1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,000 Again, I'm sharing this scripture from John chapter 16. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,160 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,600 now. However, when He, the Spirit of 4 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:10,800 Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. 5 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,120 For He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He 6 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,160 hears, He will speak, and He will tell you things to come. 7 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,840 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is mine and declare 8 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,400 it to you. All things that the Father has 9 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,800 are mine. Therefore, I said that He will 10 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,720 take a mine and declare it to you. 11 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,479 Now, this verse is very, very important because it speaks to 12 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,360 us about the importance of the Holy Spirit, our God. 13 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,920 We all need the guiding of the Holy Spirit. 14 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:41,960 It's so important that we would understand that. 15 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:45,880 And this one aspect of this that I've been emphasizing is how 16 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,520 important it is for us to realize that this is Jesus as 17 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,800 He's getting ready to move across, telling his disciples, 18 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,280 well, I'm not going to be here personally, but when I leave, 19 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:57,800 I'm going to send another comforter. 20 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,360 You're not going to be orphans. I'm going to send the Holy 21 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,760 Spirit. He will come in my name. 22 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,400 He will speak of me. He will remind you of the things 23 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,240 I've spoken. He will be your guide and all 24 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,200 these things. So it's very important to note 25 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,320 that. And it's also important to note 26 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:15,800 as Christians that we have to understand that God has a 27 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:20,240 destiny for us. God has a destiny for mankind. 28 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,760 God has a destiny for His church. 29 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,640 And that's something that we have been speaking about from 30 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,080 the very beginning. And I love that verse where it 31 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,840 says that, well, you're not ready for something now, but 32 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:32,400 there come a time when you're ready. 33 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,360 When you're ready, I'll begin to speak some new or fresh things 34 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,240 to you. That's why all of us as 35 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,320 Christians should realize that since we have a destiny and that 36 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:45,080 God is working on our life, we have to be very careful to walk 37 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,880 with Him and let Him speak to us along the way, recognizing that 38 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,960 it was necessary that He not tell you everything at once. 39 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,280 So today God is saying to all of us, it's important for us to 40 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,560 realize it is a new day. It's time to begin to walk in 41 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,520 some fresh things. You weren't ready for it before, 42 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:04,960 but now you're ready. Can you say Amen to that church? 43 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,680 Because God wants us to understand that destiny. 44 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:12,680 And we're going to learn today how that God builds overtime. 45 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,680 And I wanted to share this because next Sunday is Pentecost 46 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,440 Sunday. And as you notice, I've been 47 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,560 talking about the Holy Spirit since just the week before 48 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:23,720 Easter. Now, it's important for us to 49 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,160 see this correlation because this reminds us how God works. 50 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,160 Because when we celebrate Easter, we should have realized 51 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,800 that before Jesus Christ was crucified in what we call the 52 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,400 Last Supper, they were actually celebrating something called the 53 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:40,960 Passover. And as they were celebrating the 54 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,080 Passover, being Jews, Jesus took the elements of the bread and 55 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,160 the cup. He said, now do this in 56 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,400 remembrance of me. Now as Jews, it meant something 57 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,680 to them from the past, because when the children of Israel were 58 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,880 slaves in Egypt, the Lord sent Moses to deliver them. 59 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,520 He delivered them through the voice of Moses. 60 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,600 But also God empowered Moses to work 10 miraculous things before 61 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,880 the Egyptians to make it them willing to get rid of their 62 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,720 slaves, which is not something they wanted to willingly do for 63 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,960 sure. And so that was important thing 64 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,320 for us to understand. He used Moses, He used the 65 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,280 plagues. The last plague was very 66 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,600 significant because Moses told the Pharaoh the death Angel is 67 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,200 going to pass through your land and all the first born are going 68 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,680 to be killed. He still refused and so God told 69 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,040 the children of Israel. Now this is what you need to do. 70 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,520 You need to take a lamb for house. 71 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,440 You need to sacrifice that lamb. Take the blood from the lamb, 72 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,080 put it on the doorpost of your house, then eat the lamb as a 73 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,000 part of a celebration of God's blessing upon you. 74 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,480 And when the death Angel sees the blood on the doorposts of 75 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:53,680 your house, he's going to Passover you. 76 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,680 Hence the word Passover. And so they did that. 77 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,080 The plague of the first born. Death came upon Egypt and even 78 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,440 the animals, but the Jews were preserved and so this was called 79 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,840 an everlasting covenant. They would always keep the 80 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,080 Passover meal. Jesus instituted a change in 81 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,160 that. But again, seeing how important 82 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,880 the Old Testament is, we can see how God builds something and 83 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,320 then he adds to it. And so we should always be open 84 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,880 to the ad too, if you would. And a lot of people don't 85 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,520 understand that. Well, after the Passover meal or 86 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,480 during the Passover meal, they actually had a festival called 87 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,880 the Festival the Passover, where they spent seven days 88 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,920 celebrating this very important time. 50 days after Passover, 89 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,280 they had what was called the Feast of Pentecost. 90 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,760 And most of us who are Pentecostal know that on the day 91 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,880 of Pentecost is the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the 92 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,320 church. And this is important to 93 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,560 understand because next Sunday will be culminating these 94 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,680 discussions about the Holy Spirit because next week is kind 95 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,280 of like 50 days. It's adjusted because of it 96 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:02,920 being a Sunday. Pentecost Sunday is next week. 97 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,400 And that's in lieu of, again, look at an Old Testament 98 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,640 celebration, which was Pentecost. 99 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:10,920 But for Christians, we understand that on the day of 100 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,880 Pentecost. So that's when the Holy Spirit 101 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,640 was given. That's very important for us at 102 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,520 Mount Zion. We also understand that that 103 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:19,880 means there's another festival called the Festival of 104 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,560 Tabernacles, which was called the Festival of Fruitfulness. 105 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,560 They celebrated in the fall, and that's what we believe right now 106 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:28,200 God is doing in the church today. 107 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,880 He's taking us to maturity. How many ready to go on to 108 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,440 maturity? But again, you can see the whole 109 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,680 Bible is about God doing something, God bringing change, 110 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,400 us being willing to adjust the change that's necessary, and 111 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,640 then moving forward to the next level as God brings us to him. 112 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,280 How we know as we come to the Lord, it requires change and we 113 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:53,200 have to be willing to change. And then with the help of God, 114 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:56,600 we can change because we understand, hey, I can do all 115 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:58,440 things through Christ who strengthens me. 116 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:01,800 I don't have to be the old me. I can be a new me in Christ 117 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:03,080 Jesus. I'm going to go ahead for that 118 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:04,960 today. That's so important for us to 119 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,120 understand. Now with that understanding, I 120 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,520 want to go to the Scripture in Isaiah 28. 121 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,640 It says, For with stammering lips and another tongue, He will 122 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:18,160 speak to this people, to whom He said, this is the rest with 123 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,800 which you may cause the weary to rest, and this is the 124 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,600 refreshing. Yet they would not hear. 125 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,240 But the word of the Lord was to them precept upon precept, 126 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,640 precept upon precept. And that word precept to us 127 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:37,160 would be principles or laws. And line upon line, line upon 128 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,160 line, you hear little there, little that they may go and fall 129 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,040 backward, be broken and snared. Now, of course, I want to 130 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,880 reference that first of all, because in this chapter it talks 131 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,200 about the way God does things. And he does the same thing in 132 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:53,200 judgment that he does in blessing. 133 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,040 He still does it line upon line and precept upon precept. 134 00:06:57,280 --> 00:06:59,680 That's why when you say to people you got to change your 135 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,560 life for the judgments going to come, they can't see it because 136 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,800 it takes a process and it takes some time. 137 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,280 But of course, we're focusing on the idea that we want this 138 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,360 process to bring us blessing. Amen. 139 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,640 Now he says with a stammering lip and an unknown tongue, will 140 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:17,720 I speak unto this people? Now, how do you know that 141 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,800 doesn't make any sense? The Bible itself says that when 142 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,480 I pray in tongues, my spirits praying, my understanding is 143 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,280 unfruitful. How is it that that could be a 144 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,760 part of the process of God teaching us? 145 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,520 And that's why I put up your tongues for communication, 146 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,480 because we have to understand that God wants to communicate 147 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:38,840 with his people. And I think the best way to 148 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,480 describe that today is in thinking in terms of technology. 149 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,160 I don't know about you, but I love technology. 150 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,520 I've lived long enough to see how it's worked and I'm quite 151 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,880 amazed by what has happened. And one of the biggest examples 152 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,240 for me is I went on my first mission trip back, I believe in 153 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:01,760 1991 to Mexico and also went to Haiti, I believe in 90. 154 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,440 And when I first started traveling, I remember Mexico, 155 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:08,520 especially back then, we didn't have cell phones yet. 156 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,400 We used landlines. We had a maybe a phone in your 157 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,200 hotel or used a payphone, but this is you got to be very 158 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,720 careful because you don't know what a phone company you're 159 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,360 going to get when you use a phone and you don't know how 160 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:21,280 much they're going to charge you. 161 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:26,040 It could cost you $50, it could cost you $100 just to call home. 162 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:28,760 Of course, my kids were young and I certainly wanted to be in 163 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:31,600 communication in 10 days, but I was frugal enough to make it 164 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,960 just one time when I figured it would cost 100 bucks. 165 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,240 Now, what's amazing about that is over time when Internet came 166 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,360 in, you could have Internet in your hotel room. 167 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,480 You can communicate through your computer, and later on you could 168 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:47,480 communicate with your cell phone. 169 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,520 So right now I can be a Marva to Mexico, to our church. 170 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,240 It's two hours outside the capital. 171 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,720 It's out in the country. But with my cell phone, I can 172 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,200 call anybody I want to. They can call me and I can 173 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,080 FaceTime to me. That's incredible. 174 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,280 So I think, wow, I love technology. 175 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,000 I know a lot of people are afraid, especially like AI now. 176 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:09,880 And all my life they've been telling us, be careful, the 177 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,080 Antichrist is going to use this against you. 178 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,560 Well, so far it hasn't been used against me because I just love 179 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:19,160 it and I appreciate it. One of the things I think is a 180 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:21,680 good example of how this works is our GPS. 181 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,960 And I got recently a new Equinox and I got this new car, not 182 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,040 because I need a new car, but I wanted to have one of these 183 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,560 bigger screens. I just love a big screen, you 184 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:35,680 know, and so when you're doing your GPS, you can look up there, 185 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,560 you can watch a map over here to the right. 186 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:40,800 It'll give you more specific directions. 187 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,440 And then there's actually an audible side that tells you what 188 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,640 you're doing at the same time. That's amazing to me. 189 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,480 And so I liken that to our walk with God, you know, because 190 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,360 Jesus Christ is our map. I'm, you know, he went before 191 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,160 us, details well in the Scriptures. 192 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:01,080 And then the audible part is the Holy Spirit. 193 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,120 Why do you need the audible part? 194 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,880 Well, because sometimes you're driving and it will say up 195 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,120 front, turn to the left and make AU turn. 196 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:10,760 You're like, why am I making AU turn? 197 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,480 Well, obviously you weren't paying attention. 198 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:18,400 And thank God it cracks not the same way it is with God. 199 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:20,560 I found out sometimes I don't pay attention. 200 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:23,520 I make mistakes that home, you know, he can give you AU turn. 201 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:27,400 It's a little bit of work sometimes, and sometimes you 202 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,600 even get lost doing that because with me, technology is never 203 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:33,680 quite easy. Just like the audible part. 204 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,760 My work sometimes, sometimes it doesn't, and I always pray and 205 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,520 it still don't work. So it takes a miracle, I guess, 206 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,440 to get it to work all the time. One day I thought I was being 207 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,240 smart and I thought, what am I doing? 208 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,400 Alexa, give me the audio part. Nothing happens. 209 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:55,800 Alexa, nothing happened. All of a sudden I'm driving a 210 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,480 little longer down the road and I'm realizing, wait a minute, 211 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:06,480 Alexa's at home, this is Siri. So I said, hey, Siri, I said 212 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:10,000 thank you for answering. She said I'll Google that, but 213 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,520 don't read it until you get somewhere because I don't want 214 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,520 you getting a wreck. Basically, I'm like, what? 215 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,480 And people tell me this isn't a female, Siri is, it's a mom. 216 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,520 I can just see my mom saying, I'll give you directions, but 217 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,240 you're not reading them till you get home. 218 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:31,680 And anyway, it's kind of that way with the Holy Spirit and the 219 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:34,480 word of God and walking in the things of God. 220 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,920 We have to understand there's a technology, if you would, that's 221 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,560 involved. There's a little extra work. 222 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,120 And it's just like technology is your walk with God. 223 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,600 You know, the older you get as a Christian, the harder it is to 224 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,360 make changes. Sometimes my grandkids know more 225 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,760 about technology than I do. I thought of starting a new job 226 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,040 and position technology assistant to the pastor. 227 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,120 One of the qualifications, You're only 8 years old because 228 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,200 then you can figure it out and tell me how it works. 229 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,360 So we have this process that we have to understand about God. 230 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:13,520 It's very wonderful. It requires a little bit of 231 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,760 work, but in the end, you're going to be farther along than 232 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,920 you were before. And this is the way we should 233 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:23,280 think out of our walk with God. Because I really believe with 234 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,440 all my heart, God saying it's time for us to grow up and 235 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,960 mature and begin to accept responsibility for our walk with 236 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:35,480 Kim and #1 is communication. We know that communication can 237 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:37,800 be difficult. You learn about that in the 238 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,360 marriage class because one's a male and one's female. 239 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,320 That can be a difference. Family backgrounds that makes 240 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,880 you different, ethnic backgrounds that can make a 241 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:48,840 difference. I remember reading a book, it 242 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,600 was called Brain Sex. It was written by a 243 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,800 neurosurgeon, a lady. And I remember well because we 244 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,080 were on vacation and I was reading this book by the pool 245 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:58,600 body. And he says, put that book down. 246 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:00,080 People are going to think you're a weirdo. 247 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:08,600 Why brain sex at the pole? It was a neurosurgeon telling 248 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:13,240 the difference between male and female and how she came to the 249 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,640 conclusion it wasn't a Christian book as it's impossible to ever 250 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,320 really work this out. But how we know with God all 251 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,280 things are possible. Church so tongues seems to be 252 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,320 intimidating. It seems to be scary for a lot 253 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,040 of people. That's why it's good in the 254 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:29,800 Bible. We call it the Holy Spirit now 255 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,960 rather than the Holy Ghost. Some, you know, that does make 256 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,880 it a little more scary. But I love the Scripture in 257 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,240 Proverbs 25 because it says this. 258 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:42,560 It says it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is 259 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:45,160 the glory of a king to search it out. 260 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,680 Now, we in the body of Christ certainly should know that we 261 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:51,520 are priests and servants of the Most High God, the Church. 262 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:53,440 It's time to move up in our authority. 263 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,680 It's time to be kings. It's time to walk in a stronger 264 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:00,920 area of authority in God. And that's going to require us 265 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:06,280 allowing God to work in US and to go through the God process 266 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:11,640 that's necessary for us to gain in our maturity, gain in our 267 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,800 understanding, and to be very valuable for the purposes of God 268 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,280 in the earth. And that's why it says this. 269 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,400 Well, whom will God teach knowledge, and whom will he make 270 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,040 to understand the message? Those just weaned from the mill, 271 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:31,920 those just drawn from the breast for preceptor principles must be 272 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:36,680 upon principle, precept upon precept, line upon line, line 273 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,960 upon line, here little and there a little. 274 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,880 This is so important for us to understand because it talks 275 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,520 about knowledge. It talks about understanding, 276 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,560 and I'm adding the word wisdom because it kind of fills it out. 277 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,920 Understanding kind of covers it, but knowledge is information. 278 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,200 Understanding is when you've learned it and worked with a 279 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,200 little bit that you can look at it and kind of discern and say, 280 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,640 well, this is how this works. And wisdom actually is the place 281 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,600 where you begin to apply these things in the body of Christ. 282 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,680 God's saying, I'm looking for my house to be a House of wisdom. 283 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,240 I'm looking for a people who know their God and have let him 284 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,040 teach them and bring them to a place of maturity. 285 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,120 So that in these latter days of time, when the mountain of the 286 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,360 Lord's house is exalted above all the other hills, we'll 287 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,320 understand why people are going to say, come and let us go to 288 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:29,600 the mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob. 289 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,800 We want to learn of his ways. We want to walk in his path. 290 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,040 Why? Because they'll see the 291 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,440 demonstration of knowledge, understanding and wisdom. 292 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,120 Now, I wanted to take note of the fact that it says make you 293 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,040 understand. Because when we're growing up in 294 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,520 life, starting out as little children, how many know we have 295 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,680 to be made to learn and to understand. 296 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,480 And then when we go to school, we have teachers and instructors 297 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,160 and part of that is just, OK, this is what I want you to learn 298 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:02,760 today. But how many know they always 299 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,640 have to come up with strategies and ways to teach us. 300 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,240 And nowadays things are getting a lot better than they used to 301 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,160 be. I've always had a very good 302 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,640 skill in reading. I have ability to read very 303 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,720 quickly. I have a high level of 304 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:21,760 comprehension and a high level of retaining and remembering the 305 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,800 things that I've learned. But I always hated school. 306 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,840 It just didn't fit my gift, if you would. 307 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,400 And nowadays we have, because of technology and because of 308 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,800 greater understanding, more of a capacity to understand that we 309 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,680 don't all learn the same way. And that's why we have to 310 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,600 understand that we need the teacher of the Holy Spirit to 311 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,680 work with us along the way. Because in reading the Bible and 312 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,760 even taught the Bible, we have this tendency to think, well, 313 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,440 that's not possible for me, So and so can do that, but I can't 314 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,320 do that. Well, that's the pastor. 315 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,440 That's this person. No, they're more spiritual life. 316 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,680 No, the Holy Spirit has a program for every one of us, 317 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,119 Amen. And he has an intention. 318 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,240 Give the Lord a praise on that, because we got to know that the 319 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,319 Bible talks about working out our own salvation with fear and 320 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:15,920 trembling. Because with the power of the 321 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,119 Holy Spirit, God comes to us and meets us exactly where we're at. 322 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:21,359 And yes, you can have understanding. 323 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:25,200 Yes, you can walk in wisdom, and you have a teacher who 324 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:30,000 understands how to be adaptable and train you for what you have 325 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,440 in God. Therefore thus says the Lord, 326 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,240 Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation. 327 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,280 It is a Tri stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. 328 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,120 Whoever believes will not act hastily. 329 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,760 I will also make justice the measuring line and 330 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,080 righteousness. The plummet. 331 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,320 The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies and the waters 332 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,400 will overflow the hiding place. Now again, remember in this 333 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,120 chapter, the connotation is there's a whole bunch of people 334 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:02,000 that he's speaking about who don't want to hear what God has 335 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,200 to say. So there's some harsh language 336 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,760 involved in it, but the principles are the same for all 337 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,000 of us to understand. And we have to realize that God 338 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:15,000 has given us the example of a tried, precious and sure stone, 339 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,520 that's Jesus Christ, Amen. So when we think about what did 340 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,960 we learn at Easter, well, Good Friday, we know that he died on 341 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,000 the cross. He lost all of his friends. 342 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,720 They spit at him, they punished him, they did all kinds of 343 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,240 things against him, but he was still faithful to the purpose 344 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,120 his father had given him. And that's why he was precious, 345 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:39,840 because a precious stone is something that was in the earth 346 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,520 and through the pressure of time like a diamond. 347 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,760 They say it was like coal when it starts, but the pressure of 348 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:47,760 time turns it into a precious diamond. 349 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,320 And sometimes it takes some pressure to bring forth the 350 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,440 change. And Jesus was with that. 351 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,320 That's why he is a what sheer foundation. 352 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,960 Now the Bible says because of that we should, if we believe 353 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:04,240 that, not act hastily or not be in a hurry. 354 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,720 And I've learned over time with God, you can't be in a hurry 355 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,720 because you got to wait for him. And I love it that I've served 356 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,640 the Lord these many years because I've learned over time 357 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,600 that God is faithful. It's not always in my time 358 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,720 frame. He's not always doing it the way 359 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,560 I think He should do it. And sometimes He takes me by 360 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:25,680 surprise. And that's why I have to be 361 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:29,520 willing to let the process work and realize that sometimes this 362 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:33,080 process that God has for me is going to take more time than 363 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,160 perhaps I want. And the reason for that is 364 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,360 because He wants to do it just right. 365 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,600 It's because He has a plan for us and that plan for us is going 366 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:45,880 to include the other people in our life as well. 367 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,640 So God has all these things that He's working out together in 368 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,440 church. We have to have this confidence 369 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,000 and know that as He's working out his process, it will come to 370 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,040 pass. But again, we got to step back 371 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,560 and say, OK, whatever it takes, I want this process to have it's 372 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,520 perfect work. Look what it says here because 373 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,200 this goes along with it when it talks about the trite and the 374 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,680 proven. I indeed baptize you with water 375 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,360 unto repentance, but he was coming after me as mightier than 376 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:16,360 I, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. 377 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,160 Now this is John the Baptist speaking about Jesus Christ, and 378 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,720 he says he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 379 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:29,280 And what his winnowing fan is in his hand, he will thoroughly 380 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,120 clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into a 381 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:37,360 barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 382 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,000 Now, this is kind of goes back to the GPS thing where we make 383 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,400 mistakes and sometimes God has to turn us around. 384 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,400 But it's also true. He's using an analogy here 385 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,640 that's very important because often times when the Bible talks 386 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,840 about God's Word coming to us, it comes as seed. 387 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,560 The end result for God is not just that we would hold on to 388 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:02,160 our seed, but that we would go on and become fruitful. 389 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,400 Now this is the way it was with wheat, and it's described in the 390 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,840 book of Mark where it talks about wheat. 391 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,040 It says when you plant wheat, first there's a stalk that comes 392 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,200 up and then there's a head at the top of the wheat, and then 393 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,160 inside of it is a kernel of wheat that's going to grow and 394 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,800 it's go on to maturity. Now when it comes time for 395 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,120 harvest, you're going to cut the wheat down, but you have to 396 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,040 separate the chaff from the fruit. 397 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,080 So what you do is you put it on a threshing floor and you throw 398 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,800 it there, and they would throw it up in the air so that the 399 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:42,000 wind would separate the wheat from the chaff. 400 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,680 And that was called the winnowing process. 401 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,400 Now, we're not as familiar with the wheat here. 402 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,080 They were in the days when Jesus was speaking because Passover 403 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,680 and Pentecost had to do with grain harvest, wheat and barley. 404 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,360 We could think of it more like corn because we're familiar with 405 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:01,480 that here. And how does our corn grow? 406 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,840 It grows in a on a stalk and then it has the husk on the 407 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,240 outside. And when you go to make your 408 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,240 corn, how you know you have to pull off the outer part? 409 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,600 That would be our winnowing process. 410 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,840 If you would, then you throw that part away because you want 411 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,080 the fruit. That's unless you live in Mexico 412 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,040 or Mexican and you want to make tamales. 413 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,520 How many know with tamales you use the corn husk? 414 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,360 I remember talking to somebody once and they saying, yeah, I 415 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,360 tried one of those tamales, but the outer part, it was just so 416 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,520 coarse and hard because you're not supposed to eat the 417 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,800 cornhouse. That's just to cook it with. 418 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,960 So there is a purpose. But the winnowing is the 419 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,360 separation from the between the wheat and the chaff. 420 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,240 And the chaff is actually just a protective layer. 421 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:51,160 It's something that you have to protect the seed until it grows 422 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,760 and goes on to maturity. But then when that process is 423 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,520 complete, you have to bring a separation. 424 00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,320 And then what do you do with the chaff? 425 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,640 Well, you have to throw it away. Now, we don't like to suffer 426 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:04,080 loss. We don't like to go through 427 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,480 processes, but this is the process God works. 428 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,280 I was talking about this in the first service because this is so 429 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,240 important for us to understand because this is how God has 430 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,960 worked in Christian history. So I was mentioning how the 431 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,960 Bible worked over time. Well, in Christian history God 432 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,320 has and building his church. Jesus said I will build my 433 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,800 church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. 434 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,840 So what he does is he plants a seed, the seed begins to grow 435 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,240 and then he's ready to plant another seed. 436 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,760 You can see that in church history, how God has been 437 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,640 building the church. Now for those of us who are in a 438 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:42,200 Protestant church, we remember the time of the Reformation. 439 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,360 What happened during the Reformation was a Catholic 440 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:48,280 priest by the name of Martin Luther said, wait a second, we 441 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,920 have way too many traditions. And one of the traditions they 442 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,520 had that was really causing a scandal in the churches. 443 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:56,560 They had what they called indulgences. 444 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,400 The church was trying to raise money for a cathedral, so they 445 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,880 would sell the indulgences and they would say to the people, if 446 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,200 you buy this indulgence, you're going to get somebody right out 447 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,600 of purgatory. Because I believe in those days 448 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,800 that when you die during purgatory, after people prayed 449 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,400 for you, gave offerings, whatever, they get you out of 450 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,560 purgatory and get you to heaven. Martin Luther had a problem with 451 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,720 all that and hope, you know, it's nothing new to come up with 452 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:25,680 schemes to raise money among the churches. 453 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,960 But anyway, that goes to show you how the same problems keep 454 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,800 persisting. And so we had the great 455 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:37,080 Reformation and it started with the Lutheran's and then it went 456 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,480 on to the Calvinists and Anabaptist, whatever. 457 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,440 All these different denominations have really a 458 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,040 testimony of something God did in the past where somebody got a 459 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,640 seed for a truth, but they weren't ready to let go of 460 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,920 something and so they stuck where they were at and didn't 461 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,320 move on to maturity. That's by Mount Zion. 462 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,320 We believe in non denominational churches and we believe it's 463 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:02,200 absolutely essential that you believe in the word of God. 464 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:04,640 And if you're challenged by something in the scripture, 465 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,880 don't just stand down the sidelines and say I'm not going 466 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:10,960 to change or I don't believe in that. 467 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,440 If it's in the Bible, you should believe it. 468 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,520 Can I hear an Amen on that church? 469 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,000 Amen. And so the truth is what's 470 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,920 happened is in the Reformation churches, churches now, there's 471 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,440 as many traditions that they have as the Catholic Church had 472 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,920 at one time. Now, one of the ways we've cured 473 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,480 the problem of dealing with the past moves as Christians over 474 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,480 time, as we've always decided that, well, when you get a new 475 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,240 idea for renewing the denomination, the one that was 476 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,400 before them, they weren't even Christians. 477 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,120 They just go to hell. And so it's all about going to 478 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:47,520 heaven or going to hell. And if you didn't receive what 479 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,280 we were teaching, you're going to go to hell. 480 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,960 And that was where it was when I was a kid, really, if we saw 481 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,120 somebody was Catholic and talked to them, we'd feel sorry for 482 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:57,920 them because we knew they were going to go to hell. 483 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:00,400 If you said, are you a Christian? 484 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,560 This was the proof, they'd say, no, I'm Catholic, true, you're 485 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,280 going to hell. You don't believe it the way we 486 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,080 do. And the Lutherans were just as 487 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:11,480 bad. I remember praying for my 488 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,120 brother Bill, and he had been through a divorce and he wasn't 489 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:18,160 doing so well. So mom and I decided we need to 490 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,000 pray for him, a Christian wife. So he brings home this girl 491 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:26,160 named Cheryl Milkie. She was a Lutheran. 492 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:31,360 And we're like, oh, God, it's bad enough he's bringing a Pagan 493 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:33,640 home, but she thinks she's a Christian. 494 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,520 We just knew that she was. We had a confirmation because at 495 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:43,080 their wedding, they DJ called the pastor up and said, will you 496 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,720 bless the beer? We're like the pastor's blessing 497 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,040 the beer. This, this is the Antichrist. 498 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:55,960 I don't know what is. And you could go through history 499 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:57,280 and you can see how that happened. 500 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,240 Now, did we one day say, well, I think we need to change our 501 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,080 mind? Actually, the Holy Spirit, which 502 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,320 is our teacher did because there was this charismatic movement 503 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,800 and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit was moving among 504 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:10,880 Catholics. Holy Spirit was moving in 505 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,680 Pentecostal churches. And all of a sudden you could 506 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:18,840 see on TV a whole big building full of people that nuns were 507 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,040 habits back in those days. So you could see them very 508 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:22,840 easily. Priests all and they're all 509 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,480 speaking in other tongues and, and the spirits move in. 510 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,240 There was a guy in the West Coast and Harold Bredesen, he 511 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,160 was bringing the Lutheran's in the Holy Spirit. 512 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,160 And we're like, oh, wow, this is weird. 513 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,480 God said he would proud his spirit upon all flesh and 514 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:42,160 they're definitely fleshly. So how does this work now? 515 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,600 We grew up in a church that was full gospel. 516 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:48,920 My mom's brothers were Baptists, and so we didn't go to the 517 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,920 gospel church because we had a revelation. 518 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,560 We went because we had to walk to church and it was the closest 519 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,640 one. So anyway, that used to be very 520 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,840 much against the Holy Spirit. Now a lot of Baptists believe 521 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,360 that when you get the Holy Spirit, you were demon 522 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:05,960 possessed. Even so, my uncle's never said 523 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,320 we were demon possessed, but they might have thought it. 524 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,680 I don't know. And I don't know if they thought 525 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,480 we could go to heaven, whether they're demons or whatever. 526 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:17,040 But when God began to move by his Spirit, of course, people 527 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,240 who didn't have the Holy Spirit, they could just say, see, that's 528 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,720 proof it's not of God. But those of us who had the Holy 529 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,840 Spirit had to notice that in the Bible there's a story about 530 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,880 Peter preaching to a centurion who is a Roman, that Jews never 531 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:33,680 thought he could possibly be saved. 532 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:38,280 And he received the Lord, and the Spirit of the God came upon 533 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:39,760 him. And they said, well, if God has 534 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:43,400 given him the Holy Spirit, surely we should let them be 535 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,320 baptized and join the church. And that's what happened there. 536 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,480 I mean, sometimes the Holy Spirit has to overrule our 537 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:51,880 thinking. But you know, you can still 538 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,680 resist it if you choose to. Now, that doesn't mean it 539 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,120 doesn't matter what you believe because of the Bible says, I 540 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,760 will know the truth and the truth will make me free. 541 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,000 And so we still want people to line themselves up with the word 542 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,920 and we'll tell people that. But that's why when you come to 543 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:09,520 Mount Zion, you'll hear terms like sacrament. 544 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,040 And our kids are in catechism. We do things that if it's in the 545 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,840 Bible and it's a part of church tradition from a good reason, we 546 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,880 follow it because we believe the Word of God is our ultimate 547 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,720 guide in all things. You have a lot of evangelical 548 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,960 Christians who will tell you, oh, there's nothing that happens 549 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,840 when you're wild or baptized. It's just an outward side of an 550 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,760 inward work that's not in the Bible. 551 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,080 What's the new tradition people have had because what does the 552 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,280 Bible say The Bible says repent and be baptized for the 553 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:46,080 remission of your sin. When we baptize people we 554 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:50,000 usually it didn't come up today but have the scripture that as 555 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,400 it says in Romans chapter 6. Don't you know that when you're 556 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:57,400 baptized that you are buried with Christ and if you have been 557 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:01,360 buried with Christ and shared in his death, you shall also rise 558 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,920 to walk in the resurrection that he has for you. 559 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,720 How many know God has a powerful walk for each and every one of 560 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,640 us, and He should want to have the whole thing that He has for 561 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,880 us, him in church. And it says the Philistines also 562 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:17,840 went up and deployed themselves in the valley of refereeum. 563 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,320 So David inquired to the Lord, saying, Shall I go up against 564 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,960 the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my 565 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:26,360 hand? And the Lord said to David, Go 566 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,800 up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand. 567 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:34,160 So David went to Valparaisim, and David defeated them there 568 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,080 and said, the Lord has broken through my enemies before me. 569 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,600 Like what? A breakthrough of water. 570 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:45,320 Therefore he called the name of the place Balparazim. 571 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,120 Now, in talking about the principles I just shared with 572 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:53,040 you, it's important for us to recognize that in David's life 573 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:57,000 there was a pattern here that he had to learn and had to follow. 574 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:02,120 David was made the king of the children of Israel, and in that 575 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,000 place, as king, the Philistines decided, hey, we're not going to 576 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,240 accept this. We're not going to let that 577 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,160 happen. And so the Bible says the 578 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,720 Philistines came and they wanted to cause trouble for David. 579 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,120 Now again, David didn't just act hastily. 580 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,040 What did that Scripture say he did? 581 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:25,200 He inquired of the Lord, and so as he was inquiring of the Lord, 582 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,520 it's so important to understand that God began to speak to him, 583 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:34,240 and he said to him, now you need to understand that if you face 584 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,200 the Philistines in battle, I'm going to give you a 585 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,960 breakthrough. And so the Bible says that he 586 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,960 went to Mount Perizim. Now the word pairs him literally 587 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:48,120 means a breakthrough. And so David was a king. 588 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,920 He had an enemy that was coming against him. 589 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,080 But now he needed a breakthrough because the Philistines had come 590 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,000 to spoil everything that was going on. 591 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,640 How you know sometimes that the enemy comes in to destroy our 592 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:02,720 good time. Amen. 593 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,080 And sometimes life just happens that way. 594 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,160 We have a good experience, everything's going well, and all 595 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,400 of a sudden we're like, what's happening here? 596 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,720 Why am I facing this problem? Well, do what David did. 597 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,600 He sought the Lord. He inquired of God, and God said 598 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,040 something so powerful to him that he was going to give him a 599 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,640 breakthrough and that he should not be afraid of what was going 600 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:30,560 on. And so that's exactly what 601 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:32,840 happened. God gave him a breakthrough. 602 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,920 It was an amazing thing. But unfortunately, after that, 603 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,640 in a period of time, the Philistines went up once again 604 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,600 and deployed themselves in the valley. 605 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,080 Roof him therefore, for David inquired of the Lord, and said, 606 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,280 You shall not go up, circle around behind them, come upon 607 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,520 them in front of the Mulberry trees, and that shall be when 608 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,400 you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the Mulberry 609 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,440 trees. Then you shall advance quickly, 610 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,600 for then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of 611 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,080 the Philistines. And David did so as the Lord 612 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:12,400 commanded him, and he drove back the Philistines from Gabba as 613 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,960 far as Ghazar. I've put over this again because 614 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,040 sometimes when we go through something and things get better, 615 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:21,960 when it comes back, that's almost like a double whammy that 616 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:26,240 makes us want to give up. Now, in this particular time, 617 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:30,160 David not only inquired of the Lord, he had to understand that 618 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:35,160 God had a strategy for him. We have to understand that as we 619 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:39,400 walk with God, we can't use yesterday's strategies. 620 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:41,600 We can't just do what we used to do. 621 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:45,240 We have to say, Lord, what is there about this situation that 622 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,680 you can teach me? What is there about this 623 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:52,120 situation that I can experience and I can be an overcome in that 624 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:55,280 I haven't ever been an overcomer in before. 625 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,480 Amen. And so we have to understand how 626 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,160 these unusual strategies can come to us. 627 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:05,280 I believe church that God wants to give us an unusual strategy. 628 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,840 How many ready for an unusual strategy. 629 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,960 Now I put up here the supernatural level because this 630 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:18,679 is so empower powerful for us to understand because in this 631 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:21,679 particular story, the Lord said to him, he said, now don't do 632 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:24,159 what you did before. Don't go behind the enemy and 633 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:27,040 attack them from behind. I'm actually going to have you 634 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,560 attack them from the front. He said, but I want you to kneel 635 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,960 down in front of the Mulberry trees. 636 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:39,639 And when you hear the sound of an army over the Mulberry trees, 637 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,239 then you got to know that this is your time to advance. 638 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,280 Now, this is important to understand because this was a 639 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:51,280 supernatural experience that they would hear the rushing on 640 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,120 the Mulberry trees. I this is one of those things I 641 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:55,920 had to Google because I remembered a song when I was a 642 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:57,280 kid, but I couldn't remember the title. 643 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,120 And we used to sing a song. I hear the rustle in the 644 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,640 Mulberry tree and I know, I know, I know the move is on. 645 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:09,760 And what that song was about was the fact of this story. 646 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:14,920 How that when David here's the supernatural sound from heaven, 647 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:18,680 he knows now it's time we're going to have a victory. 648 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:21,920 And I believe with everything within me Church, that we're in 649 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,920 a time of greater victory than we've ever had before. 650 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,360 I believe we're in a time when we're going to see God do 651 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:33,240 unusual and awesome deeds like we've never seen before. 652 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:35,720 Can I hear any men on that? Amen. 653 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,880 But we got to listen and we have to recognize that sometimes 654 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,080 there has to be a change of strategy. 655 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:49,040 And so we can say, God, you can speak to me and I'll listen. 656 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:52,880 But Lord, give me the strategy for today that I need to 657 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,000 experience. He said, give here and hear my 658 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,440 voice. Listen and hear my speech. 659 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:01,400 Does the plowing keep plowing all day to sow? 660 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,760 Does he keep returning his soil and breaking in the up the 661 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,440 clouds when he has leveled its surface? 662 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,120 Does he not sow the black cumin and scatter the cumin Plant the 663 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:14,520 wheat in the Rose, the barley in a pointed place, and the smelt 664 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,520 of its place? For he instructs him in right 665 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:21,960 judgment his God. What teaches him this also comes 666 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:27,440 from the Lord of hosts, who is what wonderful in counsel and 667 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:31,120 excellent in guidance. And this is where we have to 668 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,360 understand how important it is. Sometimes just stop and say, OK, 669 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,160 God, I know you're wonderful in counsel. 670 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:43,240 I know your guidance is awesome. I'm facing perhaps an impossible 671 00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:47,520 situation, but I know with you God, all things are possible. 672 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:50,040 Can we all please bow our heads for a moment? 673 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:53,680 Because I really believe with everything within me that God's 674 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:58,920 saying to you, as He is saying to our church, it's time for a 675 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,680 new level, a new level of experience. 676 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:07,920 It might be that you're facing an experience you never 677 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:11,680 experienced before, a dilemma that you never faced before. 678 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,840 Or maybe it's like you're going through the same thing all over 679 00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:20,200 again, but it doesn't be seem to be working out the same or the 680 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:25,400 right way. Casas, I want you to know I'm 681 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,560 your guide. I want you to know I'm excellent 682 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:31,920 counsel. I want you to know that I can do 683 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:36,640 for you as you open up your heart to me. 684 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:47,000 I can enrich your marriage. I can give you guidance for your 685 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:53,400 children, I can help you through your business, I can be whatever 686 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,400 you have need of at this very important time. 687 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:03,040 You just have to open yourself up because I've prepared you for 688 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,880 such a time as this, says the mighty God. 689 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:13,680 How do we just commit ourselves to you in Jesus name, Amen. 690 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,640 This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius from Mount Zion Church. 691 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,640 We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect 692 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,240 with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and 693 00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:26,880 following us on social media. God bless you.