Sunday Message - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (January 28, 2018) | Life Bible Church

say this often, but God's presence is so wonderful

and his word is so good that you feel like you're

at a buffet line all the time. You really do.

God's presence. Well, we've been talking about

reach. We've been using Philippians. Chapter

Philippians 3:12–14

3, verses 12 through 14, one thing I do is forget

what lies behind and I press on. I reach forward

for the heavenly prize. And we talked about what

does reach stand for? R stands for readiness.

E stands for expectation. A stands for attitude.

C stands for community and H stands for harvest.

We haven't got there yet. We're now talking about

readiness, expectation, attitude. But in order

for us to move to community and harvest, what

it means in fellowship and community, what it

means to be in community, what it means, and

Jesus said, lift up your eyes for the fields

are white unto harvest, that you have to understand

what Jesus is talking about with vision. So readiness.

We've looked at expectation and attitude. We

talked about our twin sisters. They come together.

They arrive together. Your expectation, your

attitude affects your expectation. And it also

expects your expectation, your attitude speak

to the filter of how you see things. And so as

we're looking at Habakkuk chapter 2, we're looking

Habakkuk 2 · chapter mention

at this famous passage that lots of people quote

about the vision, but we talked about a few weeks

ago that Habakkuk understood something, that

he had a place on the wall. Let's take a look

at it here. Then the Lord said to me, write my

answers plainly on tablets. so that a runner

can carry the correct message to others. Actually,

we need to go to Habakkuk 1, actually. The first

verse, because I'm in review. If you can find

Habakkuk, there we go. Thank you. I will stand

at my watch post. I will remain stationed on

the city wall. I will keep watching so I can

see what he says to me and I can know how I should

answer when he counters my argument. That was

our text the last time. Saying, listen, God's

got a place for me. I have to stand on the wall.

If I'm not standing on the place that God has

put me, the wall of salvation, the place in the

body of Christ, I'm going to miss how to see

clearly and I will miss how God is going to counter

what my soul often wants to think. How many have

ever heard your soul speak something different

than what God spoke in the Bible? Anybody? All

right, the rest of you are lying in church. We've

got a few honest people this morning. Come on,

anybody ever think something contrary to the

Word of God? There we go. That's the group I'm

with right there. Hallelujah. I'm in your company

with that. Notice he says, I've got to stand

on the wall. I have to look at... I have to be

where God's called me to be, and I need to see

what God is calling me to see, and I need to

allow him to adjust the arguments that come to

my soul, my mind, and my thinking so I think

like he thinks. Because this next verse, verse

2 now, hallelujah, then God will say to me. I

want you to say that with me. Then. God will

say to me. Now you need to understand this. God

is always talking. That's the way it should be

versus us always talking. The Bible says the

thoughts of God toward me are thousands daily.

Thousands. Thousands. His thoughts toward me

are thousands daily. Now, if we just really believe

that verse, if we believe what Jeremiah said

in 29, I know the thoughts and the plans I have

for you, say the Lord, and their plans to do

you good. If we would believe that, all rejection,

all oppression, all kicking our lower lip and

feeling like we need to just pat our inner puppy,

would flee away. We'd have to open our ear to

hear. Because his thoughts, he's not speaking

words of condemnation. He's not speaking words

of shame. He's not speaking words of destruction.

He's speaking words of life. And if we'd open

our ear, and that's part of why we have to get

on the wall, because what we see affects what

we hear. What we hear affects what we see. It's

cyclical. How I see determines how I hear. How

I hear determines how I see. You see, that's

the beauty about Romans when it says faith comes

by... hearing and hearing by the word of God.

But the context of the Greek means faith comes

by you. It's a personal. You hearing you say

the word. Faith comes by hearing you quote and

hearing you rehearse and it builds up in you

because you're what? What you see and what you

hear actually make it so. Are you there? All

right, just making sure. So notice what it says

here. Then the Lord said to me, write my answer.

He's got an answer. He's got an answer for you.

He has an answer for me. He has an answer in

regard to what the will of God is. Probably the

biggest question that I get asked as a senior

pastor, especially pastoring and leading a charismatic

or a... Pentecostal charismatic church is what?

What's the will of God for my life? Do you have

a word for me? Does God have a word for me? Yes,

he does. And I don't have to be the one to give

it to you. He wants to give it to you. He wants

to open your ear. He wants to open your ear.

Write my answer plainly on tablets so that a

runner can carry the correct message to others.

This vision is for a future time. It describes

the end and it will be fulfilled. If it seems

slow in coming, wait patiently for it. For it

will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

Now there's so much in that verse. There's about

another six weeks just in that. But let's just

try to finish this week. We listen to our scripture

verse. Do not worry about tomorrow. Today. Hallelujah.

Notice the first thing he says is write my answer.

Translate to this. Get this inside of you. Get

it down. Put it down on paper. Put it down. in

your computer. Put it down in your spirit. Get

it inside of you. Don't just hear it and let

it pass out your ears. Begin to write it because

I'm going to call you back to it time and time

again. Write my answer down. So that you can

remember. So that you can refer to it. As you

are doing life, as you are running in life, you're

going to come up to many forks in the road. You're

going to come up to decisions that sometimes

are not clear. But if you have God's answer in

your spirit, you're not going to get confused.

Write it down. It is the Lord that wants you.

To write his vision in your heart. You want to

know what the first will of God is? Hear him.

And then write it down. Write it down. That doesn't

mean. It means. There's not some obscure meaning

prophetically to it. It means write it down.

It's the Lord that wants to write his vision

in your heart. This message. This vision is what?

Says, so the runner, write my answer plainly.

That means clear and true. Write what is true.

Now, folks, you know, I mean, not trying to be

funny here, but sometimes God's people are weird

and funny. And especially just... operating in

the prophetic ministry here and around the world,

when the charismatic light comes on, all sorts

of bugs come out. And sometimes that's why we

want to protect. you even even here at an altar

call or here in the ministry of the gifts of

the spirit we don't want personal prophecy given

unless there's people there to judge the word

not because we're critical of it but to judge

it for safety for your sake and our sake fact

is you can't find anywhere in the scripture Except

1 Corinthians 14 that tells you if there's a

prophecy, there better be a couple other people

judging it. And not just your Aunt Matilda. Not

just somebody that's clear off in the cow pasture

that is not connected to solid teaching. It actually

is saying, let the elders and the senior leadership

judge. So that's why we have those type of boundaries.

Not because we're controlling, but because that's

Bible. Get upset at God. It's not freedom in

the spirit to do the other. It's actually dangerous

in the spirit. It actually makes you a wingnut.

All right, that's a good word, preacher. Keep

going. Hallelujah. All right. Now, why do I say

that? You need to open your ear. You need to

listen. But you need to write down what's clear

and true. Which means you have to have an understanding

of God's character, his nature, and his word.

We're getting ready to, in another month, to

have some prophetic ministry come visit us. And

we're going to do some presbytery settings. We're

going to lay hands on some people and we're going

to speak the word of the Lord over them and do

that. But, folks. I don't invite anybody into

this church that is not a seasoned minister of

the gospel in their own right as a senior leader,

elder that operates in the prophetic. I don't

do that. Why? Because we all see through a glass

dimly, but I want fruit of ministry. I just don't

want someone to come over you and say, I see

the color orange, and then walk off. That's not

prophetic ministry. That's weirdness. I see you

looking through a shopping cart. Just take that

to the Lord in prayer. Okay, well, that's not

clear. That is so out of bounds for the integrity

of the word of the Lord. And so when the Bible

is talking about to Habakkuk, he's saying, I

want you to get on the wall. I want you to understand

the safety in the perimeter of the body of Christ

and the structure that I've laid out with governmental

authority and with those that are good shepherds.

And there I'm going to speak to you. I'm going

to open your eyes. I'm going to open your ears.

You're going to hear clearly. And I want you

to write down clearly what's in my word and how

I'm speaking to you according to what is written

in this. Thank you. I thought it was too. All

right. Why does he want it clear? Why does he

want it written down? Because he wants you, and

here's the key to the prophetic word. Are you

ready? He wants you to be able to live it out

for the rest of your life. Because as we know,

things take time. to unfold. Has anybody ever

experienced that from God? What you thought you

were ready for, God said yes to, but you didn't

realize that there might be a 9, 10, 12, 15 years.

Like God's an auctioneer. How long is it going

to make him wait? We're going to make him wait

a little bit ahead. I got 9 years, now 10, now

10, now 11, now 11, now 12. That's when it'll

happen. You know, I mean, that's kind of, that's

kind of what God does, doesn't he? He did it

with Abraham, didn't he? He said, listen, I'm

going to take you into a land that's good. I'm

going to give you a place. Get out of your old

dwelling, and I'm going to bring you into new.

And then what happened? 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 9,

11, 11, 11, not 12, not 12, not 12, 13, not 14,

sold. You know? And that's what happens. Because

the word of the Lord is sure, but it takes what?

Him working that. word inside of your character,

inside of your heart so that he can trust you

with it. If you only just get little shots of

kind of the paprika of the spirit you're not

going to get it. He wants you to actually have

an ingredient in your soul. When the word of

the Lord comes, it's life changing. You can put

your life into it. That's why Paul could tell

Timothy, remember what I imparted to you with

the laying on of my hands. Buy it, wage the good

warfare. Why? It was a life word, not a little

Tinkerbell word. Come on. And I'm just going

to say this because I'm... Joyfully irritated.

Hallelujah. Sometimes the Spirit of God works

in me when I feel something. There is a tendency

to kind of have prophecy light in the body of

Christ and shame on us. Shame on us. Prophecy

was to be about encouraging, building, strengthening

something for your life. Not just to make you

feel good at the moment. It's a life word. It's

a changing word. And that's why it's to be protected

and honored and why God comes around. Why? He's

given a platform. Guess what? He desires all

of God's people to prophesy. All of them. In

fact, the gift that he tells everybody to operate

in is the prophetic, but he also gives guidelines

with it. I don't know why I'm on that. I just

feel like that's important. Why does God want

it written down in your life? Because it's God's

vision for your life. It's his answer to you

seeking him. His answer to your marriage. His

answer to your children. His answer for your

ministry. His answer of where he's calling you,

placing you, and told you to flourish. And so

many times when... I heard somebody say, I think

it was David, you talked about NASCAR. I want

to just weave this in. How many know that NASCAR

has what we call bump and rub? For those of you,

you know this is a redneck church and we're using

NASCAR as a sermon example in the morning, okay?

The reality is at high... rates of speed in close

proximity people bump each other and sometimes

they hit the wall and sometimes they need a pit

crew to pull them out but the whole point is

to get back on the track and start racing again.

Well the issue is in the body of Christ there

is a whole lot of NASCAR that happens. People

get bent out of shape. Sometimes Sunday morning

isn't over and I'm already dealing with a crumpled

fender and a bent hood. You think I'm kidding.

I am being serious. Sometimes it happens in the

parking lot in the natural as well as the spiritual.

But the reality is, why would God tell us to

have something written down and want to speak

to us so deeply? Because he understands at the

high rate of speed that the world and everybody

is going, there will be offenses, there will

be a hurt, there will be these things. And he

wants you to understand where he's called you,

where he's placed you, why he's put you there

so that you don't burn out, crack up, stop. playing

NASCAR or start driving NASCAR because you just

can't stand it. Why? Because you didn't hear

his voice. You got to hear his voice. Write this

down. Now, I know Habakkuk was not seeing a NASCAR

race when he was good, but guess what? He was

seeing a foot race. He was seeing and prophesying

to what he was seeing in the spirit. And he was

seeing the legs of journeys of people running

the race. And he was recognizing that this race

sometimes takes a long time. It is the product

of your whole life. That's why hearing God speak

to you and having it written down on the inside

of your heart and on paper is crucial for you

finishing the race. Why? Because the end of his

word to you will come. It will happen. Now this

is your part to play. This is my part to play.

I want to just go this morning. So we're just

going to pretend I don't see that clock for a

second. Hallelujah. This is your part to play

in the vision of God. You and I are the runners.

We're the carriers. We're the couriers of a message

that is for us. But if it comes to us, God's

message never comes exclusively to you. It's

for you. It shapes your life. But it ultimately

is for somebody else. That is the point of how,

oh my Lord, I'm going to preach this morning.

That is the point. That is the point of why God

gets you in the kingdom. He never just singles

you out so that you can be the superstar. He

gives you a message for your life that ultimately

he uses to use with somebody else. He puts a

message inside of you. And why does he put it

inside of you? And why does he want you to know

it? Because you're called to actually release

an impacting word that affected you. Now can

affect someone else and change them for Jesus.

Turn to somebody and say, I got a word. Come

on. You see, I'm supposed to have a word on the

inside. That's part of the mission of this house.

That's why we even put it as our mission statement.

Life, L -I -F -E, L stands for loving God and

loving people. I stands for what? Impacting words.

F equals fervent prayer and worship. E equals

experiencing the presence of God. Why did we

put that down there? Because it is the nature

of God's word spoken. It affects you and it affects

others. And if you'll hear it, you will always

be a blessing. That's why God spoke it to Abraham.

It was contained inside of him. By you and in

you all, nations of the earth will be blessed.

Why? Because you heard his word. And he made

his promise with you. And if you're children

of Abraham, you get to hear by faith in Jesus

Christ. You get to hear Christ's word over your

life. And you get to what? Be a carrier. You're

a carrier. Now. It says, write the vision down,

make it plain that he who runs may read it. I

want to just, I've had this point on my notes

for a month. And I'm going to get this out. Hallelujah.

And then we're going to move on. The word write

is the Hebrew word kathab. It means to engrave.

To inscribe. It actually. And I love this because

I asked one of our people that go here that's

a pharmacist, I said, tell me what the word prescribe

means to you. Because that's included in the

definition. Engrave, inscribe, prescribe. A prescription

does what? It gives relief. It gives an answer.

It gives aid and help. It is a resource. It is

power, authority, identified for a particular

issue or problem. Why is it important that you

get... and hear God's word is because he's actually

prescribing and wanting to engrave something

on the inside for your problem, but then also

for other people's problems so that you would

actually carry the prescription of the Lord in

your life for someone else. So I'm going to land

this plane. Hallelujah. You see, the word of

the Lord is not complicated. The fact is, it

says here, he said, I want it to be plain, meaning

not bland. I want it to be clear and simple.

The fact is, so simple that the runners who get

it and allow it to be engraved on their heart

can actually, people can see it from a distance

because it's just... clear on their lives that

even as we're doing the busyness of life someone

can read a person's life by that word just by

being in an encounter with him would you would

you stand with me this morning as pastor david

comes thank you i didn't know who was closing

good job i want to pray this into our spirit

as we're finishing this fast i want us to just

ask the lord 2018, I really believe this with

all of my heart. 2018, just as I said earlier

by the word of the Lord, he's moving us to a

new place. And he's going to make clear the word

of the Lord over your life because your ear is

open. I believe you're going to hear more from

God this year than some of the seasons you've

ever heard in the past. Why? Because you're training

your ear to hear what he's saying through his

word, not just through somebody else. And he

says, write it on your life. Could you just lift

your hand and say, Lord, I want you to write

on me. Can you do that? Jesus, we lift our hands

to you this morning and we say, inscribe your

word on the inside of us. Lord, just like your

hand, your finger wrote on tablets of stone,

you told your prophet Ezekiel, the days will

come when I will do away with what's on tablets.

Of stone. And I will write it on the inside of

their heart. They will know me. Father, I'm praying

right now as we lift our hands that we're saying

yes to you. We want to hear you like never before.

We want to hear our Father and our Lord Jesus

and the Holy Spirit's voice inside our own heart.

We do not want any other voice. Your word says,

my sheep hear my voice talking about you, Lord,

and they will not follow another. Let the good

shepherd's word and the good shepherd's voice

be released over. every person this morning,

and let there be a strengthening right now in

the depth of their word and their communion with

the Holy Spirit. I pray that now, in Jesus' name,

amen. go to www .lifebiblechurch .org or call

us at 541 -995 -8282.