1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:03,400 Welcome to the Cross Power Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:06,800 You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX. 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,480 We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,760 cross. Now let's join the service. 5 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,000 Struggling past few days especially seem like everybody 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:21,160 struggles I know that but I my blood pressure has been all 7 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:25,160 messed up. It's been really, really low and 8 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:31,240 had this medication doctor put me on it's diuretic. 9 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,840 And so it's clearing everything out and I'm getting dehydrated 10 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,640 and I'll get woozy and I'll, you know, the other day I was over 11 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:46,800 there and in Paris with Bev and I had already moved to the 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:51,880 passenger side instead of the driver's side because I told 13 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:56,720 her, I said, in fact, at one point I opened my eyes up and I 14 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,760 said, where are we 'cause I can't see anything. 15 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,520 You know, all I could see was a little bit of structure from the 16 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,160 gas station nearby. Just, you know, that covered 17 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:10,320 area, you know, that little thing, it's got the big tall 18 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:12,760 columns, you know, and I can figure that out. 19 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,200 Well, that's the gas station. But I didn't know where we were 20 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:16,840 at, couldn't see anything. But why? 21 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:21,080 So anyway, been struggling with that. 22 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,720 And but it it reminded me of something. 23 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,520 You know, in John chapter 4, Jesus met this woman at the 24 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:49,040 well. He said I'm the one that's the, 25 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,560 the, the water that you need, you know, and if you drink of 26 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:56,320 this, you won't. Well, there's a lot of people 27 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:04,720 that are allowing the world to pull out of them the water that, 28 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,639 you know, it's it's coming out, but they're not letting it come 29 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,640 back in quick enough. They're not they're not abiding 30 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:15,000 where they need to abide and they're not letting the water 31 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:16,560 come in. OK. 32 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,360 And their vision is all messed up. 33 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,840 Doesn't take too long. You start seeing things wrong. 34 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:31,720 I thought, you know, may we stay with the, the water wherever 35 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,160 we're at. They would be seeking him. 36 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,680 And yeah, there's storms and they they last a long time. 37 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:46,320 Sometimes seems like the storms of life or well, they just don't 38 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:53,520 hardly ever go away. And the riding it out, sometimes 39 00:02:53,520 --> 00:03:01,200 it seems like, you know, it wasn't just a matter of, of 40 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,960 riding it out. You've been riding it for a long 41 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:08,640 time and you're still riding it. In fact, some of you nearly felt 42 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:12,320 like just giving up because you didn't see the answers that you 43 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:17,480 were looking for. So yeah, I've prayed, I've 44 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,480 bawled, I've cried my heart out. You know, I've laid it all out 45 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,520 before the Lord. I believe that there was going 46 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,560 to be something different was going to happen. 47 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:32,080 It's the same old thing. Nothing's changed. 48 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:40,600 Not that I can see with my eye. I want you to take a look over 49 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,840 in Isaiah chapter 6. And I know some of you are well 50 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,840 familiar with that passage, but maybe you never really put it to 51 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,640 a place like I'm going to try and deliver it this morning. 52 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:08,360 Isaiah chapter 60. We'll probably read the first 9 53 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:20,459 verses or so. In the year that King Uzziah 54 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:26,700 died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and 55 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:30,060 the train of his robe filled the temple. 56 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,880 Above it stood Seraphim. Each one had 6 wings. 57 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,400 With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, 58 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:50,040 and with two he flew, and one cried to another, and said, 59 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:55,760 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 60 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,160 The whole earth is full of his glory. 61 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,080 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who 62 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,200 cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 63 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:13,960 So I said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of 64 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:19,720 unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean 65 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,680 lips. For my eyes have seen the king, 66 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:32,400 the Lord of hosts, and one of the seraphim flew to me, having 67 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:37,200 in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs from 68 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:42,000 the altar. And he he touched my mouth with 69 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:48,040 it, and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, your iniquity 70 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,160 is taken away, and your sin purged. 71 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:58,120 Also I heard a voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and 72 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:04,360 who will go for us? Then I said, here I am, send me. 73 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:11,800 And he said, go. Well, there's a lot there that 74 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:16,680 I'm not necessarily going to dwell on, but I do want to talk 75 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:22,600 about the first part of it in particular in in verse one at 76 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:27,800 the very beginning of this, you know, I don't read the King 77 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,000 James Version a whole lot. I do go over to it, like I go 78 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,760 over to a lot of other translations and check things 79 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,120 out and see what the wording was in the translation because it'll 80 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:42,520 vary. But I get a little bit, I don't 81 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,680 know, cross eyed with the old English and whatever. 82 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:50,080 And I, you know, it just doesn't really, it doesn't work as well 83 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,000 a lot of times for me. And there are people that, you 84 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,240 know, say, hey, the King James is the only way to go. 85 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:57,840 Well, if it is, then you go with it. 86 00:06:57,840 --> 00:06:59,360 At least you're going with the word, you know. 87 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:04,920 But but I do look back and forth and I noticed that most all the 88 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:10,640 translations were worded without a particular little word that 89 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:18,080 the King James uses. In the King James Version, he 90 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:26,680 says that in the year that King Uzziah died, which is what he 91 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:35,240 can see about him, I saw. But in King James it says I saw 92 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,880 also. OK, now a little word also is 93 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,920 important 'cause he's not just saying I saw and he's not saying 94 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,800 I saw this and this he's not saying, yeah, I saw this thing 95 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,160 and I also saw this. OK, It's, it's, it's there to 96 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:56,600 show the contrast, OK, Where I see, and I've been singing for 97 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,760 years because Isaiah had reigned for 52 years when he died. 98 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:11,080 OK, So it wasn't something where that Isaiah saw something that 99 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,320 he had never seen before. He'd been seeing some problems 100 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:20,160 with the nation for years. Because see, during his eyes 101 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,960 reign, there was, he had a personal devout loyalty to the 102 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:32,720 Lord for a while, but he allowed things to take place in the 103 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:34,200 nation that shouldn't have been there. 104 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,080 He allowed the, the high places and the mountains and so forth 105 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,520 where that they would go up and they would offer sacrifices to 106 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,920 other gods. Now these were Jewish people. 107 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,760 They were God's people, sort of. But they would go up there on 108 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,200 the mountainside and they would offer to this God and to that 109 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:56,880 God. And then they would come back 110 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:01,920 from their paganism and, and try and do the rituals on those days 111 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,160 that they would have with the the church, with the Jewish 112 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,880 faith and honor the real guy. So it's just kind of a mix. 113 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,040 And I'm sure that that troubled Isaiah because along the way he 114 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,040 could see that the nation wasn't going right. 115 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:21,280 And then this king of his eye, I don't know how much you know 116 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,960 about him, but he was a real mastermind at military and that 117 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,520 type of thing. So he was able to build up their 118 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,840 defenses and make a strong military of over 300,000 people. 119 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,880 I've read before a few places, something like that. 120 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:42,720 So he had a strong military, he built up the border and he did a 121 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,120 lot of good things, created a lot of prosperity in the land 122 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,200 where the people had a lot of money and where they're living 123 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:49,920 pretty good. OK. 124 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,960 They kind of liked having him for the king, but he kind of 125 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,160 liked being the king too. And so pride comes along because 126 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,080 of prosperity. And then when you add pride and 127 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,200 prosperity together, well, what's Scripture say about pride 128 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,280 in the 1st place? It's going to lead you to a 129 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:12,960 fall, right? So he sort of put himself over. 130 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:15,640 He thought too highly of himself, and he did some things. 131 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,200 I mean, he was God's man. He's in charge of the Kingdom, 132 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,720 right? So he made a few exceptions so 133 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,680 he could do a few things that he thought he wanted to do that God 134 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:32,560 said you're not supposed to do. Sometimes we have a tendency to 135 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:34,360 do that too. I've been going to church. 136 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,400 I know the Bible. I'm tied with the Lord. 137 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,000 It won't hurt if I do this one little thing here. 138 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,120 There's one little thing there, but it hurt him. 139 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,960 It caused him to have leprosy, and he had leprosy and had to be 140 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:49,000 isolated from the palace into into a place where that, you 141 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,680 know, he wasn't going to expose everybody else to the disease. 142 00:10:53,080 --> 00:11:00,800 And his son came after him and was actually reigning or ruling 143 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,160 even though Uzziah hadn't died yet. 144 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,200 OK. I mean, you couldn't say that 145 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,720 Uzziah is dead. So he was the his son was the 146 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,560 king. But somebody has to run the 147 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:16,520 place, right? And so that was the situation. 148 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:21,760 And Isaiah has seen this develop over the years and he's 149 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:26,920 realizing, you know what? I have prayed about this and 150 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,320 I've prayed about this and I've prayed about this, and it's not 151 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,880 getting any better. In fact, I thought for sure that 152 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:35,960 God would have healed him by now. 153 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:40,200 And he's been tucked away in that hold out in that isolated 154 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:45,440 isolation area for however many years, 7 + 7 years, anyway, 155 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,720 maybe 10. He's been put away. 156 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:53,600 And now I find out that our one hope, and this was not just his 157 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,640 feeling, but I'm sure it was the feeling of a lot of people in 158 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,840 the land. Our one hope is dead. 159 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,560 And we've been praying about this for a long time. 160 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:07,720 Well, you know, why didn't God send revival? 161 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,560 Why didn't God just heal our our king and, you know, get a hold 162 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,720 of his heart and turn him around and, and, and then heal him and 163 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,680 everything will be great again. And now what do we've got? 164 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,320 We've got nobody really on the throne. 165 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,680 I mean, he's got his son there, but he probably wasn't even 166 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:27,720 sworn in or whatever they did back then. 167 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,640 OK, But he wasn't really officially the king yet. 168 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:36,080 All he saw was. And it isn't working out. 169 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:37,560 It's not supposed to be going this way. 170 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,640 I've prayed about it and I've prayed about it and I've prayed 171 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,200 about it, and I'm going to go pray again. 172 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:49,640 And so he goes to the temple, and he cries out to the Lord, 173 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,280 because while he was there, he also saw something. 174 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,360 And that's the way it works. If you stop crying out to the 175 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,040 Lord, you're not going to see much again. 176 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,960 In fact, your vision will get all messed up, right? 177 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,800 It's when that water's flowing and you're communicating with 178 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,600 the Lord, that's when you're able to see. 179 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,560 And so he goes back to the temple, to the House of the 180 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:14,560 Lord, and he cries out to the Lord. 181 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:20,440 And he also sees that the Lord was high and lifted up, that he 182 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,720 was not concerned about all the little things that are going on 183 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,480 down here that we take the heart and think are huge because 184 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:32,000 they're not big to him. Let me say it again. 185 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,880 All those problems you've been dragging around for years 186 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,880 worrying about and praying about, and you hadn't seen 187 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,240 anything change. And you're about to give up and 188 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:43,640 say, well, maybe there is no God after all. 189 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,920 Maybe he's just abandoned me. Maybe he's hard at hearing. 190 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,760 It starts sounding a lot like, you know, the Mount Carmel 191 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,640 whenever you have Elijah going up there, you know, kidding 192 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,920 those other guys about their gods, right? 193 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:57,600 Hey, maybe he had to go to the restroom. 194 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,680 Can't hear you, right? That's how we can feel too 195 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:06,120 sometimes. Especially if your eyes focused 196 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,640 on the problems that are around you and the things that you 197 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,800 think are so terrible. Instead of being focused or 198 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,320 fixed on Christ, now you got to have your eyes focused on 199 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:22,240 Christ. So in the midst of Isaiah's 200 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,960 emptiness and his natural hopelessness while he's in the 201 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:33,280 temple, he discovers a few things. 202 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:38,680 One is that the situation that we face here on this earth, 203 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,840 whatever that storm is that we're singing about and 204 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:49,360 listening Brother Lance talked about a minute ago, those 205 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,520 situations are not a struggle nor a worry for the King of 206 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,080 Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. 207 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:57,800 He's the alpha and Omega. He's the Ancient of Days. 208 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:04,360 There is nothing they can, they can trouble him and him go, oh 209 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:09,520 Gee, what am I going to do? I mean, he doesn't do that. 210 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,240 With him, all things are possible. 211 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,520 And you say, yeah, I know that. That's why I've been praying for 212 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:17,040 it. But if you didn't see a change, 213 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,360 just keep on praying and keep on going and keep on trusting the 214 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:23,680 Lord and keep on putting your eyes not on the things of the 215 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,000 earth, but the thing, you know, raise them up. 216 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,480 Look up. All right, Look at him. 217 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:36,520 When trials abound, you go up before the altar of sacrifice 218 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,920 and you draw near to the Lord and he will draw near to you. 219 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,240 You say, well, I, I, I don't feel him. 220 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,360 Sometimes I've tried and I've I've found my prayer closet and 221 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,240 I've tried to pray and I don't feel any presence of, of the 222 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,040 Lord. But if you go back and read the 223 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,920 word in James chapter 4 verse 8, it says something. 224 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,120 It says if you'll draw near to me, I will draw near to you. 225 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:03,680 And that's not a lie. He's not a man that he should 226 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:05,440 lie. He's not son, a man that he 227 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,280 should retract his word and go, oops, that wasn't something I 228 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,320 meant to do. I was supposed to have been over 229 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:11,600 there. I forgot about you. 230 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,680 He hadn't forgot about you. He knows right where you're at. 231 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:16,640 He knows where your eyes are focused. 232 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,640 And if they're not on him like they should be, he knows that 233 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:25,400 too. There's another thing. 234 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:38,320 Whenever Isaiah came and called out to the Lord, there was 235 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:43,680 revelation that came. See, God revealed something to 236 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:48,520 His people, and I may be getting ahead of myself, I don't know, 237 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:52,840 but I'm going to tell you this anyway if I can. 238 00:16:55,520 --> 00:17:04,359 I've seen the cupped hands of God above this place. 239 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:11,800 I have seen God's hands above you and I've seen in His hands 240 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,240 that there was milk and there was honey. 241 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,119 It's the same thing that his children were supposed to be 242 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:21,280 going to whenever they wouldn't go the first time and it took 243 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,440 him an extra 40 years because their eyes were on the wrong 244 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,599 thing. Their eyes were not focused on 245 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:28,480 him. Their eyes were not saying we're 246 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,040 going to trust in the covenant promises of God. 247 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,040 Their eyes were on how big the problem was and they wouldn't go 248 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,720 in and get it. And now God says, hey, I'm 249 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,960 holding honey, I'm holding the milk, I'm holding the blessings 250 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,400 that I want to give to you, and I'm holding revelation in my 251 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,000 hand and I'm going to give it to you if you will. 252 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,880 But look at me. If you'll keep your eyes focused 253 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,240 upon me, if you will look, not look back, but you'll look 254 00:17:55,240 --> 00:18:06,800 forward and look to me. He desires to pour out upon you 255 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,800 the, the blessings and the revelation. 256 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,120 And some of you say, well, I've been seeking that for a long 257 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:14,680 time. Keep seeking it and look to him. 258 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,400 Sometimes all we do, we think we've been, we think we've been 259 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,680 in the right spot because occasionally we've prayed about 260 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:28,000 something. But just going to the church 261 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,840 once in a while to pray about something or every now and then 262 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:35,600 throwing that in your prayer list isn't the same as day by 263 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,920 day seeking the Lord with all your heart and keeping your eyes 264 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,240 focused and fixed upon him. There's a difference. 265 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:53,880 So I mentioned the children of Israel a while ago and you can 266 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,400 look at Numbers 13 and Numbers 14. 267 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,280 You can look over and Deuteronomy chapter 1 and you 268 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:06,400 can find how that they allowed just what I said their eyes were 269 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,240 were fixed upon the problem instead of fixed upon him. 270 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,000 You know, if you're walking with the Lord and he's not only with 271 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,160 you, but he's in you, you got no problems. 272 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:19,760 You really don't. He said, Oh yeah, I do. 273 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,200 I got this. Not really. 274 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:26,680 I mean, life's short. It goes fast, right? 275 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,720 And what David say, he said it's like a, you know, a passing 276 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:37,640 shadow or a fleeting vapor and and you go, well, during that 277 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,160 time, you know, I'll go. No, you don't. 278 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,240 Just keep your eyes on him. You'll be out of this before you 279 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,480 know it. You know, remember that he is 280 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,040 your peace. And if you're not looking to 281 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,400 him, you got no peace. And you said, well, I do run 282 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,160 over there occasionally and I pray and I try and call on his 283 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:55,360 name. Well, good. 284 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,000 Don't make it occasional. Make it a daily habit. 285 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,000 It's an ongoing thing. Scripture said, well, Paul said 286 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:04,480 in Thessalonians, what do you say? 287 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:11,120 He said pray without ceasing. And he also said you can rejoice 288 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,840 that way too, because, hey, if you're praying without ceasing 289 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,560 and you're walking with the Lord, and he is the Lord above 290 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,800 all others, and he's able to take care of all things, then it 291 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,840 doesn't really matter ultimately what happens except for that, 292 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,080 that you're connected to him because he's going to see you 293 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,120 through. That's how you ride that storm 294 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:30,800 out, right? Yeah. 295 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,720 But then there was another occasion that I remember 296 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,000 whenever they've kind of blew it too. 297 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:45,360 And this time over in First Samuel Chapter 17, you've got a 298 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:49,760 little guy named David. He wasn't a little guy in a lot 299 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,480 of ways, but he was a young man, I guess, a teenager. 300 00:20:54,360 --> 00:21:01,360 And you know the story about the Valley of Elah, and you have 301 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:04,240 Goliath on one side and you got David on the other. 302 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,720 But before David ever got there, what did you have? 303 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,800 You had Goliath on one side with the full army of the 304 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,640 Philistines, and on the other side you had every man basically 305 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,800 that was of age to fight. And the Hebrew nation in that, 306 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,880 in that land, they were there doing what? 307 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:27,720 Hunkered down, you know, going, oh, gosh, oh, I don't even want 308 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:29,040 to look. Oh, crap. 309 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,640 Look how big that sucker is. Oh, man. 310 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,400 And if you don't believe that's true, you go read there. 311 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:38,200 And when he defines or it tells you in Scripture how big 312 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,760 everything was, how tall he was and how big his armor was and 313 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,240 how much it weighed, you know why that's there? 314 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,640 It's to let people know that. Yeah, we were busy looking at 315 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:54,920 that, You said. Well, you you got to know your 316 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:56,680 enemy. Well, no, you know, not as much. 317 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,640 You got to know the one that can conquer your enemy, OK. 318 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,440 And so keep your eyes focused on him. 319 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,960 Now I get to thinking about that. 320 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,800 It wasn't much difference than in that case than it was over 321 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:16,000 there in numbers 13 and 14. Whenever the children of Israel 322 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,720 are trying to go into the promised land and get the 323 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,240 blessings, the milk and the honey right. 324 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,240 The the great things that God wanted to give unto them, they 325 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:29,200 weren't able to get because they were too busy looking at the 326 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,320 problem instead of the one that takes care of the problems. 327 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,800 They didn't believe in the promises they had received. 328 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,680 And some of you have received promises in your heart. 329 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:40,600 You've prayed for something before. 330 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:44,040 Maybe it's a grandchild, maybe it's a brother, or it's a wife, 331 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,680 or it's a husband. And in your heart, boy, that 332 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,360 storm's been brewing for a long time and you've been praying 333 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:53,640 about it for a long time. And I know he told me that that 334 00:22:53,640 --> 00:23:00,600 something was going to change. And yet you're going and I don't 335 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,920 see any change, but I'll just keep on going, I guess, you 336 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,160 know, and, and after a while, if you're just floating downstream, 337 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,680 you're not going to end up and where you want to go. 338 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:13,360 You've got to keep your eyes focused upon him and you got to 339 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:17,480 draw close to him and you've got to not worry about the problem 340 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,000 that seems so big in your life. You can realize that he's big 341 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:25,440 enough to take care of that and hold that as well as you. 342 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,360 So they let the enemy seem enlarged because their focus was 343 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:37,880 on the enemy, was on the problem. 344 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:40,600 And the more you look at something, the bigger it gets to 345 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,040 you because you'd have been looking at it for so long, 346 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,440 right? And and the same is true if 347 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,840 you'll just put your focus on Christ, enlarge him. 348 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:54,040 You can't say enlarge him, brother, that you can't do that. 349 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,200 And how can we enlarge God? Well, you enlarge him in your 350 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:02,200 heart, in your mind, in your life, because you are focused 351 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,000 upon him. And the more you focus upon Him 352 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,840 and realize that He is, always has been and always will be, 353 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,400 that He is the one that can do all things and without Him we 354 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,560 are nothing. All right, If you realize that 355 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,800 this is the one, that's Jehovah Rapha, he's the healer, He is 356 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,360 Jehovah Jireh. He's your provider. 357 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,000 He is the great I am. And that wasn't just for Moses. 358 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:37,430 That was for all of us. You know, I was thinking about 359 00:24:38,390 --> 00:24:41,110 give you a little bit of advice on a side note here because 360 00:24:41,110 --> 00:24:47,360 we're talking about David, but David did two things in that 361 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,520 chapters, a long chapter. But if you look around, I don't 362 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,560 know, it's around 34th verse or so. 363 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:59,880 There's a, I'll just read it. There's 3 verses here, 3 or 4 364 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:03,120 I'm going to read starting with verse 34 and first Samuel 17. 365 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:08,440 It says, But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep his 366 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:13,360 father's sheep. And when a lion or a bear came 367 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:18,080 and took the lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and 368 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,200 struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth. 369 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,560 And when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and 370 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,720 struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both 371 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:36,920 lion and bear apparently multiple times and this 372 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:44,000 uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has 373 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,640 defiled the armies of the living God. 374 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:54,520 Now listen to this verse 37. Moreover, David said the Lord 375 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,480 who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the 376 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,280 bear, he will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. 377 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:08,760 OK, So what did he do? He reminded himself. 378 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,840 He gave a testimony of what the Lord was doing and had done 379 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:15,200 right. OK. 380 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,920 And I'm sure that that builds your faith. 381 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,320 That's my experience. The other thing is that he was 382 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:31,760 giving glory to God. So yes, he had had had problems 383 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,080 along the way, but guess who fixed him and and guess who had 384 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,160 to go up against the lion? He did. 385 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:39,880 Guess what? You may have to go up against 386 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,360 the lion too. When God gets ready to give you 387 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:45,160 something, a lot of times the enemy is trying to take it from 388 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,040 you and keep you from getting it. 389 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:52,040 That's why you got to fight. I guarantee you if you've ever 390 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:56,880 tried to minister too much to people, you've had a fight. 391 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,280 It might be back at your house when you're trying to prepare 392 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,680 because I'm telling you it happens to I, I can tell 393 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,600 whenever the Lord's going to move in somebody's life because 394 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,960 it's a bigger fight that day than it was the day before. 395 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:19,760 But I'm telling you that, you know, if you don't give glory to 396 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:24,960 God, if you don't remember the things He's done for you and 397 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,600 remember the promises that He's made to you and rest in that 398 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,920 instead of trying to take it upon your own self to fix the 399 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:37,560 problems, well, that's not going to work out too well for you. 400 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,440 So the first thing I want you to remember is remember where He's 401 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,680 brought you from. The second is give glory to the 402 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,320 Lord. OK, Next thing if you drop down 403 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:54,400 to verse 45, verse verse 45 through 47, there's another 404 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,720 point here that needs to not go unnoticed. 405 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,120 Says then David said to the what? 406 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,680 To the Philistine. Who was he talking to? 407 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,560 The Philistine. He was talking to his biggest 408 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:12,080 problem at the moment. OK, he was talking to Goliath, 409 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:17,080 and he says to Goliath, you come to me with a sword, with a 410 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,440 spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of 411 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,640 the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you 412 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,000 have defied. This day the Lord will deliver 413 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,840 you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head 414 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,520 from you. And this day I will give the 415 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,160 carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the 416 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:41,080 air and to the beast of the earth, that all the earth, why, 417 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,000 that all the earth may know that there is a God in His. 418 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,600 That's true. Then all this assembly shall 419 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:53,200 know that the Lord does not save with sword or spear, for the 420 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,840 battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands. 421 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:02,080 Now what did He do? This is the second thing anybody 422 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:03,720 writes anything down. This is the second thing you 423 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:05,840 need to remember to do, besides what George already talked 424 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:10,680 about, and that is he spoke to the problem. 425 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:20,080 He didn't too often. We act like sniveling, whiny, 426 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:28,960 troubled kids and and and we will come sort of to the Lord, 427 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,680 but we come like he doesn't even want to do anything for us. 428 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,920 He doesn't really have anything blessed, any blessings in his 429 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,120 hand that he wants to pour out upon us. 430 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,080 He not really going to do it because I've prayed before and 431 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,760 it didn't really. And we we almost don't even go. 432 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:49,000 And then when we do, we beg and we're talking to him about the 433 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,280 problem. He knows about the problem. 434 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,040 He allowed it. Oh, my goodness. 435 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:57,400 Yeah, a lot of times that's true. 436 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:01,400 He, he allowed it. Why does he allow problems? 437 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:06,680 Because it will strengthen you. And, and the quicker we learn to 438 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:11,480 to keep our eyes upon him, keep our focus stayed upon him, and 439 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:16,240 and to not let the problems rule our life, the the fear dominate 440 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,080 our minds, guess what? We'll be a whole lot more 441 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:23,840 peaceful and we'll be a whole lot more successful and we can 442 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,600 enjoy life and we can sing. Hey, I'm just riding out the 443 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,480 storm because I'm going to be here for a little while and then 444 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,360 I am out of here, Jack. I am going to where my 445 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,400 citizenship is and it's not here. 446 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,240 It's not in commerce, It's not in Hunt County, OK? 447 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,120 It is in heaven, praise God. Right? 448 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,160 So that's that's the focus. Now. 449 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:48,440 I want to move to Isaiah chapter 64 real quick. 450 00:30:51,400 --> 00:31:03,420 In Isaiah chapter 64, Isaiah recalls a place called, well, 451 00:31:03,420 --> 00:31:05,580 you most you probably know it is Mount Sinai. 452 00:31:06,500 --> 00:31:14,100 It's also known as Horeb, but he remembers back at a time 453 00:31:14,100 --> 00:31:18,600 whenever God descended. Now you got to remember at this 454 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:22,360 point, he, he'd already had this other experience where God kind 455 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,800 of pulled the heavens back and exposed himself in the temple 456 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:28,360 and said, hey, guess what? You know, you might have 457 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,080 problems all around, but you also got me filling this place. 458 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,880 I'm right here. My presence isn't a distant God. 459 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,960 I'm not in some faraway planet. I'm right here where your 460 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:38,880 problems are. Don't worry about it. 461 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,280 Right? That he had that experience, but 462 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,800 he also remembers this other experience when God came down 463 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,440 and he, he came down and manifested himself often. 464 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:50,520 It's been a very powerful way upon this mountain. 465 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:56,360 And when he did, there was lightning and Thunder and you 466 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,160 see, it's pretty intense. And, and guess what? 467 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:05,720 Anybody that's carelessly came upon that mountain, that wasn't 468 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,600 the thing to do because they die. 469 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,080 Because after all, he's a holy God, right? 470 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,840 He's holy and righteous and the people are sinful people. 471 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,360 Romans 323 says that we've all sinned and fallen short of the 472 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:26,520 glory of God and and without the covering that Christ brought 473 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:30,440 later, what happens? You die. 474 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,880 You can't. Nobody that knows, not Jesus can 475 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:38,680 expect to go to heaven and enter the presence of God and live 476 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:40,880 there forever. And we got a whole world of 477 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:41,800 people going. What? 478 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,840 Hey, well, thank God. Well, you know, at least he 479 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:46,440 doesn't have that cancer anymore. 480 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:50,240 He's he's gone to heaven. Well, probably not. 481 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,120 I'm just saying that's what the word of God says. 482 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,120 Probably not. It sounds good. 483 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,160 It makes you feel better. But guess what? 484 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:02,480 We have the truth, and the truth says what? 485 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,400 What does the word say? It says that that abroad is the 486 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,520 road to destruction and most people aren't on it. 487 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,720 OK. And he's remembering back to 488 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,080 this time and the first 3 verses. 489 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:20,120 These are the words we find Isaiah calling out to the Lord 490 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,680 saying, oh, that you would rend the heavens. 491 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,920 What's that mean? It means tear them apart, open 492 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,040 this heavens up because there's this barrier between where you 493 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:34,680 seem to be at and where I'm at that you would come down that 494 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:39,240 the mountains might shake at your presence as fire burns 495 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:44,720 brushwood, as fire causes water to boil, to make your name known 496 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,560 to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your 497 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:54,640 presence. So he was calling on God to come 498 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:58,440 down so that God could be glorified and people would come 499 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:02,760 to know him, right? And he goes on verse 3 says, 500 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:09,440 when you did awesome things for which we did not look, you came 501 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:18,639 down the mountain, shook at your presence like Isaiah. 502 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:24,480 I believe there's those here who've cried out to the heavens 503 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:29,840 to the Lord and said, Lord, we're in the heavens. 504 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:34,679 Tear those those clouds back, whatever it is the separate, I 505 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:39,120 don't feel your presence and I want to know your presence. 506 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:44,600 And there's good things that the Lord gives you whenever you're 507 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,280 rightfully are able to get into his presence. 508 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,239 But I got to thinking about this, you know, here he is 509 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,400 praying this thing. And yeah, there have been 510 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:58,760 experiences in the past, but there was 1 still ahead because 511 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,560 there was one day whenever the Lord decided, OK, the fullness 512 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:08,880 of time has come and I myself, I'm going to go down to where 513 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:14,400 the people are AT. And he came as a man that he 514 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:16,720 might. It wouldn't be the before it was 515 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:18,960 the men that got on the mountain with the Lord and they weren't 516 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:20,960 ready. They're dead now. 517 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,360 It's the other way around. He comes down to be with the 518 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,000 people and he's going to give, he's going to die. 519 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,000 Why? So that we might live and we 520 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,440 wouldn't have to die, right? He was coming with blessings in 521 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:35,000 His hand. He was coming with eternal life 522 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,920 in His hand. He was coming with the greatest 523 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:41,720 of all blessings, that you might be able to enter in to the 524 00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:46,280 presence of Almighty God without hesitation. 525 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,440 Because up to that point, and even at the time that Christ was 526 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:51,960 here, guess what? In the temple there was a place 527 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:53,320 called the Holy of Holies, right? 528 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:57,120 And in that temple, the Holy of Holies, there was a divide. 529 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:02,760 You remember that you can't just walk back in there to where the 530 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:15,300 presence of God is. And I got to thinking, because 531 00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:22,060 Jesus Christ died on the cross, because he took what wasn't his. 532 00:36:22,060 --> 00:36:26,740 He took our sins, the whole world sin, put it upon himself 533 00:36:26,940 --> 00:36:34,240 and nailed it to a cross and gave his life and took it back 534 00:36:34,240 --> 00:36:39,320 up again. That picture of that heaven's 535 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:41,480 being rent, That's exactly what happened. 536 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,240 The heavens were torn apart. And if you don't believe it, 537 00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:48,560 take a look over in Matthew chapter 27 verse 51. 538 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:53,560 It says at that moment, at that moment, what moment? 539 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:58,680 The moment that he gave up his ghost and he said it's finished, 540 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,920 right, OK. At that moment, the curtain of 541 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,560 the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 542 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:08,560 The earth shook and the rocks split. 543 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:14,280 Even the hardest of places in the rocks, even the hardest of 544 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:19,360 hearts, they can break before an almighty God if they will get 545 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,040 their eyes focused on him, right? 546 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:26,760 And and because of that, there was blessing, there was 547 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,000 revelation, because now we can have enter into a a new 548 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,160 relationship with God that they couldn't have before we can get 549 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,760 nice and personal. And that's why over in Hebrews 550 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:41,680 in chapter 4, it says in verse verse 16, Let us therefore come 551 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:47,400 boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and 552 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:49,880 find grace to help in time and need. 553 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,640 You can just go right on up there like you would your daddy 554 00:37:54,640 --> 00:38:00,760 and jump in his lap. You can in fact, in if you go a 555 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,280 little bit further and dig into the Scripture, you'll find out 556 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:07,320 that Christ who died for you and ascended to the right hand of 557 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,640 the Father is already seated by the Father, right 'cause he's at 558 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:14,320 the right hand of the Father and we are seated with Him in 559 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:18,520 heavenly places there. OK, why is that or how is that? 560 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:22,480 Because the same Spirit that's in him is in US, right? 561 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,840 If we've accepted Christ, we've accepted his Spirit into us. 562 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,000 We are part of the body of Christ. 563 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,200 We are part of the bride of Christ. 564 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,920 That's what Scripture says. We're one with Christ. 565 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:37,080 Think about that. Whenever somebody gets married 566 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:40,040 down here, whatever we say. Well, and they, the 2 become one 567 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:41,680 flesh. Yeah. 568 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,240 Well, guess what? When you marry the groom, you 569 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:49,320 become one with him, right? And if you're really married to 570 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:56,360 him, you should be looking to him, not to all the other staff 571 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:00,720 that goes on in this world. There's plenty to get riled up 572 00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:02,600 about and worried about. But why? 573 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,720 You're married to the groom. You're one with him, and he can 574 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:09,200 do anything. That's right. 575 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:15,880 I'm going to say this real quickly. 576 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:21,680 In Psalm chapter 24, verse eight, you don't have to turn 577 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:26,360 there particularly, but in Psalm 24 verse 8, it says who is this 578 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:32,560 king of glory? This one that Moses said, let me 579 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:38,720 see your glory, right? This one who Isaiah said rend 580 00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:42,320 the heavens that I might see. He wanted to see the glory of 581 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,680 God. Who is this king of glory? 582 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:49,920 The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 583 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:57,080 Who is this king that Isaiah encountered and what glory is 584 00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,200 there for him? Now think about this real 585 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,760 carefully. What glory is there for him? 586 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:10,520 If one, we never encountered a storm or an enemy, if you never 587 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:14,160 encountered any problems like you'd kind of like, I'm kind of 588 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:17,040 that way too. How much glory is he going to 589 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,720 get? Because it's not real evident 590 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:21,080 that he was able to conquer any problems. 591 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,640 You never really had any, right? Just saying. 592 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:30,920 Second thing is what glory is there for him if the enemies 593 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,480 that we conquer are so weak that we can conquer them? 594 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:42,880 If, if the problem that you face is within your ability to fix, 595 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:47,640 what glory does God really get if it gets fixed? 596 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:50,440 I mean, you could have done that, right? 597 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:56,920 So naturally, when we should be expecting that if we're going to 598 00:40:56,920 --> 00:40:59,960 give greater glory to God, we should be facing all kinds of 599 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:02,400 hardships. We should be facing all kinds of 600 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,200 problems, you know, whether it's financial or relationships or, 601 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:10,480 or whatever it is health. I don't know what all you're 602 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,720 facing. I'm telling you one thing 603 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:16,080 shouldn't be some big shock. You shouldn't be all down in the 604 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:18,720 Molly Grubs or whatever. You thinking? 605 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,600 Well, I guess you just forgot about. 606 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:27,240 He hadn't forgot you. Scripture says that his eye is 607 00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:30,760 constantly going to and fro across the earth, that he might 608 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:34,880 strongly support those whose heart is wholly his. 609 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:39,080 Your heart can't be wholly his if your heart is all wrapped up 610 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,120 in this problem and that problem and this thing you love and that 611 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:44,880 thing you love instead of the one that you should be loving 612 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:46,160 on. OK. 613 00:41:50,960 --> 00:42:04,880 Yeah, when you think about that. In our weakness we are made 614 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:09,040 strong not because we are strong, because we are weak. 615 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,440 But what happens whenever we realize that we are weak. 616 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:16,360 We call upon the one that we know is strong, and the one 617 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:21,000 that's strong works through us right and changes things. 618 00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:26,240 For though we have an adversary, the devil, and in first Peter 619 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,920 5/8 it says the devil goes around like a roaring lion 620 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:30,400 seeking who he can devour. Right. 621 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:35,360 OK, let me say that again. The devil runs around as or like 622 00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:39,480 a lion seeking who he can devour. 623 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:49,880 But Jesus is not like, but is the lion. 624 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:54,640 He's the lion of the tribe of Judah and he is our strength. 625 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:59,720 In Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, you might recall this a real 626 00:42:59,720 --> 00:43:04,000 quick light, but it's the the fall's taking place, right? 627 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:09,320 And God comes over to talk to him and he looks over at Eve and 628 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:12,520 Eve says, what you know, or no, actually it was Adam. 629 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:14,440 And Adam says, hey, Eve gave it to me. 630 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:17,000 So then he looks over at Eve and Eve says, well, yeah, that was 631 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:20,600 the that serpent over there. He, he told me, you know what? 632 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:23,440 I just fell through the trap or whatever. 633 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,480 OK. And and while this is going on, 634 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:30,680 there are curses that are pronounced because of their 635 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:35,480 disobedience. It's always a good idea, even if 636 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,600 you don't understand what's going on and it seems like 637 00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:41,160 there's a storm in your attention that seems to want to 638 00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:47,560 drift away. Stay in obedience and I, I will 639 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:50,680 put enmity. This is verse 15, God speaking, 640 00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:54,160 he says I will put enmity between you and the woman and 641 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:59,480 between your offspring and hers, and he will crush your head and 642 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:03,720 you will strike his heel. OK, he will. 643 00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:10,120 That word seed is singular. And so there's really only one 644 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:13,760 who was able to crush the enemy that we can't conquer ourselves. 645 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:19,000 His name is Jesus, right? OK, he's the one. 646 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,680 However, that word is not only singular, it is a collective 647 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:24,400 noun. Now, if you remember from back 648 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,840 in, you know, middle school or whatever, when they ever had 649 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:29,600 English, a collective noun represents a whole group. 650 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:32,680 So it's kind of like saying I've got a fish. 651 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:35,600 You know, you can say fish, and it means singular, right? 652 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:37,600 Yeah. But you can also say I've got 653 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:39,600 fish. And what's that mean? 654 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:42,200 It means you got a bunch the same word, but it means a lot. 655 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:44,560 It's a collective noun, you know. 656 00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:49,960 So what I'm telling you is that not only is has Christ crushed 657 00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:53,000 at the cross, the head of the enemy that wants to keep you 658 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:56,280 bound, OK? And Christ has already set you 659 00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:57,960 free. You just got to accept that 660 00:44:57,960 --> 00:44:59,680 That's one of the blessings that coming to him. 661 00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:05,080 OK, but here's the other thing. If you get the collective noun 662 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:09,960 part, that means that we who are in Him are also able to crush 663 00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:13,920 the head of the enemy, not because we're so big and strong, 664 00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:16,120 because we're weak, but He is strong. 665 00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:18,960 He is our strength. OK, And if you think, oh you're 666 00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:22,920 making that stuff up, just look over in Romans chapter 16 in 667 00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:26,400 verse 20. In Romans chapter 16, verse 20, 668 00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:32,440 it says the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your 669 00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:35,360 feet. Now this was Paul writing. 670 00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:43,520 He was writing to believers. He wasn't talking about Jesus 671 00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:49,400 going to crush it under his foot only for if we are united with 672 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:52,920 him, then it's under our foot too. 673 00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:58,320 He, the enemy is under our foot. All those problems that we face, 674 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:02,240 we can just put our foot on it and say, Hey, my, my, God's 675 00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:05,760 bigger than that problem, right? I'm in him and I don't care 676 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:08,520 about anything else. I know I've got victory in him. 677 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:20,680 Now it seems to me that plenty of people can take this idea or 678 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:24,160 these thoughts that I've brought and then say, yeah, those that's 679 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:26,600 good things. We we need to fix our gaze on 680 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:28,560 him. Yeah, that's right. 681 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,240 We need to speak directly to the enemy. 682 00:46:32,240 --> 00:46:37,080 Yeah, that's right. But you'll walk out of here and 683 00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:40,960 routine and habit and ruts that we've allowed to develop. 684 00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:45,920 A lot of times it seems like we'll hear from the Lord and it 685 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,360 doesn't impact us. You know, it was good for a 686 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:52,480 moment, but I know better. No, you don't. 687 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,600 That's the problem. A lot of times 688 00:47:10,820 --> 00:47:22,460 the Lord wants you to know he's still in control and he's still 689 00:47:22,460 --> 00:47:27,240 on the throne. He's still alive, nothing has 690 00:47:27,240 --> 00:47:32,040 missed his sight. There's nothing he can't do, and 691 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:39,160 he loves you. And last week I was sitting in 692 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:43,560 here and the Lord gave me a word last week about this church. 693 00:47:44,680 --> 00:47:47,160 That's why I've seen things this week about this. 694 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:50,920 I'm talking about you, OK? And then the guy next to you, if 695 00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:53,040 you're in this church, I'm talking about you. 696 00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:55,920 And the Lord told me. He said, I am. 697 00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:59,600 I am the God that heals. I am the God that delivers. 698 00:47:59,680 --> 00:48:04,440 I am still the Ancient of Days. I am still the one who rules and 699 00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:06,920 reigns, right? That's what he's saying. 700 00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:11,480 And he says, I've got blessing in my hand and I am going to 701 00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:14,840 pour it out upon them. If they will continue telling 702 00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:18,480 you to look at me, if they'll fix their eyes upon me, if 703 00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:22,000 they'll let the problems of this world go to the side and focus 704 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:25,520 on me, I've got good things for them. 705 00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:28,720 I've got revelation that they've called for and they've cried in 706 00:48:28,720 --> 00:48:31,880 their hearts and said, oh, would you just split those heavens 707 00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:34,240 apart, Lord, and come and reveal yourself? 708 00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:38,960 I've got that in my hand and I am going to let them have that. 709 00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:43,680 But there's got to be a storm. There's got to be a trial. 710 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:46,920 There's got to be something that looks big that because in the 711 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:51,240 process, if you're facing that storm, realize this, he's 712 00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:54,680 allowing the storm to happen to get you refined. 713 00:48:54,720 --> 00:48:59,280 It's a refiner's fire. If I am in pottery and I'm going 714 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:02,600 to make something better that I've been working on, and I 715 00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:05,160 don't expect it to last very well, what do I have to do with 716 00:49:05,160 --> 00:49:06,760 it? I got to stick it in the kiln. 717 00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:10,000 Some of you have been in the kiln a long time. 718 00:49:10,240 --> 00:49:11,920 You're probably tired of the kiln. 719 00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:14,280 I don't blame you. Keep your eyes on him. 720 00:49:14,280 --> 00:49:16,080 He's the one that's going to pull you out of the kiln. 721 00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:18,960 He's the one that's going to see you through, right? 722 00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:23,600 Yeah. I hope you're hearing what I'm 723 00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:26,560 saying. God bless you. 724 00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,240 He will continue to bless you if you'll continue to look to him. 725 00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:48,800 Brother, come here. This guy here, he knows about 726 00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:53,840 the kiln, He might not tell you about the kiln all the time 727 00:49:54,680 --> 00:49:57,880 because his eyes aren't fixed on the kiln that his eyes are fixed 728 00:49:57,880 --> 00:50:01,160 upon the Lord. And the Lord's going to pour out 729 00:50:01,160 --> 00:50:04,880 blessing upon him and cause him to multiply and grow. 730 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:08,080 He'll see strength that he is not head, and he will walk in 731 00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:11,440 ways he's never seen before, and revelation will be his portion. 732 00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:13,960 And I believe this with all my heart. 733 00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:17,320 I thank you, Lord, for it. And I ask Lord that you would 734 00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:21,800 use him, my God, each day to draw these people closer to you, 735 00:50:22,160 --> 00:50:25,320 to focus their attention upon you, that their eyes might be 736 00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:29,040 fixed and stayed upon you. And may this church thrive, and 737 00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:31,520 may it grow. And may the power and presence 738 00:50:31,520 --> 00:50:35,080 of the Holy God move in a way that has not happened in the 739 00:50:35,080 --> 00:50:39,280 past, for there is yet a tomorrow when the kiln door is 740 00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:42,240 open. In Jesus name I thank you, Lord, 741 00:50:42,240 --> 00:50:45,080 I thank you. Thanks for listening to the 742 00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:48,400 Cross Power Church podcast. May you know that true hope, 743 00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:51,480 peace, and salvation can only be found in Jesus. 744 00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:55,680 If you're near Campbell, TX, we would love for you to join us in 745 00:50:55,680 --> 00:50:58,160 person. You can find service times at 746 00:50:58,160 --> 00:50:59,760 crosspowerchurch.com.