Full transcript
0:00Looking under [music] Jesus, the author
0:02and finisher of our faith. That word
0:04looking unto is this word. Continuously
0:07say no to a thousand voices so I can
0:10[music] give myself intently to the one
0:12voice that matters. It is this decision
0:14of the heart that says, I have a supreme
0:17value for one thing. My heart is
0:19anchored [music] in the continual
0:21expectation for God himself.
0:27>> [applause]
0:31>> Oh, wow.
0:33You know, you could tell
0:34school of ministry is not in session
0:37because checks in the mail was just the
0:39same tone as every other part of that
0:42declaration.
0:44During the school, checks in the mail
0:47takes on supersonic
0:54>> [laughter]
0:55>> Checks in the mail takes on a whole new
0:57meaning.
1:03How many of you have Facebook account?
1:05Facebook?
1:07How many of you have Twitter?
1:09How about Instagram?
1:12How many of you don't know what I'm
1:13talking about?
1:16I saw this this last week or two said, I
1:19don't have a Facebook or Twitter account
1:21so I just go around announcing out loud
1:24what I'm doing at [laughter] random
1:26times.
1:29I've got three followers so far.
1:31>> [laughter]
1:32>> But I think two of them are cops.
1:39That's funny.
1:42There's this picture of a a guy
1:44he's in front of his doctor and he's on
1:46a scale.
1:47And the doctor says, no, it's not water.
1:51You seem to be retaining food.
1:54>> [laughter]
1:57>> I think that's funny.
2:01I wasn't planning on going for a run
2:03today, but those cops came out of
2:04nowhere.
2:05>> [laughter]
2:09>> All right.
2:11Little story, very important that I read
2:12this to you.
2:14If I have read this before,
2:16it's been a long time.
2:18I've been gone.
2:20So, I don't know what I've done here or
2:21anywhere.
2:24So, I may repeat myself, stutter a lot,
2:27and might even drool. You never know. It
2:29could happen today.
2:31Several days ago, I left a meeting at a
2:33hotel.
2:34I desperately gave myself a personal TSA
2:37pat-down. I was looking for my keys.
2:40They were not in my pockets.
2:42A quick search in the meeting room
2:44revealed nothing.
2:45Suddenly, I realized I must have left
2:47them in the car.
2:49Frantically, I headed for the parking
2:50lot.
2:51My husband has scolded me many times for
2:54leaving the keys in the ignition.
2:56My theory is the ignition is the best
2:59place not to lose them.
3:02His theory is that the car will be
3:03stolen.
3:05As I burst through the doors, I came to
3:07a terrifying conclusion. His theory was
3:09right.
3:10The parking lot was empty.
3:12I immediately called the police, gave
3:14them my location, confessed that I had
3:17left my keys in the car, and that it had
3:19been stolen. Then, I made the most
3:21difficult call of all.
3:23"Honey," I stammered.
3:25I always call him honey in times like
3:26this.
3:28"I left my keys in the car, and it's
3:30been stolen."
3:32There was a long silence.
3:34I thought the call had been dropped, but
3:36then I heard his voice.
3:37"Are you kidding me?" he barked. "I
3:39dropped you off."
3:50Now, it was my turn to be silent.
3:53Embarrassed, I said, "Well,
3:55then come and get me."
3:58He responded, "I will, as soon as I can
4:00convince this cop I didn't steal your
4:02car."
4:05>> [applause]
4:07>> Ah, that's funny.
4:10>> [laughter]
4:18>> I uh when I got up this morning I was in
4:20the kitchen getting
4:22uh some breakfast before coming down. I
4:24can get down here pretty early.
4:26And and I heard uh the these words,
4:29fallopian tubes.
4:32And um
4:35I I don't know what the Lord is wanting
4:37to heal, what the issue is, but I have
4:39absolute confidence that the Lord is
4:41going to heal people with uh women with
4:43issues in their fallopian tubes.
4:45Um
4:46I had this happen a number of years ago.
4:48I was I was in Dallas and when I walked
4:50into the sanctuary, I actually heard the
4:52word deafness.
4:54And later that evening, probably 3 hours
4:56later, I called out deafness. It was a
4:58healing conference in 85. By the time
5:01the evening was over, 85 people had been
5:03healed of deafness. Varying levels of
5:06hearing loss, severed auditory nerve,
5:09everything. [applause]
5:10And uh and so I'm very confident the
5:11Lord's going to heal that this morning.
5:13So, real quickly before we get into the
5:14word, we're going to pray for anyone who
5:16has issues there. There's also a word
5:18earlier this morning in our leadership
5:20uh
5:21a prayer gathering uh that the Lord was
5:23healing people with uh brain damage, uh
5:27like trauma, injury, uh that sort of
5:29thing. Uh we've seen that word actually
5:33uh there's been an unusual breakthrough
5:36in healing of people who have had
5:37trauma. Uh terminal systemic lupus of
5:41the brain. One of our uh young ladies uh
5:44was um I was literally dying. And uh a
5:47word of knowledge came identifying her
5:49condition and uh she stood right back
5:52there towards the back of the room right
5:53in the center aisle and some folks
5:55prayed for her. Uh when she would pass
5:57out, she would pass out from anywhere
5:59from a second or two up to a full month.
6:01She would be just gone at that much at a
6:04time. She was she was dying literally.
6:06It would take her two or three hours
6:08when she'd get up in the morning
6:09sometimes for the fluids that had
6:11gathered in her head to start to
6:13assimilate in the rest of the body. And
6:15anyway, she stood back there and was
6:17healed. We've had extraordinary
6:19breakthrough in head trauma, brain
6:23damage,
6:24mental illness even,
6:27over 60 cases of bipolar. Uh and we've
6:30also had this other release of of
6:34learning disorders.
6:35And
6:37we had about 45 cases of dyslexia healed
6:40in 30 days.
6:42In 30 days and this last week in England
6:45I'll tell you these really move me.
6:46These really rock me a lot. We we had
6:49all kinds of extraordinary things happen
6:51but the ones that the couple testimonies
6:54that moved me
6:55maybe [snorts] the most was
6:57a young mother who could not read
6:59bedtime stories to her children.
7:02And she stood up in front of the entire
7:03group just weeping and weeping because
7:05the Lord had healed her. Michael, my
7:08assistant, is a medical doctor from
7:09Australia. And he took her side
7:12afterwards and got her testimony and
7:14examined her and so I mean she's just
7:15reading like a machine. I mean she's
7:17just absolutely
7:18no
7:20no problem whatsoever.
7:22And another young man stood up with just
7:24was so broken so weeping because of what
7:27the Lord had healed. So I just have
7:28[snorts] this sense that head trauma,
7:30regardless of where it fits in, injury,
7:33a learning disorder, any of the other
7:35issues that the Lord's going to bring
7:37healing
7:38to you as well. Um there's
7:41there's an issue here of degenerative
7:43condition. It may be in both hips. Let's
7:46just go for both. I know it's in the
7:47right. Degenerative condition in the
7:49right hip and there's there's pain,
7:52there's issues with nerves and muscles
7:55that shoot down the right leg.
7:58Who is that? I'm I want to know who that
7:59is. Is that right back here? All right.
8:01I believe the Lord is going to do a
8:02creative miracle and restore. And and if
8:06if it's in the left hip, let's just get
8:08in on it. But
8:09but I I'm really aware of that issue in
8:11the right hip. So before we get into the
8:13word, I want us to pray on this one
8:15quickly. So if that's your issue, stand
8:17up. Any of the things that I just called
8:18out to stand up.
8:20And those who are watching online, step
8:22into this. We have many many people
8:25healed over telephones, over
8:27online TV, all that stuff. And we just
8:30want to release that miracle power of
8:32the Lord. Anybody with cancer, if you're
8:35not already standing for something else,
8:36stand up because there is this absolute
8:39assignment for us to see no cancer here
8:43whatsoever. The cancer cannot survive.
8:46We had 3 years ago we had a young lady,
8:49a model from New York come into a
8:51meeting that I was at in Cleveland. She
8:53had up to 35 seizures a day, epileptic
8:57seizures a day with medication.
9:00And we prayed for her. I returned 11
9:01months later. She hadn't had one seizure
9:03since then, but she told us told me some
9:05information. She said, "You know,
9:07actually when I walked into the
9:09building, I felt it lift." And we prayed
9:12for her, but I think she was healed when
9:13she came into the presence. And that's
9:15what I want to see with cancer and a lot
9:17of other stuff. It just vanishes when
9:19people come in into this presence. Those
9:22of you that are sitting around them,
9:23stand up, find out what they have, pray
9:25quickly, speak to the issue with
9:27authority,
9:28and we pray that over those watching
9:30online. We just declare to you that
9:32Jesus paid a price for your healing. It
9:35has been purchased already.
9:37It has been purchased already.
9:40So, we declare the wonderful name of
9:42Jesus.
9:46That miracle anointing right now. Head
9:48trauma,
9:49we break that cycle of trauma
9:53in Jesus name.
9:57We break that cycle of trauma
9:59where the devourer has stolen
10:02concentration, logic, reason, all the
10:05things affected. The peace of mind, the
10:08cloudiness in reason, we just say all of
10:11that lifts today.
10:14Learning disorders, Lord, we ask that
10:16you would come
10:17and rewire the brain.
10:20Let there be full connection, full
10:22function for the glory of God.
10:25We declare that the devourer is
10:28assignment has been canceled
10:31in Jesus wonderful name.
10:35Yep, take just a moment longer.
10:39If If you can't reach somebody, at least
10:40join your faith with someone that you
10:42can see and just pray for their
10:44breakthrough.
10:46A true true spirit of breakthrough.
10:53Thank you, Lord.
10:59>> [clears throat]
11:01>> If you're praying for somebody with a
11:03head trauma,
11:04I want you to literally lift it off
11:06their head and declare this thing ends
11:08today. Just lift it off. This ends
11:10today.
11:13That's right. We lift it off in Jesus
11:15name.
11:20Amen.
11:22Amen. Amen.
11:23All right, bless them good. Love, honor,
11:25and hug them. Do something nice.
11:27And uh
11:31Let's
11:33Yeah, let's get going.
11:39Wonderful, wonderful Jesus. All right.
11:42>> [clears throat]
11:46>> Okay, you guys did good. Some are still
11:48praying and that's totally fine. That's
11:50most important is that we see people get
11:53fully, fully, fully restored.
11:55All right, man. There's just so much
11:57going on right now. Things that we've
11:59seen the Lord do and it's just
12:00accelerating. It's accelerating. Um, I
12:03love uh
12:04uh Paul letting communion this morning.
12:06Uh having people come up for their first
12:08communion and being able to pray. I know
12:10what some of them do receive Christ and
12:12just I I just I love this so much.
12:15Um, let's just get right into the word.
12:17If you'd open your Bibles to the book of
12:18Genesis chapter 15. I I've actually
12:22goodness, I've only got like 25 minutes.
12:24So, I'm going to have to
12:26turn it on uh
12:27the turbo charger and
12:30pedal to the metal.
12:31See what we can cover in a short period
12:33of time.
12:34Um
12:46>> [clears throat]
12:48>> I'm going to start with giving you a
12:50reference.
12:52And uh I'm I'm using it as a kind of a
12:54springboard
12:56uh to go into a subject about seeing.
13:02>> [clears throat]
13:04>> Whatever you stare at grows.
13:08Whatever captures your attention will
13:10always grow.
13:11It did for Peter. When he saw Jesus, he
13:14walked on water. When he saw waves, he
13:15sank.
13:16Whatever you feast your eyes on actually
13:19increases in its influence.
13:22And I want to take you through a couple
13:23stories in scripture
13:25that uh were were faith was profoundly
13:28seen by what people saw.
13:33I want to remind you that the kingdom of
13:35God is a superior reality.
13:37By superior uh Paul put it this way. He
13:39said
13:40He said, "What you can see
13:44is temporal. What you can't see is
13:47eternal."
13:48So, faith being anchored in the unseen
13:51is not anchored in
13:54in the absence of reality. It's anchored
13:57into a superior reality.
13:59Faith is not unreasonable. It is
14:01superior reason.
14:06Faith is not unreasonable. It's superior
14:08reasoning because it moves with the mind
14:11of Christ.
14:16Jesus had this conversation with his
14:18disciples and it's a portion of
14:19scripture I've taught on, goodness,
14:21probably as much as any other in the
14:23last 18 years.
14:25And it's out of Mark 8. You don't need
14:27to turn there cuz I'm just going to kind
14:28of do a little
14:30speedy overview. But if you could
14:32picture this, the disciples been
14:34following Jesus. They've been watching
14:36extraordinary things happen. Twice he's
14:38multiplied food for multitudes of
14:40people.
14:41And extraordinary experience. Right
14:44after one of those multiplying of food
14:46experiences, the disciples get into a
14:48boat with Jesus and they're starting to
14:50go to the other side and Jesus wants to
14:52talk to them about influence on the
14:54mind.
14:55The two primary influences are the
14:58political system, which is humanism, the
15:00religious system, which has God at the
15:02center of everything, but he's
15:03impersonal and he's powerless. So, we've
15:05got this impersonal powerless God in the
15:07middle of everything and then we've got
15:09humanism, which doesn't mind a belief in
15:12God, just don't bring him into the
15:13everyday affairs of people.
15:16And so, these two realities are fighting
15:18for control over how you think and how
15:21you see.
15:23So much of what we get filtered to us
15:26through
15:27Oh,
15:30let me just be really honest.
15:33It'll feel good for a moment for me just
15:35to say this.
15:36So much of what we get through the major
15:38news agencies have come through a
15:40twisted worldview,
15:43which makes it impossible for people to
15:45discern and decipher what's actually
15:47happening in world affairs.
15:50And what the enemy is working to do is
15:52to try to twist worldview so that our
15:55view of reality, our view of life, is
15:57consistent with political system or
15:59religious system. The other leaven that
16:02Jesus talks about is in Matthew 13. It's
16:05the leaven of the kingdom. And so he
16:07talks to his disciples. He says, "Be
16:08careful of the leaven of Herod and the
16:11leaven of the Pharisees." These
16:13influences on thought.
16:14And the disciples think he's talking
16:17about the fact they forgot to bring food
16:18for lunch, which to me all by itself is
16:20very funny. Cuz he's giving this
16:23powerful revelation and they think they
16:25think he's scolding them because they
16:26didn't bring lunch.
16:28And so it's like Jesus, you know, says,
16:31"I wasn't talking about lunch, but let's
16:32pretend I was." And then he takes them
16:34through the story.
16:35And he reminds them of the two times he
16:37multiplied food with with their
16:40involvement. And then he asked them this
16:42question. So this is where I want to
16:43start. He says, "Can't you see?"
16:48He's asking his disciples, "Can't you
16:49see?"
16:51I don't think he was requiring them to
16:53imagine a boat full of loaves of bread.
16:56I think he was
16:58wanting them to behold this reality that
17:03coexists with them that is superior in
17:06every possible way. That when we've been
17:08exposed to the working of the presence
17:11and power of the Holy Spirit, it is to
17:13shift our awareness from this world of
17:16limitation, of brokenness, of of uh
17:19despair, etc. to a world that has more
17:22than sufficient answers for every single
17:25problem that we face. And so, faith
17:27draws from this thing that we can't see.
17:31And so, Jesus asks this question. He
17:32says, "Can't you see?" And then he says,
17:35"Can't you hear?"
17:37And then he says, "Can't you remember?"
17:39Okay, can't you see, can't you hear,
17:40can't you remember. It'd be fascinating
17:43just to do a study through scripture on
17:45those three things, when people saw,
17:46when they heard God, and when they
17:48remembered what he had done.
17:51When you remember, you're actually
17:52drawing upon God's history in his
17:54covenant with people, and it becomes the
17:56blueprint for how he wants to work now.
17:59It becomes the legal precedent has been
18:01set by what God has done in the past.
18:03This is what he's like as a perfect
18:05father. This is how he heals. This is
18:07how he restores. This is what he does
18:09with people. And so, he says, "Can you
18:11see? Can you hear? Can you remember?" I
18:14want to talk about seeing. Genesis 15,
18:16are you there?
18:19Verse 5.
18:20Actually, start back at 3.
18:22Abram, his name wasn't changed to
18:24Abraham yet. The breath of God wasn't
18:26added to his name yet.
18:28Then Abram said, "Look, you have given
18:31me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my
18:34house is my heir." And behold, the word
18:36of the Lord came to him saying, "This
18:38one shall not be your heir, but one who
18:40will come from your own body shall be
18:42your heir." And he brought him outside
18:45and said, "Now, look toward the heaven
18:47and count the stars if you're able to
18:49number them." And he said to them, "So
18:51shall your descendants be." And he
18:54believed in the Lord, and he accounted
18:56it to him for righteousness.
18:58This is a fascinating story because the
19:00Lord actually gives him a visible
19:03prophetic picture of what was going to
19:05come forth from him. The Lord took him
19:07outside, let him look at the stars,
19:10something he will see every single night
19:11of his life as a reminder of what God
19:14said is going to come forth from him.
19:17The Lord will often times put physical
19:20reminders, uh testimonies, um
19:23uh something in the natural that remind
19:25us of spiritual realities. And we're to
19:28learn when the Lord gives us one of
19:30these gifts as he did for Abraham. He
19:32said, "Look at the stars. Look at the
19:34stars. Can you count them? That's your
19:35kids right there." And he was giving him
19:37a visual
19:40plum line, a standard by which to the
19:43measure his thoughts, his prayers, and
19:45his ambitions for the rest of his life.
19:47The in the the inability to count the
19:51amount of stars was how far beyond his
19:55expectations God was about to go in
19:58fulfilling promise in his life.
20:00I love when the Lord gives us physical
20:03reminders. I love
20:04I I like to treat the material world
20:06that way. I I don't like materialism,
20:09but I love when the Lord speaks through
20:10material things. I've had so many
20:12situations throughout my life where that
20:14God has used. I when uh uh
20:17I have a painting, a piece of art on my
20:20wall in our living room, uh we do, that
20:23we bought as a gift from my dad. My dad
20:27had died in January. An investment he
20:30made he thought went south. After he
20:33died, it went north and and gained uh
20:37uh substantial amount of of value. Uh my
20:40mother found it. I forget all the
20:42details, but sold it and then gave each
20:44one of the the kids uh some money out of
20:47this uh out of this this investment. And
20:50so, Benny and I wanted to put it into
20:52something that would be a regular
20:54reminder of God who who is able to
20:57answer problems uh promises long after
21:01you think they've died.
21:03And so, we have a physical reminder that
21:05prophesies. It's much like the stars in
21:07the sky, where God says, "Listen, this
21:09is who I am. This is what I have said,
21:12and I'm going to unfold the detail of
21:14this in your life." There have been
21:15times throughout my life where I could I
21:17could literally walk you through every
21:18room in the house, and I could say, "All
21:19right, this came in this season." It's
21:22more than a bookshelf. It's more than a
21:24chair. It's more than whatever. This
21:26came as a result of a breakthrough that
21:29I had with the Lord, and he's given me
21:32this item to let me remember day after
21:34day after day this is who he is to me.
21:37And Abraham had that from the Lord. It
21:39was the stars in the sky, and he will do
21:41the same for everybody in this room who
21:43truly has the ambition to excel in
21:46faith.
21:47It is a practical desire when you
21:49discover that God it's impossible to
21:53please him apart from faith. That's no
21:55small matter.
21:57It's impossible
21:59It's impossible to please him apart from
22:01faith. And so, we have this unusual
22:03story with the stars. Jump with me
22:05quickly to Genesis 30.
22:10Genesis chapter 30. We've got a very
22:12funny story here. This would be actually
22:14more fun to
22:15take some time on sometime.
22:21Jacob
22:26This is a weird story.
22:30Let me just read it, and then I'm going
22:31to explain to you what we read if you
22:33didn't get it. All right? So, it's it's
22:34It's Genesis 30. Let's start with verse
22:38verse 37.
22:40Jacob took for himself rods of green
22:43poplar
22:44and of the almond and chestnut trees. He
22:46peeled white strips in them.
22:49He exposed the white which was in the
22:51rods.
22:52And the rods which he had peeled, he set
22:54before the flocks in the gutters, in the
22:57watering troughs, where the flocks came
22:59to to
23:00so they should conceive when they come
23:03to drink.
23:04Down to verse 41. It came to pass
23:06whenever the stronger livestock
23:08conceived, Jacob placed the rods before
23:11the eyes of the livestock in the
23:13gutters, so that they might conceive
23:16among the rods. But when the flocks were
23:19feeble, he did not put those rods there.
23:22The feebler were Laban's, the stronger
23:23were Jacob's. This is just a bizarre
23:25story. Let me explain to you what what
23:27happened cuz I don't have time to take
23:29you through the whole chapter.
23:30Jacob has been working for his
23:31father-in-law for like ever, forever.
23:34And his father-in-law keeps changing the
23:35contract. He's been stealing from his
23:37own son-in-law. He's just a deceptive
23:39rascal. And and the Lord wants to
23:42release Jacob from this kind of bondage
23:44that he's living under
23:46uh under Laban's household. He's
23:47prospered his household dramatically.
23:50The the guy has uh the guy has succeeded
23:53because of the favor of God on Jacob.
23:55And so Jacob's wanting to leave with his
23:57family and and start uh his own his own
24:01family and and and allow the Lord to
24:03prosper them. So, he goes to his
24:05father-in-law after he's been betrayed
24:06by his father-in-law multiple times and
24:08he goes and he says, "Listen, I've got
24:09an idea. He says, "How about I take
24:12after a certain period of time, I just
24:14take just just the livestock that is
24:17that doesn't look normal. It's spotted
24:20and speckled sheep that are spotted and
24:22speckled. I'm just going to take those
24:23with me. That'll be my my um
24:27salary from you." And the father-in-law
24:29thinks, "That's awesome because there's
24:31hardly any of those." And then Jacob
24:33gets this idea. He's going to take
24:35sticks of wood and he carves in the side
24:38of the branches so that they're spotted,
24:40they're spiked, they're striped. And
24:42then whenever the sheep come down to
24:43water, he takes these spotted and
24:45speckled stakes, he drives them into the
24:46ground. So, as the sheep, goats,
24:49whatever, as they come to water, they
24:51see spotted, speckled. When they mate,
24:54because that's where they would mate,
24:55they would reproduce spotted and
24:57speckled
24:59animals.
25:00Told you it was a weird story.
25:04You reproduce
25:06what you behold.
25:15Whatever we set our eyes on,
25:18you know this.
25:20I remember as a as a kid, I I was just
25:23thinking this the other day. My my
25:26assistant Michael's a doctor from
25:29Australia who helps me. We were just
25:30talking about some of these kinds of
25:32things and I remembered this as a kid, I
25:35fell on my bicycle. You remember the
25:37handlebars of the plastic
25:39things on the end. Well, mine had worn
25:40off and so it was it was
25:42it was there but it was pushed up and it
25:44was just a metal and I fell and that
25:46handlebar just gouged me right here. I I
25:48remember it so clearly right here.
25:51And so we put whatever kind of stuff you
25:53put on cuts and did all that. I remember
25:56as just a kid, probably 7 years old, 8
25:58years old. If I looked at it, it would
26:00hurt. If I looked away, it did I didn't
26:03there was no pain.
26:05That was that's weird.
26:06I mean a day later, I've just going
26:08around everything's fine, playing
26:09baseball, do whatever I'm doing and then
26:11I remember I got cut, I look at it and I
26:13would actually feel pain when I saw it.
26:18I'm sure somebody can explain how and
26:19why that happens. I don't really care at
26:21the moment. All I all I know at the
26:23moment is that whatever I stare at
26:25grows.
26:27And when I look at waves, when I look at
26:29contrary opinion, when I entertain these
26:31things, I set myself up to actually be
26:34very, very weak in faith.
26:37And what the Lord is looking for is a
26:38group of people, it's not through
26:40striving, it's actually through this
26:42yielded relationship, this relationship
26:44that is that is impressionable,
26:47impressionable to the voice.
26:50To the voice of the Lord as he as he
26:52speaks that simple word of promise.
26:54As vast as Abraham's promise was, I I
26:57don't know that it came in a thundering
26:59voice.
27:00All we know is he looked up at the sky
27:02and he realized God's promise is bigger
27:04than the sky.
27:06And he beheld that and he considered
27:08that and it shaped his life so much so
27:11that he became known as the father of
27:13faith.
27:14And his breakthrough in beholding is to
27:17be our breakthrough in beholding.
27:19Here's what stands out to me. I've given
27:21you just a couple Old Testament stories.
27:23But here's what stands out to me. I I
27:25remember uh Hebrews 11 is this great
27:28faith. Why don't you just go to Hebrews
27:2911? That'll speed things up.
27:33So I feel like I'm on
27:37like I've had 14 cups of espresso.
27:40I'm about to explode right in front of
27:42you.
27:43But it'll be beautiful.
27:48>> [panting]
27:55[clears throat]
27:56>> Hebrews 11 is this chapter where God
27:59lists great people that believed him
28:02throughout all history.
28:04And it's it's a fascinating list because
28:06some of them didn't believe quickly. But
28:09they eventually did. And when you hear
28:11God's point of the view of the story,
28:13they just believed quickly cuz he only
28:15records the part that we did right, you
28:17know, which is
28:18quite an encouraging story right there.
28:21So here's here's Hebrews 11, this great
28:23chapter of faith. We call it the Hall of
28:24Fame for faith.
28:26When you read through this chapter, I
28:28encourage you to do this on your own.
28:30Look for every time somebody saw
28:32something or they considered something
28:35or they contemplated or they they
28:38rehearsed or they would meditate on
28:39something. Look at every time that sort
28:41of a word is used because it's actually
28:44describing the role that seeing has with
28:48faith.
28:52Seeing is believing?
28:54That's usually a weak unbelief statement
28:57because it is saying, "I'm not going to
28:59believe until I see with my own eyes
29:01what's happening."
29:03And yet according to scripture, seeing
29:05is believing if you're seeing what he's
29:07saying.
29:11If If If you're seeing what he's If
29:12you're seeing what he's saying, if
29:14you're connecting to the voice of God,
29:17and you hear the heartbeat of God for
29:18you, then suddenly the shift in
29:20perspective.
29:23I don't know. I guess if there was one
29:24thing I would try to I would want to
29:26communicate today
29:28>> [sighs]
29:28>> that is a repeat over and over again for
29:31us
29:32is that faith doesn't come from
29:33striving, comes from surrender.
29:36It's not the
29:37It's not the the result of effort or
29:39labor.
29:41It's just because he speaks, we listen.
29:45And we refuse
29:47to allow other voices
29:49to dictate how we think, how we see.
29:52I want to show you instead of taking you
29:53through Hebrews 11 as I had planned, I
29:56want you to just to get right into
29:58Moses' story in verse 24.
30:01By faith Moses, when he became of age,
30:03refused to be called the son of
30:05Pharaoh's daughter,
30:07choosing rather to suffer affliction
30:09with the people of God than to enjoy the
30:12passing pleasures of sin. My goodness,
30:14that's a stunning statement right there.
30:17Verse 26, "Esteeming
30:20the reproach of Christ greater riches
30:24than the treasures in Egypt, for he
30:26looked to the reward."
30:29By faith he forsook Egypt, not for uh
30:32not fearing the wrath of the king. All
30:33right, go back to 26. He esteemed the
30:36reproach of Christ
30:39as a as greater riches than the riches
30:42of Egypt. Stunning statement. And then
30:44it says, "For he looked to the reward."
30:48He looked to the reward.
30:52Hebrews 11:6 has this verse for us that
30:54helps to define faith. It says,
30:57"Who comes to God must believe that he
31:00is and that he is the rewarder of those
31:04who seek him." I've heard many people
31:06say through the years, "Well, I'm just
31:07I'm not interested in reward. I just
31:10want to serve the Lord and please him
31:12and honor him." Yeah, that's fine, but
31:13it's not how he thinks.
31:15He thinks your faith should your faith
31:18needs a boost by getting a revelation of
31:20reward.
31:22Because half of faith is connected to
31:24his nature as rewarder.
31:26So, he says, "Those who come to God must
31:28believe that he is." Number one, that's
31:30his existence. But number two, his
31:33nature.
31:34His existence and his nature. He is the
31:37rewarder of those who seek him. So,
31:39faith is actually anchored in first of
31:42all, his existence. I hear people say,
31:44"Well, I know God can do it." That's
31:46awesome. So does the devil.
31:49We got to have greater faith in the
31:50devil.
31:51He knows what God's capable of doing,
31:53what faith does is it positions for what
31:56God is about to do.
31:59>> That's good.
32:00>> [sighs]
32:01>> So, here's this statement. Says he
32:03esteems the reproach of Christ
32:06greater riches than the treasures of
32:07heaven for he looked to the reward.
32:10Listen to this definition of this word
32:12looking for reward. It's very profound.
32:15The word of look means con- to
32:17continuously look away from everything
32:20else in order to look intently at one
32:23object.
32:29He's looking
32:31to the reward.
32:33This same basic word is used in a few
32:36verses later, in Hebrews 12:1 and 2,
32:40where he says, "Looking unto Jesus, the
32:43author and
32:45finisher of our faith." That word
32:46"looking unto" is this word.
32:48Continuously say no to a thousand
32:51voices, so I can give myself intently to
32:53the one voice that matters.
32:56It's not a casual floating through life.
32:58It's not a casual just adjusting to
33:00whatever circumstances come. It it is
33:02this decision of the heart that says, "I
33:05have a supreme value for one thing, that
33:08is the voice of the Lord. It's what he
33:10says, it's what he is doing. My heart is
33:13anchored in the continual expectation
33:16for God himself, for God to speak, for
33:19God to reveal himself, to show me what
33:21to do." My heart is anchored in this one
33:23thing. So, to look to the reward, or in
33:25Hebrews 12:2, to look unto Jesus, the
33:29author
33:31and the finisher of our faith.
33:34Looking to him is to say this, "I have
33:36said no, I In fact, the word means to
33:38continuously say no. To continuously
33:41look away from a thousand other options,
33:44so that I might give myself intently,
33:46with extreme focus and energy, to the
33:49one thing I'm willing to say yes to."
33:51It's not casual.
33:53It's very deliberate.
33:55It doesn't require It doesn't require
33:58um energy in the sense of striving and
34:02work.
34:03It requires
34:05yieldedness. That I've said no to all
34:07this, I've said no to all this, I have
34:10yielded and said yes to the one thing.
34:14I I am going to assume, and I and I'm
34:16sure I'm accurate in this,
34:18that of
34:19that all of us together have this one
34:22desire,
34:23and that is to be a person of great
34:24faith.
34:26It's one of the things that we would
34:28just say together,
34:30"Man, you can't please God apart from
34:31faith in this matters to me. This
34:34matters a lot to me that that I would be
34:37pleasing to the Lord. Someone would say,
34:38"Well, we're already pleasing. That's
34:40how he accepted us, brought us into the
34:41family." Yeah, yeah, I understand that.
34:44I'm not going to increase his love for
34:45me by having great faith.
34:47But there's something of the heart of
34:49God that delights in a person that
34:52believes him when every other voice
34:54around him says no.
34:56That one confident expression that says,
35:00"I believe you."
35:09I think this has more than
35:12This has to do with more than
35:16praying for somebody to see them healed.
35:18More than
35:21financial provision for somebody in
35:22need. More than restoration of
35:24brokenness in family, whatever it might
35:26be.
35:28As much as I love seeing those miracles,
35:31I believe the Lord wants to adjust our
35:33world view.
35:35I believe he wants to adjust the way we
35:37value every single day we're given
35:41and what we've been assigned to become
35:43and to display.
35:46Because you and I
35:48will always reproduce
35:51spotted and speckled according to what
35:53we behold as we come to be refreshed in
35:56him, as we come to cross-pollinate and
35:59truly engage life with one another as
36:02Eric and Candace say to us to to know
36:04and to be known, to connect with people.
36:06There's something in that engagement
36:08that what we behold of the promise of
36:11the Lord, that literally is what we
36:13reproduce.
36:14And I believe that the Lord is wanting
36:17to bring a a measure of breakthrough
36:21that is beyond anything we have ever
36:23known before in our life.
36:25And this is what I'm praying. I'm
36:26praying that something would happen
36:28today.
36:29A deposit of God in the heart of people,
36:31divine encounter that would be released
36:34to every single person, every child,
36:36every infant in the nursery, everyone.
36:38That something would happen today where
36:40God would release over you a promise of
36:43the size of the stars in the sky. A
36:46promise beyond what you would have the
36:48intelligence to ask for. And not only
36:50that, that something would start
36:52unfolding today. Somebody Something
36:54would start rolling today where the
36:56greatest, most significant breakthroughs
36:58of your life this co-laboring
37:00partnership with God himself as the
37:02perfect loving father, that today would
37:05begin the greatest season of
37:07breakthrough that you've ever seen in
37:09your life. The things that you have
37:10fought for for years would unfold. I
37:13don't This is not a careless moment, not
37:16a careless prayer. I don't pull this on
37:18you very often, but I believe it's a
37:20divine moment where we're to we're to
37:22pray and make decree over one another
37:25that this is a season of extraordinary
37:27breakthrough. And I believe that it is.
37:30I believe that the Lord has set you up
37:32in your businesses, in your
37:33neighborhoods, in places of relationship
37:36and influence. Just that one miracle
37:38this morning of a
37:40a son in the Navy that hasn't contacted
37:42mom in 3 months, hasn't heard a thing,
37:44that when Paul talks about this one
37:46issue at communion, the a phone call is
37:49made that initiates at least the
37:50beginning of that miracle. This is what
37:52God is doing. It's a route right now.
37:55It's a right now invasion of God into
37:58realms of impossibility. So, I want you
38:00to stand up. I want to pray over you.
38:02And then um
38:03and then we'll wrap up wrap up this
38:05morning.
38:09Most of the time when we see
38:11breakthrough
38:13but by breakthrough I mean
38:15cancer leaves here
38:18out of debt over here
38:20impossible
38:21family reconciliation happens over here.
38:25A wayward child returns over there. When
38:27we see breakthrough like that,
38:28almost
38:30all the time, 99% of the time, it
38:33happens sporadically and then it
38:35spreads.
38:36I want this one to hit like a tidal
38:38wave.
38:39I want this one to hit like a tidal
38:40wave. I do.
38:41>> [applause]
38:41>> I want to pray
38:43that a that a massive wave of
38:46breakthrough would absolutely catch
38:48everybody off guard.
38:49That the goodness of the Lord would be
38:51seen upon your life in a way that you
38:53accelerate in favor
38:55and that you realize what the favor is
38:57there for, that the Lord has put a hand
38:59of favor upon you because he's
39:01positioned you
39:03to cause others to see his kindness and
39:06to draw them to him because of his
39:08kindness.
39:10That is the mark of blessing on people.
39:11I pray that it'll be right now. I ask
39:13Father in the wonderful and mighty name
39:16of Jesus that this one would hit like a
39:18tidal wave. This one would hit
39:21uh what would in the negative be uh
39:23violent and destructive, in this case
39:25would be uh reconstructive and restore
39:28and bless and release promise and
39:30blessing that this tidal wave of
39:32breakthrough would hit the people of God
39:35in these next three and four weeks where
39:37a new season begins where we actually
39:40have to be careful about what we pray
39:42for because it happens so quickly that
39:44we we we quit praying the religious
39:47prayers. We keep quit praying just
39:50things to sound good, but we start
39:52praying things that actually reconstruct
39:54the lives our lives and the lives of
39:56people around us cuz we pray for this
39:58invasion of the Holy Spirit of God to
40:00come and to and to impact entire cities
40:04and entire regions in the mighty name of
40:07Jesus. Cancer be driven from the house.
40:10Uh learning disorders be driven from the
40:13house. All these afflictions of the
40:15heart and mind be driven from the house
40:18in Jesus name. And I do pray for jobs
40:21and better jobs, the whole deal, that
40:23this would be a season of great economic
40:25favor and breakthrough, and that our
40:28entire city would come under the
40:29influence of that favor and
40:31breakthrough. That decisions would be
40:34made by our the fathers of our
40:36community, by industrial heads, by CEOs
40:39of corporations, that Reading would be
40:41put on the map and things would shift
40:43over these next 3 months that help this
40:46city for the next 50 years. God, bring
40:49this breakthrough, I pray.
40:51Bring this breakthrough. We
40:52We We call on the name of the Lord Jesus
40:55to cause a domino effect that
40:57permanently marks this city as a city of
41:00salvation with a river of sacrament
41:02flowing right through its center. We
41:04pray this in Jesus name.
41:06In Jesus name. Amen.
41:08>> [applause]
41:08[cheering]
41:08>> Amen.
41:12Amen.