Sermon

Turning The Tide

Hopewell Church Of God

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  1. You say, after all that, you still going to preach?

  2. Yeah. Why you got your Bibles and why some of

  3. you standing? If you don't, if you can't, just

  4. go ahead and sit there. Just stand in your heart.

  5. And open with me to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59. Notice

  6. there's just two little notes right here. Just

  7. two. And there's only two points to this. Just

  8. two points. And I know we got chicken and stuff

  9. in the back. Ham and casserole. We're going to

  10. celebrate them right. Amen. And so, with that,

  11. you're not having to run down there to beat the

  12. Baptist to get in the Mexican line. I won't preach

  13. any longer than I did last week. Fair enough?

  14. Somebody says, my Lord, I hope not. Be honest

  15. with me. Does time really drag for you out there

  16. while I'm preaching? Okay. Because honestly,

  17. I felt like I preached about 25 minutes last

  18. week. And then when I looked at my phone, I thought,

  19. oh, that's an hour. So Isaiah 59 is where we're

  20. looking. It's good to have with us Bishop Eric

  21. Lacks and Dr. Emily Lacks with us today from

  22. Michigan. He is the Youth and Discipleship Director

  23. for the state of Michigan and is doing a great

  24. job. They actually let him come back and do two

  25. more years. He got reappointed. And so it is

  26. good to have them with us. We've helped him just

  27. a little bit. He's about to go to Africa. to

  28. preach some youth camps. So we blessed him a

  29. little bit to help him get on there. He's looking

  30. for some sponsors, so we sponsored up one or

  31. two for him. So he's going to be going to do

  32. that. They labored for eight years? Seven, eight?

  33. Six. Felt longer, he said. I'll never forget

  34. when we interviewed them. Jeremiah, I think,

  35. was in the car care, and they stuck him under

  36. the table and interviewed him. Y 'all can sit

  37. down. Somebody said, thank you, Pastor. I had

  38. a 90 -day, not had, I do have a 90 -day hiring

  39. policy to which I tell them we'll have an interview

  40. at the end and evaluation. I said, at any point

  41. in this 90 days that you feel like you've missed

  42. God, you come to me, you sit down, Pastor, I've

  43. missed God. I give you a month's severance, and

  44. you go right on your way. I said, but now in

  45. same token, if I pull you in here in two weeks

  46. and say I miss God, I'll give you the same month's

  47. severance and send you on your way. And so he's

  48. kind of on the eggshell there for a while. The

  49. 90 days came and went. And so he comes in the

  50. office one day and says, Pastor, are we going

  51. to do my evaluation? I said, you're still here,

  52. aren't you? Consider yourself evaluated. Amen.

  53. Did a great job. Amen. You don't stick around

  54. me long if you don't. All right. That's enough.

  55. There's that rabbit. Sister Becky. Isaiah 59,

    Isaiah 59:16

  56. verse 16. And he saw that there was no man and

  57. wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore

  58. his arm brought salvation unto him and his righteousness.

  59. It sustained him. For he put on righteousness

  60. as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation upon

  61. his head. And he put on the garments of vengeance

  62. for clothing and was clad with zeal. As a cloak.

  63. According to their deeds. Accordingly. He will

  64. repay. Fury to his adversaries. Recompense to

  65. his enemies. To the islands he will repay recompense.

  66. So shall they fear the name of the Lord. From

  67. the west. And his glory from the rising of the

  68. sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood.

  69. The spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard

  70. against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion.

  71. And unto them that turn from transgression in

  72. Jacob, saith the Lord. Speak to you for just

  73. a little bit on this thought, turning the tide.

  74. Father, I love you. I thank you. Your word is

  75. all powerful. And I just pray, Lord, that you

  76. would enrich our hearts as we endeavor to know

  77. and to learn. and to hear what the Spirit says

  78. to the church today. Lord, please help me be

  79. expedient. In Jesus' name, amen. It's not a doubt

  80. that the world that you and I are living in is

  81. totally confused. It is in a very confusing state.

  82. When good people are called evil, and evil people

  83. are called good, and evil is celebrated, and

  84. good is harassed. Chaos seems to be the order

  85. of the day in which you and I live in, and deception

  86. is everywhere. So as believers, so as children

  87. of God, it ought to be comforting for you to

  88. know that all of your hope is not relegated to

  89. what's going on around you. In spite of pending

  90. chaos, the believer, the child of God, must take

  91. true and full confidence in knowing that God

  92. remains in control. He's still on the throne.

  93. Don't be doubtful of that. God is still on the

  94. throne. Romans 8, 31 says, What shall we then

  95. say to these things? If God be for us, who can?

  96. Be against us. That ought to be comforting for

  97. you to know and to realize that God is for you.

  98. And if God is for you, then who or what can be

  99. against you? You know, that's directly following

  100. just a few verses from that verse 28 that declares

  101. that all things work together for good unto them

  102. who are called according to his purpose. Amen?

  103. That should let you know that if all things are

  104. going to work to your good, then this declaration

  105. follows, what shall we then say to these things?

  106. What things? Whatever those things are that has

  107. to be turned toward good. What shall we then

  108. say? For the believer, victory is our starting

  109. point. It is your beginning position. Victory.

  110. And the victory that we have, according to Paul,

  111. as he's writing to the Corinthians in that first

  112. letter, in that 15th chapter, the victory is

  113. the faith that we have in Christ. It's Christ

  114. who causes us to be victorious. So God, through

  115. the prophet Isaiah, is reassuring Judah, his

  116. people, that he indeed is able to turn the tide

  117. as chaos comes in. Now, we picked up nearing

  118. the end of the 59th chapter, but if you go to

  119. the beginning, the Lord is taking issue. With

  120. his people because at some point they've said

  121. the Lord's arm is too short to answer, to heal,

  122. to deliver, to do whatever it is they're needing.

  123. Because he had addressed them in verse 1 in 59.

  124. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened. Isaiah

  125. begins to declare as the spirit of the Lord moves

  126. upon him. Behold, the hand of the Lord is not

  127. shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear

  128. heavy that it cannot hear. The people, they are

  129. in post -exile. They've already been released.

  130. They've already come back home. That ought to

  131. be evidence enough that God is good for his word.

  132. Hello. He told them you're only going to be there

  133. 70 years, and then I'm not just going to bring

  134. you out. They're going to drive you out. Why?

  135. Because I'm going to cut the forest down. You

  136. just have to go read it and get the inside of

  137. it. And so after they've gotten back, God doesn't

  138. do everything on their timetable like he doesn't

  139. move every way that we do. desire on our timetable.

  140. Amen. If so, there's some things that I've been

  141. asking for that already be done. Hello? But he

  142. don't. And so what we have to guard our hearts

  143. from is exactly what they did. Well, the Lord

  144. can't even hear me. The Lord isn't even listening

  145. to me. And matter of fact, what's going on in

  146. my life, in this way we do, what's going on in

  147. my life, the problems that I have, the issues

  148. that I'm dealing with, his hand is too short.

  149. He don't have the power to take care of it anyway.

  150. Let me tell you this this morning. When you begin

  151. to diminish within your own heart the power of

  152. God, you're on shaky ground. Because God knows,

  153. amen, that there is nothing too hard for him.

  154. He spoke all of this into existence. He took

  155. a mud ball and put it together and breathed breath

  156. into it and it stands up and walks around. Amen.

  157. And so don't go telling God what he can and what

  158. he cannot do. I love that illustration where

  159. the kings of the enemy said, well, we got defeated

  160. today because we fought in the mountains. He's

  161. the God of the hills and he's the God of the

  162. mountains. And that's where they get victory.

  163. Now, if we get down in the valley down there,

  164. their God is useless. So let's just set the valley

  165. and make battle down there. But no, no, no, no.

  166. That tore God up. You don't tell God that. Amen.

  167. I'm just going to show you exactly. I'm God of

  168. the hills. I'm God of the hollers. I'm God of

  169. the valleys. I'm the God of the low places. I'm

  170. God on the high places. So here they are again

  171. saying God's hand is short. He can't do it. But

  172. God says, I'm taking issue with you because I

  173. can. You're saying all of this about me. But

  174. then in the rest of this chapter, he begins to

  175. tell them what their problem really is. You know

  176. what their problem was? Their transgressions.

  177. Look here. If there's a shortage of God's power

  178. going on in your life, it's not on God's end.

  179. Hello. It's like that battery in this microphone.

  180. It really wasn't the microphone. I would have

  181. thrown it if it hadn't been for sanctification

  182. being at a high level. I thought, here, the Spirit's

  183. moving, and the devil wanted to do this. No,

  184. it wasn't the devil. It wasn't the microphone.

  185. It was the battery. The battery went dead. And

  186. here's God. That's what God said. He said, look,

  187. it's not me, and it's not all about the enemy.

  188. You folks are in your own way. You've raised

  189. up a barrier before your own. And you've got

  190. me hindered. I'm not going to work over your

  191. sin. Hello. And God begins to speak now. The

  192. prophet of God is beginning to testify. He's

  193. beginning to rise up. And he begins to tell himself,

  194. so shall they fear the name of the Lord. The

  195. enemy's going to fall. The enemy's going to be

  196. taken care of. And here's how you're going to

  197. know it. The enemy's going to know from the east

  198. and from the west, the rising of the sun and

  199. the setting of the same, the power of God is

  200. going to be revealed. The power of God is going

  201. to be revealed. be set out and upon his enemies

  202. and from the causing of it in the rising when

  203. the enemy shall come in like a flood. Point number

  204. one. The enemy is the flood. The enemy comes

  205. in as a flood. It's wise for us to remember that

  206. we war not against flesh and blood. In our near

  207. recent past, just a few weeks and months ago.

  208. We have witnessed the power of a flash flood.

  209. You have seen it. What was it now? Is it two

  210. years? We're past Hurricane Helen that come through

  211. the mountains of North Carolina. And this week,

  212. I think I read, it was either this week or the

  213. end of last week, where they had found a missing

  214. body from Helen's floodwaters. Amen. Now, that's

  215. a rising flood. You know what? You don't prepare

  216. for a flash flood. That's why it's a flash flood.

  217. Amen. If you see a flood building, you get it.

  218. You can get to higher ground. You can get out

  219. of the way. But that's exactly what's being talked

  220. about right here. The enemy comes in like a flood.

  221. It's a flash. It comes without warning. And it

  222. comes with power. The enemy comes in as a force.

  223. Amen. When that water come rushing down through

  224. those mountain hollers and ridges and those little

  225. creeks and streams swelled to over 20 feet and

  226. a mass of mud and rock, big rock, big stone and

  227. logs. And when you watch the video, you see houses.

  228. rooftops come floating down what was a creek

  229. or a stream not not many of them were deep enough

  230. that you'd actually have to swim all the way

  231. across you could walk most of the way but when

  232. the flood came they couldn't get out of the way

  233. quick enough and not just what was it last week

  234. when we see when that that glacier broke off

  235. in Nepal up in those mountains and that and my

  236. heart broke I'm telling you when I saw that flood

  237. of mud and water come rushing down and those

  238. people trying to run away from a 50, 100 foot

  239. tall tidal wave of rubbish coming out. And I

  240. thought, God, there's no way that those people

  241. escaped that. There's no way they were going

  242. to live through logs and boulders and everything

  243. that come rushing down on them. They're not going

  244. to make it. And that's the way we feel. That's

  245. what I'm talking about. That's what the scripture's

  246. referring to here. When the enemy comes in like

  247. a flood, when you feel like you've got ran over

  248. by a train because of the diagnosis being handed

  249. down to you, because of whatever the work situation.

  250. And whatever the cause, whatever the relationship

  251. that's falling down around you, and you feel

  252. like you cannot get out of the way and you can't

  253. escape it, oh, you've got to know that understanding

  254. that we war not against flesh and blood, but

  255. the war that we have. You're in a battle against

  256. a flood of wickedness and high places and principalities

  257. and powers that rule the darkness and sit high

  258. over the air. You've got to know that the enemy

  259. comes in, and when he comes in, it's like a flood.

  260. But what you have to be is rooted. in the flood

  261. waters. Hallelujah. How many of us have also

  262. seen the flash floods and we've seen somebody

  263. hanging on top of the chimney and the boat gets

  264. them out. That's the reason you see that turn

  265. around, don't drown. Amen. Don't venture in.

  266. But the enemy comes in like this flood. And even

  267. more wise for us to recall and to remember is

  268. that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,

  269. but they are mighty. Hallelujah. To the pulling

  270. down of strongholds. Here's one. Here's a flood

  271. and casting down every imagination that exalts

  272. itself against the knowledge of God. When the

  273. flood comes in against your mind, when the torrent

  274. of the enemy comes through and tries to wash

  275. you away, I'm going to hurry. I'm going to hurry

  276. along. I'm going to hurry along. Something we've

  277. got to understand is when the enemy, not if the

  278. enemy. If you haven't been in the flood yet,

  279. hold on. You need to listen for the siren if

  280. it's got time to go off. There will be floods

  281. in your life. Amen? I know there's a gospel out

  282. there that preaches once you get saved, everything's

  283. all right. No, it's not. It's just the opposite.

  284. When you turn your back on the devil. and you

  285. accept the love and the grace and the cleansing

  286. blood of Jesus Christ to wash your sins away,

  287. honey, you go on the post office wall under the

  288. most wanted list because the last thing the devil

  289. wants is to go to hell by himself. It's his mission

  290. to take you with him. So he's not going to leave

  291. you alone. I've always used this adage. If the

  292. devil's not messing with you, if you've not just

  293. come out of a knock -down drag out with him,

  294. and if you don't hear him shouting, then you're

  295. running with him. You know how they sung that

  296. song, there's never been a moment, never been

  297. a minute that you're not in it? Well, since I've...

  298. Accepted the Lord. There's never been a moment,

  299. there's never been a minute that he's not been

  300. right behind him. Breathing down my neck every

  301. time I turn around. Every time I turn around,

  302. the enemy's in my face. Why? Trying to get me

  303. to turn around. Trying to get me to surrender

  304. to the flood that he's bringing in my life. Trying

  305. to get me to escape in the flood of trouble,

  306. trial, and tribulation. Well, I've got news for

  307. him. I've been washed and rumbled and tumbled

  308. down the creek way too many times. Hallelujah.

  309. All it is is getting wet one more time. Because,

  310. you see, I understand what thus saith the Lord.

  311. The Word of God says, we may be the waters who

  312. may rush over you. but they're not going to drown

  313. you. Amen. You may walk through the flame but

  314. you're not going to be burned. My God, somebody

  315. needs to hear it. You may be tumbling down the

  316. creek in the flood waters but hold your breath.

  317. You're going to come to the top. John 16, 33.

  318. In the world you shall have tribulation. So would

  319. you please quick. Would you please just quit

  320. whining about your situation and your flood?

  321. I told that group of chem students down there

  322. yesterday, there's no whining in ministry. You

  323. can't cry in ministry. I said, look, the ones

  324. that you... spend the most time with and pour

  325. yourself into, that's the first knothead that's

  326. going to walk off and leave you. Don't take it

  327. personal. You can't whine. Only to God. Don't

  328. let anybody else hear you. I tell you, don't

  329. let them see you sweat. You may be coming apart

  330. at the seams, but my God, when you stand in front

  331. of people, never let them see you sweat. I'm

  332. afraid, but you can't tell it. Resist the flood.

  333. There is a particular flood that the enemy wants

  334. to unleash on God's people. There are many, but

  335. one I want to draw your attention to this morning

  336. for just a little bit is the flood of apathy.

  337. I don't know who I'm talking to this morning.

  338. Maybe all of us. The flood of apathy. Apathy

  339. is the lack of interest. The lack of enthusiasm.

  340. Or concern. Indifferent. Signs of apathy are

  341. familiarity. What's that mean? If you can come

  342. into this house and sit through what has been

  343. moving in the atmosphere in this building and

  344. not be touched. Not be stirred. Not be quickened.

  345. Not have to halfway catch a little short breath

  346. because something moved over you. Honey, you're

  347. too familiar. You're too familiar. You've gotten

  348. too relaxed. You've gotten too at ease in Zion.

  349. My God, you need to humble yourself again. You

  350. need to get back on your face until what moved

  351. in this house brings a tear to your eye and melts

  352. your heart to its core because you've become

  353. too familiar. Boredom. Now there's a lot of things

  354. that may be described in a worship service at

  355. the Hope Well Church of my God. But boredom surely

  356. can't be one of them. You've got problems if

  357. you can come in here on any given Sunday and

  358. say, well, I'm bored. There's no way. You're

  359. too familiar if you are. That's good preaching,

  360. Pastor. Thank you. Mediocrity. Just mediocre.

  361. My Lord, what John Revelator here, the Lord said

  362. to him, said, I would rather, write this down,

  363. John, write this down. You tell them. I'd rather

  364. you be hot or cold, as Luke warned, because I

  365. just, it gags me. Luke Warren gags me. That's

  366. what mediocrity is. You're not this and you're

  367. not that. You're just... That's a flood. That

  368. flood will take you away. It'll take you straight

  369. to a devil's hell. That's where this flood will

  370. take you. That's where apathy will take you.

  371. Disconnection. Well, I just don't feel connected.

  372. Well, connect yourself. Well, they're just not

  373. that friendly. If you can find a friendlier church

  374. than this bunch of people around here, tell me

  375. I want to be a member. I want to go there. You

  376. do realize the first criteria to friendliness,

  377. right? If a man wants a friend, according to

  378. the Bible, does the Bible matter? Yes, it does.

  379. So let's go by the book. If a man wants a friend,

  380. he must first show himself friendly. If you come

  381. in and just plop down and get that soured look

  382. on your face, folks are saying, I don't know

  383. if I want to disturb them. But see, I'm just

  384. the opposite. If I can see that sourpuss face

  385. on you, I'm coming to you on purpose. Hey! Look

  386. like you've been... Suck it on alum. All drawed

  387. up. My Lord, if you can't find a friend in this

  388. place, you've got more troubles than we can help

  389. you with. I mean, even in the balcony, there's

  390. some nuts that's up there. I will admit, I forget

  391. they up there a lot of the times. I forget they

  392. up there. Then every once in a while, I'll turn

  393. and wave like I fell down down here waving one.

  394. I know your works, neither hot nor cold. I'll

  395. spew you out. Revelation 3, 15, 17, in case you

  396. was wondering what the address was. Disconnection.

  397. Connect. Passiveness. Eh. Some of you are going

  398. to leave here in a little while because you didn't

  399. bring something to eat. Well, I didn't bring

  400. anything. We probably got five dozen deviled

  401. eggs back there. You can have a deviled egg.

  402. I hope because we had to address the deviled

  403. egg situation. I'm preaching now. When you come

  404. to a Church of God fellowship, And there is a

  405. dozen deviled eggs on one of them little things

  406. that holds them. That's a problem because that's

  407. only six eggs. And I know they're expensive.

  408. But that's only six. Say, I brought a dozen.

  409. No, you did not. That's a half dozen. Look, when

  410. I say from here, you're welcome to eat with us,

  411. you're welcome. Well, here's the bottom line

  412. of it. Most of you are saying, well, I don't

  413. know who cooked it. Eat it. Eat it. That's a

  414. flood. What is it, Pastor? Well, it's an attempt

  415. of the enemy to get you disconnected and remain

  416. disconnected. Just say, I don't want to eat with

  417. y 'all. I can take that. Bless you. Hopefully

  418. you'll come back next Sunday. Point number two.

  419. Enemy comes in like a flood. Secondly, the Spirit

  420. of the Lord. We'll raise up a standard against

  421. him. There you go. Write this down. Write this

  422. down. You are not alone in the chaos. Well, that's

  423. not earth -shaking, Pastor. You'd be surprised

  424. because there's some of you in here thinking

  425. you're all by yourself in your flood this morning.

  426. That you're saying like these people here, well.

  427. God can't help me. I'm beyond help. That is a

  428. lie from the pit. Are you hearing me? And that's

  429. exactly what the enemy wants you to believe.

  430. But I've got some better news for you. Isaiah

  431. said, call his name Emmanuel. That means God

  432. with us. In the ninth chapter, he says, Go ahead

  433. and just call him Wonderful Counselor. You better

  434. be glad the Holy Ghost is in the counseling business.

  435. Some of us can't afford the doctorate to straighten

  436. us out. He is your counselor. Isaiah said, just

  437. call his name Mighty God. Well, just go ahead

  438. and call him the Prince of Peace. If you're in

  439. torment, the flood of torment, mental anguish

  440. this morning, I'm declaring to you the Spirit

  441. of the Lord, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit, that's

  442. a capital S, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit,

  443. whatever you want to call it, the third person

  444. of the Godhead, whatever you want to label him,

  445. the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard.

  446. What is a standard, pastor? It can be considered

  447. a rule of measurement for quality. My mind just

  448. went to Brother Dustin who's in quality control

  449. over M &M Mars. I'm thinking, what do they let

  450. out there in them candy bars? What's the standard?

  451. How close does the right... Twix bar or the left

  452. Twix bar get to being below the standard before

  453. it's accepted. That went through your mind? It

  454. did, like that. The standard. But that's not

  455. what is in reference here in Isaiah. See, there's

  456. a Hebraic, there's this Old Testament description

  457. of a standard. It's a flag. It's a banner. What's

  458. that mean? When the banner comes on the field

  459. in battle, there may be a blast of a trumpet

  460. to get everyone's attention on the battlefield,

  461. and they begin to look. What are they looking

  462. for? They're looking for the bear. They're looking

  463. for the standard. Why? That means the captain's

  464. on the field. That means this is our point of

  465. rally. That's where we head to. That's the place

  466. we get to. Are you hearing me? The Holy Ghost

  467. comes in the middle of your flood, down in the

  468. middle of your battle, and he begins to wave

  469. the standard. He begins to wave the flag. He

  470. raises it up above your situation so that you

  471. can see him. Believe it or not, I'm about to

  472. quit. Remember, it's not if you get in a flood,

  473. if you get in a battle, it's when. James said,

  474. my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into

  475. divers temptations. Not if trouble comes, not

  476. if temptation comes, not if the devil bothers

  477. you, but when he does. The Spirit. will step

  478. in and waive the standard. The word that stood

  479. out in my mind in this, I love the part about

  480. the standard. I'm so grateful that the Holy Spirit's

  481. moving in my situation. But you really want to

  482. know what quickened my heart? It was the word

  483. against. Well, that's odd, Pastor. Well, I'm

  484. sort of an odd duck anyway. But that word against,

  485. he'll raise up a standard against. You notice

  486. how personal it got. Not them, not him. God knows

  487. where all the opposition comes from. He knows

  488. where all the opposition in your life is coming

  489. from. I hate to tell you this, folks, but we're

  490. all going to die or something. If the rapture

  491. doesn't take place, if the Lord doesn't come,

  492. Look, you got an appointment. We've all got it.

  493. According to the book, it's appointed unto man

  494. wants to die. But it's the second part of that

  495. that really matters the most. And then to face

  496. the judgment. So you're going to die. Might as

  497. well accept that fact. I'm like you. I'm not

  498. wanting to go today. We're going to die. But

  499. it's the spirit that moves in and breathes life

  500. in the meantime. That ruach, the breath of God.

  501. Pastor, I really don't understand that. Well,

  502. you have to go all the way back to Genesis to

  503. get it. That's the word when he breathed. Into

  504. Adam's nostrils. And the scripture says he became

  505. a living soul. Not body. A living soul. What

  506. you and I need to realize, and you need to get

  507. a good hold on this, he's going to give you life

  508. in the midst of every situation. Well, you just

  509. told me I'm going to die. Well, there is life

  510. after life. People say, I thought that was life

  511. after death. No, I'm going to go from living

  512. to living. I'm going from living to really living.

  513. Why? How can you say that? You're going to die

  514. first, but it's just going to be that quick,

  515. that transition. I'm just simply moving from

  516. life to life because to be absent from this body,

  517. that soul that got breathed in me. We sing that

  518. old hymn, where the soul of man never dies. Dear

  519. friend, there'll be no sad farewell. There'll

  520. be no tear -dimmed eyes. Where all is peace and

  521. joy and love. And the soul of man never dies.

  522. I'm going from life to life. You can have the

  523. death part if you want. It's simply the transitional

  524. step. And the Spirit of the Lord. Raises up the

  525. standard against him. Stand with me. I'm going

  526. to run right down here. Remember what Solomon

  527. said in that beautiful song in 2nd chapter, 4th

  528. verse. He brought me into the banqueting house.

  529. And his banner, his standard over me was love.

  530. 1 John 4 and 4, greater is he that's in you than

  531. he that is in this world. What is that? A standard.

  532. A standard against him. Psalm 68 and 1, let God

  533. arise and let his enemies be scattered. Against

  534. him. Matthew 16 and 18. That powerful question.

  535. Pose to the disciples. Who do men say that I,

  536. the Son of Man, am? Well, there's talk, Lord.

  537. Well, what are they saying, boys? Some say you're

  538. Isaiah reincarnated. Some say maybe even Jeremiah

  539. or one of the other prophets. They really don't

  540. know what to think about you, Lord. Who do you

  541. say that I am? Huh. Got real quick, didn't it?

  542. Well, who do you say that I am? Well, Lord, thou

  543. art the Christ. You have to remember that's an

  544. identifier, not his last name. It's the identifier.

  545. Thou art the Christ, the liberator, the one that

  546. we've been looking for, the emancipator of God's

  547. people. That's who you are. Blessed art thou,

  548. Simon Bar -Jonah. Bar just means son. That's

  549. pretty smart on your part, Simon. Isn't your

  550. daddy named Jonah? Yeah, that's me. But you didn't

  551. figure that out by yourself. Old King James puts

  552. it this way. Flesh and blood have not revealed

  553. that unto you, but my Father, which is in heaven.

  554. and up on this rock. Oh, you got folks want to

  555. hang it on Peter. My Lord, that's the last place

  556. I'd want to build a church is on Peter. He reminds

  557. me too much of myself. You talk about a shifty

  558. foundation, Pete's one of them. My Father in

  559. heaven has revealed this unto you. And let me

  560. state this fact. I will build my church. And

  561. the gates of hell will not stand against him.

  562. Here's your standard, and I close. Moses, as

  563. the serpents fell from heaven and people died

  564. because of their sin. instructed to build, to

  565. form, to shape a brazen serpent, put it on a

  566. stick and hold it up, and then all who would

  567. look upon it would be healed. Jesus said, if

  568. I be lifted up. The brazen serpent became the

  569. standard of healing. But Jesus said, if I be

  570. lifted up. I'll draw all men. There is a prophetic

  571. utterance pointing to Christ in Isaiah 59. He

  572. is the standard. Father, I love you today. Thank

  573. you for your goodness and mercy. I thank you

  574. for your help this morning. Thank you for the

  575. nearness of your presence and your spirit. If

  576. it's a work you want to do this morning, do it

  577. so now, Lord. I ask you to have your way. Quick

  578. question. Do you need him to raise up and turn

  579. the tide? Do you need the Lord to rise and the

  580. Spirit to move in your life because you feel

  581. like you're being tumbled by the floodwaters

  582. of life, the chaos, the turmoil, that unexpected

  583. flashed flood? Look, if you can see the enemy

  584. coming, you can prepare for him. You can get

  585. out of the way. But it's these flash flood moments

  586. that catch us off guard. But it doesn't catch

  587. God off guard. His enemies know from the east

  588. to the west, he's on the scene. He's going to

  589. raise up a standard. What standard do you need?

  590. Peace, joy, love, healing, deliverance, provision.

  591. What standard, what flag do you need to rally

  592. around? Father, I love you today. Right now,

  593. if you need prayer, just start making your way

  594. forward. We're going to pray for you before we

  595. leave. We're going to bless the food, and we're

  596. going to have a great day and time in the Lord.

  597. Father, I love you today. I thank you so much

  598. for your goodness and your mercy and the abundance

  599. of your love. Lord, I know there's floodwaters

  600. raging in this house. I know it, or you wouldn't

  601. have gave me this word to preach. You wouldn't

  602. have stirred me so deep to let them know that

  603. you are the standard. To tell them that you have

  604. been lifted up. You've been lifted up. And they

  605. just simply need to turn their eyes towards you.

  606. Because the flood waters are rolling. The waters

  607. are getting deep. But the standard of your word

  608. declares, let it roll. Because the waters are

  609. not overtaken over flood. Father, in the name

  610. of Jesus. Lord, we need a strength and a resolve

  611. like we have never encountered before. And Lord,

  612. you've moved in mighty ways in the past. I know

  613. you have. You don't serve you as long as they

  614. have and not encountered the miraculous. I know

  615. they've seen your healing hand. But Lord, this

  616. is a different flood. We haven't faced these

  617. kind of waters. This is coming in unexpected

  618. like we didn't think the rain was going to come

  619. and the water get this deep. My God in heaven.

  620. The flood wasn't supposed to get this high. Our

  621. foundation was deeper than the 50 -year flood,

  622. but this is more than that. This is that century

  623. flood, Lord. My God, we weren't expecting anything

  624. like this. However, Sweet Holy Spirit, raise

  625. up a standard. Hallelujah. Strengthen today,

  626. mighty God, in the name of Jesus. We'll glorify

  627. you and praise you, Lord. We'll glorify you and

  628. praise you, Lord. Father,