1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,560 Hi, this is Dave Olson. I'm the senior leader of 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:04,600 Heartland Church located in Ankeny, IA. 3 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,039 I hope the following message challenges, encourages and 4 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,160 ultimately changes you. Thanks for joining us. 5 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:12,840 All right, let's get into the word. 6 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:18,040 Verse 26 of Luke, chapter one. Verse 26, Luke chapter one. 7 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,000 We have been on a short series. We're talking about the three 8 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,400 wise women of Christmas. You know, most people talk about 9 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,840 the wise men and there's really no reason to believe there's 10 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:29,960 only three wise men. We just that's tradition. 11 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,320 We say that, but we, we've been looking at the wise women And 12 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,040 then last week we began to look at the power couples because 13 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,840 those women had some men connected to them behind every 14 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,760 great woman's a great man. Oh, that's not, that's not how 15 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,160 it goes anyway. But anyways, there's, there's 16 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:46,960 power couples. So we looked at the first week, 17 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,840 we looked at Zachariah and Elizabeth, how God was doing 18 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,360 something in that couple. And these are the players in the 19 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,960 Christmas story. Then we looked at Anna and 20 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:57,960 Simeon. And Anna and Simeon, you might, 21 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,520 if you know your word, you would say, wait a minute, you know, 22 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:01,840 they weren't, they're not a couple. 23 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,200 Well, they're tied together in their destiny and scripture and 24 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,120 they were a prophetic couple that validated what Mary was 25 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,760 caring, what Mary and Joseph had given birth to. 26 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,760 And then so this morning we want to look at Mary and Joseph and 27 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,880 specifically Mary. There's, there's God there. 28 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,080 There's things about Mary that is a template for how God 29 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,200 operates. And so that's what we want to 30 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,600 look at. So Father, Lord, we ask that you 31 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,200 would speak to us this morning, Lord, that you'd stir our 32 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,640 hearts. Lord, I ask for your anointing 33 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,120 to be upon me. And Lord, that your word would 34 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,440 be like an arrow that strikes the target. 35 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,240 And Lord, I ask that you'd provoke each one of us so that 36 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,120 we would be all you've called us to be in Jesus name. 37 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,280 Amen. All right, verse 26, this is 38 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,520 what it says. In the sixth month, the Angel 39 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:53,560 Gabriel sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a 40 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,400 virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the House of 41 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,960 David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 42 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:05,360 And so when it says in the six month, it's tying this story to 43 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,560 Zachariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth six months earlier had 44 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,240 been visited by the same Angel and had been informed that she 45 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,600 was indeed going to be pregnant supernaturally. 46 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,840 Not the same scenario, but a supernatural pregnancy. 47 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,720 And so six months into her nine months of pregnancy, this same 48 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,560 Angel goes and visits her young cousin, a young virgin by the 49 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,440 name of Mary. And if you read this passage, 50 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,560 it's almost as if the angels coming through the layers of the 51 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,200 cosmos, it says it was sent from God. 52 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,080 Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. 53 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,600 So there's a region Galilee, the city of Nazareth, and then to 54 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,480 the House of a man named Joseph, of the House of David. 55 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:53,680 And so there was this God was operating based on promises that 56 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,200 were generations ago. And so you had David, a man 57 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,120 after God's own heart. God had made some promises to 58 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,640 David centuries earlier and now God was going to make good on 59 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:05,320 that. Here's the here's the lesson for 60 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:09,480 you and I you can have you can have a relationship with God now 61 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,880 that God will visit your great, great, great, great grandkids on 62 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,720 not ought to motivate us live for the long term. 63 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,160 Amen. All right, so and it says in the 64 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,280 virgin's name was Mary. Now listen to what it says. 65 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,240 And he came to her, saying, Greetings, O favored one, the 66 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,920 Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at 67 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:33,960 the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might 68 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:35,760 be. And the Angel said to her, Do 69 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,640 not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 70 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,800 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and 71 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,840 you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be called great. 72 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,520 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 73 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,160 And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father 74 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,480 David. And he will reign over the House 75 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,280 of Jacob Forever and ever. And his Kingdom, of his Kingdom 76 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,120 there should be no. And verse 34 and Mary said to 77 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:07,360 the Angel, how will this be since I am a virgin? 78 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:12,280 And so there's a whole lot more to this story that most of us, I 79 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,240 believe, are aware of. We don't have time to get into 80 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,000 it, but I want to focus on on what's said here to Mary. 81 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,480 I want to focus on just a few phrases here. 82 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,480 Look at verse 28. And he came to her. 83 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,040 This Angel Gabriel comes to Mary, this young virgin girl, 84 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,400 she's in an obscure town called Nazareth. 85 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,840 Nazareth was not on the map for great notoriety. 86 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:35,240 Matter of fact, it said of Nazareth. 87 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:36,680 Can anything good come from there? 88 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,960 It this was an obscure place, an obscure girl, but God had his 89 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,880 eye on her. And so the Angel shows up and he 90 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,880 says to her, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with 91 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,200 you. Verse 29, it says, but she was 92 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:57,320 greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what kind 93 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,280 of what sort of greeting this might be. 94 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,080 So the word of the Lord came to her and the word of the Lord 95 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:07,160 troubled her. And I'm here to tell you that's 96 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:11,320 that that is not an uncommon thing, that often the word of 97 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,280 the Lord will come to you and it will trouble you. 98 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:19,600 That word trouble is Diateraso. It means the avenue through 99 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:25,400 which agitation arrives. You ever been agitated by the 100 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,800 word of the Lord? She was told, it was announced 101 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:31,480 to her. I mean, this is a this is a 102 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,560 heavy thing. There's tradition tells us she 103 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:35,400 was in the backyard washing dishes. 104 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,640 Scholars believe she was about 14 years old, which was about 105 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,200 the common age for a girl to be engaged in that that era. 106 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,600 And she's standing there washing dishes, doing normal things, a 107 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,080 normal girl in an obscure place. And all of a sudden the Angel of 108 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,040 the Lord appears and he greets her with this. 109 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:58,480 Oh, greetings, Oh favored one. The Lord is with you, and she 110 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,160 was troubled. Matter of fact, the text says, 111 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,480 but she was troubled. We're short on time, so I'm 112 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,280 going to read you a couple things, some of my notes so that 113 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:09,680 I have time to get through everything. 114 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,520 The term but infers a contrast to the preceding statement. 115 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,280 Mary received a word of validation from the angelic 116 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,640 messenger, but rather than encouraging her, it troubled 117 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,800 her. The conjunction but highlights 118 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:28,160 the incongruity between the angelic greeting and her 119 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,920 perception of herself, between the word of the Lord and her 120 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,040 response. The word we translate great, 121 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,720 greatly troubled is diateraso, means to cause confusion, to 122 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,200 stir trouble, perplexity, and to be the avenue through which that 123 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,480 arrives. This is actually one of the 124 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,640 primary roles of the divine, of divine and prophetic revelation. 125 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,400 When God speaks to you, this is one of the the initial things 126 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,320 that God is after. It is intended to expose those 127 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,520 areas where our unbelief, especially our self perception, 128 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,840 is out of alignment with God's assessment of us. 129 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,240 The Word of the Lord comes to expose where we are out of sync 130 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:13,720 with God's view of us, with His plans and ideas concerning us. 131 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,120 This causes us to be troubled, and that trouble is an 132 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:23,200 absolutely essential part of the process if we are to be useful 133 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:24,760 to God. There was. 134 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,600 This was completely out of left field for Mary, and she had no 135 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,920 grid work, no warning. She didn't see herself the way 136 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,760 the Angel did. And that's precisely why the 137 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:38,320 Angel opened with the greeting, you know, a greeting, a greeting 138 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,600 in Scripture. You see this in the New 139 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,280 Testament. Paul would have his greetings in 140 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,040 the beginning of his letters and the other writers of the New 141 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,440 Testament as well. But Paul is, is really well 142 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:50,600 known for this. He'll say greetings and he'll 143 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,160 he'll introduce himself the the apostle Paul sent from God or, 144 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:58,320 and then he'll say to the Saints which are at Ephesus, to the 145 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,480 Saints which which are at Galatia. 146 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,160 He defines who they are. And if you look at Pauls 147 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:08,000 writings, the first half of his book is always really heavy 148 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,760 theologically and the last half of his book is really abundantly 149 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,120 practical. Real simple matter of fact, 150 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:19,320 Ephesians is a great example, 3 chapters really theological, the 151 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:21,440 second three chapters very practical. 152 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,920 The practical part begins in chapter 4 verse one. 153 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,320 It said, now walk worthy in light of everything I just told 154 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,200 you, walk worthy of the calling you have received. 155 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,280 And then he begins to say things like husbands love your wives, 156 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,080 wives submit to your husbands, children obey your parents. 157 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:43,559 Real simple stuff to understand. When I first got saved, I spent 158 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,200 the lion's share of my time in the second-half of these books. 159 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:48,760 And the reason I did that is because that was really easy for 160 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,200 me to understand. I could understand Obey Your 161 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,200 Parents. I'd had a hard time with it, but 162 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:55,560 that's that's why I needed to read that. 163 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,920 But here's the problem. If we read the marching orders 164 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:03,560 of the second-half of the book without understanding the 165 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:07,280 theology of the first half of the book, we're not equipped to 166 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:09,520 walk it out. What Paul would do, and 167 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,240 Ephesians is a great example of this, because in the 1st chapter 168 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,760 of Ephesians, Paul actually tells us to pray for a spirit of 169 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,120 wisdom and revelation. He prays for us that we would 170 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,800 have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of 171 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,880 Him so that we would know what we already have. 172 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:34,560 And in fact, a lot of times as believers we are asking God for 173 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:39,160 things He's already given us. The problem is not God's 174 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,000 unwillingness to have given it to us. 175 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:44,120 He already did. He gave us all blessings in 176 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:47,000 Christ. The problem is our perception 177 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,400 that He's given it to us. And so the first half of the 178 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,760 book begins to unpack the inheritance that he's given to 179 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:56,480 us so that in the second-half of the book, when he starts saying 180 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:00,400 husbands love your wives, that you understand he's already 181 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,200 giving you the grace to do so. Now, I know in this room, it 182 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,680 doesn't take a lot of grace to to love the women in this room 183 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:08,560 because our wives are easy to love. 184 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:09,880 Amen. Gentlemen, I'm giving you. 185 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:12,080 Yeah. That was an opportunity for you 186 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:13,800 to wave a hanky and say, oh, Amen. 187 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:15,480 Pastor, I would have given you. Cut it. 188 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:16,920 I was setting you up for brownie points. 189 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:21,880 OK, but the fact is God has already equipped us in the first 190 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,040 half of the book. That's part of the greeting. 191 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,800 What he's saying is, And so the same thing is happening here. 192 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,320 The Angel shows up, and what does he say to Mary? 193 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,840 Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 194 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,280 Here's the problem. The reason there's a butt in 195 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:40,720 there is that she needed her butt. 196 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:45,200 Kick the butt didn't what showed that she didn't understand that 197 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,400 God what that she was favored and that God was with her. 198 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,240 You know, it's let me say something that's going to 199 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,480 initially sound like heresy. I kind of like to do that kind 200 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:01,960 of shake you a little bit. The love of God for you does 201 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,120 very little for you until you agree with it. 202 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,200 God was with her and she didn't know it. 203 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:15,480 God can be with you, but it will not change you until you know 204 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,120 it. We need a revelation of what 205 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,400 He's already given us. So what happened is the Angel of 206 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:26,320 the Lord arrived to define who she was and what happened is all 207 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,400 this unbelief kicked up? And she was like, wait, wait a 208 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,320 minute, I don't see myself as favored. 209 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:33,080 And what do you mean God is with me? 210 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:37,360 She needed to be introduced to the reality she was already 211 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:44,120 walking in the favor of God on. You will not affect you until 212 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,800 you come into agreement with it. And So what happens is when the 213 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,360 Lord begins to deal with you. Let me put it this way, anytime 214 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:55,320 God wants to launch something fresh, and in this situation it 215 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:59,080 was really fresh. The Messiah, the Savior of the 216 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,200 world, was about ready to be embedded in the womb of a virgin 217 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,600 girl and give birth to Christianity. 218 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,080 All of history would hinge on what was going to happen inside 219 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,320 of her. But before God could do that, 220 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,120 before God could Jesus, the living Word. 221 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,640 John chapter 1 says the word dwelt with God. 222 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,360 He was God, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 223 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:23,560 It's saying Jesus is the word of God. 224 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:28,360 What does that mean? A word is a sound wrapped around 225 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,600 a thought in God's Word. God had a thought. 226 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,400 God had ideas about us. So what did he do? 227 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:38,520 He wrapped it in a person so he could speak through his life. 228 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:44,600 He Hebrews chapter one, it says that in times past God spoke 229 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,760 through prophets and, and, and you know, through his his 230 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,720 people. But now he speaks by his son. 231 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:53,720 It didn't say he spoke through his son. 232 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,800 Hebrews chapter one. It says he spoke by his son. 233 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,400 Everything Jesus did was God speaking. 234 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,280 He was a message from God. That's why we need to study his 235 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:09,720 life, the way he interacted with people that his, his heart, his, 236 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,680 his, his actions, not just what he said, but what he did is a 237 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:18,080 word from the Lord to you and I. But here's the thing, before God 238 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,880 could bring the word of God, the thought of God, what God meant 239 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,160 towards humanity, before he could bring the Word of God and 240 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,400 bring it through Mary, he had to plant it in her head before he 241 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:34,040 planted it in her womb. You can't carry what you don't 242 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,760 agree with. And so the Lord came to her and 243 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,120 told her she's highly favored. I'm already with you. 244 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,000 And she was like, what gives her? 245 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:47,640 She was questioning the word of the Lord. 246 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:51,360 And in fact, this is a common pattern in the Word of God. 247 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,040 And if you look back at your life, it's a common pattern in 248 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:59,360 your life as well. We see Sarah when she was Sarah. 249 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,320 I, she was. She overhears the Lord and two 250 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,360 angels speaking to Abraham, her husband, about the baby they're 251 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,320 going to have. And you know what her her 252 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,840 expression of great faith was? She laughed. 253 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,080 That's hilarious. She's slapping her knee over 254 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,320 behind the tent, laughing, and the Lord calls her on, Hey, you 255 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:20,320 didn't believe me. Oh, yeah, I did. 256 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,720 No, I heard you laughing. It's not an expression of faith. 257 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:31,400 Gideon argued with the Angel. When the Angel, the Lord showed 258 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,640 up for him. And here we have Mary. 259 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:37,560 She's like, well, this, you know, she's questioning because 260 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:42,240 the, the, the initial wave when God begins to call you into 261 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,480 something fresh, when God wants to bring you into new territory, 262 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:51,800 yes, you need a fresh revelation of him, But perhaps even more, 263 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,560 you need a fresh revelation of yourself from his perspective, 264 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,880 because to the extent that you agree with him is to the extent 265 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:04,320 that you can walk in his purposes, your identity, your 266 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,960 perception of yourself is the lid on your usefulness. 267 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,000 Here's a girl. She was, God was with her. 268 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,360 She was highly favored. The, the, the, the Greek word 269 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,000 that we translate favor is a derivative of the Greek word for 270 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:25,680 grace, The grace, the favor. This God was attracted to this 271 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:27,280 young woman. He put something on her. 272 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,440 He was with her and she was walking in grace. 273 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,120 And he didn't say the Lord will be with you. 274 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,720 He said the Lord is with you. But she didn't know it. 275 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,480 So what had to happen is the Angel had to come in to announce 276 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,200 to her what she already was walking in but was unaware of. 277 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,360 And there was it troubled her, it irritated, it agitated her. 278 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,120 And sometimes the Lord has to send a word to you to agitate 279 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,600 you. Sometimes that's my job, to be 280 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:02,560 up here and just agitate. If in fact, if you're never 281 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,960 agitated, if you read the Word and you never look at that and 282 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,560 say you don't laugh or you don't argue or you're not wondering 283 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,520 like Mary, if that never happens, I propose to you, 284 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,560 you're not really reading the word, You're just going through 285 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:18,560 the motions. You're not engaging it in your 286 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,640 mind because there are some crazy stuff written in that book 287 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:27,400 about you, and you are not yet believing all of it and neither 288 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,560 am I. So the rest of our life, we read 289 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,680 the word, we're inacting, interacting with the word. 290 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,960 People give us a word and the purpose of it is to agitate us, 291 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:41,440 to provoke us to begin to wonder about what why the Lord would 292 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,600 say this about us. Because the the initial purpose 293 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,040 of the word of the Lord, whether from the Bible or a prophetic 294 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,080 word or however the Lord speaks you, the initial purpose is to 295 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,320 kick those internal disqualifications that you 296 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,520 believe about yourself to the surface so you can confront them 297 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,920 and remove them so you can walk in God's purposes. 298 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,880 And when we don't when we do not believe the word of the Lord, 299 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:09,800 when we excuse ourself when we think I'm the exception to the 300 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,960 rule we we put a lid in gut. We are not useful to the Lord 301 00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:22,400 every new season and you see this Angel shows up in Mary's 302 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,560 life often in the word of God. Angels would show up when it's a 303 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,200 new season in someone's life, they're going to be launched 304 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,040 into something new. And so the messenger, that's 305 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,720 what the word Angel means, a messenger from God would bring a 306 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,480 new message and, and when his arrival showed, hey, there's 307 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:43,600 something new God's bringing you into you see it. 308 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,240 Remember Joshua, who is being mentored by Moses. 309 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:49,600 He would go up on the mountain with Moses. 310 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,160 He would go in the tent of meeting and the the Moses would 311 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,000 go into the tent of meeting to worship and to pray and a fiery 312 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,720 pillar would come before the door. 313 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,800 That's trip. I'll tell you that gives you 314 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:05,200 some credibility as a pastor. If you see every time I walk in 315 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,560 my office and I say I'm going to go pray and I'll send a pillar 316 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,480 of fire in front of my window, you might put a little more 317 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,680 weight on what I say to you. And that's what would go on with 318 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,600 Moses. And Joshua would go with him. 319 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:18,680 He's being mentored. And there's this beautiful 320 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,040 passage that says Moses would leave the tent of meeting, but 321 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,560 Joshua refused to leave because he picked up a virus. 322 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,080 He was, he was addicted to the presence of God. 323 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,400 There's no high like the most high. 324 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,800 And he, he got addicted to the presence of God. 325 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,240 And he wanted to stay in the presence of God. 326 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:44,320 He'd live there. And that's why Joshua had favor 327 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:46,760 on him. So that when Moses passed, it 328 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:49,000 was time for someone to lead. It was Joshua. 329 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,560 But you know what happened when they moved into the promised 330 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:53,600 land? I'm here to tell you this 331 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,120 morning. Listen, when God brings you into 332 00:18:56,120 --> 00:19:00,600 new territory, what he does is he gives you a revelation of him 333 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:05,600 and a revelation of you because your future will require a new 334 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,040 you that the the past didn't require. 335 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,400 What the past season required of you is not going to be enough 336 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,880 for the the future season. You're going to need a greater 337 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,480 revelation of who He is, and you're going to need a greater 338 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:23,160 revelation of who you are. That's how God brings us on. 339 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:27,080 He takes us from glory to glory. He doesn't drop all of it on us 340 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,920 at once, either our theology, our view of him, or our 341 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,720 identity, our view of herself. Because if he did, we'd just 342 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,920 kind of, we'd kind of just evaporate into a puddle and we'd 343 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,280 be all over. So he gives it to us 344 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,400 incrementally and he grows us into these things. 345 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,760 So Joshua is getting ready to go into the promised land. 346 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:50,000 What happens all of a sudden he's he's right by Jericho and 347 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:54,000 on the plane all of a sudden the Angel of the Lord stands before 348 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,720 Joshua. It's not an an Angel, it's the 349 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,760 Angel. And we know it's a theophany, a 350 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,920 even a Christophany, a pre Incarnate expression of Jesus 351 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,800 himself because Joshua falls down and worships him and the 352 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,640 Angel doesn't correct him like there is in some other passages 353 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,000 and Joshua says. Are you for us or for the enemy? 354 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,480 And the Lord said, I'm for God. It's a good answer. 355 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:23,720 It's a good question. If you're looking at an answer, 356 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:24,960 you want to know which side you're on. 357 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,080 I want to choose the side you're on, buddy. 358 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:33,200 But see, he needed a fresh revelation of God that he hadn't 359 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,440 had before, before he goes in and takes the promised land. 360 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,440 So when God calls you to do something new, it's always going 361 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,240 to feel like it's so far beyond what you can do on your own. 362 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:48,240 He'll give you a fresh revelation of yourself. 363 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,120 You'll step into that thing and it feels like, whoa, this is too 364 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:52,160 much. This is too big. 365 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:57,080 And in fact, if you think that you can handle the call of God 366 00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,920 on your own, what what did Mary say? 367 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:04,040 She said, how can this be? The answer from heaven is always 368 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,000 the same. The Spirit of the Most High 369 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,840 shall over shadow you. The power of God shall come upon 370 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:12,760 you. That's always God's answer. 371 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,480 And in fact, if what you feel called to you can accomplish 372 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,000 without the overshadowing power of God, there's one of two 373 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,000 things going on it either you're deceived, you have not heard 374 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,040 from God, that's not your calling, or you have way 375 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,720 underestimated what it's going to take to pull it off. 376 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,640 Because God will always call you to something beyond your ability 377 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,920 to pull off always so that he gets the glory. 378 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,200 And then what does he do? He, he, he gives us a fresh 379 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,720 revelation of him, a fresh revelation of us. 380 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:46,120 We have to own what he says about us. 381 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:48,240 I'm highly favored. God is with me. 382 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,000 And then he steps you into the promised land. 383 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,000 There's acres and acres of promised land and you're right 384 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,320 on the threshold. And you've got to grow into that 385 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,000 and begin to take dominion of your promised land. 386 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,200 You grow into your future. You begin to steward that. 387 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,320 Every fresh assignment feels overwhelming. 388 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,800 And what it does is it'll force you to seek God all over again. 389 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,960 And about the time you think, hey, I can do this, I got the 390 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:16,960 rhythm. I know how to do this. 391 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,080 You know, what God does? Sends another messenger to you. 392 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,680 Oh, by the way, I've got another assignment. 393 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,880 He's always going to stretch you beyond your depths. 394 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:30,520 You know, Mary, something was placed in her that stretched 395 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,600 her. There is such a thing as 396 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,880 spiritual stretch marks. God wants to stretch us into our 397 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:38,920 future. He challenges us. 398 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,000 And what it's always going to take is God's going to confront 399 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,640 the misconceptions you have about yourself. 400 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:50,280 Some of you are living with diseased thoughts about 401 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,920 yourself. You believe God can do anything. 402 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,400 You just don't believe He can do it through you because you've 403 00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,760 been told things. You've picked up lies along the 404 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,440 way. It might been that you had 405 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:03,160 abusive parents. It might have been that you had 406 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,320 great parents that weren't perfect like the rest of the 407 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,480 parents alive. It might have been something you 408 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:09,720 were traumatized. I don't, you know. 409 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,440 The thing is, the enemy is studying your life to sabotage 410 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,800 you and get you to buy into lies about yourself so that you will 411 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,840 hammer yourself in and you won't grow into what God has called 412 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,200 you to. And so the way of heaven is God 413 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,520 will come and confront you and and show you something about 414 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,000 yourself that tweaks you. It will trouble you. 415 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,720 It will agitate you. Often we think of, you know, the 416 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:36,440 word of Lord coming and comforting us. 417 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,600 And it is a comfort in a sense, but there's also a requirement 418 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,240 to that word that is very uncomfortable. 419 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:48,160 It's like me, Lord, you know, did you get the wrong person? 420 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,920 Was, you know, did you mean to talk to someone else and you got 421 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,040 the wrong chair? God is stretching us. 422 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:59,320 There is so much more in us that God is after, you know, 423 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,840 Ephesians chapter one, we keep going back to Ephesians this 424 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,200 morning. Ephesians chapter 1 talks about 425 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:08,160 Jesus having an inheritance in US. 426 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:12,600 It's not just that we have an inheritance in Christ. 427 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:18,720 Jesus has an inheritance in you, and He is zealously, jealously 428 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:23,560 pursuing that thing. He is after it, and He will send 429 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:28,120 agitating words to trouble you, to shake you out of your 430 00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:32,160 lethargy and stretch you into a new place where you begin to 431 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:36,760 believe God for bigger things. And it's uncomfortable. 432 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:43,120 The word of the Lord often is, but God is stretching us because 433 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:46,240 what God was doing with Mary and this is a template for how he 434 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,680 works. This isn't an this is not an 435 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,080 anomaly. It's not a one off. 436 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,440 It's a template of how God operates. 437 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,800 He comes to us, he tells us how he views us. 438 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,040 It troubles us. We begin to ask questions and 439 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:00,880 then he shows us how he's going to do it. 440 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:06,920 And what's amazing about Mary is that Mary so quickly got with 441 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,320 the program. I believe that's one of the 442 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,000 reasons that God put his favor and his presence on her because 443 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,920 there was a responsiveness in Mary's heart to God. 444 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,720 It really is amazing how quickly she just said, how are you going 445 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,080 to do this? He explained it. 446 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,520 The presence of the Lord will over shadow you and what would 447 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,880 be in you will be from God and your child. 448 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:28,680 You're going to give birth to a son who's going to be known as 449 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,640 the Son of the Most High. And she said, OK, let it be unto 450 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:38,160 me as thou hast said, she owned that thing right away and at 451 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:42,520 great personal expense. You know, we have no record of 452 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,120 her mom and dad understanding what was going on. 453 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,960 Tradition tells us there's there's strong reason to believe 454 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,760 in in ancient documents that Mary's mother and father, they 455 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,560 were living in. I forget the name of the city, 456 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,680 but it's it was it. And that's where Joseph would 457 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,920 have most likely worked because of his skills. 458 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:05,080 It was where the Sanhedrin had their headquarters and that's 459 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,320 where all the most valuable scrolls would have been kept. 460 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,520 And tradition tells us Mary's dad was one of the guys that 461 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,080 were caring for the scrolls, very godly man. 462 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,840 He would have been entrusted. He had access to the word. 463 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,160 They were raising their daughter in the things of God. 464 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,040 But yet one day an Angel comes and says to her, you're going to 465 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,480 be found to be pregnant with the son of the Most High. 466 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:32,040 And she says, how's this going to be? 467 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,680 I've always been. So I think I mentioned this last 468 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,000 week, but it just so intrigues me. 469 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:43,640 What was it about Mary that she she didn't assume how it was 470 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:45,840 going to be accomplished like most of us do? 471 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,840 I'd have heard that if I was Mary, I'd have thought, whoa, 472 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,280 Joe and I are going to have a baby. 473 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,440 Let's get this wedding on, you know, But something. 474 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,840 And there's there's nothing in what the Angel said that would 475 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,440 lead her to believe initially that this wasn't just going to 476 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,320 be a special child that Joe and her would have. 477 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:10,840 She's already engaged. But Mary says, how can this be? 478 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:15,480 I am yet a virgin Now, let me just say there there are people 479 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,600 out there, there's scholars, liberal scholars that don't 480 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,840 believe in the miraculous and they try to water this down. 481 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:25,000 I saw one the other day this this woman was saying, well, you 482 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,960 know, it does. It's not important to believe in 483 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,440 the virgin birth. You know, it's really about the 484 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,120 way Jesus lived his life. We just like to emulate his good 485 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:35,080 life. And she said the word virgin in 486 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,000 the Greek just means it can mean someone who just makes their own 487 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,400 decisions and doesn't trust a man to make them for her. 488 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:46,280 That's what it means. I'm thinking then why did she 489 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,480 say how can this be since I am a virgin? 490 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:50,920 How can this be since I'm a person who makes my own 491 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:52,600 decision? Doesn't make sense. 492 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,600 Virgin meant virgin. She knew not a man and she 493 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,080 understood. Lord you're saying something 494 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:01,520 here. I don't have a grid work for 495 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,240 this has never happened before and the Lord told her this. 496 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,720 The Spirit of the Most High will over shadow you and what is it 497 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,240 conceived in You will be of the Holy Spirit. 498 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,640 And I I can't stress this enough I know I know this is in danger 499 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,240 of sounding a little new age ish when I say the the the seed had 500 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,120 to 1st be planted in her mind before it could be planted in 501 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:28,600 her womb. But it's true if she did not 502 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:32,720 agree with the word of the Lord she could disqualify herself. 503 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,360 So God had to 1st change her mind before he could plant that 504 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:40,560 word in her womb. And the same is true for you and 505 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,720 I. Before you can accomplish the 506 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,440 purposes of God for your life, you first have to buy off on it 507 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:48,920 mentally, intellectually, by faith. 508 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,240 You say God, I don't understand this, this is so far beyond me, 509 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,400 but so be it unto me. As you have said, I believe you, 510 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:02,120 and what God is after is for you to come into agreement to align 511 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:07,840 your belief system. And the whole purpose of that 512 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:13,400 initial word of God is to push to the surface those diseased 513 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:17,720 thoughts, those internal disqualifications, those beliefs 514 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,920 that you're the exception to the rule. 515 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,240 Because like I said, most of us, the vast majority of people in 516 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,720 this room believe God can do anything. 517 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:29,360 They just don't believe He can do it through them. 518 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:35,440 And that's what God is after. And he has to bring you into 519 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:40,440 alignment and he has to bring us along slowly because our mind 520 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:44,400 can't make those jumps. So I want to be like Mary. 521 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,560 I want to agree with the word of the Lord. 522 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,200 She said, so be it unto me. Set a great expense. 523 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:56,440 Because people would talk about Mary when Jesus in his ministry, 524 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:58,840 there were times they would say, Oh yeah, that's the guy 525 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:04,480 conceived out of wedlock. That's the illegitimate son of 526 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,200 Mary. That narrative followed him and 527 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:12,320 Mary had to embrace this thing that nobody is going to 528 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:18,440 understand. It's it, you know, there's 529 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,400 there's whispering when a church girl gets pregnant out of 530 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:26,320 marriage, but it's nothing like the Jewish culture of that day. 531 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,440 And then you add to it that she has this line that, well, it was 532 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:33,200 the Holy Spirit. Can you imagine? 533 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,520 They're saying either she's crazy or she's immoral and she 534 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,360 embraced that and said, Lord, so be it unto me. 535 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:43,600 As you have said, I'll pay the price. 536 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,800 We have no indication that her parents understood what was 537 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:53,200 going on. I'm sure that they were ringing 538 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:54,840 to have what's happened to our daughter. 539 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:59,600 They're looking at Joe coming that Joe knew we shouldn't have 540 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:04,240 trusted him and Joseph was ready to break up with her and he is 541 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,680 confronted by an Angel in the dream and said this is God 542 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:15,600 merrier. This whole thing called sin 543 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,360 entered the world when Eve was deceived. 544 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,840 First Timothy says very clearly that Adam wasn't deceived. 545 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:27,440 Eve was. But sin came into the world 546 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:29,440 through Adam, through the sin of one man. 547 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:34,760 Scripture says why Eve was deceived, but Adam chose to 548 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:39,360 disobey God out of his desire for Eve. 549 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,880 He made her an idol and he was willing to side against God with 550 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,920 her. And sin came into the world when 551 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:50,200 God is going to undo this mess that that original couple made. 552 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,120 You know, they say it's not the apple in the tree, but the pear 553 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:54,680 on the ground that caused all the problems. 554 00:31:54,680 --> 00:32:00,360 Anyway, it when Adam and Eve made this mess, God's going to 555 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:01,360 undo it. What does he do? 556 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:06,560 He he didn't, you know, God could have said, you know, Mary, 557 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:07,920 one day could have felt some kicking. 558 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:09,200 You know, I'm gaining a little weight. 559 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:11,320 I'm trying to keep, you know, kind of keep my weight down. 560 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,520 Oh, something's kicking. The Lord could say, oh, by the 561 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,520 way, Mary got to explain to you what's going on here. 562 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,440 But he didn't do that. He announced it on the front end 563 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:27,200 and he looked for her surrender. And as soon as she said, so be 564 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,200 it unto me, as you have said. The Angel laugh because his job 565 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,360 was done. God had secured A vessel who 566 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:37,440 came into agreement with what God said about her, and God was 567 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:44,240 able to use her in the Kingdom. God always comes and asks you a 568 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,240 decision from your will. He doesn't force you. 569 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,160 He's going to ask you, will you do this? 570 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:55,600 And the way in which that begins, as he begins to talk to 571 00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:01,080 you in ways, talk to you about you in ways that you have not 572 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:05,000 yet come into agreement with, that is the beginning when the 573 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,600 messenger shows up and God begins to deal with you and 574 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:13,000 people sometimes. Liz was in the first service. 575 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,240 We're praying over Josh and Liz made a comment about Josh. 576 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,080 She said, Josh, I remember when you were just a kid up here. 577 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,080 She said, I remember praying over you and she said this is 578 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:27,480 the answer to those prayers. We all need Elizabeth's in our 579 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,200 life that are pregnant with something you know there. 580 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,600 It's not a coincidence that when Mary got pregnant, what'd she 581 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,720 do? She she took off running and she 582 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:37,760 went over to Elizabeth's. Well, she wasn't that big yet, 583 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,880 but she, she, she went to Elizabeth's house because she 584 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:43,920 needed the support of someone who's carrying that. 585 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:46,200 There were those around her who didn't understand. 586 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,120 And I, I would propose to you that that's God's intention. 587 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:54,120 God will at times veil some eyes to what you're doing because the 588 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:58,280 external opposition to the inward leading creates 589 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:02,720 resistance and, and, and stamina in you that I'm going to follow 590 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:05,200 God regardless of whether people understand. 591 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:06,600 Now you got to be careful with that. 592 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:08,080 It's got to line up with the word of God. 593 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:09,520 You've got to find it in the word. 594 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:13,719 And there God's also going to give you a Liz, an Elizabeth 595 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:17,440 that's going to believe in you before you believed in yourself. 596 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,960 Mary had to get around someone who's a little farther down the 597 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,360 road in this thing. They've already been carrying 598 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:24,800 something. And when she walked in the room, 599 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:27,440 her baby jumped. There's a fellowship among those 600 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:30,880 spiritually pregnant women that there is a validation of what 601 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,800 they carry. So we need those people in our 602 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,360 life. But often God will blind some 603 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,480 around you to what's going on because He's trying to build 604 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,960 something in you. If you only agree with the word 605 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,960 of the Lord when others around you agree with it, you're not in 606 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:50,159 agreement with the word of the Lord. 607 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:51,639 You're in agreement with those around you. 608 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:57,000 When you can agree with the word of the Lord, regardless of what 609 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,600 other people think, then you know it's becoming internalized. 610 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,040 I've bought into this thing, this thing, I'm owning this 611 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,840 thing. And something within you is 612 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,080 beginning to grow that God's going to use to change the 613 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:10,840 world. Amen. 614 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:22,440 Let's go ahead and stand. During greeting time, Kate 615 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,600 McGovern had given me a word that she'd heard during the 616 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,040 first service, and I want to share this because I believe it 617 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:30,920 goes right along with what we're talking about. 618 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:35,640 This is what you heard the Lord say. 619 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:39,720 I am here to take your anguish. I will distinguish the truth and 620 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:44,160 the lie and take your overwhelming burdens and cares. 621 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,480 Give your burdens to me and let me carry you and receive my 622 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,280 assurance and peace. Then you will be able to go on 623 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:55,720 to a maturity. See, we many of us are shaped by 624 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:59,520 our experiences. We've allowed life to supersede 625 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,520 the word of the Lord. We believe the Bible for others. 626 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,080 We're just convinced we're the, the, the exception to the rule 627 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,720 and the Lord wants to go after those things, some of those 628 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:17,120 diseased thoughts about yourself that cause you to disqualify 629 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,240 yourself when God begins to move upon you. 630 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,840 I know I've talked about this many times and I'll be short 631 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:24,800 here. I know I had you stand. 632 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,640 First time Dean Briggs was here. He talked about that friend of 633 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:30,400 his that that had that prophetic dream. 634 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:34,240 This Angel ushered this man into a huge library. 635 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:36,280 It was the archive room of heaven. 636 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:39,760 And the Angel told him there's two volumes for every living 637 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,320 soul. There were millions and millions 638 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:46,560 of volumes, a pastor's dream. And then the Angel took, took 639 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:48,840 him over and he said, why 2 volumes? 640 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,680 And he recognized, oh, there's a set of 2A thick one and a thin 641 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:54,200 one. And the Angel tapped the thick 642 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,640 one and said, this is what God invites us into. 643 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,680 And then he pulled the thin one off and he said, and this is 644 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,720 what most believe for. And the fact is the difference 645 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:09,480 between the thin volume and the thick volume will determine your 646 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,040 reward when you stand before him. 647 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:16,280 God has called every one of us into so much more. 648 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,840 And it's not the it's not the thick volume. 649 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,880 It's what are you doing the thin volume that you're writing with 650 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,280 your obedience? Are you entering into God's 651 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,280 purposes? Are you willing to agree with 652 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,720 him? Some of you things have happened 653 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:37,120 in your life that have caused you to edit your definition of 654 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:41,360 yourself in a in a negative way. And I'm telling you your past 655 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:45,880 failure is not indicative of your future usefulness that 656 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,440 that's under the blood. God is reinstituting what he 657 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,120 originally said. The beautiful thing is God 658 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,120 conforms and doesn't just perform His perfect will. 659 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,320 Ephesians chapter 1 again, it says God conforms all things to 660 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,840 the purpose of His will. He takes our mess and folds it 661 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:08,040 into our purposes. So I want you to just bow your 662 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,480 head for a moment here. Father, I thank you for every 663 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:18,870 one of these this morning. I feel very strong that there's 664 00:38:18,870 --> 00:38:22,870 some of you who have agreed with the accuser of the brother. 665 00:38:24,430 --> 00:38:28,560 The enemy accuses you and you've come into agreement with it, and 666 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,200 the enemy's going to use that to try to hold you back. 667 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:33,040 But you've got to make a decision. 668 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:35,800 I'm going to side with what God says about me. 669 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:39,360 You might not even be fully sure of what He's saying about you 670 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,440 right now, but you've got to make a decision. 671 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:42,760 Lord. I'm going to tune into what 672 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,160 you're saying, and I will side against the lie. 673 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:48,480 Thanks for listening to our podcast. 674 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,000 If you'd like to help more people hear this message, you 675 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,600 can get the word out by subscribing and sharing it on 676 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:55,920 social media. If you'd like to support the 677 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:58,760 ministries of Heartland Church, you can do so at Heartland 678 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:00,960 Church online.com/give.