Full transcript
0:04and uh
0:07probably two months ago now i mentioned
0:09that i was going to be
0:10taking time at least what i feel will be
0:13through the summer
0:14just to review some things that have
0:16been important for us in
0:18in years past and i've had several
0:21things in my heart this morning and
0:22i'm going to try to settle on one see
0:25how that works
0:39one of the most startling
0:42sobering things for me to realize
0:46is that jesus
0:50lived with limitations even though he
0:53was god he
0:55has as god eternally god the capacity
0:58to do anything but he actually chose to
1:01live with restriction or limitation we
1:03know that
1:04because he introduced it he said of
1:06himself he said
1:08the son of man can do nothing of himself
1:11how do you understand
1:12the son of god can do everything on his
1:15own but as the son of man
1:17he can do nothing by himself
1:21it's important for us to realize that
1:24because
1:25jesus was setting a a
1:28pace he was setting a standard he was
1:31modeling something that could actually
1:33be followed i know that this is
1:37something that we repeat on somewhat of
1:39a regular basis but i do it again today
1:42knowing that it's important for us to
1:45kind of pick up the slack in any area
1:48uh that the lord would enable us to pick
1:50up the slack and this is
1:52one in particular god has called us to
1:54walk in equal measure
1:56of power and character both
1:59are important both are equally important
2:02now
2:03i am as much as anybody in the room and
2:06frustrated with people who live
2:08a very compromised lifestyle and then
2:11pray for the sick and expect miracles to
2:12happen
2:13it it annoys me to pieces and i
2:16understand why
2:17a large part of the church has come to
2:20the conclusion
2:21that character is more important than
2:22power i understand how i understand why
2:25but it's a reaction to an error that in
2:28itself creates another error
2:31i ask people the question all right
2:34what's more important then to not quench
2:36the holy spirit
2:37or to not grieve the holy spirit
2:41see they both have equal measure of
2:43value of importance
2:45we grieve the holy spirit with sin
2:48wrong ambition wrong selfish attitudes
2:51we grieve him
2:52through wrong activity we quench him by
2:55the failure to cooperate
2:57with divine activity
3:01we stop the flow of to quench
3:04to grieve the holy spirit is focused on
3:06character
3:07to crunch the holy spirit is focused on
3:09power
3:10those are the two legs we stand on i
3:12want legs of equal length
3:14it doesn't make me a noble person to
3:17emphasize
3:18character and not emphasize power
3:21you'll get applause from the religious
3:22crowd but it doesn't produce anything
3:25to bring about transformation and
3:26culture itself
3:31i was teaching a class once and the guy
3:34i was teaching on
3:36operating in the gifts and stuff and he
3:38raised his hand he says
3:40when i have more character in my life
3:42then i will pursue
3:44um praying for the sick healing
3:47deliverance those sort of things so i
3:50asked him a question i said who gives
3:52you the right
3:52to decide when you're going to obey god
3:58he said heal the sick he didn't say when
4:00you get your act together heal the sick
4:08it felt like a good point to me i i i
4:11was very encouraged when it came
4:12out of my mouth i was encouraged
4:13immediately
4:18the point is is it's not one or the
4:20other and the very fact that we think
4:22there's an option
4:24reveals the age we were born in
4:27we were born in an age when it's an
4:30option
4:31but it wasn't for jesus and it wasn't
4:33for his disciples
4:35jesus in the great commission which
4:37we'll look at in a little bit
4:38told his disciples he said
4:42preach the gospel of the kingdom declare
4:44the kingdoms at hand
4:45and then he said teach your disciples
4:48everything i taught you
4:50now in matthew 10 he taught them to heal
4:52the sick to cast out demons
4:54so in the great commission is the
4:57responsibility
4:58to do everything jesus taught them and
5:01then they are responsible to teach
5:03their disciples and their disciples and
5:05their disciples
5:06the same thing it was supposed to be
5:08maintained
5:09as one simple standard all through the
5:12church age
5:13until jesus returns
5:16the illustration that i like to use for
5:18this was a pastor
5:20acquaintance of mine that talked about
5:23uh when
5:24uh his church was growing they were
5:26going to build a new sanctuary
5:27and he wanted to be involved in the
5:29building process
5:31so he talked to the contractor he said
5:33is there anything i can do he
5:34he didn't know anything about building
5:35but he wanted to you know clean up do
5:37something
5:38to help so one day finally the
5:39contractor
5:41told him listen um you can do this and i
5:43don't remember the exact numbers so
5:45i'll just give you an illustration he
5:48said you can do this
5:49tomorrow because we're putting up this
5:50wall we need a hundred two
5:52two by fours cut to exactly eight feet
5:56in length and he was happy because he
5:58had an assignment so after
5:59all the workers left he sat there and he
6:01and he took the tape measure and he
6:03measured out eight feet
6:04he drew his line and he cut that first
6:07board
6:08and then he put the tape measure away
6:10because he wouldn't need that anymore
6:11he's got a nice hard
6:13line that he can use he put this newly
6:15cut board on top of an uncut board
6:17and he measured right at the eight foot
6:19mark he measured that
6:21and then he cut it and then he took that
6:23newly cut board put it on an uncut board
6:25he did this
6:25100 times it's not a problem if you got
6:28three or four boards to cut
6:30but when you're cutting 100 your 100th
6:32board is actually over nine feet long
6:35because every time you mark that line
6:37it's about an eighth of an inch longer
6:39than the previous one
6:42for 2000 years we make slight
6:45adjustments to everything that's been
6:47done and we end up with a board that
6:49looks
6:49like looks nothing like the original
6:51board
6:53and we justify it by just saying this is
6:55how things have changed through the ages
6:57no
6:57there was one measure jesus said teach
7:00what i taught you to their disciples
7:02let them teach the exact same thing to
7:04their followers it's to be one standard
7:06from day one
7:07to the final day one standard but it's
7:10been changed
7:12what we're attempting to do sometimes we
7:15succeed sometimes
7:16not so good but what we're attempting to
7:19do is to discover
7:20the eight-foot measure again and do
7:23exactly what jesus commanded us to do
7:28in matthew 28 is a very unusual story
7:32we're going to use this to uh we're
7:35going to try to i hope to read three
7:36portions of scripture
7:38so if you look at matthew matt did i say
7:40matthew 28
7:41genesis 28 is anybody in genesis oh good
7:45yeah don't do as i say do as i do
7:48genesis 28 sorry about that
7:50all right genesis 28 this is a story
7:53about
7:53jacob a dream that he has and there's a
7:57very unusual
7:58revelation that is uh uh
8:01initiates something in the earth in this
8:04moment that's important for us
8:05so it's genesis 28 verse 12 then he
8:08dreamed that's jacob
8:10and behold a ladder was set up on the
8:12earth and its top reached
8:14to heaven and there the angels of god
8:17were ascending and descending
8:19and behold the lord stood above it and
8:21said i am the lord god of abraham
8:24your father the god of isaac the land on
8:27which you lie i will give to you and
8:29your descendants
8:30jump down to verse 16. then jacob awoke
8:33from his sleep and said surely the lord
8:35is in this place
8:36and i did not know it that's a lot of
8:38church services are
8:40like that right there surely the lord is
8:42in this place
8:43and i did not know it and he
8:46he was afraid and said how awesome is
8:48this place listen carefully
8:50this is none other than the house of god
8:53this is the gate of heaven
8:55there's a very strange metaphor being
8:58used here to illustrate the nature
9:01of god's design he said this is none
9:03other than the house of god
9:05the gate of heaven okay um verse 18.
9:09jacob arose early in the morning took
9:10the stone he put his head
9:12set it up as a pillar poured oil on it
9:14he called the name of that place bethel
9:16that's a good name
9:17verse 22 this stone which i have set as
9:20a pillar
9:20shall be god's house now that's very
9:22strange there's no building here
9:25now the house of god we see unveiled in
9:28many different ways uh throughout the
9:30old testament and new testament
9:32the old testament we have a temple that
9:34solomon built was the house of god
9:36we have a tabernacle that david built
9:39which was the house of god
9:40we have the tabernacle of moses i also
9:43got the rebuilt temple of solomon we
9:45have many houses of god
9:47but this is the first mention of the
9:49house of god
9:50in the entire bible first mention always
9:53sets a standard
9:54here's the bizarre thing it's not a
9:56building
9:57it's a rock it's a rock
10:01where jacob slept had a dream saw heaven
10:04open
10:05angels ascending and descending and god
10:07spoke through the open heaven and spoke
10:09a word to jacob
10:11house of god
10:18i think what excites me the most out of
10:20this particular story
10:22was i'm sure to jacob it was logical to
10:26me it just
10:27it it challenges me he said this phrase
10:30this is none other than the house of god
10:33the gate of heaven
10:38this is none other than the house of god
10:40the gate of heaven
10:42what's a gate a gate is a
10:46a it's a reality
10:49it's it's something that takes you from
10:51one reality to another
10:54you may go through a gate from your
10:56backyard
10:58to your driveway you may go from a gate
11:01in your front yard
11:02to a public sidewalk but it's it's
11:05something that
11:06takes you from one reality to another
11:10and yet this first mention the first
11:13revelation
11:14in the entire bible on the nature of the
11:17house of god
11:18has several elements that are important
11:20for us to remember because
11:21it will define everything we are
11:25number one what is it it's a place where
11:28there's an open heaven
11:33it's a place where there's an open
11:34heaven
11:36number two god speaks through that open
11:39heaven
11:41number three angels come and go
11:45there's angelic activity that's all
11:50open heaven that's all house of god
11:55a gate on the edge of two worlds
11:59the gate of heaven and the gate into the
12:02hearts
12:03lives of people it's the house of god
12:07look with me at john chapter 1
12:17john chapter 1 in verse 14
12:21it says jesus is the word of god made
12:25flesh
12:27tabernacled or dwelt among us so the
12:29point i want to make
12:30is that old testament prophecy in
12:33genesis 28
12:35prophesies the nature of the house of
12:36god the initial
12:38fulfillment or illustration of that
12:41prophetic
12:43metaphor is in the person of jesus
12:48he is the tabernacle or the house of god
12:52on planet earth chapter 1 verse 14. jump
12:55all the way towards the end of the
12:56chapter
12:57and we see nathanael has this
12:59interesting experience
13:00his brother begs him to come and to meet
13:02jesus come and see him
13:04jesus saw nathanael verse 47 coming
13:07towards him and he said behold an
13:08israelite
13:09and whom has no deceit there's no guile
13:11nathanael said to him how do you know me
13:13jesus said before philip called you when
13:16you were under the fig tree i saw you so
13:18jesus is saying
13:19hey i saw you not in the natural he
13:22could see in the spirit
13:23he could see nathanael inviting his
13:26brother to come into and to meet jesus
13:28nathaniel verse 49 answered and said
13:30rabbi you're the son of god
13:32you're the king of israel jesus answered
13:34and said to him because i said to you i
13:36saw you under the fig tree do you
13:38believe you will see greater things than
13:40these
13:42and he said to him now listen carefully
13:44most assuredly i say to you
13:46hereafter you shall see heaven open and
13:49the angels of god ascending
13:51and descending on the son of man
13:55notice any similarities you see this
13:59is the initial fulfillment of that old
14:02testament unusual metaphor
14:04of an open heaven angels coming and
14:07going
14:08the fulfillment of divine purpose on the
14:10earth through a house
14:12that happens to be positioned on the
14:14edge of two worlds
14:19all right that one overwhelmed go with
14:22me to acts chapter one
14:23or acts chapter two acts chapter two
14:38verse one the pentecost had fully come
14:40they were all in one accord in one place
14:43and suddenly there came a sound from
14:45heaven as of a rushing mighty wind
14:47and it fills the whole house where they
14:49were sitting there appeared to them
14:51divided tongues
14:52as a fire and one sat upon each of them
14:55and they were all filled with the holy
14:57spirit
14:58and began to speak with other tongues as
14:59the spirit gave them utterance
15:01okay what were the two
15:04natural manifestations seen in these
15:08verses
15:10wind yes was the other
15:13fire wind and fire hebrews 1
15:17calls angels ministers of wind
15:21and ministers of fire
15:26come on
15:40jesus said
15:43you're going to see more than that
15:45nathanael you will see
15:48greater things and it includes angels
15:50ascending and descending
15:52upon the son of man now i
15:56have zero interest in stirring up
15:58affection or affinity for the angelic
16:00realm
16:00they exist they cooperate with us it's
16:03foolish to ignore them
16:05excuse me it's foolish to worship them
16:07it's equally foolish to ignore them
16:11they are not to be worshiped i don't
16:12serve them
16:14but they help to facilitate god's
16:16assignment in our life
16:18to ignore them as not smart
16:23so here this comment is made
16:27and in acts chapter 2 there is this
16:30sound of wind and fire that comes into
16:34the room
16:35look at the next verse verse 6
16:38when the sound occurred the multitude
16:40came together they were confused
16:43because everybody heard them speak in
16:45his own language verse 7
16:47they were all amazed and they marveled
16:50verse 12
16:51they were all amazed and perplexed verse
16:5413
16:54others were mocking so it's a perfectly
16:57described revival
16:59right here they were amazed they
17:02marveled
17:03they were perplexed and they mocked
17:06if you think you can have an authentic
17:08move of god without those things
17:10you are horribly mistaken
17:18years ago i bought these little geodes
17:20you know these little
17:21rocks there's ugly on the outside inside
17:24there's these beautiful
17:25purple crystals and all that's a
17:27beautiful thing
17:28i bought some for my kids way back when
17:30i said this is revival
17:33it looks ugly on the outside it's
17:34gorgeous on the inside
17:36and that's really the way a move of god
17:38is it's just it has to be
17:40experienced you know you find
17:43michael the daughter of saul the wife of
17:47david
17:48was up in her palace mocking david as he
17:52was dancing before the lord
17:54because worship at a distance always
17:57looks weird
17:59and she bore no children to the day of
18:01her death barrenness took over
18:03where there was the rejection of
18:05sacrificial
18:07giving unto the lord in thanksgiving and
18:09praise giving himself in worship
18:12we have this same kind of a situation
18:14here
18:15so we see in uh verse
18:18um says the sound occurred the multitude
18:21came together
18:22i've i've heard throughout my life i
18:24don't know if i don't know if anybody's
18:26taught it or it's just been
18:27kind of assumed but it seemed to me that
18:30it was taught that
18:32thousands of people all over jerusalem
18:35laid down their
18:36tools their toys with the kids or
18:38whatever it was
18:39and they all came because this sound
18:41occurred and the sound was people
18:43praying in tongues
18:45that doesn't make any sense this is an
18:46international city
18:48jerusalem is an international city to
18:51have a half a dozen people
18:52speak spanish and portuguese and arabic
18:55and
18:55all these different languages is not
18:57going to draw a crowd of thousands
18:58they're not going to leave the workplace
19:00they're not going to leave their homes
19:02to hear a sound
19:03that is common it wouldn't happen in
19:05redding
19:07not quite the international center of
19:09the universe yet
19:11it's coming but it's not quite there yet
19:14it wouldn't happen here and yet it
19:16happened there
19:17why i would like to suggest
19:24that there was a sound
19:28that was otherworldly
19:32it um
19:35there's 120 people in this room and it
19:38says they're in one accord
19:40you can have a band an orchestra
19:44in perfect harmony with each other but
19:47be
19:47completely out of tune if they start by
19:50tuning to each other and they're in
19:52a wrong with a note that is off
19:55they will sound together but they're not
19:58right
19:59and there's a lot of ministry movements
20:01that are together
20:02but they're not right they're not right
20:05because they're not tuned
20:06to the heart of god there's one tuning
20:08fork it's not mine
20:10it's not yours it's him it's his it is
20:13his heartbeat
20:14there's one note and we all adjust to
20:16that
20:17i'm not opposed to uh effort to be
20:21united
20:21i'm i'm all right with that but i i
20:24would rather see the people of god
20:26have effort to be in tune
20:31effort to be into because when i find
20:32that i'm in tune with him
20:34i find that i'm in tune with everybody
20:36else that's in tune with him
20:37the more i yield to what he's saying the
20:39more i yield to what he's doing
20:41the more i become the instrument in his
20:43hand simply to represent him well
20:45suddenly i found i find my heart is just
20:48drawn to people
20:49that have those same values those same
20:51breakthroughs
20:53it becomes a unity that's created by the
20:55holy spirit himself
20:57so here we have 120 people that laid
20:59down their issues and you know they had
21:01issues
21:02they had just days earlier argued as to
21:04who was the greatest
21:06there was peter who said i'll never deny
21:08you all these people will but i won't
21:10there's all this stuff going on in this
21:11room they get together for 10 days i
21:13think it took him 10 days of prayer
21:15to get things worked out finally on the
21:17day of pentecost
21:19the outpouring of the spirit and they
21:21were in perfect harmony
21:22what's the point you've got 120 people
21:25that are perfectly yielded to god it
21:29creates a sound
21:31creates a sound just like a skilled
21:33musician
21:34can breathe on the reed of a saxophone
21:38and create a unique distinct sound and
21:41we have
21:42somebody else with the the horns the
21:44trumpets and somebody else
21:45everybody's breathing over over that
21:48instrument
21:49that is in perfect tune and suddenly
21:51there's this sound created
21:53that blanketed a city called jerusalem
21:55and
21:56changed the consciousness the awareness
21:59the mindset of an entire city
22:01you have people that crucified jesus
22:0450 days earlier i'm now asking the
22:06question
22:07what must i do to be saved it wasn't
22:10just a stirring
22:12sermon by peter i'm sure it was powerful
22:15i i don't want to downplay that but i'm
22:17just saying
22:18people left everything they had to
22:21follow
22:22a sound and if you can imagine standing
22:24thousands thou 3
22:26000 got saved so who who knows how many
22:28were there but they all leave whatever
22:30they were doing and they find themselves
22:32standing
22:33staring mocking perplexed wondering
22:36asking questions at 120 people that are
22:39under the influence
22:40a sound was created that changed the
22:43atmosphere
22:44of an entire city and i'd like to
22:46suggest to you that
22:47every time you and i say yes to the holy
22:50spirit to do whatever it is he wants to
22:51do
22:52we die to ourself we live to christ
22:54every time we do that
22:55a sound is released into a city
22:57something happens
22:58in the in the awareness if you will of a
23:01city the consciousness the mindset the
23:03value system
23:04of an entire city begins to change as
23:07people start to think
23:08otherworldly why because there's
23:10something
23:11in the air there's this sound that's
23:14been
23:14created that changed everything this
23:17says
23:18when the sound occurred one of the words
23:21used here in acts 2 for sound
23:22is actually the word roar so if you can
23:25imagine here's 120 people they don't
23:27know what they're doing
23:28they've been together for 10 days
23:30they're praying they've been told
23:31they'll know it when it shows up
23:33they don't know what it's going to be
23:34they don't have any idea
23:37and they're i'm sure uh honoring the
23:39lord praying together giving thanks
23:41and all of a sudden there's this sound
23:44that comes through the room
23:45and it changes the atmosphere of an
23:47entire city 120 people
23:50inebriated got more stuff done
23:55in the following moments than they ever
23:58could have
23:59through their skilled gifting and i
24:01believe in the skilled gifting i believe
24:03in the skilled preaching of the word i
24:05believe in all the stuff
24:06but in this one moment this one church
24:09service
24:10is the one service we can confidently
24:13say
24:14the holy spirit was completely in charge
24:17because nobody knew enough to mess it up
24:20they were they were all rookies they
24:21didn't know enough they didn't have any
24:23traditions yet this is
24:24like their first time out all they know
24:27is they're speaking
24:28languages they don't understand it
24:29doesn't make any sense to them
24:31they feel strangely edified and
24:32encouraged they're a little bit tipsy
24:35and they stumble out onto the streets
24:37they're trying to figure out what's
24:38going on
24:39and all of a sudden they look out and
24:40there's thousands upon thousands upon
24:42thousands
24:43that are there and they're trying to
24:45figure out
24:47why are you here it's because the sound
24:51was created
24:53see a yes in quiet is broadcast in
24:57public
24:58a yes in quiet there's something that
25:00happens
25:01to a people that just simply yield it
25:04maybe in here
25:06we have our worship teams lead and we
25:08stand and we
25:09when and we declare don't you tell me he
25:11can't do it
25:13we stand and we declare that even though
25:15i don't see him working he's working
25:16we make these decrees it's incredible
25:20you look at this
25:21whole story this whole storyline if you
25:24can imagine this
25:25for hundreds and hundreds of years
25:27there's been a momentum
25:29prophes prophets have prophesied of a
25:32coming day
25:33they've been they've been preparing
25:36there's moses who makes the cry that all
25:39god's people were prophets there's
25:40all this stuff that's mounting this
25:42anointing on the prophets on the kings
25:44on the judges
25:45all this stuff preparing for a day when
25:48the people of god will carry
25:49presence and power in a way that is
25:51beyond everybody's comprehension
25:53it's not just the specialists it's now
25:55everybody and this is
25:56mounting for hundreds and hundreds of
25:58years and we come to this point
26:00where the devil thinks he wins because
26:02he crucified
26:03the christ three days later he raises
26:07from the dead
26:08and much to the enemy's surprise the
26:11anointing that was on the one
26:13the same anointing is now upon millions
26:18the biggest nightmare in all of history
26:21happened in that moment
26:25so this is building for hundreds of
26:27years
26:28and we've got one service that we know
26:31the holy spirit was in full charge of
26:33and look at what it says verse 11.
26:38we hear them speaking in our own tongues
26:42the wonderful works of god you
26:43understand they're all speaking
26:45languages they didn't know
26:46but people in the in the crowd heard
26:48them
26:50and they said they're speaking the
26:52mighty deeds of god
26:54think with me that which has been
26:57building
26:58for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
27:01of years
27:02has its first intelligent expression
27:07in revealing the wondrous works of god
27:11of all the things that could have
27:12happened in that moment of all the
27:14things
27:15this preceded the conversion of 3 000
27:17people
27:18i'd like to suggest to you that as
27:20powerful as peter's preaching was to
27:22help
27:23to bring a moment of decision for that
27:25crowd
27:26it was put against the backdrop of a
27:28revelation a
27:29corporate revelation over thousands of
27:32people
27:32of the wondrous works of god they made a
27:36decision to follow jesus
27:37because it was in the context of a
27:39revelation
27:40of the wondrous works of god
27:51i'd like to suggest to you that this
27:54unusual
27:55story this unusual picture is actually
27:59in a way a fulfillment of
28:02an unfolding of genesis 28.
28:06it is it is an open heaven
28:14is a voice this presence
28:18there's people there's angelic activity
28:23because god revealed the nature of his
28:26work on planet earth
28:28is to put a house on the edge of two
28:32worlds
28:35you see your act of obedience
28:38i i'm i'm not into directing angels i'm
28:42not into
28:42any of that stuff somebody else run with
28:45that one that's not me i
28:46i love just honoring jesus
28:50but when you obey an angelic realm
28:54recognizes the origin of that word you
28:58spoke
28:58and it is their assignment to enforce it
29:02there's a cooperation there's a gate
29:04it's the reality of this world
29:06somehow gets released into that one
29:08jesus announced it over himself
29:10he himself was the prototype of the
29:12house of god
29:13the people of god you and me and you
29:16shall see
29:17greater things than these you will see
29:18angels ascending and descending on the
29:21son of man
29:22can we put it this way you will see
29:23angels ascending
29:25and descending on the people of god
29:28it's not just on the gathering it's on
29:31the people
29:32angels ascending and descending
29:39i feel like part of the
29:42great test or lesson for us
29:45is how how easily
29:50are we distracted from our call
29:54by the signs and the wonders he's
29:56planted us in the midst of
30:04i'll illustrate with this and then we'll
30:05wrap it up
30:15elijah
30:20it was time for him to go home go home
30:22to heaven
30:24all the sons of the prophets knew it
30:25they told elisha he's going to be taken
30:27from you today he says i know leave me
30:28alone
30:31and elisha asked him this quest or
30:33elijah asked him what would you like for
30:34me to do for you he says i want a double
30:36portion of what
30:37you want double anointing is double
30:40responsibility
30:40so be careful for what you ask for
30:46it's not twice the fun
30:54we were born to work that's why we can
30:56ask for that all right
30:57so he says what would you like says i
30:59want a double portion of what you have
31:02and he elijah said that's that's a rough
31:04one
31:05and then he said but if you see me when
31:06i'm taken
31:09if you see me when i'm taken then
31:12then you can have it it's interesting
31:16if you see me when i'm taken
31:20the next moment there's a chariot of
31:22fire
31:24comes down out of heaven and it comes in
31:27between
31:28elisha and elijah now there's an old
31:31hymn that talks about
31:32elijah going up in the chariot of fire
31:35but he didn't
31:36he went up in a whirlwind what was the
31:39chariot of fire for
31:41to see if elisha could keep to his
31:43assignment
31:44what was his assignment keep your eyes
31:47on elijah
31:48here's a chariot of fire see sometimes
31:51we get involved in things
31:53and it's spectacular but we're easily
31:55distracted
31:56away from our assignment and here's
31:59elijah he's got his assignment elisha
32:02keep my eyes on elijah the chariot of
32:05fire comes
32:06and he actually watches as elijah goes
32:08up in that whirlwind
32:10and as he goes up into the air the
32:12mantle falls down
32:14elisha picks up the mantle goes to the
32:16river
32:17strikes the water says where's the god
32:19of elijah the waters part it's it's
32:21awesome
32:21you want to know what's in your mantle
32:23hit an obstacle
32:34it's amazing story because we've been
32:37summoned and called
32:40to do greater things in jesus it
32:43if it wasn't in the bible that would be
32:46the worst thing you could possibly say
32:49to do greater things in jesus but jesus
32:52himself announced it
32:53greater things than these shall you do
32:56you can't do great until you've done the
32:58same
33:04there are many believers who
33:08in in this day and age have a greater
33:11faith for the return of christ
33:13than they do in the power of the gospel
33:16and what i mean by that is the return of
33:19christ is
33:20beyond glorious so i never want to say
33:23or do anything
33:24to dumb that down but what
33:28is a frustration to me is that many
33:30people
33:31have a faith for the return of christ
33:33because they believe
33:34that the only thing that can fix this
33:36world is not the power of the gospel we
33:38preach
33:38but the return of a military invasion of
33:41god to set things in order
33:43in other words the confidence isn't in
33:45the message we've been given
33:51can an individual life that is
33:54absolutely in
33:55utter room can it be saved
33:58not just forgiven can it be restored
34:02restored place of sanity
34:05addictions broken off have a healthy
34:08family
34:09have a healthy lifestyle can it happen
34:12to one
34:13then can it happen to his family can it
34:16happen to his family in line
34:18what about his neighborhood city
34:21you see the point the point is is the
34:24power of the gospel
34:26is what is needed to re-embrace
34:30tuning our tuning fork to the one sound
34:34the original sound that said
34:38do what i taught you to do teach
34:40everyone unto you to do the same
34:42have them to teach those that they raise
34:44up to do the same
34:45don't change the standard get the tape
34:48measure out again
34:49and do it the way you were instructed to
34:50do it lay hands on the sick
34:52don't worry about how good you do don't
34:54worry about how bad you do
34:55just obey what he said to do i don't
34:58have the right
35:00i don't have the luxury to change the
35:02assignment to what i know how to do well
35:06most people's ministries are defined by
35:09what they do well
35:18most people when they try to figure out
35:20what their ministry is they just try to
35:21figure out what they're good at
35:24not what they're called to do
35:27now i'm good with you doing what you're
35:28good at but don't do it at the expense
35:31of what you're called to do well i pray
35:35for the sick nothing
35:36nothing happens find out why just don't
35:39change the assignment
35:44well i pray and i don't seem to get
35:45breakthrough
35:47pray longer get up earlier
35:52go to bed later skip a meal you won't
35:56die
36:11i shared this concept quite a few years
36:14ago
36:15and i've kind of had this
36:18this dream
36:22of you and me coming together in this
36:24room
36:26and we've got our teams that are so
36:28gifted and anointed to lead us
36:31and we worship and i love
36:35the instruments and i love the vocals i
36:38love all that part
36:42but in reality i won't worship here
36:47beyond what i worship outside of here
36:51and there's a sound there's a sound that
36:55we carry
36:55into our city it's a sound of a yes it's
36:59the sound
37:00can i say of a melody of a of a yes to
37:04jesus
37:05that is seen in your accountant it says
37:08it's heard
37:09not because you sing over the fence to
37:10your neighbor but it's because of your
37:12kindness
37:13there's a sound release it's because the
37:16way that you attend to that
37:18person that's in need it it there's a
37:20sound release
37:21there's something that happens in a city
37:24when this many people multiplied by all
37:27the other houses
37:28of faith in our city when that wind of
37:30god begins to blow
37:32it blows across the we the reed
37:35of that saxophone and it releases a
37:37distinct
37:38sound that causes people to stand that
37:41never
37:41would have asked the question they stand
37:44and they say
37:46what must i do to be saved how did they
37:49get there
37:51i don't know there was a sound there was
37:54a sound there was
37:55there was a yes with 120 that somehow
37:58became public
37:59and it changed the atmosphere of an
38:01entire city
38:03and i believe that god is creating a
38:06sound
38:06over redding it's a unique sound and
38:09over the cities that you're from
38:11every yes in private becomes a yes in
38:14public
38:16i want you to stand because we're going
38:17to pray together
38:24i uh
38:28i i would like at some point in time
38:33to do a full
38:38series with you on the promised land
38:42the old testament i love that story so
38:44much
38:45but let me tell you what gets me out of
38:47that story
38:51is that that promised land is a picture
38:55of what you and i get to live in every
38:57day in other words
38:59our delight is in the fulfilled promises
39:02of god in our life
39:04we were designed to live with fulfilled
39:06promises
39:09and there's something about there's
39:12something about the promises of god
39:15in here more and more i'm feeding myself
39:17on promises i
39:20we benny's my wife's been uh listening
39:23to uh well actually we both have but
39:26i've been listening to the scriptures
39:28being read just listening to the
39:29promises of god
39:31see it's important that you that we
39:33meditate on those that we prayerfully
39:36we ponder we we repeat we
39:40quote we we work until they become a
39:42part of it
39:43it's like biblical meditation is the
39:46digestive system
39:47of the spirit man it's what takes the
39:50food
39:51and translates the nutrients into our
39:54lifestyle
39:54where we become different we become
39:57other
39:58because something that he has said has
40:00become a part
40:01of who we are how we think and i pray
40:04that over you
40:05i pray that there would be something of
40:07the promise of god
40:09that would help to contribute to a
40:11unique harmony
40:13a beautiful harmony released over our
40:15city that changes what's possible
40:18simply because you said yes when nobody
40:20was looking you said yes when everybody
40:22was looking
40:23you said yes and in that sound something
40:25is released over our city
40:27where the promises of god are taken
40:29serious
40:30the promises of god are taken to heart
40:32and we ponder and we think
40:34and the nutrients of god just began to
40:37be assimilated into our system
40:39we think different we pray different we
40:42expect different
40:44it's not rehearsed it's not forced
40:48it's as organic as breathing
40:51i was born for promises i pray that for
40:54you
40:56and the promise of eternal life is
40:58available this morning
40:59to anybody in this room that would say
41:01bill i don't know what it is to be a
41:03disciple
41:04of jesus i don't know what it is to be a
41:06follower of jesus
41:08i want to be what the bible calls born
41:10again
41:11i want to truly be a follower of jesus
41:15i want to know what it is to be forgiven
41:17of god i want to know what it is to be
41:19brought into a family
41:21if that's anybody in the room that would
41:23say that's that's me
41:24put a hand up and just say that's me i
41:26want to know
41:28jesus i want to know what forgiveness is
41:30i want to know what it is like
41:32right over here thank you sir anybody
41:34else put your hand up
41:40put your hand up high right back over
41:41here's another one
41:43wonderful anybody else real quick
41:51that's wonderful i'm going to ask the
41:53two of you
41:54i'm going to have people talk and pray
41:56with you i'm going to ask you to come
41:57right up here in fact whose help you're
42:00going to have right over here
42:01okay if you would come right over here
42:03and you come right down over here
42:05if you want to walk your friend down to
42:06give them the courage to come down here
42:08do that
42:09[Applause]
42:13come right over here god bless you sir
42:16bless you
42:17god bless you right over here bless you
42:20guys one more there
42:21bless them once again would you