Sunday Message - Dr. Gary Munson (September 21, 2014) | Life Bible Church

It's a privilege to have Dr. Gary Munson and

his wife, Felicia. This is the first time Felicia's

been able to be here. We're so grateful to have

you here. And last night we had the privilege

of taking them to some food that they don't get

very often. They were just talking about there's

certain things that in Ethiopia you just can't

get and certain things that when you're away

from home for a year or two at a time, things

that you really miss. And it's an amazing thing

we were talking about the other night that peanut

butter is a treasured commodity. If you're an

American around the world and you can't hardly

get it anywhere, it is so expensive. And we can

go to Costco and for 15 bucks have more peanut

butter than you want to eat in a year. But over

there you can... spend maybe $15 and get enough

for maybe two or three sandwiches. And so steak

is hard to come by. Some of the good stuff is

hard to come by. So we just enjoyed their company

last night, took them out to something to where

their bellies felt good and had some homemade

apple pie that we can't get that in Ethiopia

either. And so we just had an all around American

experience. But I'm telling you, the word of

the Lord is not American. It is a God thing.

Amen. And we so appreciate missionaries. We appreciate

those that are serving on the field and doing

the work that they're doing. And we're grateful

to support them from this house. Would you just

welcome, give a Life Bible welcome to Dr. Gary

Munson and Felicia as they come and greet the

congregation. Come on, why don't you stand? Welcome

them this morning. Thank you so much. Awesome.

Bless your heart. Thank you. We've got some more

time, so let's go until about 1 o 'clock. Great.

Good morning, church. It's so wonderful to be

here. Great worship. Just a great time in the

presence of the Lord. So rich. Gary and I have

lived in Awasa seven years. We left in 1980.

2008. 2008. Sorry. I'm on Africa time. I don't

know. And it's been amazing. All the things that

you imagined happened, happened. Monkeys came

into our house and stole my bananas. All the

things that you hear about actually happened

to me. And it's been an amazing adventure. We

were in our 50s when we went. And it's an odd

time for the Lord to call somebody as missionaries.

It's usually young people that take their children.

But no, he didn't do it that way. He took...

And it's been amazing. We have four children

and seven grandchildren. So we have been blessed

by God. Our church brings us home every year

for a few months, a couple months, and we can

be with our family. We are so grateful. The work

in Ethiopia is fantastic. Come and see. What

the Lord has done, it's just been amazing. We

started building our administrative building,

our academic building in 2007. It was finished

in 2008. Then we built at the beginning of the

worldwide economic crisis, worldwide economic

crisis. Then we built our home. It was a miracle.

We don't have money. And so the Lord put it on

the heart of several people to invest in the

ministry. And so we built this huge house. It

has six bedrooms and four bathrooms. Please come

and visit. We can accommodate. Probably 10 people

at a time. So if you ever want to come, come

and check it out. We have a vehicle. We take

everybody around. So that was in 2009. In 2010,

we built the dorms. Again, the worldwide economic

crisis is happening everywhere else. People are

losing their homes left and right. But not us

in Africa. The Lord is blessing because it was

a God thing. And then we built our chapel. And

now we're building another building in a city

not too far away, a couple hours away, where

we have another location of the Bible College.

So even if things are tight other places, you

know if it's a God thing. And if God has ordained

it, he will give you money hand over fist. And

we are so grateful for what he's done. We continue

on. We'll be here for a short season, and then

we go back. It's wonderful to be there. We can

take you to see a lot of monkeys and crocodiles

and hyenas. Come and visit. God bless. Amen.

Well, I want to give you just a quick testimony

before we start just because my wife reminded

me. And that is this. You know, when we went

to Africa, we were going to build... our first

building. And I remember I was in Addis Ababa

at a conference and actually Pastor Dennis Balcom

was with me and we were speaking to this. They

gather 2 ,000 or so pastors from around the country

every couple of years and we're speaking at this

conference. And they had come from the church

fellowship in the south. And they said, you know,

we'd like you to build a college on our ground.

We'll give you the land, but we'd like you to

build this college, and that'll be your part.

You know, so we partnered together. They requested

the land, which you have to get from the government.

You can't just buy. So anyway, they got the land

based upon this project proposal that included

our Bible college. And so they came with this

agreement, and Pastor Dennis and I were there.

I said, okay, Dennis, we'll just sign. He said,

okay. He just signed. He didn't know. What's

going on? Sure, I'll sign with you, too. So we

signed this agreement. And the agreement says

we're going to build this college. Well, that's,

you know, several hundred thousand dollars just

for the first building. And at the moment, I

had probably 20 bucks in my pocket, you know.

So anyway, I wasn't really sure exactly how all

that was going to work out. But I did believe

that God wanted us to do that. And so we went

back to America. We began to talk to different

ones about the vision that God had given us.

And one of the brothers in our church came and

said, you know, I want to help you. And this

brother, about 15 years before this, God had

spoken to him about his uncle, who was a very

wealthy man but not a Christian at the time.

And God had spoken to him about his uncle that

his uncle was going to get saved. And he had

no heirs. He had no family, no wife, no children.

that when he passed away, he was going to take

his money and put into a foundation and use for

international missions. And so he began to talk

to his uncle about God, you know. And over a

process of 15 years, his uncle was not getting

it. You know, he wasn't interested. Don't talk

to me. I don't care about Jesus. Don't tell me

another time I need to get saved, you know. But

every year he'd go and he'd talk to him again.

You know, you really need Jesus. And let me share

with you about the love of God. And he'd say,

no, no, get out of here. I don't want to talk

to you. Anyway, over like 15 years, this is going

on. Just about two or three years before we went

to. to Ethiopia, he finally, his uncle became

really sick. And he was told by the doctors that

he's probably going to die pretty soon. And so

this kind of opened the door for him to talk

more seriously about God, because he had kind

of given up for the last few years. But he said,

you know, I got to talk to him. So he went to

his house, he sat down again with him, and he

began to share with him about the Lord. And this

time he's open. And he said, you know what, I

really need Jesus in my life. And he gave his

heart to the Lord. So over the next year or so,

before his uncle passed away, his uncle set up

a foundation to support Christian missionary

work around the world. And when the time came

that we needed money to build the first building

we were going to build, it was already there.

He just wrote the check. He said, you can go

build the building that God called you to build.

Now, the great thing to me about that is that

when I didn't even know we were going to build

a building, God was already preparing for a building

we didn't even know we were going to build. Amen.

So he wasn't caught by surprise when that day

came and they said, here, sign on the dotted

line. We need you to build a college. God already

had been preparing. Over 15 years before, he

already had it. He was already ready. Amen. So

be encouraged. You know, God has already prepared

for you everything that you need. Amen. I want

to read you a scripture and then we're going

to pray. I preached this first service from a

different scripture, so I'm going to... Be a

little creative here, I feel the Lord wants us

to use this scripture. It's from Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

6. If you have your Bible, you can join with

me in reading this scripture. Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

6, I'm going to read in verse 17. Hebrews 6,

17. And I'm going to read to the middle of verse

20. It says in verse 17, even more to show to

the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness

of his purpose, interposed with an oath, so that

by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible

for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would

have strong encouragement to take hold of the

hope set before us. This hope we have is an anchor

of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast,

and one which enters within the veil where Jesus

has entered as a forerunner for us. Let's pray.

Father God, today we need to hear you, oh God.

We need your voice. We need to hear your voice

in our ear, and we know that when we hear your

voice, Faith comes. And so, Father God, today

I ask for an impartation of faith, an impartation

of the encouragement of heart that we need today

to meet the challenges that we face now. Lord

Jesus, we need you to come to speak to our hearts,

to encourage our spirit, and to lift us up into

another realm of faith in you. So this morning,

we open our hearts to you to receive your word.

In Jesus' name, amen. God's purpose does not

change. He has not changed his mind about you.

Circumstances come, things take place, things

come and go, difficulties come, challenges may

come our way, but God does not change his mind

about us. Amen? His mind is set. His purpose

is clear. He has something for us to do, someone

he wants us to be. He's got a plan for our life,

and he is ready to accomplish that, and he's

not changing his mind. Even when we may make

our share of mistakes, even though we may...

Take a wrong turn in the process. God's mind

doesn't change. Now, we need to sometimes get

back on track. You know, sometimes we may take

a little detour from what God has for us. But

God said, listen, even though you may take that

detour, my mind hasn't changed about you. So

you need to get back onto the track where you're,

you know, onto the roadway that God has for you.

And then everything's going to start working

out again. Amen. His purpose doesn't change.

He's not worried about the obstacles we face.

He's not worried about the challenges and the

attacks of the enemy that come against our life.

And we do. I think if you look at the world today,

the challenges that we see in the world are difficult.

They're even frightening, or they could be. Amen?

To look around, you see, you know, wars and rumors

of wars. And, you know, we see disease, Ebola

virus, you know, spreading. We see, you know,

the terrorists active here, there, and everywhere.

And things are happening around the world. And

it could really grip our heart and cause us to

be afraid. But God's purpose has not changed

about your life. He's not concerned about those

things. Affecting God's will concerning us. Amen.

His purpose is settled in heaven. And his desire

for us does not change. So this morning I want

to encourage you by preaching to you a little

bit about hope and its place in the life of the

believer. He says here that in verse 18 that

his purpose is unchangeable. And it's confirmed

by two things that are impossible to change.

Amen. And we can take refuge and to have strong

encouragement to take hold of the hope that is

set before us. to take hold of it. You know,

there's a point in our life where we have to

take hold of hope. I don't know about you, but

I've traveled around the world a few places,

and I've had the opportunity to be involved in

some different things, and I've learned something,

and that is that there's times when you've got

to take hold of God. I mean, there are times

when things do not look that... That positive.

I've been in some places where I wondered, how

in the world did I get here? And more than that,

how in the world am I getting out of here? And

there's times when you say, I really need God

to do something here because it's really beyond

my human ability to do something. I want to tell

you a little story about a friend of mine. His

name is Muhammad. outreach to Muslim people,

or we train leaders to do that, church planters

to plant churches among Muslims. We train more

than 700, and they've led more than 200 ,000

Muslims to Christ so far around the nation of

Ethiopia. And one of those students, one of the

students that I got to know that came to study

at the college, his father is Muhammad. And so

I was talking to Muhammad one day, and he's from

a Very Muslim area of Ethiopia. Long tradition

of Islam there. And he was a teacher in the mosque

himself. But, you know, God began to work in

his heart, and he began to have questions. Well,

what about this, and what about that? And he

looked at some of the things that even the Koran

says about Jesus, and he said, well, what about

that? And it didn't seem to fit exactly with

what he was being taught by the leaders at that

time and people that he could ask questions.

He'd go to the imam or whoever he had access

to, and he'd ask them questions, and the questions

just really weren't. They weren't very satisfying

to him. So he had these questions in his mind.

And one day, the young woman came to his town.

The town is Jemma in the western part of Ethiopia.

It's got a long tradition of Islam. And this

young woman came, and she began to preach in

the street. And she's preaching about Jesus.

Now, you know, this is a pretty scary thing.

I mean, preaching about Jesus in the streets

of Jemma is a fairly scary operation, I'm going

to tell you. But she did. She began to preach

about the Lord out right in the main part of

the town. She's preaching about Jesus. And Muhammad

is standing there. He's actually getting his

shoes shined by some little guy there on the

street. And he's hearing her. preach about Jesus.

And he's getting angry by the minute. Every minute

he's getting more angry. What is this woman doing

in our town? We're Muslims here. Why is she preaching

Jesus here? Who does she think she is that she

should be preaching like that? He's getting angry.

So he sees a young man, a boy, walking by and

he says, come over here. And he says, okay. And

the young boy comes over and he gives him a little

money. He says, go and buy this kind of pepper.

It's a kind of a hot pepper, a powder. And he

said, go get that and bring it over here. And

so the boy had got some at the market, came back.

And he said, now take this and go. And it was

like in a little piece of paper. He said, go

and blow it like that in the face of this girl

so she'll stop preaching. So this young boy does.

He goes over, blows this pepper in her eyes.

And so she can't see her eyes become all swollen

up. She can't see. She can't talk. So she has

to quit, and she goes. Well, later, to make a

longer story shorter, I hope, he's at his house.

And they had figured out who this boy was that

had done that. And the boy had told him Muhammad

had given the money for him to do that. So the

police come to his house. And they figure out

Muhammad is the one that was behind this. And

here's this young girl that had been really injured.

She had to go to the doctor and so forth. So

they came to his house and they threatened him.

They said, listen, we should really put you in

prison. Let's go see this woman. She's a young

girl. She's in the hospital. So they went to

see her. And they said, basically, do you want

us to put this guy in prison for what he did

to you? And she said, no, I don't. I don't want

you to put him in prison. And they said, why?

He said, well, I just don't want you to put him

in prison. She didn't preach to him. She didn't

pray for him. She didn't talk to him about Jesus.

She just didn't have him put in prison. That

was it. Now, he had heard her preaching in the

street, but that's all he heard, the same as

what everybody else heard. So she leaves. And

the questions in his heart are increasing. Now,

he had questions before, but now he's really

getting some questions in his heart. Like, why

in the world would this young girl, I did this

terrible thing that really hurt her. And she

was willing to forgive me and let it go and didn't

have me put in prison. What is that? What kind

of person is that? And it really was affecting

him. And anyway, through a long process over

the next year or so of seeking answers and starting

to read the Bible and seeking to understand about

Jesus, he just gave his own heart to the Lord

just by himself. Nobody was with him. Nobody

prayed with him, you know, follow me in the prayer.

He just prayed, received Christ himself. So he

goes to the church in his area, knocks on the

door, and here he is. He looks like a Muslim.

Things are different in America. Everybody kind

of looks the same, I suppose. I don't know. But

in Ethiopia, if you're Muslim, you look Muslim.

You have Muslim clothes. You have a Muslim hat.

You have a beard. Christians don't have beards.

Sorry. But you look Muslim, and everybody knows

that's who you are because that's the way you

dress and everything. So he goes and he knocks

on the door of the church. He says, I want to

be a Christian. They didn't believe him. They

said, no, you don't want to be a Christian. No

Muslim comes around here wanting to be a Christian.

You're just a spy. You must have come here because

later you're going to bring back a bunch of your

friends and they're going to burn down our church.

That's what you're going to do. So you just go.

We don't want to talk to you. So the next day

he comes back, knocks on the door again. I really

want to be a Christian. They said, no, no, three

days. No, forget it. We're not taking you. Get

out of here. This is done. Finally, on about

the fourth day. They said, okay, we believe you're

serious. Let's talk, you know. Well, he wanted

to know and be taught about Jesus. So he told

them what had happened with him. But he really

wanted to be taught in his own language. Now,

in Ethiopia, there's 85 different languages spoken

in the nation. And the national language is Amharic.

which most people speak, and he actually did

speak that, but he wanted to be taught in his

own language, which is Oromifa. And so he said

to the people in the church, please, is there

someone that can teach me in my own language?

I would really appreciate that. And they went

back and forth. Anyway, long process, they finally

found somebody to teach him in his own language,

and he began to be taught and discipled day by

day by this person. Well, after a while, they're

teaching him, and they're kind of giving him

basic teaching in Christ, you know, how to be

a Christian, how to live your Christian life.

Well, they don't know, but at his house, he's

been bringing other Muslims to his house, and

he told them about Jesus, and they now want...

They've received Christ in their life. And so

whatever they teach him at the church, he goes

to his house, and he gathers them to his house,

and he teaches them what he learned at the church.

So every day they teach him, and then he teaches

the people gathering at his house. And the people

gathering at his house, the number's growing.

So it started out being five or six. It grew

up to about 70 people. So by the time they finished,

it took them about a year before they were willing

to, you know, figure he'd learned enough they

could baptize him, you know, because they were

still not too sure about this guy. So after about

a year, they decided, okay, you know enough,

we're willing to baptize you. He said, well,

you know, I got like these 70 people at my house

that I've been teaching. Everything you teach

me, I teach them. So they should be baptized

too. And they said, no way are we going to baptize

70 Muslims in this town. That is not going to

happen. You know, they will come and tear our

church down brick by brick. brick you know that's

not going to take place and it's a legitimate

fear I don't want you to think that it's not

it is legitimate fear anyway they said no no

we're not going to do that but we will baptize

you Now, he had to persevere a little bit, you

know. I mean, a lot of people would have just

gotten offended and said, forget it, man. You

know, if you're not going to baptize these other

folks, I ain't coming. You know, I'm done with

you. Goodbye. I had to knock on your door too

many times, you know. Finally, you teach me something.

Now I got 70 people that want to receive Christ,

and you say, no way. We're not going to have

them. But he didn't do that. He said, okay. He

went. They baptized him. Then he went back, he

taught his 70 people about baptism, took them

to another place, to the river, privately, secretly

baptized all 70 of them. Started his own ministry.

Today, there are thousands of Muslims that have

come to Christ through his life. Thousands. Now,

he had to persevere through some stuff. You know,

it wasn't easy. He could have easily been offended.

He could have easily gotten angry. He could have

easily just said, well, you know, y 'all just

not very loving, you know, and I thought Jesus

was supposed to be loving. Clearly you're not,

so I think I'm just out of here. I mean, he could

have taken a lot of different attitudes, but

he didn't. He said, you know what? Jesus is more

important than all of that stuff. Amen. See,

God's... purpose doesn't change. You may face

some obstacles. Amen? You may run into some problems.

You may have some things that would knock you

off course. Something that would offend you.

Something that would hurt you. Something that

would make you feel bad. Amen? But you know what?

God's purpose doesn't change. Our part is to

keep going. Amen. Don't stop. He said, I have

some hope for you. Amen. There's a hope that

is sure. You don't have to be afraid. You don't

have to wonder. My hope and my purpose is not

changing for you. And so there's a hope for you.

It says. who have taken refuge and have great

encouragement for the hope that is set before

us. See, there's a hope that God places in front

of you. And I want to tell you today that that

hope is not just heaven. Years ago, of course,

I was at Charlotte. Pastor Violet Kiley was my

pastor the early years. She used to say it like

this. She said, hope, I mean, heaven is not your

reward. It's your destiny. you're going to go

to heaven. Don't be in such a hurry. You'll get

there. There's a lot of stuff that's going to

happen between here and there. There's a whole

lot of things God has for you to do that you

need to do between here and heaven. So don't

be in such a hurry about heaven. So your hope

is more than heaven. Your hope is that God's

going to do something in your life that is greater

than anything you've experienced up until this

moment. Amen. God is going to come into your

life and your heart in such a way that transformation

is going to come. Amen. He says, be transformed,

he says, by the renewing of your mind. He's not

just trying to get you ready for heaven. He's

trying to get heaven in you. Amen. He's trying

to transform your life, amen, into the likeness

of Christ. Into the character of Christ. So that

you also can be a child of God. He has made you

his son or his daughter. And he is forming and

shaping your life such that you can become his

child fully and completely without reservation.

See, there's a hope that he has. And we have

a hope in Christ. And God's not changing his

mind. He's not changing his mind. He wants this

to happen in our life. And so, listen, I'm putting

this hope in your heart. Paul calls it in Philippians

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, he says, the upward call of God in

Christ Jesus. See, he puts something in your

heart. You went down to an altar somewhere along

the line, you knelt and you prayed, or the pastor

said, just repeat these words after me. I mean,

think about it. You know, when you think about

how I got saved, let me see. I heard a message.

Somebody said, come on down, receive Christ.

Okay, I come down. Repeat these words after me.

Okay, dear Jesus, forgive me. I'm sorry. You

know, come into my heart. Amen. And your life

was changed. I mean, that's the amazing thing,

you know. You think about the pathetic nature

of that prayer, you know. That little prayer

that we prayed like it mattered, like it was

something. And it's just, oh, Jesus, you know,

I'm sorry I sinned. Please forgive me. We don't

know nothing. We don't know anything about Jesus.

We don't know anything about faith. We don't

know anything about anything. Hardly. All we

know is we want Jesus. And we make that little

prayer, and our life is changed. Praise God.

I mean, my goodness. God has his hand upon us,

amen? And when you got saved, he put something

in your heart. Paul calls it the upward call

of God. I would say it like this. The seed of

his kingdom was placed in your heart. And that

seed of his kingdom is drawing you into the presence

of God. Amen. That seed is the presence of God

himself, his kingdom in your heart. And that

is drawing you back to the Father. Amen. It's

conforming every aspect of your life into the

image of Christ. And so Paul says, listen, I

have this upward call of God that I'm responding

to. Amen. And we also have that same upward call

of God. But he says, listen, I have this hope.

There's a hope that I have. He goes on in the

next verse. Let me put my glasses on. He says

in the next verse that this hope we have as an

anchor of the soul, the hope that is both sure

and steadfast, and one which enters inside the

veil. See, there's a hope that enters in. To

what God has for us. Amen. See, hope is not passive.

You know what I'm saying? Passive is. Okay, I

hear something. You know, presbytery is coming.

I know we do this sometimes. You know, I've been

around presbytery for a long time. I've probably

heard more prophecies. And I don't know, probably

Pastor Brad's heard a lot too. But anyway, you

know, I've heard a lot of prophecies. I've given

a lot of prophecies, but I've certainly heard

a lot of prophecies. And people will sit there,

oh, yeah, yeah, amen, praise God, I got this

word, amen. But they don't go anywhere. They're

just sitting there. You know, they're not moving.

They're not taking hold of that word and doing

something with it. Oh, yeah, I got a word. Praise

God. You know, they got their tape recording.

We used to give everybody a tape recording. We

used to transcribe it, you know, and we'd type

it up. Okay, I got my word. You know, amen. And

we'd put it in their pocket. You know, you'd

talk to them later and say, yeah, I got my word

right here in my pocket. Well, what are you doing?

I'm just sitting here waiting for God. God's

going to do something. I'm waiting. But we're

not moving. We're not going in. We're not entering

in to that hope. We're just waiting. Like God's

going to do it all for us. No, God's not going

to do it all for you. You're going to have to

enter in to the word. When he puts that word

in your heart, it's like a hope. It's a vision.

It's a promise. Amen? And you have to lay hold

of that and enter in. You see, the hope of God

is a hope that enters in. To the holiest place.

And everything you need. Is there. Everything

you need in God. Is in that holy place. Everything.

There's nothing you need that's not there. In

the presence of God. Is everything we need. It's

all there waiting for us. But we have to enter.

You know there's a point where. In the history

of the nation of Israel. They were going to enter

into the promised land. It's in the book of Joshua,

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

chapters 1, 2, 3, like that. They're going to

enter into the promised land. And he said, listen,

I'm going to send the Ark of the Covenant in

front of you. God's presence. Amen? And this

Ark of the Covenant, he said, when those priests'

feet touch the water, the water is going to divide.

Now, when those priests were here and the water

was there, the water hadn't divided yet. See,

we're standing here, you know, the Jordan River

is there. And, you know, we got this promise,

amen. It's going to divide, amen, hallelujah.

But we want to divide before we put our foot

in the water, you know. Like, yeah, I'll put

my foot in, you know. He said, no, no, put your

foot in and we'll divide, you know. But if you

don't sign on the dotted line and say, yes, amen,

we're going to do it. The water's still there.

See, there's a place we've got to enter in. Amen?

And it doesn't always look good before you take

that step of faith. But when you take that step

of faith, you find out God is there. Amen? Because

he's got a promise. It's not just any promise.

You know, I'm not saying take your Bible and

thumb through and, you know. No, that's not how

we pick. That's not how we get a promise from

God, you know. Well, let's see, you know, promise

of God. No, that's not how it works. You don't

get a promise that way. But when God speaks to

you, that might be in your prayer time. It might

be through presbytery. It might be in a lot of

ways God can speak to you. But when God speaks

to you, that's your promise. But you're not going

to see that happen until you step into it. Amen?

The promise is ready. The water will divide.

You just put your feet here. But as long as you're

standing on the bank, the waters are not dividing.

You can watch those waters all day long. Nothing's

happening while you're still standing on the

bank. Not until you get in that you find out,

oh, the promise of God is true. The word of the

Lord is true. So he says to us, listen, you have

this promise. And the promise, or I should say

the hope of God, is steadfast. And it enters

into the veil. You see, there's an entering in

that God has called us to. And it's hope that

causes us to enter in. You see, if I don't have

hope, I'm not going to enter in. I'm just going

to sit around discouraged or whatever. Hopeless.

You know, hopeless does not move me forward.

But when I have hope, I begin to take steps of

faith. Amen? Toward that hope. You see, hope

is positive. Hope is a message from God. Hope

puts faith in my heart. And so when I really

catch the vision, when I see it clear, when I

understand it plainly, I begin to take steps

of faith toward that hope that God placed in

my heart, and I see it come to pass. Now it says

here in the next verse, first half of verse 20,

that Jesus is our forerunner. You see, in that

place, that presence of God, that place behind

the veil, Jesus already went. He's our forerunner.

Now, you know, the nature of being a forerunner

is that somebody's running after. You can't be

a forerunner with nobody coming behind. Amen.

Now, you can be a runner by yourself, but you

can't be a forerunner without somebody coming

after. Amen. See, Jesus has gone in front of

us. Amen. He went ahead of us because he's the

forerunner, and he's entering into this place

ahead of us with the idea that we're going to

come after. See, Jesus said it like this. He

said, I'm going to go, and I'm going to prepare

a place for you so that where I am, you can be

also. Now, I know, yeah, okay, if you keep walking

with Jesus, you'll get to heaven, and maybe that's

part of that, but it's more than that. Amen.

You see, he's saying, listen, I'm going to prepare

a place for you because I want you to be where

I am. Now, I'm going to tell you today that where

Jesus is, he is not sick. Where Jesus is, he's

not sick. He's not in bondage to Satan. He's

not wringing his hands. I hope I can find enough

money to pay the rent. Wherever he is, he's not

like that. He said, listen, I'm going to go and

I'm preparing a place for you. It's a place you

can live. It's a place where you can walk in

faith. It's a place where you can experience

the grace of God in your life. Amen? It's a place

where I am making ready for you. And I'm calling

you to step into that place. And when you step

into that place with me, you're going to find

that all of that stuff is taken care of. Amen.

That when you step into this place where Jesus,

I'm going to tell you something. You know that

when we receive Christ, you know, we celebrate

the communion and we receive the blood of Christ.

I want you to think about this for a moment.

We receive communion. We're receiving the blood

of Jesus. And the Bible says that the life is

in the blood. And when I drink that blood of

Jesus, something happens to me. Amen. The life

of God comes in and the blood, my blood gets

transformed into a new kind of blood. Amen. And

the blood of Jesus starts to run here. Amen.

And wherever there's sickness. It will go there

and the life of God comes. Now that's what's

supposed to happen. Amen. He said, listen, when

you take communion, you're not getting it yet.

This is Paul, you know, chapter 11 of 1 Corinthians.

He said, listen, you're not quite getting it

yet. And that's why some of you are sick. And

some of you even die, he says, because you're

not getting it yet. This communion thing is far

more than what you're experiencing just yet.

There's more to this thing than what you found

so far. See, the life of God is in the blood.

It flows from member to member. You know that

there's a gift of God in your brother or your

sister. Do you know that we have a hard time

receiving sometimes? I don't know. Maybe that's

not. I don't know about this church. Maybe not.

But I've been around churches a long time. And

I've found that Christians have a hard time sometimes

receiving from one another. In Ethiopia, we have

tribes, you know. And 85 languages means there's

85 tribes. And if I'm from one tribe, I don't

necessarily get along with another tribe. So

we don't have that problem here. In America,

you know, we're just Democrats and Republicans.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I shouldn't go there.

Anyway, we don't have tribes exactly in America,

more or less. But in Ethiopia, we have tribes.

And we don't like to receive from people of the

other tribes. So I tell them like this. What

if God put your healing? In a member of another

tribe. But you don't want to receive it. Because

you don't like that person. Because they're not

your tribe. So you don't want that. So what if.

I guess we could put that into American. Whatever.

That guy is whatever. We won't name names. So

he's just somebody different than me. That I

have a hard time receiving from. But what if

God. Put your healing there. No, I don't want

to. No, don't pray for me. I'm not going to receive

from that one. No, no, no. Don't even think about

that. No, no. I don't need prayer. No, my healing

can't be there. Because I don't like the package

you wrap my healing in. So I don't want what's

inside the package because the paper doesn't

look good to me. So I just, we don't need that.

We don't want that. But you know what? God says,

listen, this is what this body of Christ thing

is all about. Your healing is in some package

in this room. You just need to receive it. Amen?

You have to be willing to allow God to move through

your brother or through your sister. Amen? And

when you say, yes, I receive you, you receive

the gift of God that's in their life. But you

can't get the gift without the brother. Yeah.

You can't get the gift without the brother or

the sister, of course. Amen. So listen, he says,

you're not really getting it yet about this whole

communion thing. Your everything you need is

in Christ. But you know what? Christ is inside

your brother and inside your sister. You don't

get to go directly to the right hand of the Father

in heaven and get it there. You're going to have

to go to your brother who's going to pray for

you and say, God, heal him in the name of Jesus.

And that gift is going to reach into your life

and heal you. Amen. Well, he said, listen, Jesus

has gone ahead of you. He's the forerunner. You

know, in Micah chapter 2 and verse 13. It says

Micah 2 · chapter mention

it like this. It said, the breaker has broken

through. It's a prophecy about Jesus. Micah 2,

Micah 2:13

verse 13 is talking about Jesus. It says, the

breaker has broken through, and now we can come

along behind him. The breaker broke through,

and now he's already gone up through the gate,

and he's going out. You know that in Matthew

Matthew 16:18

16, verse 18, it's talking about the kingdom

of God. He said, listen. Jesus says, I will build

my church and the gates of hell will not prevail

against it. That's what he said. So first of

all, it's his church. It's not my church. Amen?

So he didn't promise me he'd build my church.

But he's building his church, and I get to work

with him. So thank God for that. He's invited

me to participate in the building project. Amen.

Thank you, Jesus. But, you know, it's a process

of working with Jesus. Amen. I get to work alongside

of him, but I don't get to replace him. I don't

do his job, and he doesn't do my job. I got to

do my job and then he'll do his part, you know.

So anyway, he says, I'm going to build my church

and the gates of hell will not prevail against

it. In other words, there's a work to be done.

There are people that are behind those gates

that need Jesus. And we're going to have to break

through those gates if we're going to get a hold

of those people that need Jesus because hell

has them locked behind a door. Hell has them

locked behind a door. And he said, listen, I

want you to break through that. That gate. I

want you to break through. Because on the other

side there are men and women and children. Lives

that need to be changed and touched by the power

of God. And the only way you're going to get

to them. You're going to have to go through this

door. And you're going to have to break through.

But you know the good news is Jesus already broke

through ahead of us. Amen. But you know what

he said? He said something else. He said listen.

In the next verse he says I have given you a

key. He said I'm going to give you the key of

the kingdom. And what you open is open. And what

you close is closed. Now, that's a lot of trust.

I don't know about you, but if I'm Jesus, I'm

not sure I'm going to trust me that way. That's

a big amount of trust. Here's the keys of the

kingdom. He says, here, take them. They're yours.

What do you want me to do? Well, I want you to

open what should be open, and I want you to close

what should be closed. Well, what needs to be

opened and what needs to be closed? I mean, that's

a lot of responsibility, Jesus. I mean, yeah,

that's right. But once you open it, it's open.

But if you close it, it's closed. You see, God

has given us authority in his kingdom to open

those things that he wants open. Our problem

is we open some stuff that he really doesn't

want open. How do we do that? We do that because,

you see, it's not a physical key. This is how

it works. If I allow something in my life, it's

allowed. You know, as a Christian, you know,

we have the doors back here. Let's just say the

doors were closed. Satan comes knocking on the

door, you know. I can open or I can close. I

have authority. I got the key. Amen? I got the

key. Satan's knocking on the door, but I got

the key. I don't have to let him in. I got the

key. But if I do let him in, I have a problem.

Because, you know, when you let the thief in

your house, you don't get to tell him what to

steal. He's going to steal whatever he wants.

Once the door is open, he can steal what he wants.

You don't get to say, well, you know, you can

have the television, but I want my iPod, you

know, whatever, you know. I want my, don't tell

you, I want my iPhone 6. I don't know, whatever

you got these days. You know, you can't tell

him what to steal. He's going to steal whatever

he wants to steal. Amen. So the trick is keep

him out. Amen. How do we let him in? We allow

sin in our life. That's how we give him permission

to enter in. And so God said, but listen, you

don't have to do that. I gave you the key. You

don't have to open the door. You can close that

door. And you have the authority in your life

to do that. Why? Because Jesus already broke

through. Amen. Jesus already broke through. And

so I'm going to give you authority. And you can

open that door. You can close that door. You

can do as God leads you to do, and I give you

the power. Now, I'm going to tell you something.

That is a lot of authority, and it's a lot of

responsibility. Now, you know what? If you take

that to the level of the community that we live

in, who has the keys? The church. The church

has the keys. You know, I hear people complaining

about... The politics of the nation. Forgive

me, but you all have the key. Politicians don't

have the key. You got the key. Jesus gave you

the key. He didn't give the politicians the key.

He gave you the key. What are you doing with

your key? When the church is doing the stuff

that opens the door to the enemy, why should

you complain now the enemy is here? He's a thief.

Well, he is a thief. It's his nature. He lies,

steals. That's who he is. The enemy is a thief.

He's going to steal everything he can steal.

So if you open the door, why should you be surprised

stuff's getting stolen? Of course stuff's getting

stolen. You open the door. He's a thief. It's

his nature. Amen. So don't blame the politician.

We as the people of God have the key. And it's

time for us to stand up and say, you know what?

We're going to use this key God gave us. And

we are going to close some doors that have been

open because they've been open too long. And

it's time for us to close those doors that we

have allowed the enemy into our house. And he's

stealing and killing and destroying our children.

And it's time. that we close the door and I got

the key so I have the ability to close it I also

got the ability to break through the gate that

Satan has placed in front of them amen that is

that is hindering them from coming into the purpose

of God for their life I have the key that can

open that gate too God has given me the key.

And so I can open what God wants open and I can

close what God wants closed. That's what God

gave me to do. I have the power and the authority

to do that. And I'm saying to you today, I believe

it's a moment in history when God is calling

the church to step up and say, now is the time.

I'm going to do what God called me to do. I'm

going to. Take my key and I'm going to use it

for Jesus. I'm going to close the things that

need to be closed. And I'm going to open some

things that need to be opened. And I have the

keys to my community. If I want to say what's

happening in my community, I'll tell you what,

you have the key. The people of God have a key.

So ain't nothing happening here except what we

allow or don't allow. That's the truth. Amen.

We have the authority. It's time that we begin

to use that authority. Listen, there are folks

trapped behind the gates of hell. See, he's not

just saying go beat up the gates of hell because,

you know, I care about beating up the demon.

No, there are people trapped behind those gates

that you need to go set free. And he's already

broken through. So you don't have to do it on

your own power. All you got to do is follow Jesus.

He's already broken through. Amen. He's already

gone through the gate. All you got to do is come

on behind. He's the forerunner. He already entered

into the presence of God. He's there already.

You don't have to break through. You don't have

to tear down the veil. You don't have to be the

one to break through on your own. No, all you

got to do is follow Jesus. And in fact, when

Jesus is talking to his disciples there in the

Gospels, what does he say at the beginning of

every one of his relationships with every one

of his apostles? What does he say to them? He

says, follow me. That's our job. This is not

complicated. You know, this is not deep truth

that I'm sharing with you today, okay? It really

isn't. It's so simple. Just follow Jesus. Now,

I'm going to tell you where Jesus is going is

not into sin. Trust me on that. Amen? That's

not where he's going. You following Jesus, that's

not going to be your problem. Because when you

follow Jesus, you're following him into holiness

and power and anointing and authority and the

presence of God. You see, it's the veil. He entered

in behind the veil. It's the holy of holies.

It's the holy of holies. He's sending the Holy

Spirit. You know? Oh, spirit come. No, it's the

Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes, you

know what? He's holy. Yeah. Amen. That's a whole

new revelation. Yeah. See, it's time to break

through. And he said, listen, I'm going to build

my church. And I'm going to give them the authority

to enter in. Amen. He said, you're going to break

through. Jesus broke through. And now you're

coming in behind him. Amen. So don't stand outside

and watch. See, Jesus said, I do what I see the

Father doing. That's what I do. What's our job?

What I see Jesus doing, that's what I got to

do. Amen? Jesus is breaking through. I got to

follow on. Amen? That's my part. And when I do,

I find that I have all the authority I need to

accomplish what God has given me to do. We have

the keys of the kingdom. Amen? We have the keys

to lock or unlock. We have it today. Jesus gave

it to us as the people of God. Amen? We have

those keys. If we want to see change, let's see

it. Amen? Let's see it. The first place it needs

to start is right here. Amen? You know what,

James chapter 4, verse 7, it says like this.

James 4:7

It says, submit to God, resist the devil, and

he'll flee. We like to just step over that submit

to God part and go right to the resist the devil

part, you know. Yeah. Amen. In the name of Jesus,

I rebuke you, Satan, you know. And worse, I step

on the head of the enemy. I've been in those

prayer meetings. Amen. Hallelujah. Glory to God,

you know. But you know what? It's got to start

right here. Amen. I got to step on the head of

the enemy here. Before I can step on the head

of the enemy out there. Amen. And once I get

the enemy's head good and crushed here. I'm in

good condition. I can rebuke him out there. Amen.

See we've been trying to rebuke the devil. But

we're not dealing with him here. God's called

us. He said listen I'm giving you the key. You

have the authority. You can lock or unlock. You

can loose or bind. You can stop or you can allow.

It's up to you. Amen. It's up to you. It's your

life, your community, your family. But if you

let into your family evil, don't be surprised

when they rob from you. But you have the authority

to lock that door. Amen. Let's lock what needs

to be locked. Let's open what needs to be opened.

And let's break through the gates that are holding

men and women who need Jesus behind those gates.

Let's go and bring them out. Amen. In Jesus'

name. He's already broken through. Hallelujah.

Amen. The veil's been removed. The presence of

God is open. There's nothing to stop us. Amen.

There's nothing to stop us. It's the time. I

believe this is the day. I truly do. I believe

this is the day. That God is going to speak into

a people and somebody is going to say, yes, Jesus.

I'm telling you, somebody is going to say, yes,

Jesus. I don't care about nothing else. I don't

care about anything else in my life. I got no

other goal in my life but to please Jesus. That's

it. That's my goal. I got nothing else to do

but obey God. So why not? Amen. Why not? Why

shouldn't this be the day? Why shouldn't we be

the people? That's good. Amen. Let's pray. Father,

I thank you for this people. They're a great

people. They're an anointed people. They're a

prophetic people. They're a people whose heart

is after you. I see it. I can hear it in their

worship. I see it in the spirit. This is a great

church. And this is a great people. And they

truly and honestly want to seek you. And I pray,

Father God, that you would come by your presence

today. Touch our hearts fresh in this season

of time. Over this, even this next week of presbytery

and preparing our hearts and hearing from God.

Let this be the season. where we hear something

fresh in our spirit that plants hope in our heart,

that causes us to take steps of faith into the

future that you've already prepared for us. And

Father God, teach us how to break through those

barriers and teach us how to use the keys that

you've given us. Let us walk in the authority

that you have placed in our hand and let us see

miracles. happen in our families, in our homes,

in our lives. Father God, this is the time. Let

it come to pass now. Why should we wait another

day? Why not this day? In Jesus' name. Amen.

This morning, would you stand with me? Just in

that spirit of the prayer and message, maybe

just bow your head and close your eyes for a

moment. I just had what I believe is a God thought

this morning. Dr. Munson was talking about those

beginning stages of the touch of God on our heart.

I believe that the Lord is here to draw people

to himself. I believe there's many kinds here

in the sanctuary this morning, but there's a

gamut between two places. One, if you don't know

Jesus, he wants to know you. He wants to draw

you to himself. And from the beginning stages

of knowing him, Where you're at this morning

as you've come to Life Bible Church to hear the

gospel being preached. Or maybe you're here in

this place and all of a sudden the hand of the

Lord just came upon your heart and your mind.

You've been a Christian before. But the veils

of your eyes and your mind just something happened.

You heard those words. I want to be one of those

ones. That all I care about. I've had a life

of mixture, but I want to care about the things

of Jesus. That's what I want my life to be about.

He's wanting to transform our hearts and our

minds. If you're in any one of those places,

you want to accept the Lord today. You're here.

You've heard the message of His grace and His

love. He's died for you. He loves you. He's opened

the way for you to come to Him. And he wants

to change your life. I invite you. Step out where

you're at right now. Come meet me down here.

If you're here this morning and all of a sudden

you just had a revelation of God's touch. Just

like it was when you got saved. You say, you

know what? My life needs to be more about pleasing

Jesus. I want to respond to that today. Would

you just step out of your seat and meet me right

here? Come on. Thank you. Gary, would you come?

Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Riley, come. Are there

any others? Come on up. Awesome. I'm going to

have you just stand right here. Awesome. Come

on up. Linda, come. Are there any others? Something.

The word of the Lord came to you just right there

in that moment. Something was touching your heart.

It's calling you. It's making a change in your

journey. It's moving some obstacles out of the

way. Maybe you're here and you say, you know

what? I need Jesus. I need to know this one.

Come on, Abdels. I need a transference of where

I've been, where I've come from. I need to know

him. See, it's in moments like this, everyday

moments where we're in the presence of the Lord,

that the hand of the Lord comes and touches a

heart and says, will you give me this? We make

that choice, even as we said this morning, with

a key. Will I open my heart to the purposes of

God for my life, or will I close it for what

I think? God's coming to open some hearts today.

Are there any others? I'd like you to stretch

your hands, church, just toward them right now.

Gary, I'd just like you to lay hands on them

and just pray that impartation of that message

in Jesus' name. Come on, let's just pray for

them. Just begin to ask the Lord to touch them

right now in the core of who they are, opening

their heart to the purposes of God. Opening their

heart to the purposes of God. Thank you, God.

Thank you, Jesus. Release that anointing. We

release that touch now. Lord, as they stand and

they've just turned the key right now in Jesus'

name, we say come and fill. Come and open even

now in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Thank you,

O God. Thank you, O God. Lord, we just ask for

more of the presence of the Lord even now. Coming

in. Coming in. Removing every obstacle. Removing

every... every sense of the of i can't but now

i will in jesus name opening that up even now

in jesus name You give life. You are love. You

bring light to the darkness. You give hope. You

restore every heart that is broken. Let's just

worship the Lord in this place this morning.

You give life. You are love. You bring light

to the darkness. You give hope. You restore every

heart. Lord, we've heard your voice. We've heard

the message of the Lord. Lord, I'm asking now

for every believer that's been given a key by

you. Lord, that that message of opening our hearts

to you, closing off that which is not of you

and opening the gates, Lord, that you have already

walked through. Lord, to receive the people,

to love the people in our lives, in our community.

We bless you this morning and I bless your church.

I ask that favor come upon them in every area.

The sensitivity to your spirit would be quickened

in every moment. Lord, we thank you for what

you're doing now. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless

you. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for

your kindness of just waiting this out. And thank

you for praying for your brothers and sisters.

Have a wonderful day in God. We'll see you Wednesday

night. Thank you so much. If you are interested

in hearing other podcasts or contacting Life

Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch .org

or call us at 541 -995 -8282.