1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,560 I've been speaking about Joshua for a few weeks now, and I 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,400 wanted to remind you with a couple opening scriptures why 3 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,960 this is very significant to us. The scriptures I read to you 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,200 were when the children of Israel were going into the Promised 5 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,760 land, crossing over the Jordan River, and the first obstacle 6 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,000 they would face would be the city of Jericho. 7 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,080 Now, before they went, there were spies that had been sent 8 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,880 into the land, and these are the names of the men whom Moses sent 9 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,720 to spy out the land. We're focusing on one and Moses 10 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,320 called Hoshea, the son of Nun Joshua. 11 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,000 Now, this is a very significant thing for us to understand 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,720 because the name Hoshea means a deliver. 13 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:45,120 And so this shows us how the new creation of God works. 14 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,080 The Bible says that which is natural comes first, afterward 15 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,280 that which is spiritual. You are both a natural being and 16 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,800 how many know when you're born again, you become a spiritual 17 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,080 being. It is the natural and the 18 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,520 spiritual that comes together and gives you that ability to 19 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,720 walk as the new creation of God in the earth. 20 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,520 And we've talked about a few people who went through a name 21 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,040 change literally to accentuate the fact. 22 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,280 And in this case, Hoshea, which was a deliverer, would go in as 23 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:17,320 one of the spies into the promised land. 24 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,120 When he went into the land, he was a very strong of character 25 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,520 person. When he saw the land, he saw it 26 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,720 was a land flowing of milk and honey, just as the word of the 27 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,040 Lord had come to them earlier. But in that land, they also saw 28 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:32,600 that there were giants in the land. 29 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,680 Out of the 12 spies, 10 of them came back with a bad report, 30 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:39,960 convinced everybody you don't want to go in that land because 31 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:44,360 there's giants in that land. But Joshua looked at things from 32 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,640 a different perspective. He said those giants will just 33 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,760 be bred for us to eat. Now, this wasn't just because he 34 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,120 was a naturally inclined person. In the book of Exodus chapter 35 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,400 17, you read a story how when the children visitor were facing 36 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,640 a battle that the Lord had Moses stand on a mountain in the view 37 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,759 of all the people as he lifted his hands, they would be winning 38 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:11,000 the war. When his hands got tired and 39 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,800 they started going down, they would start losing the battle. 40 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,600 And so Aaron and her, two of the elders lifted up his hands so 41 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:21,920 that he could stand and the people of God received a 42 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:24,480 victory. Now, this wasn't just the way 43 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:29,200 God used to win the war, but it also was a very good object 44 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,400 lesson for Joshua because God began to teach him that it 45 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,080 wasn't just his natural strength that we give them the victory, 46 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:42,280 but it was the natural strength mixed with the power of God that 47 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,880 would give the victory. And it's so important that we 48 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,360 would understand that church because often times we fail to 49 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,200 understand how important it is for us to walk with both the 50 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,920 natural and a spiritual aspect to our observation as we're 51 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:58,280 going through life. Now we've been sharing this 52 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:00,880 because it's so important to understand this particular 53 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,840 reference of Scripture because when Mary became pregnant with 54 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,440 the child, Joshua was going to put her away privately. 55 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,000 But the Bible says the word of the Lord came and said, she will 56 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000 bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will 57 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,360 save his people from their sins. So all this was done that it 58 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,920 might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the 59 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,280 prophet saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and 60 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,000 bear a son, and they should call his name Emmanuel, which is 61 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,080 translated God with us. And I shared with you how 62 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,240 important it is for us to recognize when Joseph was told 63 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:42,000 he was to call the child in the new Gospel of Matthew, Jesus 64 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,240 because he would save his people from the sin. 65 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,520 That's actually the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. 66 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,240 And so there's a picture that was drawn up immediately. 67 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:57,320 This child is going to grow up and be a leader of the people, 68 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,480 and he's going to take them into the promised land. 69 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,960 He's going to bring them into the place of their full 70 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,240 inheritance. That would have been easily 71 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,160 understood by them. But for us, we have to 72 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,720 understand that though the name Jesus is special to us because 73 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,240 that's what we call him in our language, it's important also to 74 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,920 understand that Jesus had this mark upon him. 75 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:23,280 The Bible says the Old Testament was written for our example and 76 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:26,960 also for our admonition because a lot of people think that Jesus 77 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,320 Christ died for their sins and that's the end of it. 78 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,000 But if you notice in the Scripture, it says He will save 79 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,480 their people from their sin. He doesn't just want to forgive 80 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,920 you, He wants to deliver you. Can you say Amen to that? 81 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,680 And that's why at Mount Zion, give him a praise on that. 82 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,640 That's a good one. We have our life enrichment 83 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:48,920 classes. That's why we have our Oasis 84 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:54,280 ministry to provide you with the support, but also the tools that 85 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:56,880 will help you become an overcomer in this life. 86 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,800 It's very essential that we understand that God has called 87 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,600 us to be overcomers. Now Jesus would also be called 88 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:09,080 Emmanuel, which adds to the Joshua name, which means God 89 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,080 with us. The Bible teaches us that Jesus 90 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,840 Christ was not just a man, he was also God, God come in the 91 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:19,840 flesh. In Christian Church we teach he 92 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:24,280 was truly man, but we also believe that he was truly God. 93 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,520 Some people can't understand how that works and there's always 94 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,440 been discussions about it, but just in simple faith say, Yep, 95 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:35,600 that's true, He was a man and he was also God come in the flesh 96 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,840 as a man. He went through all the life 97 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:40,680 experiences that each and every one of us go through. 98 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,760 So he he could say, I know exactly how you feel, but he 99 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:51,680 also became the source of our deliverance because when he was 100 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,840 obedient on the death and rose from the dead, he ever lives to 101 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:59,200 make intercession for us. He sent us the Holy Spirit to 102 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,360 empower us. And so the God part lets us know 103 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,240 we can be an overcomer in this life. 104 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,720 Now having said that, I want to go today's story from Joshua 105 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:13,120 chapter 1, beginning with this admonition that Joshua was given 106 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,200 as they started going into the prom. 107 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,720 The Lord said, the book of the law shall not depart from your 108 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:23,000 mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may 109 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,360 observe to do according to all that is written in it. 110 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:27,800 But then you will make your way prosperous. 111 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,000 Then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? 112 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,480 Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid nor be 113 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:40,000 dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 114 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:42,480 Now again, this is very important for us to know. 115 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,000 He was given 2 admonitions. Remember the Scriptures. 116 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,160 He was called the Law of Moses at that time, what was called 117 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,280 the Torah later on. We need to be a people that 118 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,880 understand the power of living in the Word of God. 119 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,120 As a little boy, even in Sunday school, reading about these 120 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,160 Bible stories about the people I've been sharing about, as 121 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,080 we've been talking about Joshua and Jacob and Abraham, different 122 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,160 ones of the Bible. There's so much that we can 123 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,120 learn. And this is important for us to 124 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,640 know that just by reading the Scriptures and following that, 125 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:15,680 it's going to give us a good life. 126 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,480 It will give us, just like God said to Joshua, good success. 127 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,920 And I've shared this all my life because I said, you know, the 128 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,080 Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard. 129 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,680 Sometimes people think it's difficult to be a Christian. 130 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,960 Sometimes it's difficult to make these certain choices that God's 131 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,720 expecting of us. And we get this idea that being 132 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,400 a Christian is a burden for us. But in reality, the Bible says 133 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,040 when you know the truth, it's going to make you free. 134 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,200 How you know, Jesus said follow my word and you're going to have 135 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,720 blessing in your life. Amen, Amen. 136 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,240 That's important to understand. But not only do we need the 137 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,920 Scripture. When I was 17 years of age, I 138 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,280 received the baptismal Holy Spirit, received prophetic 139 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:00,520 enablements if you would, and began to learn about the power 140 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,400 of hearing the voice of God. And that's a second component 141 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,400 that we promote for the people of God to understand. 142 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:09,520 Some people think that's not for them. 143 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,120 Maybe Pastor Lauren hears the voice of God or some of the 144 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:16,640 leaders in the church. No, Jesus said my sheep know my 145 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,280 voice. It is not that hard. 146 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,400 And it says in another place, trust in the Lord with all your 147 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:24,400 heart. Lean not into your own 148 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,600 understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will 149 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,880 direct your steps. And so when you were learning to 150 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,039 hear the voice of God, it isn't a scary walk that we should look 151 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:36,679 at it or that we're going to make a mistake. 152 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,120 Because if you acknowledge God in your heart and seek his 153 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,000 voice, how you know He has the responsibility to get you 154 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,200 through the situation. Because in the end, it isn't 155 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,320 about your ability to hear something. 156 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:50,600 It's God's ability working through us. 157 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:55,320 So we just have to trust Him. The voice of God feeds us. 158 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,800 Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that 159 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,960 proceeds from the mouth of God. And the voice of God will lead 160 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:03,560 us, and we have to understand that. 161 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,400 So this is where Joshua was in the story that we're reading 162 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,000 today about going in and taking the city of Jericho. 163 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,280 Because the city of Jericho was securely shut up because of the 164 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,480 children of Israel. None went out, none came in. 165 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,200 The Lord said to Joshua, see, I've given you Jericho into your 166 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,200 hand, it's king and the mighty men of valor, you shall March 167 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,360 around the city. All you men of war, you should 168 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,960 go all around the city once. This you shall do 6 States and 169 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,640 seven priests shall bear 7 trumpets of Rams horns before 170 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,640 the ark. But the 7th day you shall March 171 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,240 around the city 7 times, and what? 172 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,960 The priest shall blow the trumpet. 173 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,480 Now this is so important here because he's getting divine 174 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,960 instruction. Now remember he won this battle 175 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,400 40 years earlier. He had been Moses's security 176 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:58,360 man, if you would, and he had for 40 years LED as the 177 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,240 commander of the armies because there were a lot of conflicts 178 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,240 that they had in those forty years in the wilderness. 179 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:08,760 But now as he's leading the people of God, God's giving him 180 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,400 this strategy to take the land and take the city, if you would. 181 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,560 In this particular case, he's saying now I want you to bring 182 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,360 the ark of the covenant. I want you to bring the priests 183 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:21,040 and they're going to lead the army as they March around the 184 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:25,440 city 6 days and one time a day, on the 7th day, seven more 185 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,720 times. And I can imagine myself because 186 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,200 I always like to think about the human side of things that Joshua 187 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,040 might have thought, OK, I know God, I've got to listen to your 188 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:36,920 voice. But aren't those priests going 189 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,760 to be just in the way? I'm, you know, if you were a 190 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,360 soldier, you would be thinking it'd be better not to have the 191 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,440 priests out there in the battle if you would. 192 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,320 Why don't we put them over on the sidelines and let them pray 193 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,680 over us over there? But Joshua knew about the voice 194 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:55,200 of God, and so he understood. Well, I've got to follow these 195 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,920 divine instructions. And to me, this is a picture, if 196 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:00,560 you would. That's why I love these stories 197 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:03,400 of the Bible, because it gives us a picture of how important it 198 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,880 is for us to bring both the natural and the spiritual 199 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:11,240 components together if we want to walk fully into the victory 200 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,440 that God has for us. And that was necessary then and 201 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,880 it's necessary today. Jesus had the natural and the 202 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,200 spiritual, and He teaches us to walk in this way. 203 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:27,120 And so divine instructions as we follow God are going to have the 204 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,400 component of both a natural and a spiritual aspect of what we're 205 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,960 supposed to do. But as we think about that, we 206 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:38,280 want to realize how important it is to bring God into every area 207 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:40,760 of our life. He should be your partner in 208 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,680 your family. He should be your partner in 209 00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:46,240 your finances, your business, your vocation, whatever it is 210 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,400 you're doing in life. I know God wants to be your 211 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:49,600 partner. Church, Amen. 212 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:54,000 And what a partner we have when we have God on our side. 213 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,480 So the priests and then instruments, why is it? 214 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:03,040 Why are we going to play music? They're not that bad that 215 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,240 they're going to scare the people in Jericho. 216 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,760 You know, Jericho was a city that had high walls. 217 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,080 And even if you study archaeology, they'll even tell 218 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,200 you there was a city of Jericho. Of course, they'll disagree with 219 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,400 the Bible scenario for sure, but they will tell you it was this 220 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,800 is city famous for very high walls and very thick walls. 221 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:28,600 How do you come into a country and take a city like that? 222 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,920 As you notice in the Scriptures, it says they close their door. 223 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,080 They were shut up because they're like, we can make it. 224 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,920 You'll give up sooner or later, but you're going to know you're 225 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,920 not going to get over these walls and have a victory for us. 226 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,600 Now, having said that, I want you to see how important this 227 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:49,040 scripture is from this context where it says, for though we 228 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,920 walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 229 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:56,320 So we do have a natural walk, but we have to understand that 230 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,320 the power of warfare, if you would, is not a fleshly one. 231 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,200 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but what mighty 232 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,200 and God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down 233 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,320 arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the 234 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,560 knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the 235 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,560 obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience 236 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:23,760 when your obedience is fulfilled. 237 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,720 Now this is a hard thing for us to face so often times, because 238 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:30,560 guess what? We're natural people. 239 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,280 When it uses the word carnal, we sometimes think that that's just 240 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:36,320 a bad word. No, carnal just means it's 241 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,840 coming from your flesh rather than from your spirit. 242 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,480 There is a place for the natural, again as there is the 243 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,800 place of the spiritual. But one of the problems we have 244 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:51,000 in the natural is we make a separation in the 2. 245 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,920 And that's why we have to learn to bring these things together. 246 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,280 This is especially important in our prayer life because often 247 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,480 times when we're praying, we look at our situation from a 248 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,800 natural perspective. We come up with what we think 249 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,640 God needs to do and able to get His work accomplished. 250 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,800 And we usually start praying from our expectation of what's 251 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,480 necessary. In church, we don't necessarily 252 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,520 know what is necessary. Amen. 253 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,760 That's why I the funeral I use a store and I wanted to share it 254 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,120 again today. Different side of it a little 255 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,520 bit here. When I was sharing about my 256 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,240 sister-in-law Sherry and my brother Bill because my brother 257 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,320 Bill had some problems. One of them was excessive 258 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,880 drinking. I can say it because he would be 259 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,080 the one to tell you how God delivered him out of that. 260 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:40,000 But he had a filled marriage and life is kind of hard on him. 261 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,360 So we were like praying God send him the right wife. 262 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,520 I've often told the people how important it is for us to have a 263 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,480 savior. I said women need a savior, but 264 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,200 men usually need a savior and a Good Wife too. 265 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,600 Can I hear any men on that? But anyway, yeah, there's some 266 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,240 claps there. You know what I'm talking about. 267 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,840 But anyway, when Sherry come along, she was she didn't 268 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,640 exactly fit the bill, if you would. 269 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,000 The problem was that she liked to party like my brother, but 270 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,600 she even went to church. We're like, this is going to 271 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,440 cause confusion if you would. And I remember when they got 272 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,760 married. I was the best man for that 273 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,520 wedding. And I remember, I don't remember 274 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,480 how the conversation came about, but she said something about you 275 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,360 were standing next to the baptismal. 276 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,480 And I'm like, I wasn't standing next to a baptismal. 277 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,000 Yes, you were. No, I wasn't. 278 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,360 Don't you think I would know if I was standing next to a 279 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,400 baptismal? Well, I'd never been in a church 280 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:41,200 where they didn't immerse like we do. 281 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,480 This is a church where a little dabba do you, if you ever 282 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:46,640 remember that commercial from a long time ago. 283 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,240 So I couldn't have fathomed what they were talking about. 284 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,320 But yes, I was actually standing next to the baptismal, but it 285 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,560 wasn't what I expected. But anyway, we went through the 286 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:01,760 marriage ceremony, went to the reception, and it was a German 287 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,120 family background from the religious tradition they were 288 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,000 part of. And so I was quite shocked as 289 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,920 they started, they said we're going to have the pastor come up 290 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:12,920 and he's going to bless the beer. 291 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:19,040 My brother had a drinking problem. 292 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:20,960 Last thing he needed was blessed beer. 293 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:22,360 I don't know what that would do to you. 294 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,320 So I'm like, Oh my God, my God, why have you forsaken us? 295 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:33,880 So, you know, that was in 1972, and it was 1978 when Sherry 296 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,240 found the Lord and my brother Bill found the Lord, and we 297 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,640 began to experience change in their life. 298 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,240 But it's so amazing to me that we would have never in a million 299 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,760 years thought Sherry was the answer to our prayers. 300 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,080 And it didn't happen overnight. Amen. 301 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:58,320 But God did the work and it was a good thing that we saw. 302 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,520 So we have to realize how important it is for us to 303 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:05,240 recognize that will. God's ways are not our ways. 304 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,240 His thoughts are not our thoughts. 305 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,319 Amen. Church, but when we follow him, 306 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,839 we will always see that his word comes to pass. 307 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,599 Now I want you to notice that this scripture puts the onus on 308 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:17,560 us. What's onus? 309 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,440 I want to use that word for you to remember, perhaps because 310 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,319 that means when the responsibility is on you. 311 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,640 Now, that's important to understand because in that 312 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:32,240 Scripture it's talking about warfare, it's talking about 313 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:36,360 spiritual warfare, but in the end it says when your obedience 314 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:39,880 has been made complete, God will avenge all disobedience. 315 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,120 In other words, as you're going through that situation and 316 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:46,840 you're wanting God to do what you want Him to do, don't think 317 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:48,720 about how you're going to make everything happen. 318 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:53,960 Let God's Word work in you first because when you allow God to do 319 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,720 the work in you, then what happens is you release the power 320 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,760 of God in your situation. That's very difficult for us to 321 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,360 understand what we're wanting to see God move. 322 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:08,080 A church is something that's essential if you really want to 323 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,000 be a person that walks in the fullness of everything that God 324 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,160 has for your life. And I believe it's so important 325 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,240 that we understand how important it is that we would be a people 326 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:22,320 with a divine strategy and our strategizing. 327 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,760 Jesus said, remember this, Behold, I send you out as sheep 328 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:33,440 in the midst of wolves. Therefore be what as servants 329 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:38,280 and harmless as doves. Now, the word wisdom is the key 330 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:39,680 point. That's why I actually want to 331 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,400 repeat that story about Sherry because I've used it a lot over 332 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,920 the years, because it's so important that we understand 333 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,800 that as we're walking with God, He wants to teach us wisdom. 334 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,320 If you're thinking the same today as you did 20 years ago, 335 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:55,240 you're not letting God teach you wisdom. 336 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,400 I love my stories, not because sometimes that they can be funny 337 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:05,040 or even interesting, but every story I have is a story about 338 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:10,560 how God taught me some wisdom since 1978 when I saw the 339 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,480 miracle of the new creation in my brother and in my 340 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,920 sister-in-law. Since that time I realized how 341 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:22,600 that when you pray and ask God to do something, it may not look 342 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,080 anything like you thought it would look, but you don't give 343 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,120 up. Sometimes it's kind of fun to 344 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:31,760 kind of stand back and say, what's God going to do with this 345 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,960 mess? God, it looks like you made it 346 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,360 worse, but you're actually making it better. 347 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:41,280 How is this going to work out? Give the Lord a praise on that 348 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,000 chart. And I really believe with all my 349 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:46,720 heart, I preach a few weeks on a Wednesday. 350 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:51,600 This is the time of wisdom. 7 is a number of perfection in the 351 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:53,160 Bible. That's why you notice in this 352 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,880 story and the Bible talks about the sevenfold anointing that 353 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:00,680 would be upon the Lamb and the Isaiah Chapter 11. 354 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:05,160 It tells us that part of that is wisdom, it's counsel, it's 355 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,440 knowledge. There's a whole new level. 356 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,120 Of strategizing that God wants to bring the church to, but we 357 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,520 have to understand how His wisdom works. 358 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,840 Sometimes he will just give us wisdom. 359 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,280 The Bible says if anybody needs wisdom, let him ask God and he 360 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,560 will give it liberally and not hold anything back. 361 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,440 But God is asking us to go on to maturity so that in the process 362 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:34,360 of our development, we have gained wisdom through our 363 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:37,480 experiences. So when I share with you the 364 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,800 things I got to speak and I don't just talk about 365 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,080 experimental type stuff anymore when I preach to the Bible like 366 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:49,800 I may have when I was 24, but I found out that this works and 367 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,880 that wisdom that God gives to us, we need to walk in fully. 368 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:58,600 Now the word harmless as a dove. And again, I often like to say 369 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,280 this, sometimes we have to look at the deeper meaning. 370 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,560 And I have a computer program where I can just click a word 371 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,800 and it'll give the original meaning of the word. 372 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,080 And in this particular case, when it says harmless as a dove, 373 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,920 it actually means having no mixture. 374 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:20,440 Sometimes we mix together the natural and the spiritual, and 375 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,440 we have to understand that God wants us to keep it the way it's 376 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,320 supposed to be, which is very separate. 377 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:33,120 And because when we do that, we're not acting like a serpent, 378 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,000 but we're strategizing like a serpent. 379 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,120 What does a serpent do? Well, he crawls through the 380 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:42,960 grass, through the jungle, through the wherever he is, and 381 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,840 he's Slytherin about looking for prey, and he has a plan of 382 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,200 action on how it's going to come to pass. 383 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:53,040 We are supposed to be that people of wisdom, but in the 384 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:57,880 end, how do we respond? We have to respond as a dove, if 385 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:02,440 you would, because our goal is not to be like a serpent and 386 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,920 swallow our prey. Our goal is to be a blessing 387 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,320 everywhere that God has called us to be. 388 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,480 Amen, Church. And so it's very easy for us to 389 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,440 get mixture in what we're doing. That's why I often share with 390 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:22,200 people, I don't have political, political things that I talk 391 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,320 about in church. Now some people will say I don't 392 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:26,960 like that church. They talk politics. 393 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,840 Well, I do talk about issues that political significance. 394 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:35,720 For instance, how do you know abortion's a moral issue? 395 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,920 If you talk about it outside the church, they're going to think 396 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:41,880 you're Republican. If you're against abortion. 397 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:43,240 Why? Well, that's the way the 398 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,400 political thing has around. But for us, it's a moral issue. 399 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,080 So we can't not talk about it because it seems political. 400 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,600 Amen. So we do talk about moral 401 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:53,840 issues. Sometimes God will give me 402 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,680 prophetic insight, as I shared about the last election, and I 403 00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,760 know it's true, so I'm going to share that too. 404 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,720 But I also understand that in the process of that, I want to 405 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:09,040 be very, very careful because there is a place of you can 406 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:13,360 accomplish certain things in the political process, but when you 407 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:15,920 come to church, you have to understand we have something 408 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:17,680 much bigger than that. Amen. 409 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,600 I said, you know we have something much bigger than that. 410 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,880 Now if I start make the church issue about politics, what 411 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:29,920 you're going to do is you're going to mix them in your head. 412 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,840 I'm going to have a strategy so that I have you being people 413 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:37,200 that understand how to take this power out there, to be the 414 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,560 priest in front of the army. Amen, Church, because we can't 415 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:46,280 lose in our spiritual warfare that God sets us out on. 416 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,800 I've been observing politics since I was 10 years old, and I 417 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:56,320 know that politics accomplishes very little when a person 418 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,760 warrants for president. Everybody gets all excited to 419 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,680 talk about the issues, but they all tell you that after the 420 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,240 first half of the first year, that's about the end for most 421 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,760 presidents as you go through the history of things, because 422 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,000 there's this kind of window of honeymoon, if you would, and 423 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,160 then everybody goes crazy and goes their own way, whatever. 424 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,520 But politics has a limited place. 425 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,000 We encourage people to be involved in politics because 426 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,720 that's your civil responsibility and there's authority we have in 427 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,200 that. So it's important to get 428 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,680 involved in the issues. But when you come here, I want 429 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,400 you to understand we have something much more powerful 430 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,880 than politics that can get the victory. 431 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,040 Amen. And sometimes that's going to 432 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,520 show up in this way. But when we do what God wants us 433 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,080 to, it empowers us for every area of life. 434 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,560 Unfortunately, in the 1980s there was a well known Christian 435 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:52,560 figure who was a head of a broadcasting company that was 436 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,120 built for the purpose of having a Christian witness to the 437 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:59,320 world. And he got real involved in what 438 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,720 was called the Christian Coalition, which is an amazing 439 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:03,680 idea. Get Christians involved in 440 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,760 politics. That is necessary and it should 441 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:08,760 be true. But unfortunately, after a 442 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,960 while, he gave up his position of minister to run for the 443 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,520 president. And when he ran for that, he 444 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,440 lost. And so really after that, he was 445 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,840 known as the guy who tried to be present who wasn't. 446 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:25,320 And it changed the perspective of how the world looked at him. 447 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,800 They had a channel that they had purchased in order to have 448 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,040 Christian content was called the Family Channel, so that there 449 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,160 could be something that would be where Christians who go and say, 450 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:42,240 hey, here's a Christian version. But they sold that to ABC and 451 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:44,920 the Disney Corporation and it was still the family child. 452 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,440 But how many know they do have a different idea of our family. 453 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,040 The point of that is, is we have to learn to strategize and 454 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,600 understand well, this is how far we go in this area and this is 455 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,400 how we can release the power of God in this area. 456 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,800 And so we have to understand how this is in order for us to 457 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,440 strategize. And I believe that we're going 458 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,360 to have strategies in this state for the body of Christ. 459 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,080 We're going to see a great awakening in the United States 460 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:14,320 of America because we're going to be a part of a worldwide 461 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,400 visitation church. But we do have to be mature 462 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,040 enough to understand how God wants us to do it. 463 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:24,840 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and 464 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:26,880 read the scroll or to look at it. 465 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,040 But one of the elders said to me, Do not weep. 466 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,280 Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has 467 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,560 prevailed to open the scroll and to lose his seven seals. 468 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,720 And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne of the four 469 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,800 living creatures, in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as 470 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:46,280 though had been slain, having 7 horns, 7 eyes, which are the 471 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:50,680 seven spirits of God. Now this is important because it 472 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,000 talks about a lamb, and it talks about the lion of the tribe of 473 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,880 Judah. Now most Christians see this, 474 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,760 that when Jesus Christ came to the earth the first time, he 475 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,600 came as a lamb that died for the sins of the world, and that one 476 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,440 of days he's going to come back as a lion and he's going to 477 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:13,120 subdue all the enemies of God. Well, that's not the way you 478 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:16,800 should look at that picture because he saw the Lamb on the 479 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,160 throne and he knew him to be the lion of the tribe of Judah. 480 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:23,760 Because you have to understand something. 481 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:29,880 When you act as a lamb, you release the power, the power of 482 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,840 a lion. When Jesus Christ died on the 483 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,880 cross, the Bible says that He destroyed the powers of the 484 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,400 enemy. He nailed principalities and 485 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:45,280 powers to the cross because when He was obedient, it subdued all 486 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,440 of the disobedience. We don't yet see all these 487 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,320 things come to pass because why? God has put it in our hands to 488 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:56,800 finish the job if you would, but He gave us this example how to 489 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,440 release power. As a local church, I've often 490 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,200 told you the story about how we bought these 52 acres here next 491 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,880 I-75. God wanted us have a very 492 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,720 visible piece of property. When we first began to 493 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,080 negotiate, it looked very good and found out the property had 494 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,640 been sold to somebody else. We went to prayer about that. 495 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:19,280 Guess what? We ended up getting the 496 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:20,200 property. Amen. 497 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,920 God's faithful. Well, after we got the 52 acres, 498 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,360 we had a plan drawn up. We went to the Township and said 499 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,600 this is our plan, We're going to build a church. 500 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,120 You know what they said? That's the lands too valuable to 501 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,760 use for a church. We were thinking maybe medical 502 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:40,240 use or something like that. And they basically said no. 503 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,480 Well, I'm like, they're not going to say no to us. 504 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,680 God gave us a land. He's going to give us a permit 505 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,400 somewhere along the way. And so we were allied to all the 506 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,040 people. We went door to door. 507 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:54,720 We took up a petition. We had a 9798% approval from the 508 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,320 community as we were reaching out to them when they had a 509 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,920 board meeting, we had hundreds of people there waving our flags 510 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,480 and everything like that. We're all excited about God 511 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,200 giving us the victory. And the Lord said to me, I 512 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:12,320 didn't tell you, do all that. I want you to submit to the 513 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,120 government. I'm like, what? 514 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,280 Go back and tell them, what do you want us to do? 515 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,440 We're going to do it. And when we went back, it was 516 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,760 kind of humiliating one way because they said, oh, we don't 517 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,800 want that building for sure. And they wanted to look more 518 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,000 like an Independence Township kind of look. 519 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,600 And then there was one lady especially there, she loves 520 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:35,840 windows. I love windows too. 521 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,000 I could live in a glass house and it would make me happy, 522 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,880 would make my wife Bonnie happy because she'd be bigger on how 523 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:45,040 she could shade the place so when no one could look in. 524 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,680 But anyway, but when you're building an auditorium, it's 525 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,600 better not to have windows so that you can control the light. 526 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,520 So people aren't there going like this because the light's in 527 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,680 their eyes from the sunlight, whatever. 528 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,000 But anyway, they told us all these things and whatever they 529 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,360 said, well, that's exactly what we did. 530 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,480 They downsized what we were doing, everything they did. 531 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,320 I just figured, well, this is God's hand to do what He wants 532 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,600 us to do now. It worked out well because we 533 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,560 did make some changes, adding balcony and different things 534 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,240 that we were able to do to kind of fit us at the time. 535 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,280 And we were experiencing phenomenal growth then as the 536 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,200 Lord has blessed us along the way. 537 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,960 But also something else happened as we've we're feeling God 538 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,520 leading us to reach out more to the community. 539 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,840 But we purchased a building in Waterford, which is now the 540 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,200 Mount Zion Community Center. And at the time we had the 541 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,040 Clarkson Christian Association, which is a ministry that we had 542 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,920 on Sashabaw Road. And we actually bought a 543 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,600 building that was a store that I worked in when I was a kid. 544 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,040 So that was kind of fun for me to buy the place. 545 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,080 I used to work for Jesus. And it impressed the former 546 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:56,280 owners as well because they're like, wow, this is amazing what 547 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:58,720 you've done. Now when we went back to get 548 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,440 approval for the Community Center, because we were serving 549 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:06,920 the community, even our most vocal person that was against 550 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:11,880 this changed to our side and we had pretty well unanimous 551 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:16,120 approval to open up that center. And it worked out nice because 552 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,240 there was a time when all the drug stores were buying up 553 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,880 corner properties. So, so that building was 554 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:24,800 starting to have some severe problems to it because it was an 555 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,160 old building. Somebody came in and offered us 556 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:30,120 twice what we paid for. We paid 2 million, they offered 557 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,080 4 million. I mean, no, that's a good 558 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,960 business deal. But anyway, that gave us the 559 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:39,920 money to buy the building on Baldwin build, add to our plan 560 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,840 at the time for our theater, which has been very helpful for 561 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,680 our ministries here. Anyway, God has this strategy 562 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,480 that involves business and involves all kinds of different 563 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,760 things, and he's the best financial officer you could ever 564 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,280 have. Amen, Church. 565 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,000 It's true. And what we found out is that 566 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,760 when we came to add on this building, man, this would have 567 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:06,600 been explosion number one in Clarkson at the time, but we had 568 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,840 full approval and they even approved us to not do some 569 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,040 things that would have cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars 570 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,120 and as opposed to sidewalks or whatever like that. 571 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,640 So anyway, God showed us this is part of our wisdom. 572 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,840 And that's why it's important to repeat our stories about wisdom 573 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,920 because guess what? We learned something, if you 574 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:31,800 submit, God will release his power along the way. 575 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,400 So it's Lamb power that brings the victory. 576 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,360 Isn't that an amazing thought? So full surrender brings full 577 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,760 power. I've always been a person who 578 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,160 did whatever I was told. I obeyed my parents. 579 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,080 That's why it was always funny when I was hanging around with 580 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,280 my brother Bill because he didn't obey the parents 581 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,360 whatever. And I was a when I became an 582 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,280 employee. I do whatever I was told when I 583 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,560 was in school and with God. I've always been obedient 584 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,280 person. It's just how I was created and 585 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:06,080 it's not any effort for me. And I've also have a desire to 586 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:08,920 serve people. I enjoy serving people. 587 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:13,440 And so I'm an obedient servant. Now that would make me look 588 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,480 passive, but I'm not passive at all. 589 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,320 I can be as hard as nails if it's what God has told me to do. 590 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,360 But anyway, I said all that say that when I get to heaven, I 591 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,040 don't think I'm going to get any special awards for being 592 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,040 obedient because that was a natural for me. 593 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,080 I enjoy it. No special accolades for being a 594 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,120 servant. I always enjoy doing that, but I 595 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,600 tell you, it has helped me on planet Earth. 596 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:39,000 I've always had Favor. When I wanted to join the MCS 597 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:43,120 program that I was involved in, I didn't have any of the checks 598 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,000 in the box that would say you could get in, but when I went 599 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,960 and talked to them, I got in. I can look back through my life 600 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:50,920 and see how I got Favor everywhere. 601 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,760 I was getting promoted all the time, and guess what? 602 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:58,400 I've always had followers. When we started the church at 603 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:05,040 age 24, I had people twice my age age believing what I said 604 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:10,000 God had spoken. I always have had authority 605 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:13,320 based upon my willingness to be this way. 606 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,320 And so I certainly already get rewards if you would. 607 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:21,400 But I have learned by example that God's Word works. 608 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:25,600 Full surrender brings what full power Jesus said. 609 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,000 You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and 610 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,320 hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your 611 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:31,800 enemies. Blessed those who are cursed 612 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:34,280 you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who 613 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:38,840 spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of 614 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:42,760 your Father in Heaven. For he makes his Son rise on the 615 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:46,760 evil and on the good, sends reign on the just and also the 616 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:51,400 unjust. You see, we are in an upside 617 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,440 down Kingdom. How you know? 618 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:58,840 It doesn't make any sense to bless those who persecute you, 619 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,720 but we found out it works. When you apply the Kingdom 620 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:07,320 principle, it works and you will see this every step of the way. 621 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,000 That's why we have to be people of strategy, because it's so 622 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,880 easy for us to think from a natural perspective and not 623 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,120 realize how God is able to turn things around. 624 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,680 When you walk in this upside down Kingdom and you understand 625 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:23,720 how it works, sometimes there's a principle in the Bible called 626 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:25,760 the law of iniquity. And what that means is when 627 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,160 people disobey God, He releases them to do what they want to do 628 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,800 and the excess can actually bring them to a place of 629 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:37,000 repentance. In our history as a nation, 630 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,360 sometimes God has given us leaders that you wouldn't think 631 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:40,800 as a Christian would be a good one. 632 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:45,360 But what it has done from time to time is release an excess 633 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:50,280 that in the end people see the fruit of their choices and they 634 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,600 say we don't want that anymore. We're seeing that in our country 635 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:55,360 right now. People are saying no, we don't 636 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,680 want that anymore. Well, sometimes God has this 637 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,680 strategy quite different than what we expect. 638 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:06,360 So we have to learn the wisdom of the upside down Kingdom so 639 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,360 that we can truly be the sons of our Father who is in heaven. 640 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,520 In Joshua chapter 6 it says so the people shouted when the 641 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,520 priest blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people 642 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,560 heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a 643 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,560 great shout that the wall fell down flat. 644 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:27,120 Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before 645 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:32,120 him, and they took the city and they utterly destroyed all that 646 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,920 was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, oxen, 647 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,800 sheep and donkey. With what the edge of the sword? 648 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:44,240 I put this as the follow up. You see when they shouted the 649 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:47,640 walls came down. But how do you know after the 650 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:51,480 walls came down, they had to go in with the army and fight the 651 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,800 war? Sometimes people get all excited 652 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,120 because of the walls come down. We get involved in the shouting 653 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,320 and excitement of seeing the walls store down, but we don't 654 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,080 go in and take the city. That's the analogy I want you to 655 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,680 see because in the charismatic movement, we used to shout and 656 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,560 we used to be happy and excited and praised would lift this up 657 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,760 into the heavenlies, but we didn't go out into the highways 658 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,080 and the byways and to compel them to come in like God said. 659 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,840 So God says don't stop when the walls fall down. 660 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:25,800 Take advantage of the blessing. That's why it's important to mix 661 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,440 the natural and the spiritual. God can bless you financially, 662 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:32,000 but how do you know if you don't steward what He's given to you, 663 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,000 that blessing's going to do you no good. 664 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:38,840 So that's how we take the natural and the spiritual and 665 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,080 put them together. And God saying it's time to go 666 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,200 in with a full shout and see the victory. 667 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:49,360 And it came to pass on the 7th. Day 7 speaks of completion. 668 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,840 They rose early about the dawning of the day church. 669 00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:54,800 This is the dawning of the new day. 670 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:58,440 And they marched around the city 7 times in the same manner. 671 00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:01,680 And that day they only marched around the city 7 times. 672 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:06,160 And the 7th time it happened, when the priest blew the Romans, 673 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:10,720 the Joshua said to the people, Shout for the Lord has given you 674 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:12,520 the city. I want you to bow your heads for 675 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,320 just a moment and I want you to hear this in your spirit. 676 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:20,720 Thus saith the Lord, Shout for the Lord has given us the city. 677 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:25,880 I believe that we're going to see things begin to transpire in 678 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:30,920 our local area, in the world church, there's a shout. 679 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:33,840 You might not hear this shout if you're just listening in the 680 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,640 natural, but if you have an ear to hear what the Spirit is 681 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:40,520 speaking, you hear the shout of heaven and God's saying it's 682 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:45,000 time to take the city. With every head bowed and every 683 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,320 eye close. I like for you for just a moment 684 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:51,360 to think about your life and say, God, give me your divine 685 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,120 strategy. I don't want to be flesh and 686 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:59,560 spirit alone. I want to be flesh and spirit, 687 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:05,600 natural and spiritual together. I want you to show me how to 688 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:08,880 make this work. There's a level of wisdom, 689 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:10,440 Father, that you're bringing us to. 690 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:15,520 And Lord, give us the capacity to begin to walk in this new 691 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,480 level that you have for us. We ask it in Jesus mighty name, 692 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,920 Amen. This is Pastor Lorne Coverbius 693 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,480 from Mount Zion Church. We thank you for joining us 694 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,480 today and invite you to connect with our church family by 695 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:33,240 visiting mountzion.org and following us on social media. 696 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:34,240 God bless you.