Sunday Message, Session 2 - Rachel Hickson (June 22, 2008) | Life Bible Church

Some of you that haven't been here for the Women's

Conference Saturday and even last night, we've

had a great time so far in God with this precious

couple, Gordon and Rachel Hickson from Oxford,

England. I was asking Gordon last night, he's

been in ministry 21 years. He was also the crusade

director and administrator for Reinhard Bonnke,

one of the great evangelists of our time actually,

has brought millions of people. saved in Africa.

And what a great opportunity. We've had Rachel.

This is our fourth year. And so they're just

going to come and greet the church. Would you

just welcome Gordon and Rachel Hickson as they

come this morning? Well, it's been... It's been

a real blessing being with Rachel this time.

She's part of the family, so I feel part of the

family. And we've had a great time. For those

of you who've been with us, we've really enjoyed

it. But I'm not going to steal a lot of time.

I just want us to reach our hands out to Rachel

and just pray for the word of the Lord and for

strength. And so, Father, we want to thank you

for Rachel. Thank you, Lord, that she carries

that mantle of your spirit, that mantle of anointing.

We thank you. opens up this whole subject of

opening the gates. I thank you that we have a

promise. We have a clear promise that we will

possess the gates of our enemies. That is your

promise and we're believing you in impossible

situations so that we will see the word of God

released to open up these doors. So Father, we

pray that for that anointing on the word of God.

We pray it will be life to every one of us. In

Jesus' name. Amen. Well, it's great to be with

you this morning. We pursued the presence of

God at the Ladies' Conference. Those CDs are

available. We started right at the first session.

And if the men want to listen, you're welcome.

It wasn't too pink and fluffy, so you won't be

too embarrassed. We started the first night of

really talking about the presence of God in the

private place, in the public place. And how I

believe that as we look at the life of Jesus,

we see a man who was given to a private place,

but then was able to release a presence. into

the public place of signs, wonders, and miracles.

And there's a pursuit for the presence of God,

of not just a self -indulgent, I want God to

make me feel good. But actually there in my heart

is a heart cry. Oh God, put a power upon us that

helps us answer the heart cry of so many needy

in our community. And I believe God is opening

that up. and then we looked at the story of the

woman with the issue of blood and I called it

I Want My Life Back and just identifying those

areas where our life is bleeding away and how

we need to touch Jesus in those circumstances

and to regain our life again. Then there were

amazing workshops. And then Gordon in the afternoon

spoke on overcoming the strongholds of fear,

intimidation, and the pressures of the enemy

to bring fear into our life so we are imprisoned

from the presence. Because God is love. And the

perfect love of God casts out fear. But fear

is a stronghold that almost encapsulates you

and makes you incapable of really understanding

what love is all about. And so we've got to address

our fear issues to really overcome and know the

God of love. And then in the last session, we

looked at the pathways of the pursuit to the

presence of God, the pathway of holiness, the

pathway of intercession, the pathway of trial.

that brings glory and the pathway of peace and

joy and how God puts these pathways in our life

and how we have to set our heart on a pilgrimage

to break through. Then yesterday morning, Gordon

took the lion's share of really sharing about

marriage and looking at a passage in Ephesians

5 of what does that... priestly role of the husband

look like in the home, looking at the five pillars

of the intimate friends. Let's see if I was listening.

The proclaiming prophet, the reconciling priest,

the servant leader, and the defending warrior

have done it. And just those different aspects

of how in our upside down world, so much of our

viewpoint of who, what a man is. And even for

some men, I know often when Gordon finishes,

they wince and think, Gordon, you're not. nice

to us, because it would be much easier to actually

fit the mold of what we are allowed to be. And

then I talked to some of the women. And then

over last night and these two services, although

I'm taking the same theme, we're going to be

looking at it at different angles. And we want

to talk about Open the Gates in 2008. Say with

me. And last night, and I wonder if you could

just show some pictures, Gordon talked about

opening the gate to the nations. And if there's

one thing Gordon carries, it's an incredible

heart. He was also the national director for

Islamic missions to central... Asia, Middle East,

and North Africa. And he carries in his heart

a real passion for the Muslim world. And if you

look here, here's a desert land just north of

Cairo. Just keep clicking it through. You'll

see in that corner there is something there.

Next slide. Is it going to just click, click,

click? There's the tent. And this was a huge

tent which takes about 6 ,500 people. Next one.

Inside, these are Arabic Christians at a prayer

conference. And I'm standing at the front just

looking to one half left -hand side. There's

about 7 ,000 people in there from all over Egypt,

Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, and Dubai. Just come together

for a prayer and fasting conference for five

days in the desert. Next one. Oh, that's me preaching.

They gave me the privilege of preaching in the

opening and closing session, even as a woman

in an Islamic nation. That was an incredible

honor. Next one. You can see all the flags, if

you can see all the flags flying. And I explained

to the women that to actually bring the Egyptian

flag into the house of God is considered a blasphemous

and treasonable offense. Because you're making

the statement the nation belongs to God. And

so a pastor who began this went into jail maybe

18 times. But now he broke something through

and you can see the flags. And they watched the

men worship with the flag of Egypt. The presence

of God is really wonderful. Next one. Here's

the men at prayer looking so much like the Islam

thing, but they're there crying for their nation.

And that was not... sort of picture there but

it was actually streamed live on the internet

and that's Arabic in the middle which says Egypt

belongs to Christ and with their flag all the

way around on top of their sort of commercial

and governmental center of Cairo and to stream

that live on internet right around the Arabic

speaking world is incredibly courageous but something

is raising up so thank you for that and last

night if you're at all interested and seeing

the gates open to the nations, changing your

worldview. I don't know one that's much better

than Gordon. I'm really preaching. How many of

you have heard him speak last night? How many

of you found it changed your worldview a little

bit, really helped you? And I believe in these

days that we are accelerating to opening the

gates of the gospel. How many of you sense that?

And it's a harvest season. And so God wants to

put a passion in us for the nations. And now

this morning, I want to look at three gates.

maybe this service and another three gate second

service so by the end of it you'll have a most

probably a cd pack open the gates with seven

gates but um As I was just praying at the beginning

of this year, God just began to speak to me about

the gateways of opportunity and the gates that

he wants to open for us in 2008. Many of you

know that eight in the Jewish tradition is the

number of new beginnings. And actually, if you

take the number eight and look at it, the het,

it is actually in the shape of a gate. And so

there's all these sort of... signs and symbols

that there is something about a gateway year

this year. And even as you look at America, how

many would agree with me? This is a gateway year.

You know, your nation is in balance. You've got

elections. You've got all sorts of things. And

it's going to be a gateway. For better, for worse,

for richer, for poorer, in death, help us God,

whatever. You know, there are gateways years.

They're like those landing marks. And you just

have this sense that it's bigger than just you.

How many of you sense that? And so I feel that

in this particular time, God is crying out, open

the gates. Open the gates. And so the first gate

I want to look at is the gate of hope. The gate.

of hope. Because we need to learn to be those

gatekeepers in the house of the Lord and the

gatekeepers for the community. Even as Pastor

Brad was sharing, you know, as we step out into

the streets of Harrisburg and the surrounding

sort of area, Coburg and these ones, and begin

to put a presence on the streets, we need to

open gates of opportunity, open gates of hope

for them. Because I do believe that we're called

to be gatekeepers. And so if we turn to Hosea

Hosea 2:14

chapter 2, verse 14 and 15, we read this scripture.

Therefore, I am now going to allure her, and

I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly

to her. There I will give her back her vineyards

and will make the valley of Achor, which if you

study this, is the valley of trouble and difficulty,

a door of hope. And there she will sing as in

the days of her youth, as in the day she came

up out of Egypt. Therefore. I always say when

I speak, when you see a therefore, ask, what

is the there therefore? It is a conclusion. It

is like, okay, this is a summary moment. A whole

lot of stuff has gone on before this. Now, as

a conclusion, because of what's gone on, therefore,

a transition moment, a changing moment, a new

thought moment. You get what I'm saying? And

so here, the prophet Hosea is saying, therefore,

because. of what's going on in the nation because

of the hearts of the people because of the state

of the church God is putting a footprint down

and saying therefore because of all these surrounding

circumstances I'm stepping in and I'm going to

allure her who is the her well obviously all

the way through scripture you have the individual

that God so loves me but I would like to suggest

that the her is also the corporate bride of Christ

it isn't just about me. Of course, God loves

Rachel. God loves Gordon. God loves Brad, Ron,

Rhonda, Elton. He loves us as individuals. But

actually, there's a corporateness that God is

looking for in these days, because it's that

corporate bride. It's that people coming together

in a place that actually is the true gatekeeper

for communities, regions, and nations. And so,

yes, there's the, I'm going to allure Jess. I'm

going to call him. But actually, in calling each

one individually. He's calling the us -ness of

the bride of Christ to be rightly positioned

for a season. So now I'm going to allure her

and I'm going to lead her to the desert and speak

tenderly to her. And I believe many of us have

been in a season where God has been wooing us

individually and then corporately as a house

and saying, come on, I love you dearly. I love

you dearly. Now there's something about that

word alluring. I've got a wonderful chocolate

Labrador dog. Not really a puppy anymore. But

if I've got a cookie in my hand, I could lead

that dog anywhere. That dog focuses and you can

allure the dog into all sorts of places. And

often if I want to hook him up to let him have

his bath, that's a very good way. Get one of

his doggy treats, allure him. Before he knows

what's happened, the collar's on him, he's outside.

by that post. And then his tail goes down. He

thinks, I've been had. I'm on that post. Out

comes the hosepipe. And there's that sense here.

You know, Jeremiah the prophet says, oh God,

you deceived me and I was deceived. There are

times when God allures us. He speaks tenderly.

And it's like you feel that fixing eye of God

saying, come on, come on, come on, come on, come

on, come on. And then suddenly you wake up and

you think, how did I get here, God? I'm in a

desert. I was doing quite nice until I listened

to you. How many of you have ever felt that?

Therefore, I'm going to, I'm going to speak tenderly.

I'm going to draw you with loving kindness into

a desert. You think, thanks a lot, God. I really

like deserts. place a transformation happens

where I'm going to change a valley of trouble

and open a door of hope and it's actually going

to become a place of restoration where I'm going

to give back vineyards in other words I'm going

to give back fruitfulness right in that desert

place and I'm going to break the bondages of

Egypt and let you go really free But it's actually

in that very atmosphere of being allured by the

presence of God that you come to a transformation

place from the valley of trouble into a door

of hope. And as we look into our communities

at this time, I tell you, they need so many people

are so confused, overwhelmed, that the bride

needs to be the alluring sound of the bridegroom

of heaven. Do you understand what I'm saying?

And that sound comes so that people begin to

find, How did I get here? How many of you remember

the day you got saved and think, I don't really

know how I got there? How did that happen? But

there was a luring cry that suddenly transformed

a valley of trouble into a door of hope. And

I believe this is a season where God wants to

open doors of hope. Maybe you've just woken up

and think, well, how did I end up here? But I

tell you, God's got a door of hope for you. Out

of the valley of trouble is a door of hope. There

is a door of hope. And we've got to be gatekeepers

to that door of hope and open it. As I read the

statistics of what's happening in communities

all around us, hopelessness is on the increase.

Suicide is on the increase. Suicide amongst men

in the US is on the increase. As the financial

credit crunch begins to hit, people who have

just made themselves in a mess are deciding the

only way to get out is to top themselves. And

I don't know if you look at statistics, I do.

We found in Britain, in an area of Wales, which

is a bit like this, a beautiful farming, green,

rolling, perfect area, if you know what I mean.

It looks absolutely fabulous. teenagers began

to make suicide pacts. And to this year, 19 of

them had committed suicide between the age of

16 to 21. And they have become so horrified by

the hopelessness in the teenagers in this community.

Social workers, police, all sorts have gone in

to try and uncover what in the world has robbed

the hope of youth. But you see, the church, are

the gatekeepers to the door of hope. And we've

got to open up the gates in 2008. So what is

hope? Let me give you a quick definition. What

is hope? Well, this is a simple definition. Say

it with me. Hope is the desire with an expectation

of accomplishment. Let's say it once more. You

still need coffee. Hope is the desire With an

expectation of accomplishment. Let me make it

a tiny bit more theological. Hope is the God

-given desire with a faith -filled expectation

of a promise accomplished. That is what hope

is. Hope is triggered by a desire that God stirs.

It then is incubated by faith with that expectation

that says, I know it's going to happen. And finally,

it's accomplished in a promise in your hand.

And that's what the world needs. We need to open

the door of hope. And I want to ask you today,

you see, we can't go out on the streets on July

the 4th and be gatekeepers to hope if we haven't

got a hope sound resonating on the inside. We've

got to get hold of our hope. Hope is the desire

with an expectation of accomplishment. We've

sung it today that God does what he says. Nothing

is impossible with God. That actually the expectation

that God's word stirs is not to make us foolish,

but to make us satisfied. And so we've got to

press through the valley of Achor, those times

of trouble, the desert places, and knock on that

door of hope and see it open to us. Because in

2008 is the day and the year to open the gate.

And we're going to open the gate of hope. And

I believe that so often when we talk about hope,

what is the scripture we think of? Hope deferred.

And so we've got almost this negative viewpoint

to the word hope. Oh, don't hope too much. You

only get disappointed. Hope deferred makes the

heart grow sick. But how does that verse finish?

Yeah, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

And it's so fascinating. We all know the first

bit. Well, hope delayed makes the heart grow

sick. But actually hope. of the longing fulfilled,

grows to be a tree of life. You see, hope goes

two directions. But we all stay with, oh, hope

deferred makes the heart grow sick. Don't hope

too much, you just get disappointed. No. Hope

is so essential. What does Hebrews say? Hebrews

Hebrews 11:1

11 verse 1. Faith is the substance of things

hoped for. So if the enemy pickpockets your hope,

You lose your faith. Faith is the substance of

things hopeful. What does Romans 5, 5 say? And

this hope does not disappoint us. Why? Because

his love has been shed abroad in our hearts by

the Holy Spirit. And so, so many of us have got

this slightly negative thing to hope. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 13:13

13, verse 13 says, and these three shall remain.

Which three? Faith, hope, and love. So I've come

to irritate you this morning. I want to ask you,

how are your faith, hope, and love capacity tanks?

If you look back a year, is your faith, hope,

and love tanks greater or lesser? If you look

back 10 years, is your hope greater or lesser?

Because you see, in the kingdom of God, it says,

these three shall remain. Which three? Faith,

hope, and love. And you see, if it's depleting

in the church, and if we look in our own lives

and think, yeah, if I'm real honest, my hope

has got more cynical. Hope, as we step out there.

Do you get what I'm saying? And this year, 2008,

we've got to open the gate and hope has got to

remain. And I believe that quite often we recognize

more the doubt against faith than we do the battle

against hope. Do you get what I'm saying? It's

more subtle. And there's something that says,

well, don't be too excited. Don't be too expecting.

Don't be too hopeful. But actually, these three

must remain. Faith, hope, and love. And the greatest

of these is love. Well, my background is I'm

a research scientist. And so I began, why is

love the greatest? I would like to suggest to

you that as I've prayed and really asked God,

I believe that love is the greatest because it's

the incubating atmosphere. It's like the greenhouse

effect that allows faith and hope to grow. Without

love, it is virtually impossible to see faith

and hope really flourish. How many agree? Because

you see, how many know if you're living in a

real critical, cynical atmosphere that's critiquing

your every move, your hope, dreams, faith is

kept very contained. But as soon as you're in

a very loving, affirming environment, which should

be the church, the church is the place of the

second chance. Hello, the church is a place we

can make a mistake. You're kissed, stood up and

given a second chance. That's grace. That's what

Jesus has done for me. And that's what church

should be. So church should allow us to have

hopes, dreams, expectations and open the doors.

So that's why again and again, come on church,

love one another. This is the greatest command.

This is the command. Just love one another. Give

each other some movement grace. How many of you

know if you work in a company environment that's

very affirming, there's much more creativity

and entrepreneurial? Come on, business. And that's

true. Where it's a very contained, exact, you

get it wrong, you're out of here type, people

don't move. And so come on, say with me, open

the gates. Open the door of hope. In 2008. Just

take a moment. Just say, God, look at my heart.

And see if love, faith and hope still remain.

So we want to open that door of hope. Number

two. They're all different gates. But I think

it's so important. Last night, the gate of the

nations, the gate of hope, the gate of heaven.

Let's open the gate of heaven over your life.

And for this one, let's turn to Genesis 25, verse

Genesis 25:16

16. Genesis 28, sorry. Genesis 28, verse 16.

Genesis 28:16

And when Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought,

surely the Lord is in this place. And I was not

aware of it. And he was afraid and said, how

awesome is this place. This is none other than

the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.

Genesis 28 verse 16. When Jacob awoke from his

Genesis 28:16

sleep. I'm just going to go through this a little

bit, exegesis style. Jacob. Well, obviously we

know Jacob. We've got Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,

the third in the Pentateuch. grandfather father

son that lineage of breakthrough for the nations

to be born but as you're well aware in the bible

names and faces and people are also representative

And of sort of, they give an image, a symbol

beyond just that name. And especially if then

it's shown through scripture, you can then have

a look and say, okay, it's not just about Jacob

being the person who lived and died as a son.

There's something of a Jacob nature. Do you understand

what I'm saying? And so I want to show you that.

Yes, here it is talking about the individual

Jacob, but I believe it's representative of a

Jacob nature. And the Jacob nature, I would like

to suggest to you, is a seeker. Because all the

way through scripture, you find this symbolism

of the Jacob. It talks about a Jacob generation.

If you go back home on your laptops and computers,

I haven't got time because I'm trying to do too

many gates. But you put it in and this phrase

comes up, the house of Jacob, the generation

of Jacob, the people of Jacob. And now are they

literally talking about blood relatives? No,

they're talking about a typology, a type, an

image of a Jacob. Cut. So what is it? Well, if

you go to Psalm 24, verse 6, such is the generation

Psalms 24:6

that seek me, the Jacob generation that seek

my face. That's the easiest one to prove my point.

But if you just track it through, you find again

and again, this Jacob generation, this house

of Jacob, this Jacob people are a people who

have a courageous stubbornness that say, I want

God. And whatever the opposition, I've got to

shake it through, make it through, push it through,

because there's something in my heart that's

a seeker. Amen. And seekers will be finders.

God said that to me this year. He said, come

on, Rachel, seekers will be finders. And so we

see that displayed even by Jacob in his own life.

How many know he was a wrestler for the presence

of God? He didn't give up quickly. He sought

God even when he knew he wasn't in a good place.

So here we have Genesis 28 verse 16, when Jacob

Genesis 28:16

woke up from his sleep. And so I want us to look

just beyond this person Jacob to the type of

Jacob. And suggest to you, when the seeker generation,

when Jacob the seeker woke up from his sleep.

And God really spoke to me. He said, in 2008,

I want to open the gate of heaven. But there

is a seeker, Jacob generation, that needs to

wake up. It's gone to sleep. I don't know about

you, but there are moments when you really can

anticipate and sense God's in the house. Something's

going to break through. How many know what I'm

talking about? You have a real heightened expectation,

that hope expectation. Then delay comes in. It

takes time. Life gets busy. Stuff happens. And

it's not your back slidden, but that cutting

edge of the hungry seeking is just dulled because

you're distracted. And it goes to sleep. So you

see, Jacob, went to sleep. Actually, he set out

on a mission, absolutely focused because his

life was about to go, but he actually fell to

sleep. And when the seeker woke up from his sleep,

he realized, oh, that aggressive seeking went

to sleep and I lost perspective. And look at

what he says. He says, surely God is in this

place. But I was not aware of it. Isn't that

fascinating? You see, when the seeker goes to

sleep and suddenly it's stimulated and stirred

up, God opens the gate of heaven to you and you

have been crying out, oh God, break through.

Oh God, come here. Oh God, I need you. Oh God,

where's your healing? Oh God, where's your help?

Oh God. But actually the seeker, Jacob, had gone

to sleep and he had lost perspective. God hadn't

moved. What had changed? His awareness of God

in his life. Surely God is in this place. I had

lost my awareness of it. Hello, I'm preaching

to someone. There's many of you who've just said,

well, where's God when I need him? He hasn't

moved. But actually, your life got fairly self

-sufficient. Your life got fairly together. The

seeker in you. had just got on with life. It

had gone to sleep. And so you lost your awareness

of the presence of God in your life because the

seeker was dull. And so you had to wake up from

your sleep and suddenly realize, no, God is in

the house. I lost my perspective and awareness

of God in my world. It's just like coming into

Harrisburg. I was so thrilled when we came in

that it was really sunny and beautiful because

then you can see all the mountains. You can get

the perspective. Today, it's cloudy. And it would

be very easy for Gordon if he'd travel with me,

come in here. And I would say, yeah, but there's

hills. There's all sorts of stuff. He'd say,

well, where? Because all the mist and the cloud

makes you unaware of what is actually there.

And so many of us live our life like that. As

the crises roll in, as conflict comes in, we

lose the correct perspective of what is really

in our world. And it gets misted over. But the

seeker woke up and said, wow, surely God is in

this place. I have lost my awareness of him.

And then it goes on to say, and so Jacob was

afraid. And I think that's a good afraid, not

a bad afraid. It's like, oh, wow, I nearly lost

it. I nearly missed it. Because it isn't about

God abandoning me. I very nearly let the devil

tell me a load of lies. It isn't that God's moved

out. It isn't that God is against me. Actually,

I have repositioned the hunger and the seeking

in me. But blessed, Psalm 107, blessed are the

hungry, for they shall be filled with good things.

And that hungry, seeking spirit positions you

to have an awareness of God in your life. And

so it says, and so Jacob was afraid. And maybe

for some of us, we just need to let some of the

fear of the Lord say, you know what? I nearly

got caught out there. That was quite scary. I

began to get really pressured and stretched and

pushing and beginning to think I need to make

something happen. God isn't with me so much,

but actually God is here. I just lost some of

my perspective. And then the cry of Jacob, he

says, oh, how awesome is this place? Which place?

The place of revelation where he begins to discover

that God hasn't abandoned him. God hasn't left

him. God is still in the house. God is still

aware of him and he can be aware of God. And

he says, this is the house of God. This is the

gateway to heaven. And for some of you this morning,

God's opening a gateway of heaven. You've been

through this season. You're just saying, where's

God? It seems so confusing, etc. But you take

some time to seek and you'll be a finder. And

you'll find that gateway to heaven over your

marriage. You'll find that gateway to heaven

over your finances. You'll find that gateway

to heaven over your destiny and the next steps

of your future. You'll find your gateway to heaven.

Because God is in the house. But just our awareness

has changed. So Father, right now we open the

gate to heaven. We open the gate to heaven in

Jesus' name. And number three, the third gate

I'm going to do today. He wants us to open the

gate of glory for the land. Open the gate of

hope to my heart. Open the gateway of heaven

above my life. But then I'm going to open the

gate to glory in the land. And if you turn to

Ezekiel chapter 43 verses 1 and 2. Ezekiel chapter

Ezekiel 43:1 Ezekiel 43:1

43 verses 1 and 2. And then the man brought me

to the gate facing east. And I saw the glory

of the Lord of Israel coming from the east. And

his voice was like the roar of rushing waters.

And then the land was radiant with his glory.

Isn't that a wonderful place? See, once you've

opened the gateway of heaven, you can open the

east gate to the land. And then the man brought

me to the gate facing east. And this is, of course,

again, a picture of the person Jesus. The man

of heaven. And he picks you up and he positions

you at the gate. facing east. What is interesting

about this east gate? Well again if you track

the east gate through scripture you will find

that the east gate is always the gate that opens

between the church and the community or between

the temple into the marketplace. If you go on

a little bit further Ezekiel 47 again talks about

how the waters of heaven are flowing from the

throne under the east gate through the temple

and into the land. And so the east gate is always

representative of that barrier place between

church stepping into community. You could track

it all the way through. And so here it says,

and the man came and he moved me. And I do believe

that sometimes God needs to just move us. We

get so caught up with the altar and that he has

to then come and say, come on, it's now time

to come to this east gate and look out. There

is a time to look in. We see that again in Joel,

you know, Joel chapter two, when it says, come

on. I think it's about verse 15. It says, sound

the trumpet. Gather all the different people

and then it goes on. Why should they say amongst

the peoples, where is your God? Let the priests

weep and minister between the altar and the porch

or the porch and the altar. Again, the picture

of the intimate place of the altar and the external

place of the porch. Where was the porch? Between

the market. The temple entrance. Let the priests

who minister before the altar, weep before the

porch where you see the people and in the altar

where you see God. And so you see, there's something

in the heart of God that wants to move us to

the East Gate. He says, come on, will you walk

with me to the East Gate? Even as you step out

on July the 4th, open those gates to your community.

Stand at the east gate and know that you're being

positioned by Jesus to take a look at the land.

But he doesn't want you to do it on his own.

He says, and let the roar of the waters wash

through you. And it's so interesting. Every time,

again, if you track the East Gate through, you'll

find waters are always with it. And the waters

flowed from under the throne. The waters flowed

through the East Gate. What is the waters? Well,

it says here, the waters of the roar of his voice,

the word of the Lord. And I believe that more

and more and more as we open our mouth, the water

of the word of God is going to come out of our

mouth. We see that picture again and again through

scripture. You know, Ephesians 5, you'll be cleansed

by the washing of the waters of the word. And

there's, how many know our communities need some

washing? You know, often as a church, we get

accused of brainwashing. I put both hands up

and say, yeah, go ahead. I'm into brainwashing.

I'm not ashamed of it. I seriously believe we

need brainwashing. How many others do? I mean,

come on. The media's brainwashed us. And so we

almost feel guilty about right and wrong and

absolute truth. You're almost made to feel that

you're really pernickety, horrible, stuck in

the mud type person because you believe in right

and wrong. And you look at stuff and so, you

know, when there's some of the sexual stuff and

you just think, well, that's a bit of the, oh,

well, it's only a 14 or 15 or whatever your ratings

are. Your ratings are a bit different to ours.

You say, I don't care if it's rated for 15 year

olds. For me, that is really out there sexually.

And so you're made all the time to feel that

you're different because the standards that God's

put in us are different. We are counterculture.

And we need the washing of the water of the word.

And actually, it's the word that's going to release

glory. It's the word that's going to release

glory. You come to Romans chapter 10. And Romans

Romans 10 · chapter mention

is saying, come on, the word is near you. Where

is it? In your mouth. Start speaking. And you

will be amazed at the rushing of the water of

God that's going to come from your mouth. How

many times have you just found as you've opened

your mouth to begin to speak, you've been amazed

at the water that's come out? You see, the word

is near you. It's near you. It's even in your

mouth. And then the Bible challenges us again

and again. Who can I send? Who will go for me?

I need some preachers. I need what is a preacher.

Literally, one who will show forth and flow forth.

We need some water to flow. People need words

of life in the midst of their hell hole. And

with the roar of the sound of the rushing water,

we opened the gate and the land was radiant with

his glory. Isn't that amazing? And I believe

that one of the strongest atmospheres that we

all... hit against these days is intimidation.

How many would agree with me? And so as soon

as you step to that east gate and you open your

mouth, everything begins to say, shut up you,

what are you going to say? How many of you feel

that? We've got to break the gateway of our mouth.

We've got to open our mouth and let the water

be released. And then the land will be radiant

with its glory. Be radiant with his glory, because

I believe God's put words in our mouth for this

season. The church has got fresh bread in the

house. We have got the answers. We are relevant.

You know, the incredible thing, Sammy running

up there, about this book is it is the best -selling

book of the world. Did you know that? It should

be the number one top -seller, New York Times,

et cetera, today. But you know what? All the

publishers never include the Bible on their sales

list because it would be the top. It outsells

Harry Potter every day. You see, we don't actually

believe that because the statistics show us.

We send millions, millions, millions. It is still

the number one today. In 2008, across the world,

the Bible is still the bestseller globally and

strips every other book and makes it look stupid.

But no publisher ever includes it on any bestseller

list. Come on. We're not dying out. The word

of God is living, active, powerful, being bought,

read, absorbed. But the intimidation of the enemy

has somehow made us feel we're on the way out.

No, we're not. In fact, it's my next book I'm

writing, Eat the Word, Speak the Word. And I've

done a whole lot of research just literally into

the physical Bible and what it is as a book.

It is the most phenomenal book. phenomenal, not

just because of the words of life, but just as

a book, it is outstanding. I haven't got all

the statistics, so I'm scared to go there, but

I think it was something like 4 .8 million sold

in a short amount of time. Helen did the research

for me. As they just did a slight promotion of

something, it outstripped Harry Potter, makes

it look like nothing. And we all think, well,

Harry Potter, the new Bond book or whatever,

are the best. No, this Bible makes all the rest

look like nothing. Today, in 2008, we hold the

word of life. We've got nothing to apologize

for. We've got to break every intimidation and

open the gates. And the land will be radiant

with glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Are we ready

to come and pray? So let's open those gates.

We'll just release some of the prophetic. We've

got a bit of time. I was trying to make sure

I left some. I want you to look at the gate of

hope. Why don't you just stand with me? Come

Holy Spirit. I feel this gateway of hope is so

important. And the enemy loves to come in and

just put hopelessness, despair. But Jesus is

in the house today and he opens a gateway of

hope to you. And the word of the Lord comes to

you today and says, let these remain, love, faith

and hope. Someone says to me, well, what is hope?

And I said, well, there's four steps on that

journey of hope. First of all, hope, the H, is

let him stir again a heart cry of desire. H,

heart cry of desire. O, let him open the new

doors of opportunity. P, take courage and press

through every delay. And E, let expectation be

revived. That is hope. Heart cry of desire. Opening

the door of opportunity. Pressing through the

delay. And stirring expectation. And if as I

preach today you just suddenly realise that the

enemy has been stealing hope from you. And your

hope, as it were, reservoir, has depleted instead

of increased. Then Jesus is here for you. And

we want to pray with you. We want to open that

door of hope for you today. But the first door

of hope you have to open is Jesus himself. Jesus

stands here and he says, I am the hope for the

nations. I am the anchor that is firm and secure.

I am hope that is steadfast and certain. When

everything else feels uncertain, you've got to

build your life upon a rock and his name is Jesus.

And you can build it upon reputation, even upon

church, but that will feel like sand once the

earth begins to move. You have to build upon

the firm foundation. And his name is Jesus. And

if you're here this morning and you just know

that somehow you've lost your way, that the seeker

isn't... Crying out for God in the same way.

That you've lost God. You've lost hope. You've

lost your perspective. And you've just felt overwhelmed.

But there's a cry in you that just says, Oh God,

I need you back in my life. I need the light

of hope. I need the hope of the nation. I need

the secure anchor. If that's you, wherever you

are, I just would like to invite you. Turn to

your friend. Just come down the front. We'd love

to pray for you. Because I believe that Jesus

turns the lights back on. The enemy loves to

come and rob, steal, destroy, and put hopelessness

on you. But Jesus is hope. And so wherever you

are this morning, if that's you, just come down

the front here. We want to pray for you. I know

some of you came forward already for that impossible

situation. But some of you just know you need

to put Jesus in the midst of your life in a different

way. And let hope come back in. If you're here

this morning, you're in the middle, don't worry.

Just come. This is your moment to say, I need

Jesus to be in that foundation. If the prayer

team can just come and pray with them as they

come. You just come. Whether it's the very first

time you do this, whether it's just, God, I want

to open this door to you and I'm asking for hope

to come in. And we're going to stand with you

at this gate of hope. And we're going to pray

for you right now. Just come wherever you are.

And we're going to touch heaven for you this

morning. Come on, hope comes to you. That's right.

We're going to open doors of hope. Every feeling

of depression, oppression, hopelessness gets

off you. Every feeling of suicide, everything

that just says, well, give up now. Nothing changes.

We break the curse of hopelessness. And right

now, in Jesus' name, we come to you. Just pray

for these precious ones. We open that gateway

of hope. Open that gateway of hope. Come right

now. We break the power of all suicide. Everything

that just says, give up. Nobody wants you. You

don't matter. And we open the gate of hope right

now. Right now, hope comes to you. Hope comes

to you. Hope comes to you. Hope comes to you.

For the rest of you that are just here, as we

pray for these ones, why don't you just turn

to each other and just pray for an increase of

love, faith, hope. And open those doors in each

other's life. Just pray for one another as we

just spend some time soaking these ones. So Father,

we want to be gatekeepers in the house of the

Lord for hope. We want to open hope in Jesus'

name. So we ask you, increase our capacity. Increase

our capacity. Increase our capacity. Increase

our capacity, Lord. And right now we break the

power of hopelessness. Jesus name. 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.