those

early services like that and I leaned over to

my wife. Now it'd probably been an hour and a

half into that of just nothing but pure worship

and it would yet go on that amount of time more.

And I leaned over to her and I said, you do understand

something. And that is that it would be literally

impossible to be in this room and be depressed.

Did you hear this? Because when you get into

his presence, he doesn't push you down. He lifts

you up. And his power to lift is greater than

any exterior power to push down. You think Jesus

is in the room? Oh, I can tell you how. I can

tell you how. When he comes into the room, fear

goes. When he comes into the room, there's nothing

but him in the room as far as you're concerned.

Wow, he fills the whole place. When he enters

a moment, he will make you, say it with me, glad.

Yeah. Verse 21. Whenever Jesus comes, he will

define purpose. So Jesus said to them again.

Now don't miss this. Watch the progression. He

said to them again, peace to you. As the Father

has sent me, so I send you. And they couldn't

hear this last part until they caught that first

part. He said to them again. Now he's already

released peace in the room. But at every level

of advance, there will be another threshold of

peace. You see, because this is what happens

to us. We're, whatever, bound by sin, tormented,

in fear, frustrated, whatever it is. He comes

in, bop, the peace of God comes and breaks that

thing right there. And when he does, it's like,

wow, this right here, this. This is what we were

looking for. This is what we needed. We were

in that dead religion. Now we've come into this

moment of new birth. I could never, never, never

go back there. I could live here forever. But

what we don't know is there's yet another level.

And you're not to live there forever. You don't

abandon it. You take it with you, but you keep

going. Sometimes the greatest obstacle to advancement

is not opposition, but love of the present. And

so we don't progress because we've arrived. And

when someone says, but there is more. Oh, no,

I'm born of the Spirit, brother. I was in that

old dead church you just taught me. I'm born

of the Spirit. But do you know that there is

a baptism in the Holy Ghost? Oh, I don't know.

I don't know about. You're talking about that

tongue stuff? I don't know. I don't know. I'm

a little uncomfortable with that. That makes

me a little nervous. Yeah. You're going to have

to get past your fear. Just step into that. You

don't need a greater argument theologically.

You gotta get past your fear to be able to enter

into that next level because the next level will

always look a little scary. You talking about

tithing? I can barely pay my bills now. How could

I give? There is a provision. and a covenant

thereof for you. But you've got to get past your

fear to step into that. So here he's come. He's

broken the fear. He's revealed himself. They're

glad. Dancing is going on, buddy. And then he

says, here comes another wave of peace. It's

a peace that you didn't know you needed. It's

a peace that's indescribable. So I'm talking

about it, but I've already told him that if he

doesn't speak this to your heart this morning,

you're not going to get it. He's got to speak

it. And he did. He says to them again, again.

He's not being redundant. It's not that he doesn't

know what to say. You know, you know some preachers

that they always have a little catchphrase. That

they got to say all the time. It just makes them

hard to listen to. They just got to say that

little thing, that whatever it is, that little

phrase thing. He wasn't doing that. It wasn't

like he was in the room saying, what do I do

next? I don't know, let's do the peace thing

again. No, no. He's about to take them across

another threshold. And he says to them, peace

to you. And then he goes there. He goes to purpose.

Because you see, there is a place to be freed

from anxiety and there's a place to see the wonder

of who he is. And in that, there's gonna be the

excitement and the shout and the yeah and the

high -fiving going on. But he's saying to you,

but we're gonna have to leave these doors. We

gotta unlock these doors and we gotta get out

on the street. There's something we've got to

do. We cannot dwell here. You cannot dwell here.

We have to take this and we have to bring it

there. Where there is fear and yet there is suffering

and there is misunderstanding and where there

is bitterness and anger and rejection, we're

going to have to take it there. Just like the

Father has sent me, I'm going to send you. I'm

telling you, whenever Jesus comes, he will create

purpose within your life. Purpose. Hmm. We need

purpose to have that joy. Wow. The deeper your

peace, the deeper your experience. I've got three

minutes. I'm moving fast. Look at verse 22. Whenever

Jesus comes, He will breathe on you and fill

you with his spirit. The scripture says in verse

22, watch the progression. And when he had said

this, he didn't start with this. You can't begin

here. You've got to come to here. After he had

broken fear, after he had revealed himself, after

he brought the joy of who he is into the room,

and after he had defined purpose. He was not

going to leave them with a goal, but not with

the power to get there. And so he breathed on

them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.

Now, can I just, I hope the cameras can follow

me into the darker areas. Can I explain to you,

can I demonstrate to you what happened here?

As he comes into this room. And the joy is filled.

And he turns to them and wipes them out with

another word of peace. And he sobers them up

with a directive. Then the scripture says, the

scripture does not say he said, receive the Holy

Ghost. It said he breathed on them. And said,

receive. Let me tell you what I don't think happened.

I'm not sure how many were in the room. What

is it? The 11 is that what's in the room? This

is not the 120. This is not a big group. But

this is what he didn't do. He didn't say, when

the scripture says he breathed on them, he didn't

go, receive the Holy Ghost. That's not what happened.

It's just a handful of guys in the room. I think

maybe it looked more like this. I think he came

by and he said, receive the Holy Ghost. Receive

the Holy Ghost. He could feel his breath. And

I just wonder if he didn't walk through that

room and come so close that you could feel that

breath when he said, receive the Holy Ghost.

When Jesus comes, he won't be out there. He will

be so close. The abiding presence, the one whom

Paul said at Mars Hill, is not far from any one

of you. You'll breathe on us. Oh, breath of God,

come breathe on us. We're not here to social

distance from you. We're here to sit on your

lap. Feel your arms around us. Feel your breath

on our hair and hear your word. Be filled with

the Holy Spirit. I can't even talk about it.

Just let me say, verse 23, whenever Jesus comes,

the power over sin is imparted. Struggle you've

had with temptation, the trouble you've had trying

to resist. I know I've been there. When I enter

his presence, guess what? Nothing holds me down.

I don't have to fight and battle this thing when

he comes. All of that which allured, attracted,

is no longer attractive. Because in the shining

of his glory, nothing tempts. There's more to

that, but I'm done. Would you stand with me,

please? All right, here's what I want to do.

There's a lot of ways in which we could pray,

and we will tonight. We're going to have time

for healing and anointing and stuff like that.

But this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to

pray for you what I pray for myself and my family.

I say, how do you pray for yourself every day?

This is how I pray for myself and my household

and this ministry. I pray, and listen to how

my language is. I pray for an ongoing, unfolding

revelation of Jesus. That's how I pray, for an

ongoing, because if you think when you see him,

you've seen all that he is, let me tell you,

he's more than what you'll ever grasp in any

glimpse. John walked with him intensely for the

three years of his ministry, saw the resurrected

Christ. He stood right at the cross. He was the

only one of those disciples that we know that

stood right at that cross and watched this crucified

one. He was there. He ran and entered that tomb.

But when Jesus came to him on the Isle of Patmos,

Years later. Scripture does not say that John

said, hey, good to see you again. High five.

Long time. So happy. I know who you are. No,

no. You know what he said? He said, I fell on

my face like a dead man. That's what he said.

He said, I fell on my face like a dead man. And

he described him in ways that he had never been

described before. I'm not saying you've not had

a valid revelation of the Lord. We have. Many

of us, probably the bulk of us here have. I'm

going to pray for you for an ongoing, unfolding

revelation of Jesus. That he be shown to you

the hope of Israel, the Jehovah Rapha, the Jehovah

Jireh, the El Shaddai, God of all peace, the

one with whom nothing is impossible. Come on.

If you will receive that, lift your hands right

now. I pray upon this house for everyone that

is here to come to us today. Today, not right

now, but not just now. In the noon hour, in the

late afternoon, in the sleep of our night, in

the rising of our morning, in the days of great

triumph. And in the days of great suffering,

in the days of great peace, in the days of great

confusion, I pray for an ongoing, unfolding revelation

of Jesus. Show yourself to us. Would you manifest

yourself to us? May we see Jesus. For he is full

and complete. He is the entirety. He is the all

and in all. He is the very fountain of faith.

And you are the God of all hope. Would you show

us Jesus? For if we see him, it will be enough.

Listen, if you've never experienced him as Lord,

can I pray with you immediately for this right

now? Can we call upon him together? If you've

never had a personal experience that gave you

the inward witness that you are a child of God,

this must happen in your life today. You can

have it, and you'll know it the moment it takes

place. It's more than religion. It's more than

saying a prayer. It comes out of a divine encounter.

I know I need to get off the stage, but I must

pray with you for this first. If you've never

expected or received Jesus in that way, if you've

never experienced Jesus, and now you might say,

I've always believed in Jesus. Wonderful. I don't

know if you know this. The Bible says the devils

believe in Jesus and they tremble. That's more

than some Christians do. Believing in Jesus doesn't

save you. You must have an encounter with him.

That will save you. Do you need that? I'm going

to pray again. I'm going to want you to pray

with me. House of God, can you pray together

with me too? Can we pray in harmony with us?

And you that are receiving him, I want you to

embrace this moment, experience it, and then

tell one of the leaders later, this happened

to me today. Can we pray together? Pray this

with me. Jesus Christ, I'm calling on you. I'm

asking you to be my Lord, my God, my salvation.

I'm putting all my hope in you. I'm not putting

hope in myself. I'm counting on you. To cleanse

me and establish me now and forever as a child

of Almighty God. I call you my Lord. Today, I

embrace you. I receive your salvation. And you're

my God. Amen. Amen. God bless you. Come on, rejoice

in the gift of God. Life Bible Church. Go to

www .lifebiblechurch .org or call us at 541 -995

-8282.