1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,800 Well, the first scripture I'm going to read is actually a 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,520 description of this, which some call the menorah, but is the 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,760 golden Candlestick according to the scriptures. 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,760 It says you shall also make a lamp stand of pure gold. 5 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,400 The lamp stand shall be of hammered work. 6 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,520 A shaft, its branches, its foals, its ornamental knobs and 7 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,600 flowers shall be in one piece. All six branches shall come out 8 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,760 of its size. 3 branches of the lampstand out of one side and 3 9 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,080 branches of the lampstand out of the other side. 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,680 Now in the class that I'm writing for the fall, I want to 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,120 talk about this for a minute because it's where the Lord has 12 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,640 me right now in looking at all the history of Mount Zion and my 13 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,720 walk with the Lord. Because I believe the Bible is a 14 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:48,800 book about Jesus walking with his people to the place that He 15 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,000 has called us to. It's a very long story. 16 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,480 I talk it about in my book about the eternal purpose, because God 17 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,680 has always had a purpose. God will fulfill his purpose 18 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,480 because no purposes of God's can be withheld from him. 19 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,880 But also he has had fellowship with his people to make all 20 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,800 these things come to pass. And so it's very important for 21 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,640 us to recognize this. That's why when Jesus was 22 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,120 speaking to the people who were rejecting him as the Messiah, he 23 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,880 said you search the Scriptures for in them you seek for eternal 24 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,640 life. But they also talk about me. 25 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,320 And unfortunately, so oftentimes we approach the Bible to look at 26 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:28,040 it and say what's in it for me kind of. 27 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,200 And then in that case, miss the primary focus that God wants us 28 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,800 to have. Oftentimes Christians do that 29 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,080 today because we're always teaching people about 30 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,360 Christianity being about how to get to heaven and how to get 31 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,560 saved. And that's a component of our 32 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,240 message, no question about it. But in reality, it's about being 33 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:51,000 reconciled to God, having a relationship with God, and then 34 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,080 walking with God in this earth. I'm glad I'm on a journey with 35 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,000 Jesus Christ. Amen. 36 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,000 Church, Jesus said to his disciples, if you want to be one 37 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,960 of my disciples, you have to deny yourself. 38 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,560 Take up your cross and follow me. 39 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,280 Now, if you just read that scripture from the discipleship 40 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,720 perspective, you think it means behave, you're going to have 41 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:14,640 some problems, but just keep following. 42 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,400 But really, when they followed Jesus, they walked with him as 43 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,600 well. It wasn't like they were always 44 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,920 behind him. He talked with them, He 45 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:26,880 encouraged them, He instructed them, and that's the same kind 46 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,520 of relationship God wants to have with us. 47 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,840 He wants us to go on a journey with him. 48 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,960 And so I love the journey. I've been on this journey a long 49 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,920 time and I tell you it just gets better and better to walk with 50 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:43,360 God and experience the goodness of the Lord in your life. 51 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,080 Today I wanted to put this image in front of you because I think 52 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,520 it's very good to have a image in front of us when we're 53 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,840 talking about something. They say a picture paints 1000 54 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,840 words, at least in a song. But in thinking about that, it's 55 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,080 important for us to have visuals from time to time in order for 56 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,800 us to think about what exactly it is that the Lord is speaking 57 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,000 to us. And I read to you a scripture 58 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,000 out of the book of Exodus. When the children of Israel were 59 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,800 walking with God, he told Moses to instruct them how to worship 60 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:13,800 him. And so Moses had built a 61 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,520 Tabernacle. There were three courts to it. 62 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:18,880 An outer court where people would come and bring their 63 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,800 sacrifices and offerings to God. An inner court where the priest 64 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,040 would go and minister to the Lord. 65 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,600 And then the Most Holy Place, where once a year the high 66 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,000 priest would go in and make atonement for the sins of the 67 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,760 people. But in the holy place there was 68 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,320 this thing called the golden Candlestick or golden lampstand 69 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,520 that God told them to build. And of course, the tent as they 70 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,000 constructed a beginning in the days of Moses. 71 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,840 And also the Tabernacle, as you go into the presence of the Lord 72 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,080 in the inner court, there wasn't natural light shining through a 73 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,720 window or anything like that. You needed a lamp, you need a 74 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,280 light. And this is exactly the light 75 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,040 that the Lord had for them, and He did it for a very specific 76 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,920 reason that He could teach them, something that He could build on 77 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,720 in history as He's done with the Bible and showing us some things 78 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:11,960 that are still at work in the earth today. 79 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,960 But keep in mind, God wants us to walk in the light. 80 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,320 How many know we need to walk in the light of the Word of God? 81 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,800 Amen. We have to hide the word of God 82 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,040 in our heart, the Bible says, and walk in the light of the 83 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,160 Word that He has for us. So this light is very important. 84 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,120 And I put here a Candlestick plus 6 because if you notice, 85 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,320 there's a main shaft going through the middle and then out 86 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:40,760 of it come these other branches all together, 7 but flowing from 87 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,040 the first branch or the main stem immediately. 88 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,320 Now the reason this is important to understand is it's also 89 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,440 spoken of all the way to the end of the Bible in the book of the 90 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,560 Revelation. Remember, the book of the 91 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,240 Revelation is when the Lord comes to the apostle John and he 92 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,160 says, John, I want you to come and I'm going to begin to show 93 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,040 you some things. And we call it the Revelation, 94 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,600 but the full name is it is a revelation of Jesus Christ. 95 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,040 And so as he saw the revelation of Jesus Christ, he saw some 96 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:14,120 awesome things that are really images for us to see today in 97 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,760 here in chapters four and five, I picked 2 verses where he 98 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,000 actually goes to the throne room of heaven. 99 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,960 And these are the things that he saw in his vision. 100 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:26,800 First of all, chapter 4, says Him, from the throne, which is 101 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,080 the seed of God's authority, came lightnings, thunders, 102 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:36,120 voices, and seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, 103 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,200 which are the seven spirits of God. 104 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,680 Going into chapter 5, he says, And I looked, and behold, in the 105 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,160 midst of the throne of the four living creatures, and the midst 106 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,360 of the elders, stood a lamb, as though it had been slain. 107 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,960 In this case, having 7 horns and seven eyes, which are the seven 108 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,000 spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 109 00:05:57,560 --> 00:05:59,960 Now of course, if you were just to read the Book of Revelation, 110 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:02,080 you might say, oh, God has seven spirits. 111 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,680 No, we know from reading the entire account of the Bible that 112 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,840 God has revealed Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 113 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,360 We don't have 7 spirits, but we will see here how there's seven 114 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:18,600 aspects of our relationship to the Holy Spirit that God wants 115 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,720 us to know about. But the word 7 in the Scriptures 116 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,680 is symbolic of completion. First example of that, in the 117 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,240 book of Genesis, the Lord spent six days, created the heavens 118 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,320 and earth, and on the 7th day he rested. 119 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,360 And so when you read through the Bible, there are many references 120 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,920 to the #7 speaking about completion. 121 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,200 And our New Beginnings class, our foundation classes, we 122 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,040 talked about the six foundation stones and then going on to 123 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,440 maturity, the same kind of a concept there that God wants us 124 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,400 to understand and the completion. 125 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,200 And that's what Word 7 talks about here. 126 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,160 So he's not talking about literally 7 different spirits, 127 00:06:56,280 --> 00:07:00,160 but the fact that the Holy Spirit is a sevenfold spirit in 128 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,280 operation for each and everyone of us. 129 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,440 And if you notice that Jesus Christ and I, again, we have to 130 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,040 know the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus coming upon 131 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:11,880 us. Because Jesus said I'm going to 132 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:13,680 go away, but I'm going to come again. 133 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,600 And when I come, you're not going to be orphans, but I'm 134 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,240 going to come and we're going to come and live inside of you 135 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,200 speaking about himself and the Father. 136 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,960 But the important thing that we see here is how the Lamb who's 137 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:30,240 sitting upon the throne has seven horns and seven eyes. 138 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:32,640 The horns always represent power. 139 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,080 So how many know Jesus has complete power? 140 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,720 The Bible says at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall 141 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:43,120 bow and every tongue shall confess, because Jesus Christ is 142 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,720 Lord to the glory of the Father. But it also tells us in Hebrews 143 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,040 chapter 2 that we don't see literally everything under him 144 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,760 because God's been working in this process. 145 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,520 And it's important for us to understand we're involved in 146 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,200 that process. But all power is in the throne 147 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,000 and spread out to the nations. But I want to emphasize today 148 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:08,240 about the seven eyes because Jesus had full spiritual 149 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,520 perception, which is really in fact what He wants each and 150 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,360 every one of us to experience it. 151 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:16,800 How do I know? Well, we'll go now to the book 152 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,040 of Isaiah, Chapter 11. There shall come forth a rod 153 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,920 from the stem of Jesse, and her branch shall grow out of his 154 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,520 roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall 155 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,480 rest upon him, speaking about the anointing that was upon 156 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,159 Jesus Christ, and then describing as it talks about the 157 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:37,760 things that come out of it. It is a spirit of wisdom, is a 158 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,120 spirit of understanding. It is a spirit of counsel and 159 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,760 might, the spirit of knowledge, and of what the fear of the 160 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,480 Lord. His delight is in the fear of 161 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,480 the Lord, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor 162 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,360 decide by the hearing of his ears. 163 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,880 Now when Jesus Christ was here on the earth, how many know that 164 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,920 was the manifestation of God's perfect wisdom? 165 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,680 Everything that God had was embodied in Christ. 166 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:09,160 He was the visible image of the invisible God, and wisdom was a 167 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:13,000 part of His walk and work here on the earth. 168 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,720 And so in Him we see the perfect completion of wisdom. 169 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,720 And so we experienced that. And it's something that God 170 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:25,480 wants us all to experience as a part of the Pentecostal 171 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,160 movement. We used to always talk about 172 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,840 being baptized in the Holy Spirit and quoting. 173 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,560 And you shall receive power after that. 174 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:34,240 The Holy Ghost has come upon you. 175 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,600 And the word power there speaks of from a Greek word, dunamis, 176 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,960 which is kind of like dynamite. And so we would basically say, 177 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,480 hey, you can have some dynamite power from God. 178 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:46,040 And that is true. Amen, Sir. 179 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,000 But we thought of it in terms of power. 180 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,040 So we think about, well, the Holy Spirit gives us miraculous 181 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:57,000 abilities, but we don't notice oftentimes that when we think 182 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,640 about the Holy Spirit, we should also think about it as the 183 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:06,640 source of what knowledge, understanding and wisdom. 184 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,440 Knowledge is information, or facts, if you would. 185 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,520 Understanding is the ability to see those things and have a 186 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,880 comprehension of them. And wisdom really speaks about 187 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,120 the application of those things that we know. 188 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:23,360 And so these are all a part of the things that God wants us to 189 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,920 have. And with God himself, through 190 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,040 the Holy Spirit, how many are we going to have a spirit of 191 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,600 counsel from him? I know when I'm in prayer, I'm 192 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,680 always talking to God about things that are concerning to me 193 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:36,960 about myself, the church, or people's lives. 194 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,640 And I know that the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, 195 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:41,960 counsels with me. And I thank the Lord for that. 196 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,360 And I'm also thankful that God equips us to be a counselor in 197 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,600 the world in which we Live Today, because the church needs 198 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,000 to be a counselor to the world. Amen Church. 199 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,040 And then of course it talks about the fear of the Lord as a 200 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,560 part of that because the Bible says that the fear of the Lord 201 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:03,680 is what the beginning of wisdom. And there is might in that which 202 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:06,840 speaks about the fullness. And so when I see this golden 203 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,880 Candlestick, I see how in the very beginning God starting a 204 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,200 process of making us understand his eternal purpose. 205 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:19,400 And that is, I want my people to know I give light and I want 206 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,640 them to walk in that light. I want them to receive that 207 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,000 light, and then I want them to become children of the light. 208 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:30,160 Can you say Amen to that? So God is calling us to a whole 209 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,880 new dimension in him. I believe this is a time of 210 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:36,600 transition in the world. I've been reading about history 211 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,160 all my life and I'm like, looking at what's happening now, 212 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,680 I'm like, wow, it's obvious this is a time of transition. 213 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,800 I can see it both in the church and I can see it in the world in 214 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:48,840 which we live. And I can see it in the way 215 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,920 people are responding because change is not the easy thing for 216 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,240 people to have to face. That's why they say the teens 217 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,200 were the greatest difficult part of your life for most people 218 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:00,880 because that's when you went through the most change because 219 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,480 it was physical as well as the circumstances of your life. 220 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,280 But we have to understand that change is a normal part of God's 221 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,280 process and working with planet earth, if you would. 222 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,440 And he not only wants us to be able to embrace change, but he 223 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:17,480 wants us to be catalyst for change. 224 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,320 Amen, Church. And so this is such an important 225 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,840 time that God is calling us to a new level in him, and we have to 226 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,040 understand that there is a perfect wisdom that he wants us 227 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,520 to walk in and be a full partaker of. 228 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,640 Now, what I want to talk to you about today is the difference 229 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:37,640 between spiritual perception versus prophetic insight. 230 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,360 Now, as I share with you the things that God has taught us 231 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,680 over the years and what we went through as a church, always keep 232 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,240 in mind that when I'm repeating these things to you, there's a 233 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,720 very good chance that in my time of prayer, the Lord was 234 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,480 repeating it to me, counseling with me so that I could look 235 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,640 back and see what I've experienced, where I am today 236 00:12:57,680 --> 00:12:59,560 and where it is that He's taken us. 237 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,680 And one of the stories that often shares, around 1980, as a 238 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:06,520 church, we were getting ready to get a mortgage on our church, 239 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:11,120 and we were ending up the 1970s, if you would. 240 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,560 Our church actually started in 1978. 241 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,800 In the 1970s. It was a very difficult time 242 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,160 financially or economically, if you would. 243 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,600 Prevailing as a description of the times was a word called 244 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,920 stagflation, which means we had inflation, but the economy 245 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,600 wasn't growing. So it was stag inflation if you 246 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,840 would. Usually when you have inflation, 247 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,040 it's because things are growing or vice versa. 248 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,040 But this was an odd time that we went through. 249 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,560 I, as a kid worked in a grocery store. 250 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,840 We used to make changes on prices there in the early 70s. 251 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,600 First of all we had a whole day, then it was every day and some 252 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,400 things we had to change quite frequently because inflation was 253 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,200 such an unusual thing. And then also, as we were 254 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:00,280 preparing our church, we were starting our change at a time of 255 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,560 great financial struggle. Now, at the time, I wasn't that 256 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:07,480 aware of economics and stuff. It wasn't an extreme interest 257 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,120 for myself if you would, but I had to face some realities when 258 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,160 we went to the bank and they said, well, we can give you a 259 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,440 mortgage, but the interest rate is 21 1/2%. 260 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,520 How many of that's mind boggling to think about. 261 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,400 Now people are complaining about home mortgages because they're 262 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,280 almost 7%. When I bought my first house, I 263 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,160 was all excited because the interest rate went down to 11 264 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,840 1/2 percent. It had been 14 times sure have 265 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,800 changed and it's important for us to understand that there's 266 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,960 times of economic distress, there's good times, bad times, 267 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:41,920 whatever. In the journey of life, all 268 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:43,360 kinds of things are going to happen. 269 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:48,200 And when looking at the world those days, most of the experts, 270 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,840 because I certainly did watch the news, we're talking about 271 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,160 the fact that we were in a very difficult time. 272 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,600 And there was this idea that we were on a trek downward, if you 273 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,880 would. Japan was the major power and 274 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:01,720 competition with us at that time. 275 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:03,800 And everybody thought, wow, look at Japan. 276 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,080 Look how they manufacture, look what they do. 277 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,480 And all the sudden it seemed like they were the rising star 278 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,920 of the East, if you would. And everybody was talking about 279 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,600 how the United States was going down hill. 280 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:20,520 And I remember then as well that most of the Bible prophets, if 281 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,440 you'd call that scriptural prophet, says Bible prophecy. 282 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,600 People were always looking for bad things to happen because 283 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,200 that was the sign of the end. And they were sure Jesus was 284 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,440 going to come because things were so bad. 285 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,120 But when I prayed, the Lord spoke to me and said, don't 286 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,160 listen to the voices because they're all kinds of voices 287 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:40,480 saying all kinds of different things. 288 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,480 You need to understand I'm sending the time of great 289 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,720 prosperity upon the land. And I want you to be prepared 290 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,960 for the time of prosperity. But I also want you to know it's 291 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,520 going to be just like it was in the days of Solomon. 292 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,640 And in that time he began to speak and say now you need to be 293 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,200 prepared because when this time of blessing comes, it would be 294 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,120 like in Solomons day. He was a man of great wisdom. 295 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,760 So the Lords, like the church needs to be a place of wisdom. 296 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,320 And I literally have all these things in the very first book I 297 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,440 wrote going back to 1991 about the house being a House of 298 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,520 wisdom and what God has for us as people. 299 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,880 But it was so important to understand that as well in 300 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,240 thinking of Solomon, as we'll read today, and I also read to 301 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,200 you in the opening Scriptures, Solomon with all the blessing he 302 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,920 had, he fell from grace with the Lord. 303 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,400 Now God talked to me about this prosperity in the late 1990s. 304 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:39,320 He said, I want you to know this is the Lucene of the four 305 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:42,000 horsemen of Revelation. There's going to be a time of 306 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,800 shaking. It's going to shake because 307 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,280 everything that can be shaken is going to be shaken. 308 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:48,480 He said about a year to know that. 309 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,080 And this is what you're to tell the people basically, which I 310 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,640 have been. Don't look at things to fall 311 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,280 apart. It's going to be shaken. 312 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,560 So we have to be strong, but don't look for things to fall 313 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:03,640 apart at that point in time. And so since that time, why I 314 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,000 wanted to share first, the very first week He gave me that on a 315 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,839 Monday, our stock market dropped the highest level in many, many 316 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:11,520 years. Everybody is all upset about it. 317 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,640 But by Friday that week had it come back and the Lord spoke to 318 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,400 me and He said no, That's what I want you to look at as a picture 319 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,839 of what it's going to be like shaking, seemingly falling, but 320 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:25,680 always put back together again. And that's been kind of like the 321 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:30,240 premise of the last 25 years. There was a very big tech of 322 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:36,680 fall downfall, if you would, in the stock market, around 2076% 323 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:38,720 of its value because everybody was investing. 324 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,160 It's kind of like it is today a bubble because everybody's 325 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,280 excited now about AI. Back then it was about the 326 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:46,680 Internet, the possibilities that were involved there. 327 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,120 It it, it was a difficult time, but guess what we've recovered. 328 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:54,400 There was the 9/11, 2001 disaster that was a shaking 329 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,280 economically and O seven O 8. They called it the Great 330 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,440 Recession. They said it was the worst time 331 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:02,960 since we had since the Great Depression. 332 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,360 So we've had a lot of shakings, but how many know we recover and 333 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,880 quite quickly actually, when you look at it from a historical 334 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,040 basis. Now, one of the reasons we have 335 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,440 recovered, fulfilling that second prophecy is because of 336 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,200 the government has taken a very activist role. 337 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:23,200 Whether it's Congress or whether it's the Federal Reserve or 338 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:24,840 whatever. There's somebody trying to 339 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,920 manage all this by printing money, expanding the money 340 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:32,200 supply, if you would, or sometimes lowering the interest 341 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,160 rate to make it easier to buy and to keep things. 342 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,280 And during O seven O 8, they were a lot of different 343 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,760 companies that were going bankrupt and the girl rescued a 344 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,440 lot of them. There were certain ones they let 345 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,080 fall apart. And that's a part of the shaking 346 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,960 time as the governments getting more power and they're deciding 347 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,920 oftentimes who's going to succeed and who's going to fall. 348 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,760 And so when I look at all the things that are happening now, 349 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:58,360 I'm thinking, Lord, this has to end. 350 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:00,680 This has to end. Because to me, when I look at 351 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,440 the increase of government power and I see irresponsible 352 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,120 finances, I think, oh, it's all going to fall apart. 353 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:10,240 So I was actually praying quite a bit in recent years. 354 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:12,520 Lord, is there another word I'm supposed to get now? 355 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,880 Because things don't look good. I'm sure everything's going to 356 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,280 fall apart or something. And that's when the Lord began 357 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,400 to speak to me what I'm going to share with you today. 358 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,760 And that is I don't want to people that know ahead of time 359 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,200 what's going to happen so they can prepare for it. 360 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:33,480 I want to be a have a people who can respond to every situation 361 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,080 that comes their way. So it isn't about what you know 362 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,720 is going to happen. It's how you going to handle 363 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,520 where you are right now. That's the difference between a 364 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,240 spiritual perception and prophetic insight. 365 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,560 And when I share with you how this is a part of my process as 366 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,120 well. I have a YouTube site where I 367 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,000 talk about prophetic insight. And that's when the Lord said, 368 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,960 now you're getting ready and I have you ready to begin to 369 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,640 launch in a whole new level. But I want you to change that 370 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:04,560 name to spiritual procession because the Bible says he that 371 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:09,480 is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no 372 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:10,720 one. That's in the book of First 373 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,800 Corinthians. And so the Lord said we need a 374 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,600 people who have spiritual perception in the earth, not a 375 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,440 people who feel their security about knowing what's going to 376 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,080 happen, because how many know? Everybody's trying to tell you 377 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,680 what's going to happen. People are saying buy gold, the 378 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,560 money's not going to be having any value or better than that, 379 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:31,960 buy Bitcoin or some of the kind of currency. 380 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:36,200 Everybody's come up with ideas. But I have a word from the Lord, 381 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:41,240 and that is give me the ability to teach you and give you 382 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,720 wisdom. It doesn't matter what situation 383 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:47,000 is in front of you, you're going to know how to navigate it, says 384 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,360 the mighty God. Give the Lord a praise on that. 385 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,280 And the truth is that's our testimony as a local church. 386 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,480 In our 47 years, we've never had a crisis financially. 387 00:20:57,800 --> 00:20:59,480 We've always weathered the storm. 388 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,880 If you would. I talk about the storms and I 389 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,560 know people that we've ministered to this, excuse me, 390 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,720 have been impacted by the storms. 391 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,640 But we have to understand that in all of these things, our God 392 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,840 is faithful all the time. And that's why I love being on a 393 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,960 journey with him because I like to look back and say, God, 394 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,800 that's amazing how you work that out. 395 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:21,720 And then I can look to the future and say, God, I know 396 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,520 that's going to be amazing how you're going to work things out. 397 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,040 Amen. Church, we serve a living God. 398 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:30,600 In First Corinthians chapter 1, verses 19 and 20, it does say 399 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:32,520 this. For it is written, I will 400 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,760 destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the 401 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,680 understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise, Where is the 402 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,480 scribe, and where is the disputer of this age? 403 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,200 Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 404 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,120 You can be sure that all the wisdom of this world is going to 405 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:52,880 be challenged. That's why we've got to be 406 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,760 prepared to understand and also to walk not in the world's 407 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:01,800 wisdom, but God's wisdom church. And it's so easy for us to walk 408 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,160 in the wisdom of the world or to think, well, this is what God 409 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:06,480 says. So this is what I do as a 410 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,080 Christian or when I go to church. 411 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,400 And this is everyday life. Now the Lord says every day I'm 412 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,440 going to walk with you, says the mighty God. 413 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,680 And as you allow me to give you wisdom, says the Lord, you will 414 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,560 be able to navigate the waters even when the wisdom of this 415 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,040 world is being challenged. You will be able to walk in 416 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:30,800 godly wisdom and say to the world, God is able to take care 417 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,960 of his people, Amen. Because we're planted on the 418 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,360 rock, Christ Jesus. Amen. 419 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:41,080 Jesus said if you're on the rock, and this is how he 420 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,960 described himself to his disciples, if you follow these 421 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,640 principles that I'm telling you about, when the storms come and 422 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,400 the winds are blowing, you're going to be able to stand on the 423 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,800 rock and not be shaken. But if you're not following the 424 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,720 principles, when the storm comes, it's going to be like you 425 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,840 built your house on the sand and when the winds are blowing, the 426 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,560 storms are raging, you're going to fall with the wind. 427 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,920 So God is challenging us to understand how powerful His word 428 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,800 is and how wonderful His word can be to us when we have that 429 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,600 confidence in Him and understand the full manner of wisdom He's 430 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,320 called us to. Now going back to our story, it 431 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,080 says that Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream 432 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,680 by night and said, Ask what shall I give you? 433 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,800 Now, O Lord my God, You have made your servant king, and said 434 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,360 of my father David, but I'm a little child, do not know how to 435 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:37,440 go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst 436 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,240 of your people, whom you have chosen, a great people too 437 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:43,440 numerous to be numbered or counted. 438 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,920 Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge 439 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,040 your people, that I may discern between good and evil. 440 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,000 For who is able to judge this great people of yours? 441 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,320 Can you imagine God appearing to you and saying, ask, what do you 442 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,200 want? How many of you know you'd have 443 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:05,320 a lot of thoughts on that one? Lord, just give me the Super 444 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,000 Bowl lottery of a billion bucks and I'll be taken care of. 445 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,520 Lord, just do this and this will happen. 446 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,320 I'll be OK. But Solomon, when he has this 447 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,480 opportunity to get something from God, he's not thinking 448 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,880 about himself. He's thinking about the 449 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,560 responsibility that he has for the people of God because he's 450 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,040 made a king. His father, David was a great 451 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,080 king, very beloved by the people of God. 452 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,960 And he's looking at David, his father, and he's looking at the 453 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,120 tacit in front of me. And so when the Lord says, ask 454 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:41,160 for something, he says, Lord, I want you to give me an 455 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,000 understanding heart in order that when people come to me and 456 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,560 I'm facing the issues of life, I'll know exactly what to do. 457 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:52,600 And I think it's so important that we would understand that 458 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,440 true wisdom does indeed come from the heart, Amen. 459 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,800 And Solomon had the right heart before the Lord. 460 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,280 And because of that, when God gave him an opportunity, he 461 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,240 asked, I believe with all my heart, God's bringing the church 462 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,800 into a new level of authority in prayer. 463 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:12,000 But we're got to be mature in our place in order for us to be 464 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,440 given that kind of blessing. Amen, Church. 465 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,680 And so God says, get ready by preparing yourself to walk in 466 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,560 wisdom and have an understanding heart, says the mighty God. 467 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,360 So God gave Solomon wisdom, exceeding great understanding 468 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,720 and largeness of heart. Like the sand on the seashore, 469 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,960 the Solomon's wisdom excel the wisdom of all the into the east 470 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:38,040 and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men 471 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,200 and men of all nations from all kings of earth who had heard of 472 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,560 his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. 473 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,000 Wow, what a blessings God's gift was. 474 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,320 He gets wisdom and the Bible says he also had largeness of 475 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,000 heart, not just understanding of heart. 476 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,760 So he's very generous. You can see, like the queen of 477 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,560 Sheba, she comes and sees all the things that Solomon has 478 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:03,200 built. And the Bible says she literally 479 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:07,680 fainted when she saw how perfectly everything operated in 480 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,440 the administration of his authority. 481 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,920 And yet she brought gifts. But guess what? 482 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,720 Then he gave her gifts back because he's like, you're not 483 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,560 going to outgive me. I'm going to give back to you. 484 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,840 So he was a man of wisdom. He was a man of generosity. 485 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,640 And it was something that this Scripture tells us was 486 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:28,120 recognized by all the nations of the earth. 487 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,800 Kings and leaders were coming because they're like, we got to 488 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:34,240 find out what's happening there in Israel. 489 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,520 I'm sure most of them didn't give the credit to God, but 490 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,240 Solomon would have had the responsibility to tell him just 491 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,000 that. But what was followed and 492 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:50,600 received of God actually became a demonstrated wisdom that the 493 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,000 world could see. And I believe that's what God 494 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,680 has in store for His church. That's why I'm still as 495 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,600 committed as I ever was to Isaiah 2. 496 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,800 In the latter days of time, the mountain of the Lord's house 497 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:05,680 shall be established on top of the mountains, exalted above the 498 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:07,880 hills. People are going to say, come 499 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,520 and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the House of the 500 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,960 God of Jacob. He will teach us of His ways. 501 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,280 We will walk in His path. For out of Mount Zion shall go 502 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:20,320 the law, because we saw what those people have experienced in 503 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,320 God. And we want that church. 504 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,640 We're going to see a great harvest in this day, man. 505 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:32,120 Unfortunately, For it was so when Solomon was old that his 506 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:36,000 wifes turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was 507 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,640 not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father 508 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,560 David. For Solomon went after Asterisk, 509 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,560 the goddesses, said Nonians, and after Milkham the abomination of 510 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,840 the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of 511 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,960 God and did not follow the Lord as did his father David. 512 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,160 And again, this is the story that God brought to my 513 00:27:56,160 --> 00:28:00,080 remembrance way back when. He said just be careful. 514 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:05,440 In the days of prosperity, there will also be a time of wisdom. 515 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,760 The world's going to have its wisdom and knowledge. 516 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,000 And with AI, it's going to be mind boggling. 517 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,840 I'm just amazed at some of the things that you can accomplish 518 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:18,160 with artificial intelligence. But I also know that God says 519 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:21,520 I'm going to do something in the church that's going to parallel 520 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,640 and be a light to that says the mighty God, and you're going to 521 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:30,160 see what I'm going to do because God's going to show his glory 522 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,880 through his people in this day. And that's why we are committing 523 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,880 ourselves fully to the vision. And I'm so grateful that God has 524 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,520 given me the opportunity to walk in this journey and to learn 525 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,280 these things so that I can impart them to this next 526 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,960 generation because I believe with all my heart, God's raising 527 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,080 up the generation of Jacob, the generation that's going to seek 528 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:51,600 him. And that's what they're saying 529 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:53,680 in all the reports. If you read them, they're saying 530 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:55,920 something's happening in the younger generation. 531 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:00,200 There's a hunger for God. And for so many years they were 532 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,600 talking about declining church attendance and declining 533 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,320 interest in God. And now they're starting notice. 534 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,800 Wow, something's changing. How many know gods at work right 535 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:10,920 now in the earth? Amen. 536 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:16,720 Cherish. Unfortunately, he had a failure 537 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,360 in the secret place. And that's why I mentioned here 538 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,480 because I was praying about that. 539 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,680 I'm like, Lord, how could somebody with Solomon, he was 540 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:26,360 the smartest guy in planet Earth. 541 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,680 How can he turn from you? That's not too smart. 542 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:32,600 That doesn't demonstrate a lot of wisdom. 543 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,080 And it's mind boggling to me. And that's when the Lord spoke 544 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,880 to me and he said, well, Lauren, basically he fell into the same 545 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,520 thing. That's very common in the human 546 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,560 experience. And that is it's very easy to 547 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:51,800 have a public life and yet not match it in your private life. 548 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,280 And you can see that all through the world. 549 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,720 A lot of times, you know, growing up out here, people say, 550 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,120 oh, Christians are hypocrites. We live in a world of 551 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:00,280 hypocrites. Amen. 552 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,080 What do I mean? Well, most people have two 553 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,440 things. It's very common in the human 554 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:06,920 condition. I'm talking about people. 555 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,000 And social studies is always one of my favorite subjects. 556 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,080 I'm a observer of people. And you'll know, often times 557 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,760 you'll talk to somebody who has knowledge that they're operating 558 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,840 in perhaps professionally or in some level. 559 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,600 But then when they go home, they kind of take off that hat, if 560 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,840 you would. And in their private life, 561 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,600 things aren't so well, You may have went to a doctor before and 562 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,480 he'd tell you about nutrition. And you're looking at him and 563 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,200 thinking, you don't seem to follow that advice. 564 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,080 Are you a smell? And you're like, wait a minute, 565 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:43,440 did you have a cigarette before you came and see me? 566 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:49,040 It's very common for people who are telling you how to be 567 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,000 healthy to be unhealthy, just as it's very common for people who 568 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,720 are in counseling to tell you counsel and it can actually be 569 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,280 good counsel, but they don't follow the same counsel 570 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:04,640 themselves for whatever reason. It's a part of the human 571 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,520 experience. Unfortunately, we've seen a lot 572 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,000 in the body of Christ recently because guess what? 573 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,440 We're finding out there's a whole lot of people who had a 574 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:17,440 public ministry, but when they got home, I guess they forgot 575 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:19,080 who they were walking with. Amen. 576 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:23,360 That's why I call it a failure in the seeker place and why you 577 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:27,320 have to understand the key to his success was his heart, but 578 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,240 it also was the key to his failure. 579 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,320 The Bible says he that dwells in the seeker place of the Most 580 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,760 High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 581 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,520 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge. 582 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,400 He is my help. He's a present help in a time of 583 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:48,040 trouble though 1000 fall on my right and 10,000 on my other 584 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,320 side. He says it's not going to come 585 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:51,400 near me. Why? 586 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,480 Because the Lord is my refuge and my strength. 587 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,360 What is that talking about? Well, abiding in the secret 588 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,480 place of the Most High. And it goes on to say he knows 589 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,280 me by name. I know him by name. 590 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,720 And if your heart is where it's supposed to be, church, God will 591 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:13,120 give you the ability to navigate every situation. 592 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,320 And that's why it's so important for us to realize that the 593 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:20,320 spirit of life in Christ Jesus that comes to us can help us 594 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:24,240 navigate the waters of our life. But we have to start with the 595 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,840 most secret place of all, which is not your personal life, but 596 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:32,280 your heart. And when he dwells in that heart 597 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:37,360 of ours, He can give us help in our marriage, in our child 598 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:41,840 rearing, in our careers, and everything else because it flows 599 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:44,840 from that. And even when the crisis of life 600 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:49,280 comes or the struggles come, you're able to still navigate 601 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:53,120 properly and you're also able to take the knowledge that you 602 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:55,760 have, whether it's a professional knowledge or 603 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:57,560 something that you learned on your own. 604 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,440 And He will make you strong enough to be able to walk in 605 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,040 that. But the key is giving God your 606 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:10,440 heart, letting God dwell in your secret place, and you also 607 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,160 allowing yourself to have a secret place in the Lord. 608 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,720 I have found it to be a strength for me. 609 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,000 And I'm so grateful that I can share a testimony with the 610 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:21,200 younger people and say, you know what? 611 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,320 I've been serving a long time and guess what? 612 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,360 I found out He's a faithful God. He's able to do exceedingly, 613 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,400 abundantly above all that we are able to ask or think. 614 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,280 But when we're facing a crisis that we don't understand or 615 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:38,120 we're in a world that's seemingly falling apart, we need 616 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,360 to know where our help comes from. 617 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,120 Amen Church. And that's where we begin to 618 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,640 learn how that God can give us the spirit of wisdom and 619 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:50,240 understanding in the knowledge of him, the spirit of counsel, 620 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,080 the spirit of might, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. 621 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,280 And we can find success in every situation. 622 00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,840 It says King Solomon love many foreign women as well as the 623 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:03,000 daughter of the Pharaoh when them the Moabites, Ammonites, 624 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:07,040 Edomites, Hadonians and Hittites from the nations of whom the 625 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,400 Lord had said to the children of Israel, You shall not intermarry 626 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:12,440 with them, nor are they with you. 627 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,280 Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. 628 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,159 And so Solomon kung to these in love. 629 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,960 It's so important that we'd understand the simplicity of 630 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,080 keeping the word of God. And that's why we're offering 631 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,360 all these Bible classes and so many different settings and so 632 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,760 many different opportunities because church, you have to 633 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,760 understand there's power in the Word of God. 634 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,080 And when we started our church, we started by teaching a class 635 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,679 called Understanding God. And it was 32 weeks class. 636 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:47,239 And from that we took 45 people to Detroit to be baptized. 637 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,199 And that's been our foundation all along to teach people how 638 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:52,320 important it is to have a foundation. 639 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:56,280 That's why we continue to have our new beginner class and we we 640 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:59,440 make the classes shorter than they used to be, but we offer 641 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:03,160 more classes because we want you to get a taste of it so that you 642 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:05,080 can say, you know, I've tasted the Lord. 643 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:08,680 It's good. I want some Amen church. 644 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,200 Commit yourself to the Word. Go to the website and find out a 645 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,000 way that you can get into a Bible class or Bible training 646 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,760 opportunity or one of the book studies because it's all about 647 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,400 keeping the Word. And Solomon forgot what God had 648 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,880 told him. That's why it doesn't hurt to 649 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,560 take a class over again. One day I was reading one of my 650 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,000 own books and somebody looked at me and laughed as you read your 651 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,040 own books. I said, I have to. 652 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:34,760 I can't remember what I wrote way back then. 653 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:39,840 That was a long time ago, but I do the same thing with the Bible 654 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:41,960 as I'm reading it. I just read it all the time. 655 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,000 Guess what? I'm just amazed I can read it 656 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,280 and I'll go, I didn't know that was there, or I'm looking that 657 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:51,400 whole different perspective. And so walking in the Word with 658 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,520 a heart that's open to Him, that's key if we want to stand 659 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:55,920 in the time of trouble. Amen. 660 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,280 And that's why I put up here also knowing the Word. 661 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,720 And we're only going to know the Word because we study the Word. 662 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,600 Then someone built a high place for Shimas, the abomination of 663 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,640 Moab, on the hill that is the eastern Jerusalem, and more like 664 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:11,240 the abomination of the people of Haman. 665 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:14,680 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives who burned incense 666 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:19,560 and sacrifice to their gods. Now I want you to note I put up 667 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,520 here that he was following his need. 668 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:24,640 I would like to quote the scripture. 669 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:29,400 It says and God will supply all of our need according to his 670 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,800 riches and glory. We can only turn to God when we 671 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:34,720 have a need. And I'm not just talking about a 672 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:37,080 financial need. Often eyes people have 673 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:42,080 motivating needs in their life. God can satisfy your need, and 674 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:45,440 once you get past that point, you can go to the next Scripture 675 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:49,600 that says delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you 676 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:54,200 the desire of your heart. You see, Solomon was not a 677 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:56,920 influencer. He was somebody who became 678 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,120 influenced. And we have to be very careful 679 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,560 in this time because there's all kinds of people out there who 680 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:05,280 want to influence us. It's a new thing on social 681 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,360 medias. People want to be influencers. 682 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,600 Well, you have to understand from the connotation of these 683 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,840 words that when it comes to your life, you have to know who's 684 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:16,400 influencing you. Amen. 685 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:21,320 And we have been called by God to be influencers in the world 686 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,840 in which we live. And unfortunately, what happened 687 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,120 to Solomon has became misdirected. 688 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,840 Now, when you read how that he had 700 wives and 300 689 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:33,760 concubines, which was kind of like a second Clutter girl wife, 690 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,120 you might think, wow, that guy was really liking he liked 691 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:38,840 getting married. I mean, it must have been the 692 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:44,680 ceremony or something. But in fact, the truth is, and 693 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,800 it wasn't the honeymoon. It was something more than that, 694 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,400 believe it or not, when he married his first wife in the 695 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:54,640 Bible records that it was one of the princesses of Egypt, because 696 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:57,240 that's how they used to make alliances back then. 697 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:01,280 You would marry a daughter or a relative of a king of another 698 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:03,920 country, and that was kind of the way that you would secure 699 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:07,160 contracts. And so there was a political 700 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:08,880 reason he would have did these things. 701 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:12,320 And it seemed in his mind, I'm sure to be a right thing because 702 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:14,720 that's what everybody was doing at the time. 703 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:19,120 But in the end he became misdirected by that and he, he 704 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:23,200 came under the influence of those that he was allowing in. 705 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,720 And I'm sure because he was doing it for contractual reasons 706 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,520 that there was a part of him that could have justified 707 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,400 saying, well, I better let all these wives worship their own 708 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:35,240 gods because after all, they're only here because we're making 709 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:36,440 an alliance. Whatever. 710 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,320 There's all kinds of reasons he could have justified the 711 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:44,000 situation, but in the end he became misdirected and missed 712 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,640 out on the opportunity to experience the blessing of God. 713 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:51,400 So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had 714 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,120 turned from the Lord of God of Israel, who had appeared to him 715 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,400 twice, and it commanded him concerning this thing, that he 716 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,920 should not go after other gods, but he did not keep what the 717 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,840 Lord had commanded. Therefore the Lord said to 718 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,600 Solomon, because you have done this and have not kept my 719 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:12,600 comment in my statutes which I commanded you, I will surely 720 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:16,400 tear the Kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 721 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,480 Can we all please bow our heads? Close your eyes for just a 722 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:23,520 moment, Church. I believe this is a very 723 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:30,160 important moment in the times and the purposes of God. 724 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,680 I covered a whole lot of history and a whole lot of message, but 725 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:42,120 simply this. Will you let God into your 726 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:46,080 secret place? Will you open yourself up? 727 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,640 Some of you used to have a secret place and you donated 728 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,280 more. Get back to your secret place. 729 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,840 You need time between you and Jesus. 730 00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:01,880 You need to know who He is, and you need to let Him know who you 731 00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:04,920 are. Of course, he knows you, but he 732 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,520 wants you to willingly show him who you are. 733 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:12,320 This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius from Mount Zion Church. 734 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,320 We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect 735 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,920 with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and 736 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,520 following us on social media. God bless you.