1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:03,720 Hallelujah. Let's thank him for one more day 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:10,080 today, shall we? Thank you Jesus for one more 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,320 day. My mind goes to the story of 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,560 Hezekiah. As I think of that song, Isaiah 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,560 came and said, Hezekiah, get your house in order for you. 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,680 You're going to die. He left him and went to the 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,400 outer court, the Bible says, and came back and told him that the 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,000 Lord was going to spare his life because Hezekiah had turned his 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,760 face toward the wall, begin to weep and pray and cry out to God 10 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,000 and said God's going to give you 15 years. 11 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,680 I wondered if the next day he said thank you for one more day. 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,800 I just want to thank you. And the next day he said thank 13 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,800 you for one more day because I'm a dead man living right now. 14 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,000 We all are. We all are tonight, Amen. 15 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,400 If you can stand with me this evening, we're going to turn to 16 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:02,000 the Old Testament Book of Second Kings chapter #4 Second Kings 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,680 chapter #4 Amen. Tonight. 18 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,360 And if you'll afford me the latitude, man, there's been 19 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,760 preachers for umpteen years preach from these verses, 20 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,840 probably preach from them, maybe even similarly like I'm going to 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,280 preach from them tonight, but I've never preached from them 22 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,760 like this tonight, Amen. So you give me Amen, the 23 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,280 latitude, the minister, Amen. From these verses of Scripture 24 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,720 here this evening, Second Kings chapter #4 I'm going to read 25 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,360 just a few verses in your hearing this evening, starting 26 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,640 with verse #8 and we'll go down through a few verses and we'll 27 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,120 touch some others throughout the duration here this evening. 28 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,640 The Bible says, And it fell on the day that Elisha passed to 29 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,720 Shunam, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat 30 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,080 bread. And so it was that as OFT as he 31 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,440 passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 32 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,560 And she said unto her husband, Behold now I perceive that this 33 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:02,440 is unholy man of God, which passeth by us continually. 34 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,160 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let 35 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,880 us set for him there a bed and a table, and a stool, and a 36 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,800 Candlestick. And it shall be when he cometh 37 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,280 to us, that he shall turn in thither. 38 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,120 And it fell on the day that he came thither, and he turned into 39 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:26,760 the chamber and lay there. The contemporary English version 40 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:31,200 says has verse #11 like this. It's the one that struck me 41 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,080 because of the pronouns that are used in the particular verse. 42 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:41,040 It says he, Speaking of Elijah, stopped at their house, the 43 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,040 Shunami and her husband, he stopped at their house and went 44 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:53,000 up to his room, their house, but his room for a little while. 45 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,440 Tonight I want to speak simply this his room, your miracle. 46 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,440 If I would elongate it, it would be his room in your house. 47 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,640 But your miracle. Hey man, let's pray right now. 48 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:12,800 Father, we're so thankful to be here God for those that have 49 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:14,600 gathered together on this Sunday night. 50 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,480 God touches anew and a fresh God by your spirit God anoint my 51 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,200 mind God and remove in the air God from my lips. 52 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,080 Help me God to speak life God through and by your word. 53 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,560 It will not fail to thank you for it in the lovely name of 54 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,480 Jesus Christ that I pray Hallelujah and Amen. 55 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,320 Someone say Amen. Shake the neighbor's hand before 56 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:41,080 you see The Tonight in Jesus name his room your miracle, and 57 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:46,960 you may be seated tonight. The New Testament scripture 58 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:51,400 tells us that whenever Jesus came into this world, there was 59 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:56,640 no room for Him in the end. Think about that for a moment, 60 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:01,640 that the Savior of the world, the one who made the heavens and 61 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:06,560 the earth, arrived to find that there was no space left for him 62 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,160 among his own creation. In the inn. 63 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,480 There was no vacancy, There was no availability. 64 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:18,519 Every room already filled with lesser occupants. 65 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,920 And it wasn't that the innkeeper was cruel to him, it's just that 66 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,080 he was crowded. That's the tragedy, sadly, of 67 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,200 every generation. Christ still comes into the 68 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,160 lives of people. He still knocks. 69 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,120 He still desires to dwell, but too often finds that that the 70 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:40,720 rooms of our hearts are already occupied or crowded. 71 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,520 We want His presence. We'll give him a visit often 72 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,600 times, but not a room. Hey man, we'll make room for 73 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,480 everything else, often in lives, allowing the space and a certain 74 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,840 amount of real estate in our lives, and wonder why the 75 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:58,160 miraculous may never visit our house. 76 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:03,560 And so Jesus was born not in a palace as the scripture tells 77 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,760 us, and not as a guest in a guest room, but in the only 78 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:12,960 place left which was a stable because no one made room for the 79 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,160 miraculous. And yet in Second Kings chapter 80 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,160 #4 we find quite a different story. 81 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:24,520 We find a woman of Shunam that had and did what the innkeeper 82 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:26,960 did not do in the New Testament scripture. 83 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:32,040 She made room for someone. She just didn't serve a meal. 84 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:36,880 She built a space for someone. And that's face would become the 85 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:41,400 setting of her miracle. The Bible tells us in the Old 86 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,760 Testament whenever it speaks about the man of God, which 87 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:50,160 Elisha was all times referred to as the man of God, but the man 88 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,000 of God, the men of God in the Old Testament scripture they 89 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:58,480 functioned as the very visible and vocal and spiritual 90 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,960 representation of God's presence and God's authority among his 91 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,240 people before the indwelling telling of the Holy Ghost in New 92 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:12,800 Testament scripture Amen we read that God's presence most often 93 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,920 was mediated through those that were his chosen servants in the 94 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,800 Old Testament, whether they be a prophet or whether they be a 95 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,160 king or whether they be a priest. 96 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,800 The title Man of God wasn't a casual title. 97 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:30,480 It it identified someone that was uniquely belonging to God, 98 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,680 one who carried God's word and God's voice, and a 99 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:39,920 representative of of God's will. When the man of God spoke, the 100 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,920 people treated it as the word of God. 101 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:48,000 When he appeared, it was often seen as a sign of a divine 102 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,720 visitation to their home and to the region. 103 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:56,440 Whenever he stayed at a place, his presence implied that God's 104 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:01,400 favor had rested on a home or God's favor had rested in a 105 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,880 region. And so that's precisely what 106 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,840 makes the Shunamite woman's action to be so profound, 107 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:12,400 because she discerned as Elisha was going by and as he made 108 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,520 regular visits to her home and she received him into her home, 109 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,560 that she was receiving more than just a man into her house. 110 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,960 She perceived that she was receiving a man of God into her 111 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,480 house, which was a representation of the very 112 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,800 presence of the Lord. At first the Bible says that she 113 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,760 constrained him to stay into her home, constrained him for a 114 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,120 meal. But the Bible says after he 115 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,720 after he often times went by, there was a pattern that started 116 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,720 to take place. Anytime he was passing by her 117 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,200 house, he came in for a invitation for a meal and a 118 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,680 place to say. And after so many trips by and 119 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,720 so many visits and so many answering of invitations into 120 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,200 her home, she looked to her husband and she says, honey, I 121 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,920 think we got more than just a man on our hand. 122 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,040 I think we have a man of God, God on our hand. 123 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,760 There's there's something that happens when he enters this 124 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,160 space. There's a holy man of God that 125 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,400 is visiting us. It started very simple for this 126 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,920 unamite woman. She's just preparing a meal, 127 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,520 making perhaps a little bread, a little Stew. 128 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,600 It was just a moment of hospitality that she was 129 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,120 extending a man to this man. She's setting the table for a 130 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,440 weary traveler that is passing by a man. 131 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:33,760 And he would come and he would go. 132 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,159 And the Bible records. There was never an announcement. 133 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,520 There was never a vision that he shared. 134 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,000 There was never a prophecy that he gave to her home. 135 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,960 All there was was a open door and a willing heart that would 136 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:51,840 allow him to come in day after daytime, after time when he 137 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,880 would make his visit. She didn't even know who she was 138 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:56,680 feeding when she was feeding him. 139 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,120 She was just setting the meal and the bread out before him. 140 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,800 But little did she know that she was feeding the future miracle 141 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,520 in her own household as she was allowing that man and the 142 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,920 presence that that man represented into her house. 143 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,320 We must not miss the importance tonight of just a simple 144 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,040 visitation because oftimes in the New Testament Scripture. 145 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,960 And we preach about it. We preach about two sisters, 146 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,960 Mary and Martha, and, and we sometimes come down very hard 147 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,800 upon Martha because the Bible says she was cumbered about or 148 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,880 troubled with many things. And we give high praise to Mary 149 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:39,000 because the Bible says that she sat down at Jesus's feet. 150 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,720 But your Bible tells me very simply that there would have 151 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:49,000 been no feat for Mary to sit at had not Martha made a invitation 152 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,920 for him to come into the house. Amen. 153 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,040 You could look at it in Scripture, Luke 10 and verse 38. 154 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,800 Now it came to pass as they went, that He, Speaking of 155 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:05,080 Jesus, entered into a certain village, and a certain woman 156 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:10,920 named Martha received Him, Amen, into her house, verse 39. 157 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,520 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus's 158 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,960 feet and heard His word. And I know we need the setting 159 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,040 at the I understand Martha was trouble with things, but again, 160 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:27,280 there would be no feat to sit at had not Martha received him in 161 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,760 and had the invitation of him into her house. 162 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,600 We read in scripture, I'm talking about not overlooking 163 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,760 just an invitation. We read in the Bible that after 164 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,960 the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, there were two 165 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,440 disciples that were walking on the road on their way to Emmaus. 166 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,600 And the Bible says they were discussing some of the events of 167 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,480 the day, the death, the crucifixion of the Lord awaiting 168 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,920 his resurrection, some already learning of it, but denying that 169 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,200 it would even happen. And the Bible says, as these two 170 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:01,840 gentlemen spoke, that Jesus drew near to them, but they did not 171 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,680 recognize who he was. And he began to ask them about 172 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:07,880 the events of the day. And they're like, how in the 173 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,920 world can you live in this Aryan region and not know what's been 174 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,520 happening the past few days? And Jesus, unbeknownst to them, 175 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,760 was among them. And he began to explain to them 176 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:22,960 the Bible's says the law and the prophets, and he shared a lot of 177 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,320 the scriptures, even concerning himself. 178 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:30,200 And the Bible goes on to tell us that he made as though he would 179 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,040 go further. He made as though he would just 180 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:37,640 pass on as evening was coming. But these two boys from Emmaus 181 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,640 that didn't realize what they were entertaining quite yet. 182 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,160 The Bible says they invited him into the house. 183 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,200 They constrained him to tarry in the home and while they begin to 184 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,960 eat and have fellowship with one another, the Bible says that 185 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,280 Jesus took bread and he blessed it and he broke it. 186 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:00,520 And in the breaking of bread, they recognize this isn't just 187 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:02,400 any man that's been walking with us. 188 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:04,600 This has been the resurrected Lord. 189 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,960 They recognized him, and it's all because they gave an 190 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:13,000 invitation. All because of an invitation 191 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,280 into their house that would not have happened had they not 192 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:21,000 invited him. In the Miracle of Second Kings 193 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,080 chapter #4 and many other miracles in Scripture, all many 194 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,680 times begin with a simple invitation. 195 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,360 After a while, though, the Bible tells us that the Shunammite 196 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,320 woman is not inviting Elijah simply because now she 197 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,480 understands him to be a man of God, or that he is famous, or 198 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,920 that she recognized that having a prophet in her house meant 199 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,040 having the presence of God in her house. 200 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,720 She understood that there's something going on. 201 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,680 There's a presence, there's, there's a stirring there, there. 202 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:55,480 There's something that I feel whenever he comes into the 203 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,000 house. The Bible says in the New 204 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:02,360 Testament that Jesus sent his disciples and he spoke something 205 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,480 to his disciples as he sent them out. 206 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,880 In Matthew 10 and verse 40, He said he that receiveth you 207 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:13,040 receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that 208 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,480 sent me. That's precisely what the 209 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,120 Shunamite was doing in the Old Testament Scripture centuries 210 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,160 before the New Testament ever arrived. 211 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,320 As she accepted the prophet, in doing so, she received the God 212 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:27,440 of the prophet. There was something that was 213 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,640 going on with the invitation and and this this relationship that 214 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,920 was building between her and him and his trips and his stays and 215 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,280 his visitations. There was something, there's 216 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:42,080 some type of chemistry that was taking place. 217 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,960 And the Bible says after this happening so many days and so 218 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:51,120 many times and so many meals and verse 10 that that she made a 219 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,120 little chamber. She told her husband, he comes 220 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,040 by so often, let's make him a little chamber. 221 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:04,880 And it wasn't just a guest room. Her chamber in many ways was a 222 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,800 sanctuary. She she made a little physical 223 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,640 space for the man of God. She put a bed in there and she 224 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,960 put a table in there and she put a chair in there and she put a 225 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,320 lamp in there. But she was really making a 226 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:22,680 spiritual space for the presence of God that came with the man. 227 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:25,200 She doesn't wait for the prophet. 228 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:26,840 I think this is important tonight. 229 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,640 This woman does not wait for the prophet to say, would you make 230 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:37,960 me a room? He's visiting, you know, 7 times 231 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,480 between Sundays. He didn't ask her would you make 232 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,440 me a room? But she catches on to something. 233 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,960 I feel something when he comes by. 234 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,880 There's something different about when he enters the house. 235 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,120 I don't have to wait for him to ask me to make him a room. 236 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:58,400 I'm going to offer to make him a space in my house, his room in 237 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:04,600 my house. Her heart is, her heart is 238 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,000 stirred. And so she has her husband where 239 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,080 we're going to do this, whatever the expense is. 240 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,800 We're we're going to make a little chamber here in the 241 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:13,320 house. Amen, folks. 242 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,840 And I tell you, and we'll get to it later, but she has a miracle 243 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,320 at her house. And the reason why the miracle 244 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,800 took place at her house and not the temple is because she turned 245 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,520 her home into a place where God's presence could dwell 246 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:29,880 there, not just visit, but could stay. 247 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,320 It was a little chamber, the Bible says, and it may have been 248 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,720 small, but it had a mighty purpose. 249 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,560 When we'll see it said and done. The Shunammite teaches us that 250 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:47,520 you don't need a cathedral size space to host the presence of 251 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,040 God, Bishop. I just need a consecrated corner 252 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,560 somewhere. I just need a dedicated chamber 253 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,320 somewhere. Amen. 254 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,480 And I can't expect God to feel what I've not furnished. 255 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:12,000 Scripture again and again tells us that He dwells or He takes 256 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:17,960 residence in prepared places. He did ask the children of 257 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:23,040 Israel, the great God of glory, who is Spirit, seen the 258 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:26,360 condition of humanity from the garden forward. 259 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,640 God wanted to do well with humanity. 260 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:31,560 That's the reason why we've seen the New Testament. 261 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:36,240 He made himself a body to Tabernacle or dwell among us. 262 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,640 But before that, he said in Exodus 25 and eight, he said, 263 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:46,280 and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. 264 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:50,680 There was never a house that was built for God that he didn't 265 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,320 feel. Whether it was the Tabernacle, 266 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:57,320 he filled it. The temple of Solomon, he filled 267 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,600 it. The temple of Zerubbabel, he 268 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:01,320 filled it. Herod's temple. 269 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,680 He walked in flesh as Jesus Christ and walked into that 270 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,240 temple. Our body, the Bible says, which 271 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,440 is the temple of the Holy Ghost. He'll feel it. 272 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:16,200 He craves a prepared place, a furnished place, not just to 273 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:21,880 visit, but to dwell. The book of Chronicles it's 274 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:26,760 filled with the phrasing of King David's preparation of God's 275 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:28,720 presence. You see it over and over again. 276 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,680 Just start reading first Chronicles concerning God's 277 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,440 house and God's presence. Some verses say this, that David 278 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:41,280 prepared a place for the ark of God which was representative of 279 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,320 his presence. It says he brought up the ark of 280 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,000 the Lord of Israel unto the place that he prepared for. 281 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:52,120 It says David said I have prepared for the House of the 282 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:56,640 Lord, I have prepared with all of my might for my God. 283 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,600 I have prepared for the holy house. 284 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:04,720 God likes dwelling at a prepared place. 285 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:12,240 But verse 11 is so interesting to me and in the, the, the, the 286 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,960 contemporary English version, you see the, the changing of the 287 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,640 pronouns a lot through the scriptures that I read in your 288 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,680 hearing tonight, because in verse 8, it is called in that 289 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,320 version, that translation of the Bible in verse 8, it's called 290 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,760 her home. And in verse 10, it's called our 291 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:34,400 house. She and her husband's in verse 292 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,160 11, it's called their house. Amen. 293 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,360 But there's something that happens in verse #11 what 294 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:47,040 started as her home is now the shift is focused on his room. 295 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,240 The Bible says that little chambers made now. 296 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,400 And when he visits, it's not like he's just hanging out in 297 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,880 the kitchen where he's hanging out around and where their 298 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,480 bedroom was. No, no, no. 299 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:12,160 The Bible says that he goes up to his his room to rest, to, to, 300 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:19,400 to have some repose. He went to his place and found 301 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,640 some rest. There's something interesting 302 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,800 about when the man of God, who in the Old Testament is the 303 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:32,040 visible sign of God for them, finds a place that's comfortable 304 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:44,000 enough in somebody's house. If you're a good host, you want 305 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,320 to make sure your guests are comfortable when they come to 306 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,440 your home. We often times say make yourself 307 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,080 a home. We we direct them where the 308 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,080 restroom is so they don't have to ask. 309 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,600 We ask them if they want anything to drink. 310 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,720 But if you make enough visits to the house, you know what starts 311 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,320 happening. You don't even have to ask if 312 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,280 they want anything to drink. They feel comfortable enough 313 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,920 going to your refrigerator and getting out your sweet tea, 314 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,920 getting the glass out of your cupboard, filling it up with ice 315 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,240 and pouring them something. Because you build enough a 316 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,640 relationship that they don't feel like they're on egg shells 317 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,400 in your house. In the essence, they feel like 318 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,920 they have some space in your house. 319 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,440 I'm here to tell you tonight we need to make an environment for 320 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,040 the Savior that he doesn't feel as though he is some oddball 321 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,720 coming into our home, but he's comfortable enough that he can 322 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,880 go around in any room in any space. 323 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:50,080 Help because I want him to feel comfortable in his room in my 324 00:20:50,080 --> 00:21:04,160 house. Whenever I have someone that 325 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,920 comes to my house and I'm comfortable with them and 326 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:09,440 they're comfortable with me, when they leave, I'm not 327 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,360 thinking, well, they messed up my rug or or they made my little 328 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:15,600 blanket there out of sorts or they took half of the sweet tea 329 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,360 tonight. I'm not thinking none of that. 330 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,000 I'm thinking, wasn't it good to have them over? 331 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:22,640 Wasn't it good to talk to him? Wasn't it good? 332 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,280 Do you understand you don't need a God's going to come into your 333 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,200 life and he might touch some things and he might move some 334 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:31,400 things, but don't get offended by him. 335 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,360 If you're in relationship with him. 336 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,920 You're going to say it was good to have the Lord over tonight. 337 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:49,080 It was good to have room. Hallelujah to have a mindset. 338 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,480 Otherwise it's really just to cast a light on what type of 339 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:57,240 shadow or what type of relationship you have with who's 340 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:04,440 entering your house. He went to his room. 341 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:07,760 He's able to have some rest and repose there. 342 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,320 Folks, It's it's even the story of New Testament Scripture. 343 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:14,680 The Bible says that Jesus is baptism. 344 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:20,200 John said the Spirit came light as a dove and it lighted upon 345 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,800 him. Anybody knows that? 346 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:26,160 A dove just doesn't light upon any space or any place. 347 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:30,040 A dove lights on the space that is secure and settled. 348 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,000 Let me put it in these terms. A dove lights or lands up on the 349 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,360 perch or place where it feels comfortable. 350 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:44,400 It's where it feels comfortable. It's a prepared place for 351 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,000 landing. Honey, some of us need to get 352 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:54,200 some flashlights out and be, if you will, air control Lord, 353 00:22:54,400 --> 00:23:04,200 landing space. Some of it is what we need to be 354 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:12,320 doing right here, right here. Amen. 355 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,760 In essence, that's really how revival comes when a spirit 356 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:25,160 finds a room in your house that he can call his own, where he 357 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:29,480 can grow comfortable and relaxed in your house in his room, 358 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,920 because once he moves into a house till you wait, the the 359 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,880 whole address changes in the spirit at your house. 360 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:46,840 Bible says that Elisha in that time of relaxation, repose began 361 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,320 to consider and take inventory in verses 12 and 13. 362 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,880 He he wants to haze I his servant to call the Shunamite 363 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:58,320 there to, to to the door. He says, because I I see all the 364 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,120 care and how careful you have been concerning me Each time I I 365 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:05,440 see how much you've taken care of us each time that we have 366 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:10,560 come by the prophet notices, he notices he understands the cost 367 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:15,960 and the sacrifice of not just having a room, but of every 368 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:20,520 visit. She she didn't build the room 369 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:22,800 out of surplus. I know she was a great woman. 370 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,000 The Bible and that a lot of times refers to her riches, but 371 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:29,120 she build it out of sacrifice. The the meaning of the words is 372 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:31,320 is that that she troubled herself. 373 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,600 She she did it with weariness. She did it with a laborious 374 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,280 effect in order to create this room. 375 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,960 It's not easy work, but I'm telling you miracles tell 376 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:45,600 tomorrow. Hey man, God always notices what 377 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,360 you're building for him. The Bible doesn't record that 378 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,360 she had some massive advertising campaign. 379 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,800 I don't read it in scripture for the friend that she had some 380 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,640 massive advertising campaign in order to underwrite, if you 381 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,600 will, the cost of adding on the room. 382 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:04,040 Hey man, she didn't if you will have Facebook and Instagram and 383 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,400 TikTok post about look what I'm doing for the savior. 384 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,360 Look what I'm doing for God. Hey man, she did it anyway 385 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,800 without any fanfare, without any advertisement. 386 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,080 No camels were carrying around billboards. 387 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,560 She says I'm know who I am and what I want and I want. 388 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,520 I don't need anybody else's attention. 389 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,720 I just need his attention. I don't care if they know or 390 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,240 don't know, but I need him to know. 391 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,000 Listen, we need to get back to the place that all we care about 392 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:40,840 is him knowing. I love our world, I love our 393 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,320 technology and I have a love hate relationship with it 394 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,240 because at the same time we can do good with at the other times 395 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,040 we get pride when we get both of them. 396 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,280 We got to put with it, this is what I'm doing for God. 397 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,520 This is what I'm doing for. Why don't you just do your work? 398 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,560 Because it's only for the attention really of one. 399 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,400 I serve for the audience of one. It's not my neighbor, my mother, 400 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,200 my father, my sister, my brother. 401 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:07,760 It's for an audience of one. When I pray, I pray for one. 402 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,800 When I worship, I worship for one. 403 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,320 When I shout, I shout for one. It's not about you. 404 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:23,760 It's not, it's did not David say whenever he's bringing the Ark 405 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,840 of the Covenant back into Jerusalem. 406 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,400 And his wife Michael was sitting there on that window seal and he 407 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,840 came to his home and she said how how foolish was the king 408 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:37,080 today to act like he did and unrobe himself in the eyes of 409 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,000 all the maidens. And he said, you know what? 410 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:40,880 He basically, this is Paul McGee layman's terms. 411 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,520 He basically told her it wasn't for you, it wasn't for you, and 412 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,520 it wasn't for Israel and it wasn't for the people that was 413 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:50,760 accompanying me. It was for God. 414 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,600 And if you think I was doing something, then you've not seen 415 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,720 anything. I'm going to continue to do it 416 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:03,480 because it's for an audience of one. 417 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:16,520 Amen. He says she's seen all the the 418 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,360 weariness and the labor that she put into that. 419 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,400 It's been my experience sometimes in life that what cost 420 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:33,320 me nothing changes nothing, but sometimes what cost me something 421 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,440 can open doors that I thought never could open. 422 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,400 David understood the principle when he toured. 423 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,320 Or none, he said. Listen, I said do you have some 424 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,040 oxy? Do you have something that me I 425 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,880 would like to buy the threshing floor like to do that Nor Anon 426 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:51,360 said, well listen here, you can take it. 427 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:53,920 You can take the oxygen for burning offerings, you can take 428 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:56,480 all the threshing instruments, the wood in order to make the 429 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,840 fire and have wood for the fire. You can do all that. 430 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,960 David said hold on or not, that sounds like a sweet deal. 431 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,280 But if I do that, that would be your sacrifice, not mine. 432 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,120 There's so much running through my head tonight. 433 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:20,560 Sometimes we live on the line of wanting the benefit of somebody 434 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:21,680 else's sacrifice. God 435 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,840 help me, he said. No, no, no, he said. 436 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,120 I can't do that. That'd be your sacrifice, not my 437 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,160 sacrifice, he says. I've done something wrong. 438 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,320 I've numbered the people. There's a plague that's going 439 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:47,920 through the land. This thing needs to stop. 440 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,040 If I can say it like this, David saying I need something in my 441 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,760 life. If I can say it like this, David 442 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:59,480 saying I need something in my home, I need his room in my 443 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,280 space, and he says, listen or none. 444 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,520 I know you said you'd give it, but help me buying it for a 445 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,120 price. You name the price, he says, 446 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:12,960 because neither will Ioffer unto the Lord my God, that which cost 447 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,600 me nothing, that which cost me nothing. 448 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:22,760 He says I can't do that because it's not my sacrifice unless I 449 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,600 do this. Everybody did OK. 450 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:31,280 The Bible says in verse #15 you can look at it in the KJV Bible 451 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:35,720 says that she came. This is from the CEV, but she 452 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:41,840 came and stood in the doorway. The KJV says door, and it says 453 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,000 in it, CFI know I'm going back and forth here, but the other 454 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,400 version says she came and stood in the doorway of Elisha's room. 455 00:29:53,160 --> 00:30:01,840 She's standing in the doorway that she built, and it's there, 456 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:06,600 Brother Fred, because she invited someone often enough in 457 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:11,480 her house that she deemed it necessary to make a room for him 458 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:18,160 to stay. But the marvel of it all is that 459 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:23,440 the same threshold where she welcomed the Prophet is now the 460 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,040 threshold where she's going to welcome her promise. 461 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,360 Elijah declares to her is what needs done. 462 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,440 Then he talked to King done you do that the haze I know it says 463 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,080 Sir, she has no child. He says woman. 464 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,040 He says about this time next year. 465 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:44,680 This is just layman's terms here. 466 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,840 Hey, man, about this time next year you will hold a son. 467 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:55,160 Can I tell us tonight we need to never underestimate the 468 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:59,880 spiritual power of an open door. He says about about a year from 469 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:03,000 now, you're going to have a son. The Bible records that she would 470 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,840 have that boy. She is overwhelmed. 471 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,560 She had not had a child, and now there's a child in her 472 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,200 household. There's a future for their 473 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:16,240 family and their family name. And as time would pass and that 474 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,840 young boy would grow older and stronger, he was sent out to the 475 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,600 fields with his father. On one particular day, the Bible 476 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,080 says he began to complain that his head, it was hurting. 477 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:30,880 And that father sent him to his mother at the house. 478 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,800 And she took that little, that boy, and placed her upon the 479 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:35,160 lap. Don't you know that you're never 480 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,080 too old to sit on your mama's lap until she says get off of 481 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,240 it? But nonetheless, he sat her down 482 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,760 upon his lap. And the Bible says that he died 483 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:49,440 there, right on her lap. And this was a test of faith for 484 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,800 this woman. She had to come to terms with 485 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:57,440 the idea, can I still trust God in the very area that he blessed 486 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,680 me in before? Can I trust him in this spot? 487 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:05,040 And the Bible says, though, look at it down your Bibles verse #21 488 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:12,400 where she took that lifeless body, the King James says she 489 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:17,800 went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. 490 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,160 The other version says she carried him upstairs to Elisha's 491 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:27,600 room. Folks, I think it's important 492 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:32,160 that it doesn't say she took him to the extra room with the extra 493 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:37,080 bed in it or we took him to our additional room. 494 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:42,760 She still underlined and underscored that room as his 495 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:50,040 room, Elisha's room. Someone say, man, she says, I, 496 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:54,000 I'm going to take this boy, this dead boy, this dead promise 497 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,800 that's been given to me, and I'm going to put it on the bed that 498 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:04,480 I furnished. I'm going to put it on the bed 499 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:09,840 that I furnished for the man of God in the room that we had 500 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,680 built for him. It was a space that allowed the 501 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:19,680 man of God, Amen, to come in Amen, and to claim and to relax 502 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,000 and to repose. It was his bed. 503 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,600 It was in his room, but it was in their house. 504 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,520 No, no, somebody hear me right Now, whenever you get a room for 505 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:37,840 him in your house, you don't have to carry every situation to 506 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,440 the church house. You can carry it to your space 507 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,160 in your house. You don't have to worry about a 508 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:47,000 prayer being answered on Sunday morning or Sunday night or 509 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,120 Wednesday. You can go to that sacred spot 510 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:58,480 in your my God. I've heard too many. 511 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,600 When we get to pray, we'll get to church, we'll pray about. 512 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:05,600 We get to no, no, no, no, no. When he has a room in your 513 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:14,120 house, you can get an answer in your house, lawyers. 514 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:27,239 So I'm going to lay him on that bed that we furnished, that room 515 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:36,000 that we built for him. That woman could have put that 516 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,600 boy anywhere in the house. She could have carried that boy 517 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:45,600 with her when she went to seek out Elisha, could have put him 518 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:49,120 in the kitchen. I don't know, could have placed 519 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,440 him anywhere. But she particularly chose that 520 00:34:53,440 --> 00:35:00,520 room, that bed in her house. There's something about it, 521 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:08,120 Bishop, that the very place, the place she built in faith was the 522 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:17,320 place then she returned to in her grief, and that room became 523 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:23,680 an altar of resurrection. I'll tell you what I'm confident 524 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,200 of tonight. As a pastor and a Christian 525 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:28,640 right trying to live the faith, I'm confident of this. 526 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,440 But there are times in our everyday lives and journeys that 527 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:37,400 we are preparing places for God before the storm has ever came 528 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,160 and before the trouble has ever rose. 529 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,640 And that whenever it happens and whenever it takes place, those 530 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:49,160 same spaces then are the very places He meets us at in the 531 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:53,240 middle of our storms, in the middle of our calamities. 532 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,320 Verse 32, we're just hopping around a little bit. 533 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:01,720 See, Evie, this translation I'm reading from here. 534 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:04,640 Elisha arrived at the woman's house. 535 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:08,480 She went and got him. She saddled the donkey, had an 536 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,680 servant go with her, told her husband. 537 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:12,640 He says it's not a new moon. Should we be going to the 538 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,600 prophet? She says, I'm going it as well. 539 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,280 She meets Elisha and hazies her word is everything all right, is 540 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:19,720 what they ask. She says it's well, it's well, 541 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:23,360 it's well, only to find out that things weren't well back at the 542 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:25,800 house. And the Bible says that Elijah 543 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,560 went here's it's interesting. He went basically again based 544 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:38,640 upon her invitation. Do you know how easy it is to 545 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:43,040 accept the invitation when you've been invited sundry many 546 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:50,200 times prior to that invitation? He goes, he arrived at the 547 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,840 notice the verbiage here in this translation. 548 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:57,040 Elisha arrived at the woman's house and went straight to his 549 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:05,680 room, went straight to his room. And he saw the boy's body on his 550 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:07,920 bed. And I got a little, I got a 551 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:10,160 little three Bears and Goldilocks going on right here. 552 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:14,280 You know, somebody, somebody's on my bed. 553 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,680 There's nothing though. There's nothing that feels 554 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:27,360 awkward to Elijah about this because this isn't his first 555 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:34,400 time in the house, and there's nothing awkward for the woman 556 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:38,440 and him entering the home because it wasn't the first time 557 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:49,680 he's been in the house. Avoid all relationship that they 558 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:51,800 would ever have. If this was the first time she 559 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:54,400 ever had approached the man of God and invite him to her home, 560 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,480 I guarantee it's going to be a little awkward. 561 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,160 There might have been a little fear, a little quiver in her 562 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:00,880 voice as she asked for him to come. 563 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:04,280 But since they already had a founded relationship, she 564 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:07,360 doesn't mind to fall down at his feet and bitterly cry and say 565 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:10,720 you need to come because the promise that God promised me is 566 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:11,760 dead on your bed. Come on. 567 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:15,880 Yes, yes. Come on. 568 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:18,440 There's nothing awkward about this situation. 569 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:19,600 Amen. He goes in. 570 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:21,240 Look, he's not asking where's he's laid. 571 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:25,200 He knows he's going straight into his room and his bed. 572 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:27,120 Amen. Because he's been in that room 573 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:27,640 before. Can I? 574 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:29,360 I don't know if I paint the picture for you. 575 00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:33,440 That room is familiar to him. He can run his hand along the 576 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:35,480 bed and the ruffle. I know they didn't probably have 577 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:38,760 bedspreads back then, but he can run his hand along the ruffle of 578 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,200 the bedspread. He he knows which side to turn 579 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,560 the lamp on. Can I tell you right now that he 580 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:47,240 sat in that seat so many times it began deform to his posture 581 00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:49,560 and his body? He knows where the table, he 582 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:53,920 knows where it's all out. He's familiar with the room, and 583 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:56,720 he's got to deal with the unknown for this woman. 584 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:05,600 I can't promise on his bed. He's familiar. 585 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:13,240 He's familiar with this space. He knows she furnished it. 586 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,000 He's going to his room right here in his room. 587 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,560 There the miracle comes full circle. 588 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:25,200 We can go through every, we could preach a whole lot more 589 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,720 about everything that he did, but you don't have the time 590 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:33,120 tonight. But as he did what he did, the 591 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,840 Bible tells us that life returned to that boy and that 592 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:41,680 promise breathed again. It was just a little chamber, a 593 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,520 upper little chamber that became a resurrection room. 594 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:53,600 Let me state it like this, that God often resurrects your 595 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:57,800 promise in the same place you once made room for His presence. 596 00:40:06,090 --> 00:40:09,930 Can I tell you tonight though, And I know through her eyes, she 597 00:40:09,930 --> 00:40:12,970 might not have knew all the dynamics or the mechanics. 598 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,240 What had been going on for however many years she has had 599 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:20,200 this relationship, she didn't build. 600 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:24,240 She didn't build that room in the beginning for a miracle 601 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:31,320 would she put hammer to nail and wood? 602 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:33,920 And still, when she did all that, she wasn't doing it for 603 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:38,280 the purpose of a miracle. She built it for ministry. 604 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:44,480 As OFT times as He comes by, I wanted to have a place where he 605 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,920 could be comfortable in my house, in his room. 606 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:55,520 But God turned that place of ministry into a miracle. 607 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:02,680 While she was furnishing space for the prophet, God was 608 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:04,520 furnishing space for her promise. 609 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:08,400 While she was making room for the anointing, God was making 610 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,800 room for her answer. She didn't know what she was 611 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:20,240 building for, but heaven knew what she Every board nailed, 612 00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:24,440 every corner cleaned, every lamp prepared was a preparation for 613 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,920 the future. She just couldn't see it. 614 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:39,520 Oh yeah, because there's enough characters in the Bible that 615 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,400 fall in line with the principal. Then when you make a room for 616 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:44,200 God, God makes room for your miracle. 617 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:47,840 You ask Abraham and Sarah, he did it for them. 618 00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:51,720 You ask Hannah in the book of Samuel, He did it for her. 619 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:55,480 You asked Mary, the mother of Jesus, He did it for her. 620 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,840 You go on and ask all those that were gathered on the day of 621 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:02,120 Pentecost in the upper room, and He did it for them. 622 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,960 They made room for God in their caring session, and God made 623 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,760 room for the miraculous on that day of Pentecost. 624 00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:15,160 Ask Cornelius's house, it happened there too. 625 00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:23,720 You stay with me tonight of times we talk about we talk 626 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:26,800 about the church, we talk about revival, we talk about renewal, 627 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:30,000 we talk about visitation. But maybe what we need to talk 628 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:36,880 about is habitation. Habitation, in other words, red 629 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:40,600 and I've, I guess you could say guilty of saying it. 630 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:43,400 You know, church be going on or in prayer. 631 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:52,320 Oh, Lord, come on by tonight. Lord come on by tonight as 632 00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:56,160 though you can come for a visit, but I don't have a space for you 633 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:06,080 to stay not careful. We can adopt the latest seeing 634 00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:10,040 Spirit Church age of Revelation 3 where Jesus says behold, I 635 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,200 stand at the door, he's talking about the church. 636 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:16,600 He'll later see you and knock. If any man hear my voice, I'll 637 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:18,520 come in and Sup with him and he with me. 638 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:20,640 The question is why in the world would he have been on the 639 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:24,080 outside of the door in the 1st place and why would he need to 640 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,760 knock in order to come in the house if he frequents and visits 641 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:34,040 often? My mom and dad where they had 642 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:35,720 their trailer now you know they're under locked. 643 00:43:35,720 --> 00:43:37,800 You know, it's like, you know, Fort Knox trying to get in their 644 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:40,680 place now that punch code, they got to let you in and all this 645 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:42,520 stuff. And it's like finger, you know, 646 00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:46,640 get your, I don't know, DNA or something, retina I read and all 647 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:48,720 this stuff. But when they had their trailer, 648 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:52,000 we could, I didn't do it because I just didn't think of a little 649 00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:53,680 more property. I'd still knock, but they 650 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:55,640 wouldn't mind if I just walked in their house. 651 00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:02,000 Why would God feel strange enough that he'd have to knock 652 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,720 on the door? Evidently because the people 653 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:09,040 weren't comfortable with him being in the house all the time. 654 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,880 I want you to know there's someone ran around this church. 655 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:19,800 I'm going like, OK, God, we've had enough of you here. 656 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,920 That's enough right now. OK, you can go on. 657 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:27,920 We might not say it with our lips, but sometimes we do it 658 00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:30,960 with the way that we carry ourselves in the service. 659 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:41,080 Don't let it get too radical, God, don't let sister so and so, 660 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:44,720 her brother so and so. You know what that is? 661 00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:47,840 Growing comfortable with a visa, but not wanting to let him have 662 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:58,970 a room. I need, I need more than a visa. 663 00:44:59,250 --> 00:45:02,330 I want to build him a room in my home. 664 00:45:02,330 --> 00:45:07,050 Sam, a room in my heart. Brother Fred, a room in the 665 00:45:07,050 --> 00:45:13,080 church I was heralding back to when I started. 666 00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:17,200 If there's no room for him in the end, the miraculous will 667 00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:19,480 happen in the stables that have the room. 668 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:29,520 Maybe. Maybe that room is a place of 669 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:31,120 prayer. Maybe it's a place of of 670 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:33,440 consecrated time. Maybe it's a place of of 671 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:35,080 worship. Maybe it's a place of devotion. 672 00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:40,360 Whatever it is, build it, furnish it. 673 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:44,080 Consecrated. God help me. 674 00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:49,920 Here's the fact. I can't come by your house and 675 00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:58,880 build his room in your house. There's nobody else here that 676 00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:01,080 can build his room in your house. 677 00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:03,840 You've got to take the initiative. 678 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:09,400 I'm building a room, a consecrated place in your house 679 00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:24,420 for him. I feel like I'm a whole place of 680 00:46:24,420 --> 00:46:27,540 folks listen, when we read in Acts chapter #8 and we read 681 00:46:27,540 --> 00:46:30,340 about Simon the sorcerer and he went through some type of 682 00:46:30,340 --> 00:46:32,140 experience to a certain degree with God. 683 00:46:32,340 --> 00:46:34,060 And the Bible says, though, whenever you've seen people 684 00:46:34,060 --> 00:46:37,060 receiving the Holy Ghost by by the, the, the apostles put their 685 00:46:37,060 --> 00:46:38,940 hands on people. He said, I'd like to have that. 686 00:46:38,940 --> 00:46:42,420 Can I buy that? The apostle said to him, your 687 00:46:42,420 --> 00:46:45,360 heart's not right with God. Repent, pray. 688 00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,480 And basically Simon said this layman's terms, again, just 689 00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:51,960 paraphrasing, he said, would you pray for me? 690 00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:57,760 What the apostle basically saying I can't do the prayer 691 00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:07,160 that you need to do. I could pray for you, but I 692 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:14,760 can't pray in your stead. Listen to me tonight. 693 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:20,840 We can pray for a demonic attack in your house, but you got to be 694 00:47:20,840 --> 00:47:35,120 the gatekeeper of your house. You, you called the prayer man 695 00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:38,160 at 3:00 in the morning and everybody on there is going to 696 00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:40,720 start praying. But you got to be the protector 697 00:47:40,720 --> 00:47:43,560 of your house. You got to have his room in your 698 00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:50,720 house. Because whenever the rubber 699 00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:56,120 meets the road, if the promise ever dies, you'll know where to 700 00:47:56,120 --> 00:48:01,800 take it in your home. And when he returns to your 701 00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:04,960 house, he'll go straight to his room. 702 00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:10,440 The one you built in faith. The one you furnished in love. 703 00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:14,400 The one you protected with zeal. The one that holds the potential 704 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:19,280 for the resurrection. I wish we'd close our eyes and 705 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:20,840 raise our hands across here tonight. 706 00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:23,640 I believe there's some people in this place that need to start to 707 00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:28,760 cry out and say, God, I'm not asking for you to visit my 708 00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:32,040 house. I'm going to endeavour to build 709 00:48:32,040 --> 00:48:40,360 a room for you in my house because when you make a room for 710 00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:42,960 God, God will make a room for your miracle. 711 00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:45,840 This altar is open right now. Come on, Sir. 712 00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:49,400 Come on, ma'am, you need to open up the doors of invitation. 713 00:48:49,720 --> 00:48:52,240 Hey, man, we're not just talking about a prophet here. 714 00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:54,200 We're talking about the presence of God. 715 00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:58,120 You need to make an open door invitation to the presence of 716 00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:01,360 God for your house. And you need to create a space. 717 00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:05,680 You need to create a dedicated consecrated area that God can 718 00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:15,440 come in and relax and feel comfortable in your home, His 719 00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:22,880 room, your miracle, His room in your house. 720 00:49:23,720 --> 00:49:25,280 Come on Sir. Come on, ma'am. 721 00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:28,000 This is a time right now to cry to God. 722 00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:30,600 This is a time right now to be real to God. 723 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:34,000 Don't put on the little platitudes or all the little 724 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:36,080 things to just try to look proper with it. 725 00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:40,600 You can get this messy right now and you're zealing attention for 726 00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:43,800 his his room in your house.