Sermon
Sunday Message - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (February 18, 2018) | Life Bible Church
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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places. If you have your Bible, I'm going to
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give you a couple of verses that I really want
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to get to this morning. One of the first ones,
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not yet, but 1 Samuel chapter 10, if you would
1 Samuel 10 chapter mention
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turn there, and then also put your finger in
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1 Timothy 1 .18. 1 Timothy 1 .18, 1 Samuel chapter
1 Samuel 10 chapter mention
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10. We're in our series called Reach, and we're
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talking about the reach of God getting toward
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us and our reach toward Him. And we've gone through
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each of the letters so far, R -E -A. We've stopped
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at that middle mountain, if you will, series
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of A called Expectation, Attitude. And from Attitude
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here, before we hit the C and the H of Community
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and Harvest, about Reach, we're talking about
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Vision. Because in order for us to run, and to
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reach and to do what God has asked us to do,
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we've got to have a God. given perspective put
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on our heart. It changes our expectation. It
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changes our attitude. Can I get an amen? And
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we've been using, obviously for those that are
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visiting, we've been using Philippians 3 verses
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12 through 15 as the main context for reach,
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for getting the past, reaching forward. But we've
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also been using Habakkuk chapter 2 verses 1,
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2, and 3 in regard to getting a vision, a God
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-given vision. I want to just by quick referring
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deal with what we talked about last week, Habakkuk
Habakkuk 2 chapter mention
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chapter 2, 2. Then the Lord said to me, write
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my answer. Everybody say God's answer. Write
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God's answer plainly on tablets so that the runner
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can carry the correct message to others. The
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vision is for a future time. It describes the
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end. And it will be fulfilled. I want to just
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lay this out this morning. We talked a little
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bit last week about divine conferment and deputization.
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Now, notice that the vision comes to the runner.
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It should be written plainly. Come on. And it
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is for a future time. It is for now. And it is
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for then. It is a message that unfolds itself
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and it grows with you. When you get a God vision
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inside of you, it's not just for your now season.
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It's for your future season. And somebody say
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tomorrow. Come on, tomorrow. Tomorrow, God. God
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is his loving kindness. I'm going to preach a
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little bit this morning. If it gets a little
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hot, you know, listen, I sat in many services.
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That's why there ain't no hair here. Hallelujah.
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Just smoke, just burn up the fire of God. Hallelujah.
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If it gets a little hot this morning, know that
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I feel the press of the Spirit of God to work
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this word into the atmosphere of this church
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and into our hearts this morning because we've
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been... Just as the Lord has been talking to
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me and showing me in the scriptures, we're rototilling
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this into the atmosphere and to the hearts of
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God's people so we get it. That process of allowing
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the vision to be written on tablets, Habakkuk
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2 .1. If we could go to Habakkuk 2 .1 just for
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a second. I stand there watching so I would know
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what God says to me. And then when he says to
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me, verse 2, I'm having him write it on the tablets
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of my heart so that I can carry the correct message,
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his message, his divine message, the message
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that not only entails the fullness of salvation,
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but what my part is in bringing that message
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to others. I have a part. You have a part. It's
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not just about a preacher on a stage. It's about
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God's people all. doing the work of the ministry,
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having the message, the vision of God written
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on their hearts. So when that message comes,
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we talked a little bit about it last week. I'll
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just move forward and move right into it. Confirmant
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means what? Conveyance, deputization, assignment.
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It means power activated when the message comes.
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gives power to implement his vision on your heart
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and it comes from heaven. It's not power of man.
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It's not power of anything else. It's the power
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of God. Why? Because it's his spirit that's giving
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the message. Amen? And then there is We said
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with that, there's two things that happen. There
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is a reset and there is alignment. We have to
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get aligned with God's vision. The power of God
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flows through alignment from the will of the
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Father, the will of the Son, and the releasing
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of the Holy Spirit. When we're aligned with God's
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word, God's will, God's ways, the power of the
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Spirit of God moves on the vision of your heart
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and propels you not only to run, but to fulfill
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the purpose of which he's written on your heart.
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Are you there? Hallelujah. So when God's vision
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comes, it comes what we would call in the prophetic.
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It comes, doesn't just all of a sudden written.
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It's written in here, the vision, the full vision
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of what God wants us to know is written in this.
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This is called the Logos. The logos, or even
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the graphe, meaning the word that is written.
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It's the logos word of God. It's all that contains
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from Genesis to Revelation. This is the will
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of God for mankind. I'm going to say something
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here that might just pucker a couple of you.
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Is this the fullness of the will of God? No.
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But it is the revealed will of God in which we
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live our lives. Means God has so much more than
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what's written here. But he decided to give us
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a revelation of what he wants to live our lives
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within the boundaries of this. God is not contained.
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He's revealed in this, but he's not contained
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by this because he's only given us. what he wants
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us to operate in. In fact, his case and point
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is, we don't see when we get to the millennium,
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as you read in the book of Revelation, there's
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very little about the thousand year reign of
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Christ on the earth, just enough to let us know
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it's going to happen. The bulk of it here, though,
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tells us about the covenant that we have with
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him, his love, his forgiveness, the fact that
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he's a redeeming God. He gives us and gives us
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everything we know how to navigate this Christian
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life and to walk in the spirit of God as a Christian
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to fulfill his will is written in here. This
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is the Logos word of God. Can I get an amen?
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Now, in the midst of the Logos, he does what?
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He gives what the Bible calls rhema. Rhema means
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a now, a God -breathed. All of the Logos is God
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-breathed. In fact, 2 Timothy 3 .16 says, all
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scripture is God -breathed, one translation says,
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or God -inspired. It's the breath of God. But
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a Rhema word has a now touch on it. The Logos
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doesn't necessarily have a now touch. It implies
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all of the revelation that God has given us or
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the scope. But a rhema word, the Holy Spirit,
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highlights something for your life at that very
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now season. It's how you're reading and all of
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a sudden people say, well, that scripture came
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alive to me today. That was a rhema. boost. It's
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like you got a, hallelujah, a little Holy Ghost
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jolt where God spoke to you. Or maybe somebody
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is praying for you, calls you and says, hey,
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the Lord really put you on my heart. I heard
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this verse for you today. Boom, a rhema, word
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of God, came right into the moment. Or somebody,
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you were at an altar call or a prayer time and
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somebody heard the voice of the Lord speak and
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said, man, I hear the Lord saying this. And man,
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it just met you right where it was. It was what
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the Proverbs talked about a timely word set in
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sockets of silver and gold was a precious godly
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word. All of a sudden, those things hit you.
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Well, how is it? Well, that is God's prophetic
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moving spirit, the wind of the spirit highlighting
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within his revealed revelation. Thumbing through
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the word of God, making his voice known to you
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by his word and by his now will for your life.
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It does not supersede scripture. It works within
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the banks of scripture. Can I hear an amen? It's
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important that you understand that. Where the
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prophetic and where prophecy goes wrong is when
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people do not have an understanding of God's
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written word. But the Bible tells us all over
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the place. In fact, as we're going to look at
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that, if I can ever get going here. Hallelujah.
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He tells us that we're all to prophesy. All of
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us. 1 Corinthians 14. I mean, it couldn't get
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any clearer. It says, earnestly, and I'm just
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quoting from the old King Jimmy because it's
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in me. Hallelujah. Earnestly desire spiritual
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gifts, but especially that you prophesy. That's
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1 Corinthians 1. For those of you that are frantically
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looking that up and are freaking out right now,
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hallelujah. 1 Corinthians 14, 1. Earnestly desire
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spiritual gifts, but especially that you prophesy.
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Now that word earnestly from the Greek is the
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strongest word that can be used without a tainting
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of the word, Earnestly desire is a word that
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could be used for wanting to be with somebody.
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Without getting weird, Valentine's Day and then
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February 15th was my wife's birthday. We got
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engaged on Valentine's Day right before her birthday.
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And so 14, 15, I had to do that strategically
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because I always forget things. And so having
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two days to ramp up to things helps me out. Hallelujah.
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I can just tag it on to Valentine's Day and go,
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oh, hallelujah. I always, Lisa, I always get
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that. She gives me a hard time about our actual
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day that we actually were married. And it's the
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24th of June. The 24th. Oh, it is the 26th. Oh.
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False prophet. Hallelujah. House. See, the Lord
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vindicates his righteous. Hallelujah. I'll take
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the heat, though. I've said the 24 for so many
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years, you fell under the influence. All right.
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It is the 26th. It is the 26th of June. Now,
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listen. In that Valentine's Day and birthday,
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there was an earnest desire to be with my wife.
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Right? It's that. That marital place, and I'm
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not going to go too deep into that. You get the
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drift of that place of complete love and loving
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one another. Now God takes that word and he removes
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any form of carnality and he says, now in the
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spirit, I want all of you to earnestly desire
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spiritual gifts. There should be something inside
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of you that longs to partner. With the Spirit
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of God. Correctly. To be in sync. To love Him.
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And to move with Him. Because there's nothing
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like dancing through life to the beat of His
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lead and His move. Those that don't understand
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that, He paid for you to know it. And for you
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to say no. Now this is where it might get a little
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hot here. For you to say no is the bride telling
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the groom, I don't want what you paid for. Get
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me something else. And the only reason we would
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say that is because we're operating in a spirit
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of religion and have not opened up our heart
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really to the word of the Lord to be changed
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and transformed. That's a good word, preacher.
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All right. You see, when God gives a vision,
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when God gives his word to you in this and through
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the scriptures and highlights it and speaks his...
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now voiced to you as well. That vision that's
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to be written on your heart in itself is not
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Logos. It's Rhema. The Logos is what is the banks
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of the river. But the Rhema is the current of
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the themes of heaven that move within the banks
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of revealed revelation. to let you know he's
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with you and that he's walking with you and that
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he's talking with you and that he is actually
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doing what you have been praying for. He's trying
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to open your ear to be your friend, your... counselor
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through his thoughts that the Bible says in Jeremiah,
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the thoughts of God are thousands toward you
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daily. He's trying to give you a vein of his
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heart to beat in yours. Are you there? Now, that
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means if it's prophetic, if it's rhema, it's
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alive and it's active. That's why the word of
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God is sharper. Remember what it says in Hebrews?
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Hebrews 4, 12. The word of God is sharper than
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any two -edged sword dividing between the soul
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and the spirit, between joint and marrow. Do
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you know that word of God is active? It's not
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talking just about Logos. It's talking about
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Rhema. It's talking how God takes his word, this
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very sword. Even it says it's like a sword, so
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it's not even calling it a sword. He says it's
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sharper than a sword. But the actual sword used
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in the armor of the Lord in Ephesians 6 is not
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the big two -handed broadsword standing like
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William Wallace. Hey! Okay? That isn't the picture.
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The picture is the makiera. That's the word that's
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used. It's about a little 18 -inch sword that's
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meant to be used. In hand -to -hand combat that
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has a very sharpened blade to be able to stick
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and hook right in the very close quarter combat.
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So when he says the word of God is sharper than
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any two -edged sword, dividing between soul and
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spirit, joint and marrow, he's talking about
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the rhema word that comes through the prophetic
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anointing that begins to bring God's logos to
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your mind at that moment to be able to get into
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the center of where you're feeling. what you're
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thinking, and what's happening in your life.
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It divides between that which is the mind of
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man and the mind of God. The broadsword does
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not do that. The broadsword divides. of understanding
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of doctrine and truth, but the machiera gets
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in personal inside the details of the mind and
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the heart and gets in to where you're thinking
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because it knows where you're at and it gets
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in to divide what is not of him and to breathe
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on what is. It's the prophetic word of the Lord.
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You doing okay this morning? I still haven't
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got to any of my main scriptures. Hallelujah.
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Let's take a look at Psalms 19, verse 7. We'll
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start with this. Psalms 19. I'm fired up already.
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I haven't even prayed. Can I get a little water,
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baby? Thank you. The 26th of June. Come on. Hallelujah.
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Thank you, sweetheart. Beautiful bride. Psalms
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19 .7 says, out of the message, the revelation
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of God is whole and pulls our life together.
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That's talking about The logos. The revelation
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of God is whole. He's talking about the complete
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word. It's whole. It's not fragmented. As you've
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seen, the Bible has wove through from Genesis
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to Revelation. All doctrines are tied through
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the thread from Genesis to Revelation perfectly.
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1 ,600 years of composing this. 40 different
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authors. The themes of the Lord are whole. And
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it pulls our lives together. We can trust it.
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The signposts of God are clear and point out
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the right road. What are the signposts? The signposts
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are the rhema words of the Lord that come to
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tell you where you're at on the journey. The
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wholeness of God's revelation, but then the signposts
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come to say, Here you are and here I am with
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you. How many are glad for a few signposts when
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you're traveling? Come on. That's exactly what
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he's talking about here. They're clear. They're
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meant to be clear and point out the right road.
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Then it says the life maps of God are right.
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How many have ever used an old map and found
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that it's wrong? You know, before everybody had
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their little phone and you're all digitized,
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we used to, for younger generations, a thing
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called map. It was on paper. And you would see
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people unfolding. The windshield would be taken
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up with maps and people would be, you understand?
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And then you realize your map was out of date.
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But God's maps never go out of date. Why? Because
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he's the one that writes them. He sees the end
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from the beginning. It says the life maps of
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God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions
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of God are plain and easy on the eyes. So when
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the psalmist as David is talking about here,
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if there's anybody that understood how the prophetic
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flowed, how David was able to receive from God
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in prophetic moments, playing his musical instrument
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before the Lord, sitting even in the tabernacle
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of David with the very sides open, welcoming
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the presence of God, sitting in front of the
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very essence of God's presence of the Ark of
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the Covenant, he would wait for... What? The
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rhema, word of the Lord, directions, signposts
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in which God would meet him in order to be able
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to navigate as God's leader but as God's servant.
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He had the logos in that old covenant, had Genesis
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to Malachi. But God weaved in between the banks
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of that covenant. He weaved his rhema word to
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David. And David in this translation is describing
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to us what that very thing is. What is the word
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of the Lord? Or what is the prophetic? It is
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a gift that is used to help us walk in the fulfillment
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and plan. for our personal lives, and for the
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vision of a local church. God uses the prophetic
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to help you navigate your life and to help us
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as the people of God, the leaders, to navigate
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his vision for the house. The prophetic is not
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just a here and there, a haphazard grace gift.
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It's a gift that pulls from the whole counsel
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of God. The prophetic brings us near. For the
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purposes of God. God intersects your life with
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his word. With his living word. Not scripture.
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But his voice. His now voice to your life. What
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Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do. He said
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he would lead you in all truth. He would bring
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the voice of the Lord. For your now walk with
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him. And same for the church. It's not haphazard.
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Shame on us for thinking that the prophetic is
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haphazard. It's not. The prophetic reveals the
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Lord's heart and his nearness in our experiences
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and makes clear his irresistible love and persistent
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grace toward us as we journey with him through
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this life. God uses the prophetic to speak to
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us about our... past, what we've walked through,
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about our now, what we're in, and he gives us
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navigation points for our future in him. He doesn't
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reveal everything about our future. That's why
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this walk is a walk of faith. But he does give
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us some GPS points along the way of what he has
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already written down for us and to help us walk
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in it. That's so important. If you're saying,
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well, I just wish he'd make it clear and tell
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me everything I'm supposed to do. No, you don't.
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No, you don't. Because that's part of your treasure
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is your faith, trusting, leaning, hiding his
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word in your heart and allowing him to reveal
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it along the way. The prophetic works like signposts.
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on the journey. They make the navigation for
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our purpose and our course a little clearer.
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They come through messages. They come through
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words of encouragement. They come through fresh
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insight of the illumination that the Lord highlights
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in Scripture or that the Lord tells us about
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ourselves when we hear it personally in our prayer
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time or somebody else the Lord reveals it to
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to give us a message. The prophetic is all about
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bringing clarity to the believer and their walk,
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not confusion. That's why the Bible, actually
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that word, 1 Corinthians 14 verse 33, God is
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not the author of confusion but of peace. Guess
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what the context of that is? Over the prophetic.
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It blows my mind how many times that scripture
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is misquoted by people taking it right out of
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the context for which it was. It was placed right
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in the midst of how a person is to be in control
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of their own life and the word that God gives
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them and in order be able to give that word.
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But then God clearly says, do not despise prophecies,
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but understand God is not the author of confusion.
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It's in the prophetic. Turn to somebody and go,
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wow. Prophetic instructions of the Lord and his
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loving encouragement and edification are a complete
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and wonderful package. The life maps of God then
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become a witness and a guide for the life that
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God wants for you. The reason that he would bring
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his prophetic word in your life is that he actually
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has it written out for you. The Bible's filled
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with this. He says, David, fact is, let me just
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go back to that scripture because it's so important
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that you get this. David says in Psalms 139,
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16, you saw me before I was born. Every day of
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my life is recorded in your book. Every moment
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was laid out before a single day had even passed.
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So when we say, what does the prophetic do? The
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prophetic brings you into what? God has already
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determined is your best possible, most fruitful
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experience of life on planet earth with him.
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He lays that perfect will of the Lord out. And
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then he's able through grace when you deviate
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from that path to even turn the bad turns where
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you missed his voice, missed his word, disobeyed,
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remained unfaithful, he can still weave you back
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in because of his goodness. Come on somebody.
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But he has a perfect plan for your life. A perfect
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plan. Nobody else does, but God does. Now, in
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that, the prophetic then points to God's best
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and perfect path. It's designed to release faith
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and joy. Righteousness, peace. And what? Joy
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in the Holy Spirit. What happens when you walk
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the plan that God has for you? Righteousness,
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peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, isn't it?
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How many have walked contrary to the plan of
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the Lord and found that there was not much joy
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and not much righteousness? Anybody? Not much
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peace. Oh, some of you are lying in church. Now,
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folks, I am not going to be able to teach the
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fullness of this. And you understand this is
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a huge topic in the scriptures. Have there been
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abuses of the prophetic? Absolutely. Do people
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abuse us? Yes, I've addressed that about two
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or three weeks ago. There are some fruit loops
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in the body of Christ, right? There are. But
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the bottom line is we don't throw out what God
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says he's establishing. Let's make sure we do
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what he says. He added it to us for a reason.
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It's meant to help us, strengthen us, build faith,
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build courage, and bring joy. The word of the
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Lord that comes through prophecy confirms his
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thoughts and the words that the Lord has for
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us. They bear witness of the Lord that he's been
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putting in our hearts. Now, folks, I have had
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some crazy... words spoken over me that were
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what I call the jacked up category. Now, I'm
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not going to name any names, but I'll never forget
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this. I've been undone by the prophetic, so undone
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that it altered the course of my life, and I'm
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going to talk about that in 1 Samuel 10. We are
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going to get there. It was so accurate, so laser,
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that I could not help but tremble on the inside.
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It was like the Lord laid me open internally,
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clear to my backbone, spread me open, walked
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through everything inside of me, rearranged things,
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put me back together, and when I got up out of
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that chair of the word of the Lord coming, I
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was a changed man. You say, I want to see that
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in Scripture. We're going to look at it. But
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I've also had what I call jacked up prophecies
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where I'll never forget this. I had had two major
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words over the course of my life in the first
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five years where I was really introduced to understanding
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the Holy Spirit from the background that I came
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from. And both from seasoned men of God that
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were... long -time pastors, long -time prophetic,
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I would even say prophets, that they operated
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in that gift. Both of them, without knowing each
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other, different times, two years apart, prophesied
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over my life that I would be a pastor and that
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there would come a day where the Lord would actually
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call me to be a senior pastor and laid out so
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many things specifically that was a... 10, 15
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year word down the line that everything has come
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to pass. And then I had someone come to me in
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a service and say, you know, I'm hearing the
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Lord say, you're not supposed to be from the
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tribe of Aaron, which is like a pastor. The Lord
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just says, you stay in the tribe of Levi helping
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in the tabernacle. Now at that point, there was
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confusion. I had. strong witness of things that
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I didn't ask for. I didn't like dial a prophecy
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and say, hey, can you speak this over my life?
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These guys didn't know me. They spoke the word
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of the Lord that confirmed something that I had
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been wrestling and fighting with my whole life.
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And as soon as they touched it, it was alive
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in me. But as soon as that other person brought
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that other word, I could feel the quench come
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immediately. And the Lord had to teach me something.
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He said, I'm not the author of confusion. Go
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back to what my peace, my authority, and my anointing
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was on. And I remember watching that person and
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said, nope, now I'm not going to. I'm not going
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to just discount them as somehow a whack job
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in the kingdom. Okay, that's not what I'm saying.
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But I'm going to watch what they're hearing and
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I'm going to watch what they're saying way more
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clearly because I've already experienced the
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evidence of their touch on my life that was not
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accurate. Folks, if you're not walking in discernment
-
where the Bible says you test every spirit to
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see whether it's from God, you are being foolish.
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The fact is, you should be searching the Scriptures
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even as we're preaching, looking at these words,
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going, absolutely, absolutely. I want to see
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it in the Word of God. It doesn't mean that you
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appraise things critically and you're like an
-
Ebenezer Scrooge in the midst of everything.
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No, but you're looking at the Scriptures to make
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sure that the Word of God is built on proper
-
context and that His Word and His Spirit witness.
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Now, folks, if you've got a wrong spirit, you
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can't claim that it just didn't witness to me.
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You understand what I'm saying? There is a few
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I before E except after C moments. If you're
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walking around in a spirit of bitterness and
-
judgmentalism, there ain't going to be a lot
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that witnesses to you. The Bereans were fair
-
-minded, meaning they already hadn't had their
-
opinion and their judgment shaped. already to
-
determine their little myopic understanding of
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the Scriptures. They were open for the Spirit
-
of God to expand, and they looked for the Scriptures
-
to confirm the openness. Hello. All right, moving
-
on. That was for somebody. All right, now. The
-
role of prophecy is what? The role of prophecy,
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the work of God's prophets. Now, I want you to
-
get this. Please. The work of God's prophets
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and the work of the spirit of prophecy together.
-
Because the spirit of prophecy says in Revelation
-
19 verse 10. The spirit of prophecy is the testimony
-
of Jesus. Prophetically, the whole scripture
-
is the testimony of Jesus. Prophetically in your
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life, it's the testimony of Jesus. You'll never
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be able to get away if it's truly the prophetic
-
presence of God from the testimony of Jesus in
-
the scriptures and the testimony of Jesus over
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your life. That is the test. It comes from him.
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It's his words, not somebody's soul, not somebody's
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opinion, not somebody's judgment. It's the testimony
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of God's goodness over your life. And that's
-
why when the prophetic word comes, what does
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it do? It looks for the treasure that God has
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imparted on the inside of you to call forth that
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treasure out so that you can know that it's his
-
voice, his hand, his touch that's bringing. that
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goodness into play. Can I get an amen? Now, there
-
can come times where there needs to be a correction,
-
but that is... rarely the case in a prophetic
-
flow and does not operate among the body of Christ,
-
should not operate from anybody that's not actually
-
operating in a five -fold prophet manner. Anybody
-
that's operating in a spirit of prophecy or as
-
a prophetic word is mandated, 1 Corinthians 14,
-
to build up, to comfort, and to encourage, bottom
-
line. And that's where the prophetic goes awry.
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If it's not building, if it's not encouraging,
-
if it doesn't bring comfort and consolation to
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your soul about what you're walking through,
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what you've walked through, what you're going
-
to walk into, then you need to set it on the
-
shelf called jacked up. Because the prophetic
-
comes to find the treasure in you. The treasure
-
that God put in you from the beginning. The treasure
-
that he put in earthen vessels, the treasure
-
of his giftings, his callings, his graces, and
-
he begins to build you, shape you, and calls
-
those things out. Are you there? Is this all
-
right this morning? All right. What's the role
-
of the prophetic? To hear God's purpose and to
-
reveal God's counsel and his secret over his
-
people. You know, the Bible says the Lord has
-
some secrets that he wants us to find out. It's
-
not that there's secrets that he's like, that
-
isn't God. It's his point to have a few hidden
-
things so that you get hungry to actually search
-
those out and to hear the word of the Lord that
-
are gems for your life. The prophetic or prophecy
-
is about making God big, about making God known.
-
The prophetic mandate then is to make God real
-
in the lives of people and in the church. Prophecy
-
is there to help those who need a word to stand
-
and fight so that those words help them in the
-
midst of the storm, in the midst of the battle
-
of life. You don't believe that? Look at 1 Timothy
-
1 .18. That was one of the scriptures. 1 Timothy
-
1 .18. We're getting there. Hallelujah. This
-
charge I entrust you, Timothy, my child, in accordance
-
with the prophecies. Everybody get Pentecostal.
-
Prophecies. Not one. Not one. Prophecies. In
-
accordance. with the prophecies previously made
-
about you that by them you may wage the good
-
warfare holding faith and a good conscience.
-
What's the prophetic to do? The prophetic comes
-
alongside to strengthen the core of your faith
-
and your conscience in God that when you're in
-
the midst of it you remind yourself that God
-
was standing by you knew exactly the moment that
-
you were going to go through. And now you hold
-
on to it so that you do what? Having done all
-
Ephesians 6, 18, stand. Don't be blown over.
-
Don't let go. Don't give up. Don't give in. But
-
Timothy, I'm telling you where I'm putting you.
-
Call to mind the things that multiple times that
-
God spoke a personal word over your life. All
-
right. Three of us are excited about that. Praise
-
God. Think about that. That's New Testament.
-
Notice this. By rejecting this, some have shipwrecked
-
their life. There's a lot I'd like to say about
-
that, but I'm not going to. Acts chapter 2, 17.
Acts 2 chapter mention
-
One more verse. And in the last days, quoting
-
from Joel. And in the last days it shall be,
-
God declares, I will pour out my spirit on all
-
flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
-
Your young men shall see visions. Your old men
-
shall dream dreams. Even on male and female servants
-
in those days, I will pour out my spirit and
-
they shall prophesy. Why do you think the apostle
-
Paul was so directed in 1 Corinthians 14 to tie
-
earnestly desired spiritual gifts, but especially
-
that you prophesy because it was the now? Word
-
of the Lord of something that had been prophesied
-
in the Logos. In Joel chapter 2, it was picked
Joel 2 chapter mention
-
up by the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the
-
church saying, this is the mandate for God's
-
people. And he comes back to the Corinthian church.
-
He says, don't you lose this. All are available
-
to prophesy. Can you tell I'm just a little bit
-
excited about this? Come on now, church. Now,
-
let's go back. I promised you. 1 Samuel chapter
1 Samuel 10 chapter mention
-
10. And there's so much to say on this. And Jenny,
-
if you'd make your way. Sweetheart, the 26th.
-
Hallelujah. Brother, when I get something right,
-
I got to just keep on going. I'm telling you.
-
I've been wrong so many times. Hallelujah. All
-
right, now. Look at verse 10. Now, chapter 10
-
in 1 Samuel. This is so key. And I don't have
-
time to go into the depths of this today. But
-
in Acts chapter 3, it says from Samuel. all the
Acts 3 chapter mention
-
way through. Samuel is regarded, if you're studying
-
the Bible at all, Samuel is regarded as the last
-
judge and really the first prophets, all the
-
way that Jesus even references it. Samuel represents
-
the prophets, the school of the prophets. He
-
represents that which the Holy Spirit would speak.
-
Abraham prophesied. We know that. Adam prophesied
-
even when he saw his wife. He was prophesying.
-
The Bible tells us that in 1 Corinthians and
-
in Ephesians that Paul references that. But Samuel
-
represents that prophetic anointing. And the
-
Bible says all of Samuel's words came to pass.
-
So Samuel is regarded kind of as the post goes
-
in the ground if we're looking at it. He represented
-
what God would do with the prophetic. And from
-
him, you have ministries of Elijah and Elisha
-
and all of those that come in and even how the
-
prophets are used today in the church. Samuel
-
is a key, key person. Now, notice what happens
-
here, and I can't give it, but Samuel... is right
-
in the middle of a generation that is throwing
-
off the Lord's leading because they've seen how
-
other nations do it and they want their own king.
-
And up to this point, God was their king. You
-
move all through the process of God leading them
-
out of Egypt, moving into the promised land,
-
then you... Joshua dies and you see the error
-
that begins to take place and seasons of going
-
for God and then regressing, seasons of going
-
for God and then regressing. Samuel is the last
-
of the judges and he gets, after 10 judges, and
-
that's significant in itself, he gets the hard
-
responsibility. Of seeing the people's hearts
-
give out of being a particular and a peculiar
-
people for the Lord. Meaning a set apart people.
-
They want mixture. They want a king like all
-
the others instead of having God that speaks
-
to them. And he wrestles with the Lord over this.
-
And finally the Lord tells him, listen, they're
-
not rejecting you. They're rejecting me. But
-
I will give them a king and it will be my choice.
-
And as we go through that whole process and if
-
you study the life of Saul, something happens
-
very significant here. It says, then Samuel,
-
verse 1 of chapter 10, took a flask of oil and
-
poured it on his head and kissed him and said,
-
has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over
-
his people? And you shall reign over the people
-
of the Lord and you shall save them from the
-
hand of their enemies. And this shall be a sign
-
to you. Now, there's a lot in there just talking
-
about the anointing. The anointing is something
-
from the Lord that kisses your life. And the
-
anointing oil itself represents the very presence
-
of Jesus Christ, the Christos, the anointing
-
oil, the Holy Spirit. And as Samuel does this,
-
and I'm moving quickly, he... He tells Saul there's
-
going to be significant signposts that are now
-
going to come into his life because of the anointing
-
and because of the favor that was coming on his
-
life. And he needed to look for some things.
-
And there were very specific things. Fact is,
-
he said, you're going to meet these people and
-
they're going to say this. And then they're going
-
to give you some gifts. And you're going to take
-
some bread from them. And then you're going to
-
go to this place. And then you're going to go
-
to that place. And then as he's moving through,
-
I want to just move on verse... Verse 5, after
-
you come to Gibbath Elohim, where there is a
-
garrison of Philistines. Now that is such an
-
important verse that we would just pass over.
-
But he's saying, I'm going to take you in. I'm
-
going to lead you and direct you where even your
-
enemy is stationed. I'm going to bring the word
-
of the Lord right where the Philistines are garrisoned
-
in that city. And it's going to be a sign to
-
your life that when the prophetic is fulfilled,
-
I'm going to speak to you in the midst of you
-
being in the atmosphere of your enemy, and I
-
will be a voice to you there. Now, that's not
-
the fullness of the verse. Keep going. And there,
-
as soon as you come into the city, you will meet
-
a group of prophets coming down from the high
-
place with a harp. A tambourine, a flute, and
-
a lyre. Before them, not actually a lyre, lyre,
-
pants on fire, but a guitar. A tambourine, a
-
flute, and a lyre. All right, no. A tambourine,
-
a flute, and a guitar. Before them, as they're
-
doing it, prophesying. Prophesying what? It's
-
not recorded in the Logos of what they were prophesying.
-
But they were prophesying the testimony of the
-
acts and the goodness of God. They were prophesying
-
an atmosphere. They had been up worshiping. They
-
were prophesying an atmosphere. Are you getting
-
this? Then the Spirit of the Lord, the new King
-
James says, will come upon you. The NLT says
-
the Spirit of God will come on you powerfully.
-
This translation, I love this. ESV says, and
-
the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and
-
you will prophesy with them. And you will be
-
turned into another man. You say, what do you
-
mean? It goes all the way back to Habakkuk. When
-
the Spirit of the Lord comes on you in a prophetic
-
message, it changes you into another person.
-
Because it begins to unlock things in your heart
-
that God had deposited in you from the day you
-
were created and especially when you were saved.
-
The deposit of the treasure of salvation that's
-
in you, he unlocks. And when you get into the
-
atmosphere where he is speaking and where he's
-
unlocking in an atmosphere, that's why we do
-
worship like we do here. It's prophetic. It's
-
alive. God drops thoughts into hearts. Why? Because
-
you're in the atmosphere of the prophets and
-
the prophetic, and he's here working. But when
-
he begins now to prophesy to you, he does what?
-
He changes you into another man. That doesn't
-
mean you're fake. It means that he reorders things
-
on the inside and you become changed. You cannot
-
help but be changed when you intersect the finger
-
of God that reveals his heart and his purpose
-
to you. He changes you. That's what happened
-
to me. How many out there have ever experienced
-
that change of a Holy Ghost? Come on, all over.
-
I'm going to pull up stakes here because we've
-
got to land this plane. Pastor David, come. In
-
the next couple of weeks, we're bringing men.
-
We bring in some women too, but this time it's
-
just going to be three guys that are going to
-
come in. And they prophesy. They are seasoned
-
ministers, bringing one from Brazil, bringing
-
another from the San Jose, San Francisco area
-
that I travel with around the world as a prophetic
-
voice. And, of course, we're bringing Bob Isabel
-
that's a trusted prophet over the world for 40
-
years. These guys don't know your lives. And
-
I want to encourage you to come out Friday night.
-
Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday night,
-
is when they begin to minister over people in
-
this house, you're going to see the treasure
-
unearthed. You're going to see what God has been
-
doing in them. God's going to be specific. He's
-
going to put some things to let them know that
-
he's walked with them in their past, what he's
-
doing in their now, and he's going to give them
-
an advanced seat. And what I mean by that, he's
-
going to open The window that only God can do
-
in their future and give them a few direction
-
points along the way to walk in it. And what
-
does it do? It's meant to strengthen them, encourage
-
them, give them words of which they can fight
-
now in faith for God's perfect will for their
-
life. But it strengthens us as the body of Christ.
-
That we know in our midst that God spoke and
-
revealed. And just like Paul said to Timothy,
-
Timothy, recall to mind the prophecies that were
-
spoken of you by them. wage good warfare. I want
-
us to come out in unity on this. Number one,
-
when these guys come, they bring an atmosphere
-
of their relationship with the Lord and the deposit
-
of the grace gift in their lives. They bring
-
it to the house. I want us to come ready to receive
-
and I want us to celebrate with the people that
-
get to go through that ministry and we also have
-
time to see if the prophets just have words.
-
out there but we will be putting specific people
-
through it's going to be a great time in god
-
it's going to be march 2nd 3rd and 4th would
-
you uh would you just bow your heads with me
-
as pastor david comes and let's just ask the
-
lord to do something mighty as we hear the now
-
voice of the lord operating within the theme
-
of his word for this house david pray for us
-
interested in hearing other podcasts or contacting
-
Life Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch
-
.org or call us at 541 -995 -8282.