1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:04,360 If he's given us this weapon, I want to know how to use it. 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,600 Isaiah 58 if you're looking in the ESV, the title over it is 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:15,000 true and false fasting. It's, it's talking about the 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:19,000 type of fast God doesn't honor and the type of fast God does 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,480 honor. And so you look at verse one, 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,120 cry aloud. Do not hold back. 7 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,200 Lift up your voice like a trumpet. 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,480 Declare to my people their transgressions to the House of 9 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,720 Jacob, their sins. Isaiah's writing down what the 10 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:33,720 Lord told him. Cry aloud. 11 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,720 Speak this to my people. Then in verse 2, listen to how 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,240 these people, these Israelites are described. 13 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,880 And man, when I read this, I think, man, those are some good 14 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,840 peeps. They're checking off all the 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,760 boxes, yet their prayers were not heard, so he says, verse 2. 16 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,080 Yet they seek me and delight to know my ways. 17 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,840 So these are people that sought God and they delighted in God's 18 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,080 ways as if they were a nation. Then he says as if they were a 19 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,320 nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment 20 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:08,640 of God. So he's saying that they want to 21 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,240 know about God. It's just not showing up on the 22 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,040 landscape of their behavior. They want to accumulate beliefs, 23 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,320 but they're not. It's not changing their 24 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:20,400 behavior. And so then he says this, they 25 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,240 delight to draw near to God. Why? 26 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:28,880 So here's the people that sought God daily delight to know his 27 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,600 ways and they ask of him righteous judgments and they 28 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,600 delight to draw near to God. Then that sounds like some solid 29 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,800 believers, doesn't it? Most of us would say, man, those 30 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:46,000 are some mature believers. The problem is that they did 31 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,160 that as if they were a nation that did righteousness. 32 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,680 He's talking about actions that there was feet to their faith. 33 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,760 They were producing fruit, they were doing things. 34 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,240 So then they ask in return, the Israelites ask God, why have we 35 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:06,320 fasted and you see not why have we humbled ourselves? 36 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:11,160 And you take no knowledge of it. I don't know about you, but if 37 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,200 I'm going to go without food for 21 days, I want something to 38 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,640 happen. I want to see it's, it's got to 39 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:23,280 be more than a diet because I'm telling you, losing weight by 40 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,360 fasting is a really bad way to do it because you will gain it 41 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,760 back with a vengeance. My, my weight has been going up 42 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,480 incrementally over the years because you, you, when you start 43 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,080 eating, your body's starving. So it's going to restore it. 44 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,160 It's got to be more than a diet. We're, we're fasting for a 45 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,400 reason. There's, there's a fasting for 46 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,200 intimacy. When I met my wife, I lost my 47 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:47,880 appetite. I was a man in love. 48 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,560 My wife says, oh, wouldn't it be wonderful? 49 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,760 It was like that all the time. I said no, I'd be dead. 50 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,520 I mean, I, I couldn't think. I had her on my mind that we had 51 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,440 to get beyond that and get to the, the rhythm of being in love 52 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,600 and, you know, being productive. So there is a fasting that's 53 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,040 connected with intimacy. There's a fasting there. 54 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:08,800 There's different forms of fasting. 55 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,760 But what we are about, we're wanting to fast to see things 56 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:15,560 happen. And so he says, they said, Why 57 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,720 have we fasted? We see it not, you see it not. 58 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,720 Why have we humble ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it? 59 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,400 Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasures, and 60 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,120 oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast not only to 61 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,200 quarrel a fast only to quarrel and fight, and to hit with 62 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,640 wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will 63 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:42,400 not make your voice to be heard on high. 64 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,960 Is this the fast that I choose? A day for a man to humble 65 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,120 himself? Is it to bow the head, his head 66 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,600 like a Reed, and spread sackcloth and actions under him? 67 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,840 Will you call this a fast acceptable to the Lord? 68 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,760 Verse 6 Is not this the fast that I chose? 69 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:05,080 And then he begins to unpack the type of fasting that he'll 70 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,360 honor. So this begs the question, man, 71 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,800 if we're going to, if we are going to skip food, how do we 72 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:15,160 make sure that our fasting is heard on high, that this makes a 73 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,560 difference in our life? He says, is not this the fast? 74 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,280 I choose to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps 75 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:25,560 of the oak, to let the oppressed go free, to break every oak? 76 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,320 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the 77 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,080 homeless poor into your house when you see the naked, to cover 78 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,320 them and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 79 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,280 Then now listen. If we will meet that criteria, 80 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,280 listen to the fruit of this. This is glorious. 81 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:49,280 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn and your 82 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:51,920 healing shall spring up quickly. There. 83 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,000 There is a release of healing in fasting. 84 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,880 There's a dynamic in fasting that will facilitate the release 85 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,960 of healing, that God will begin to release greater healing. 86 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,640 He says your righteousness shall go before you and the glory of 87 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:08,360 the Lord shall be your rearguard. 88 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:10,800 I thought, man, I want to be around people like that. 89 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,160 I want them coming in the rooms I'm at where the righteousness 90 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,520 of God precedes them and the glory of God follows them. 91 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,120 Where where they go, God goes and things happen. 92 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,240 And this is the promise to those who meet the criteria of God's 93 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:30,920 chosen fast. Verse 9 Then you shall call and 94 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,880 the Lord will answer, you shall cry and he will say, here I am. 95 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,440 So I want to go back to a a verse here. 96 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,360 Look at look at verse 3. And then we're going to jump to 97 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:42,520 verse. I believe it's five. 98 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,040 Why have we fasted and you have not seen it? 99 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,920 Why have we humbled ourself and you take no, no knowledge of it. 100 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:51,080 Behold, now the Lord's about ready to give the answer. 101 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:56,840 Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure and 102 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:05,400 oppress all your workers. You're immune to the plight of 103 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,400 others around you. You're not touched with the 104 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:15,800 feeling of others infirmities if you can fast and not be touched 105 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,920 by the plight of others, moved by what they're going through. 106 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,440 Jesus was moved with compassion. I'm telling you one of the 107 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,640 primary ways God releases healing is when our heart is 108 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:29,840 moved with compassion. We don't need a word. 109 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,080 We follow his heart. And if we feel that compassion 110 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:37,440 well up, the power of God is present to heal, but we need to 111 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:40,080 be moved. We need God has to have access 112 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,960 to our heart. Many of you have heard of this, 113 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:48,960 this idea of compassion fatigue. There is a place where we can 114 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,040 have compassion fatigue. We've tried to help others. 115 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:54,800 We poured ourself out. We're dealing with the problems 116 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:59,960 of others so much that we become calloused and we're not moved by 117 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:03,280 what people are going through. And that will shut the heavens 118 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,600 over us. God has to have access to our 119 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,320 heart in order for us to have access to his. 120 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,960 The idea of a callous is is this disturbing thing because we use 121 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,640 it in the terms of of a calloused, a heart callous 122 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:22,680 disregard for others. A callous is a when your hand, 123 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:27,400 you know your feet where you've used it so much that your your 124 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:32,080 skin, the sensitivity becomes hardened so that you can have 125 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:37,680 contact without feeling. And we can live our life in such 126 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,640 a way that we have contact with people hurting, but we have no 127 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,920 feeling for them. And when that happens, we've got 128 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,160 to be re tenderized before the Lord. 129 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:52,040 Because what Isaiah is telling us is that the power of our 130 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,720 prayer and fasting is directly connected to our compassion and 131 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:58,720 our sensitivity to others around us. 132 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,040 We've got to be touched by the feeling of others, people's 133 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:03,880 infirmity, and we've all been there. 134 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,600 Charles Finney, the great revivalist, he said it is 135 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:11,600 crucial that leaders of revival continually be broken down 136 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,360 before the Lord because we it can become old hat to us. 137 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:19,920 We can become desensitized to both the moving of God and to 138 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,160 the plight of other people. And So what needs to happen is 139 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,920 our heart needs to be tenderized and fasting is one of the ways 140 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,360 that God does it. And So what he says is that in 141 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,640 our fasting, if we're seeking our own pleasure, even seeking 142 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,760 our own pleasure in the sense that Lord, I'm asking for 143 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,200 breakthrough for me. Lord, I, I want to have greater 144 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,640 intimacy with you. But if your intimacy with God 145 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,720 does not cause you to have compassion towards others, it 146 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,880 will actually begin to shut down the flow of God in your life. 147 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,760 Again, Jesus was moved with compassion. 148 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,280 That was one of the primary ways the Lord led him so that he 149 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,320 would know what God is doing. And so we have to be, we have to 150 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,120 be open to that. We need to tenderize our heart. 151 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,920 And what Isaiah is saying, he's saying, listen, if if the way 152 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:15,840 you fast is you skip meals and you want to know my ways and you 153 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,440 delight to know my, you know, have an understanding and you 154 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:23,080 want to draw near to me, but you don't stop being a jerk. 155 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,600 I know that's that's the Dave Olson version. 156 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:31,320 OK, if if you're fasting and your hunger for God doesn't 157 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,640 begin to solve the problem of your jerkiness towards people, 158 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,640 that's a new phrase we've coined today. 159 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,200 Jerkiness. If that doesn't change how you 160 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,800 interact with others, it will actually shut down your fasting. 161 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,840 We said it last week. We can actually cancel with our 162 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,360 behavior what we pray with our mouth. 163 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:56,480 And so when our cry our, our, our appeal to heaven, when we 164 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,600 begin to pray needs to begin to change us. 165 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,320 That's what Isaiah is saying. And there needs to be a 166 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,920 compassion, not just not just pity, where we look at all those 167 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,720 poor people and not do anything about it. 168 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,240 We need to be willing to get involved in people's lives and 169 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,160 help them out of the mess that they're in that we're moved with 170 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,560 compassion. And when we catch the heart of 171 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:22,880 God, I said there's a, there's a fasting of intimacy as you get, 172 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:27,320 you catch the heart of God, then you will begin to care about the 173 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,480 things he cares about. You'll be moved with the feeling 174 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,480 of other people's infirmities. And that's where you begin to 175 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:36,240 move into maturity and usefulness in the power of God 176 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,960 can flow through you. So this is this is an amazing 177 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:45,200 thing because Isaiah is telling us you can fast and pray mark 178 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,080 off all the right boxes, but it's all for naughty. 179 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,760 I don't know about you, but if I'm going to skip Mexican food, 180 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:58,040 I want something from it. I want to see God move. 181 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,560 If he's given us this weapon, I want to know how to use it. 182 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,040 So look at what he says in verse 4. 183 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,240 Behold your fat you fast only to quarrel and fight and hit with 184 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,560 wicked fist. He said you've got to. 185 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,920 The thing in you that wants to fight is what I'm after in 186 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,960 fasting. I'm after that flesh that's 187 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,880 rising up. I'm a real nice guy until you 188 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:26,120 take away my food. And it's God's opportunity to 189 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:31,360 say, OK, that little attitude there, that grumpiness, that 190 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,600 impatience, that short fuse, that's what I want to deal with 191 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,240 because it is a hindrance to me using you. 192 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:43,080 And if you will repent and go low, I will do a work during the 193 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,560 fast that will bring you out the other side. 194 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,600 That's why Isaiah says, is it only for a day to humble 195 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,320 yourself? He's saying, listen, if fasting 196 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:54,760 is just you humble yourself for a day and go back to the person 197 00:11:54,760 --> 00:12:01,000 you used to be, then save the you don't save skipping meals 198 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:03,600 for a diet because it's not really going to be effective. 199 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,040 You're forfeiting it as a spiritual weapon because it's 200 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:10,720 not just for a day. The fast is to change us for the 201 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,360 rest of our life. That when I go into a 21 days of 202 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,960 fasting, I'm supposed to come out the other end. 203 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,360 I'm going to look different for a while and then but I should be 204 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,440 permanently transfigured in the way I interact with other 205 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,800 people. My heart is tenderized. 206 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,920 That is what Isaiah is saying. Now listen to how he puts us. 207 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:32,800 This. This is what I want to focus on 208 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:38,000 this morning, fasting this day. That's the last four. 209 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,520 B. The last half of the verse will 210 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,240 not make your voice to be heard on high. 211 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:52,920 The cold reality of Scripture is that there are many prayers that 212 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:57,200 are absolutely not heard by God. He said it will not cause your 213 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:03,000 voice to be heard on high and that throughout scripture we see 214 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,480 this principle. It says that Jesus voice was 215 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:11,200 heard because of his reverent submission and a husband's 216 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:14,760 prayers will not be heard because of how he treats his 217 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,880 wife. And in this verse he says this 218 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,480 type of fasting will not make your voice heard. 219 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:26,160 What he's insinuating is fasting is to enable your voice to be 220 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,240 heard on high. Now we don't think of it that 221 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,080 way. Well, God's omniscient and 222 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,080 omnipresent and of course he hears everything. 223 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,440 He knows everything. There's a difference between 224 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,360 hearing a sound and hearing what's being said. 225 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:43,280 Wives know that because they'll say, honey, I'll say Kath, say 226 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,880 my name and give me about 30 seconds here to kind of get my 227 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,840 focus on you. You know, she'll say, well, are 228 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:52,720 you going to do it or not? And I'll think that's a weird 229 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:56,680 way to start a conversation. I didn't hear the beginning, you 230 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:58,800 know? And so there's a difference 231 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:03,920 between hearing and knowing what's being said, that the idea 232 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,640 of the hearing ear in Scripture, hearing and being heard, hearing 233 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,800 itself is an interesting idea. Hearing is both a noun and a 234 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:12,960 verb. It's an action word. 235 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,160 It's hearing. I'm going to, I'm going to dial 236 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:20,760 in my faculties so I can perceive what's being said. 237 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,040 That's hearing. But there's also the noun of a 238 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,680 hearing. You're going to be granted a 239 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:31,320 hearing. And it's in this sense that we 240 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:36,000 really need to drill down on this because not everybody is 241 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,720 granted a hearing by heaven. Some of you have read Robert 242 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,640 Henderson's teaching and he's got some some great teaching on 243 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,800 the facets of prayer and the way in which we approach God. 244 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,880 And Luke, I want to say it's Luke 11. 245 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,480 Jesus is teaching on the Lord's Prayer. 246 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,240 And he teaches us, the disciples say, hey, Lord, teach us to 247 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,200 pray. He said, OK, pray this way, our 248 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,720 Father. So there's a facet of prayer, an 249 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,680 angle of prayer where we approach God as father. 250 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:18,240 We're the kids, he's the dad and we can ask him boldly our Father 251 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,400 who art in heaven. And there's a list of prayers in 252 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:22,720 that prayer. That's beautiful. 253 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,200 Maybe we'll do another series on that someday. 254 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:30,240 Then right after that, he has this parable of the persistent. 255 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:32,680 No, no, no, that's that's in chapter 18. 256 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:37,920 The next one is a friend that is in bed with his kids. 257 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,120 I've always wondered about that in bed with your kids. 258 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,080 I'm thinking there's there's a limit to that one right there, 259 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:44,320 man. They got to be really small. 260 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:45,720 But that's a sermon for another day. 261 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,480 But anyways, he's in bed with his kids and he hears this 262 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,120 knocking on the door. It's his friend, his from across 263 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,440 the yard saying, hey, I got a visitor. 264 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,680 We're out of bread. Get out of bed and give me some 265 00:15:57,680 --> 00:15:59,600 bread. And he's like, hey, I'm in bed 266 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,280 with my kids, go elsewhere. You know what time it is. 267 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:05,680 He is going to keep on compounding. 268 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,880 So finally he gets up, but that's asking a friend. 269 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,360 There's a friendship with God. There's the father heart of God. 270 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:17,040 There's the friend he's our he's our friend that that sticketh 271 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:21,160 closer than a brother. There's that intimacy thing that 272 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:22,840 we have with God that is beautiful. 273 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,200 And this is the foundation and we need to understand that this 274 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,040 these are two facets of prayer that are very, very important. 275 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,480 And I'm not negating that, but I am saying that there are some 276 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:39,000 things that will not not move until you learn that God is also 277 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:45,200 the judge of all the earth. That is the phrase that Abraham 278 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:50,120 used when he was crying out to God for the preservation of a 279 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:54,640 city called Sodom. And he said, will not the judge 280 00:16:54,640 --> 00:17:00,600 of all the earth do justly? We appeal to the justice of God 281 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,839 and God's God as judge. But here's the thing, the 282 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:09,160 context of a friend, which is very casual, and there's a place 283 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,839 in God for that. There are some people who don't 284 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:15,160 know God as friend, and it's all this exchange and this 285 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,000 formality, and they need to know the tender heart of Jesus as a 286 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,119 friend that sticks closer to the brother. 287 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,440 There's others that don't understand God as Father. 288 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,359 They actually think that Jesus protected them from the Father 289 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:30,640 and that God's really mad. But she's saying don't hurt 290 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,240 them, They're friends of mine and you need a revelation of the 291 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:36,840 tender heart of God. These, these are beautiful 292 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,360 expressions, but a lot of us do not understand that there are 293 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:46,120 certain things that will not move unless we understand God as 294 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:49,360 judge. Because this context deals with 295 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:54,440 the legalities of intercession and there are places enters in. 296 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,880 I want to read you a couple things real quick because we are 297 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,760 short on time. I'm acting like it's your fault, 298 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,960 but it's not. Let me read this real quick 299 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,600 here. Oh, that's the wrong one here. 300 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,560 OK. The word hearing is both a noun 301 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,440 and a verb. As a verb, it refers to using 302 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,280 the faculty of healing to hearing to discern intent. 303 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,360 As a noun, it carries a legal sense, meaning an opportunity to 304 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:25,040 present a case before a judge. And this shows up in Luke 305 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:31,000 chapter 18. It shows up in Moses crying out 306 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:35,480 for this, a nation, Abraham crying out for a city. 307 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:40,200 They're interacting with God as a judge and dealing with the 308 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:46,640 legalities of this, this need in, in Luke 18, there's it says 309 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:52,200 there's a persistent widow and she comes before the judge and 310 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:54,120 she says, listen, I got ripped off. 311 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,200 And he said, listen, I'm too busy to deal with your tiny 312 00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,520 little discrepancies. Leave. 313 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:01,400 And the next day she's standing there again. 314 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,640 It's me again. And I'm telling you, and he 315 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,400 sends her and the next day she's there. 316 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,680 And it says after many days he gets worn out and he's a it's 317 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,520 he's called the unrighteous judge. 318 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,040 And what Jesus says, if she can get an answer from her 319 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:19,400 unrighteous judge, how much more can you and I get one from the 320 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,960 judge of all the the righteous judge in heaven. 321 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,320 But the persistence that she entered into was a key. 322 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,040 She was the persistent widow. And here's the thing, So many of 323 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,120 us only approach God as father and friend. 324 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:38,240 And if we don't get the immediate answer, what we do is 325 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,760 we get offended with God and we back out or we get apathetic 326 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,480 about the situation. I guess God said no, never 327 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,840 realizing that there's legal maneuvering that has to take 328 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:50,960 place. There's some legal precedents 329 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,280 that we need to discern and deal with so that we can see a 330 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,960 breakthrough. And that's why she had to be 331 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,680 assistant. There are a lot of believers 332 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,160 that we have a very short attention span, very short 333 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,560 determination and prayer. And we want to see God move. 334 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,320 We, we ask him a few times and then throw up our hands. 335 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:10,920 Well, man, why isn't God listening? 336 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,760 Isaiah tells us why he wants to change you before he'll use you 337 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,200 to change the situation and intercession. 338 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:21,640 But in that process that he draws us into, he begins to 339 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,840 teach us the royal protocol. Let me read you a couple of 340 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,480 other things and let me unpack this then. 341 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,440 OK, the idea of hearing has multiple interesting definition. 342 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,800 There is the physical function of an ear to distinguish sounds. 343 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,520 There is the added cognitive ability to interpret those 344 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,080 sounds into meanings, which is really wild. 345 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:45,000 I have thoughts in my heart and I grunt and I squeal at you and 346 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,880 you understand what I'm saying. And then you process what I'm 347 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,880 saying and you make these weird sounds and we can communicate. 348 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,680 It's an amazing thing how God created us and it's really a 349 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,000 fixture in the Kingdom because God created everything by his 350 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,720 word. And in fact Jesus was the living 351 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,560 walking word. The thought of God inside of him 352 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,360 he wanted to express to mankind. What did he do? 353 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,320 He spoke a word in the form of his Son. 354 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:15,080 Hebrews one says in the times past he spoke by prophets, but 355 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,320 now he speaks not through his Son. 356 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,600 It says in Hebrews one by his Son. 357 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:21,800 Everything Jesus did was a sermon. 358 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,200 It's not just what he said, but his actions were preaching to us 359 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:28,800 so that we can understand how the Kingdom works. 360 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,280 And so there's also the idea of hearing. 361 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,240 There's the relational component on the part of the hearer who 362 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:39,720 cares about what is being said and honors the speaker with 363 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,520 their personal attentiveness. That's where we say to someone, 364 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:47,240 listen, I hear you, I hear you, and we're validating what 365 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,640 they're saying. We're not just talking about I 366 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,160 heard sounds come out of your mouth. 367 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,200 Have no idea what you meant. Are we I heard sounds. 368 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,000 I you know, they came out of your mouth, but I could care 369 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,120 less. There's an added dimension that 370 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,240 I heard those sounds and listen, I hear your heart and I'm I'm 371 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,440 moved with compassion. I'm I'm I'm with you. 372 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,920 And so there's this idea of hearing that carries that 373 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:12,720 included in this relation element is hearing on the 374 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,240 responsibility of the hearer and the speaker to protect the 375 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,160 relationship so that communications lines remain 376 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,520 open. But then there is the legal 377 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:27,280 aspect of a hearing of granting legal audience based upon 378 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,760 adherence to clear legal protocols and precedents. 379 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,000 And that's what we need to understand. 380 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,280 I'm telling. So it was about probably nine 381 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:43,440 years ago now, there was, I had a, had a friend had powerful 382 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,640 ministry. We had done a lot of ministry 383 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,520 together. I had a deep respect for him. 384 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,120 There was a mutual respect and relationship we had. 385 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,680 And suddenly the guy has a heart attack and he's in a coma. 386 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,800 And I understood the significance of this guy's life. 387 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:00,920 So we went to prayer. Matter of fact, we went on a 388 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:02,400 fast. There's a number of us in the 389 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,240 church. We started to fast for this 390 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,360 individual and crowd to God to turn this thing around. 391 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:10,720 And I remember one night I was walking down this aisle and I 392 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,960 was frustrated and I said, God, this is illegal. 393 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,080 This cannot happen. There's something going on here. 394 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,400 I could sense there was a demonic element to this thing 395 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:23,800 and I said, Lord, how do we make sense of this? 396 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,680 How do we deal with this? And the Lord spoke to me clearly 397 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,920 and he said discern the legal precedents. 398 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:36,480 Now being the dull headed individual that I am, I didn't 399 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,360 fully understand what he was saying until afterwards. 400 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,200 What he was telling me is there was a legal precedent, something 401 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:50,600 there was a legal boundary line crossed that made that person 402 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:55,520 vulnerable to the enemy's activity and that needed to be 403 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,240 deal dealt with so that he could be set free. 404 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:04,440 And if we don't deal with those things, then we're never going 405 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,320 to be able to see the breakthrough that we so desire. 406 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,680 It's in this context that we approach God as judge, and the 407 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:17,160 Lord wants to raise up intercessors that will enter 408 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:22,920 into that process. And see, The thing is you often 409 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:27,520 this scenario, there's demonic issues involved where there's 410 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,000 legal precedents being enforced on the part of the enemy. 411 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,440 You see, when the enemy lost his position, he was fired. 412 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:37,280 You're no longer part of the team. 413 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,840 Get out, take your, take your stuff with you. 414 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,160 He walks out the door. But what the devil took with him 415 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,480 when he left the Kingdom of God was the trade secrets of the 416 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:50,600 Kingdom of God. He understands how the spiritual 417 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,360 realm works. And that's where that's where 418 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:59,600 that's what the occult is about. It's understanding spiritual 419 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,000 realities through forbidden knowledge, and it's not the 420 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,880 knowledge that is forbidden, it's the timing of your access 421 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,120 because God is good enough. He doesn't want to give you 422 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:13,240 understanding until you have the maturity to carry it. 423 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,680 That's why Jesus said at the end of his ministry, he said to his 424 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,760 boys, he said, disciples, there's so much more I wanted to 425 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,240 give you, but you could not bear it. 426 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,400 You couldn't stand under the weight of it. 427 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,160 So I'm going to send us my spirit. 428 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:33,840 I'm going to send an advocate that word advocate is a is a 429 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:38,960 legal term where the Spirit of God is our defense attorney. 430 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,160 He's the advocate and he knows the insurance and outs of the 431 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:43,880 legal code in the spiritual realm. 432 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:47,880 And if we're not seeing movement from father and friend, then 433 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:52,440 let's engage God as judge. And we need to say, God, what is 434 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,800 happening here? Why aren't we seeing movement? 435 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,840 Lord, I want you to teach me. I want you to train me. 436 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,400 I don't want to get offended and I don't want to be apathetic if 437 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,160 I can't get microwave answers and I just pull out and say, 438 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,360 well, I guess it's going to that's how it is. 439 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,440 God's looking for those who will be dogged about this thing and 440 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,360 say, God, I know this is not your will in the earth. 441 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:17,440 I know this is not your will in my my children's lives in the in 442 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,720 our nation, in the nations of the earth. 443 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,440 Lord, I know that this war is not your will. 444 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:26,760 So how do I deal with this? And our advocate will treat 445 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,560 teach us. Have you ever heard the the idea 446 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:34,400 in the court system, he who represents himself represents a 447 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:36,160 fool. Anybody ever heard that? 448 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,080 What they're saying is you need a lawyer because there are 449 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,400 dynamics in the court system you do not understand. 450 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,400 You're in over your head. The good news is that you and I, 451 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,200 even though we're in over our head, we have an advocate that 452 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:55,360 isn't the spirit of the living God will lead us into truth. 453 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,640 And he wants to reveal to us the entry points, the legalities of 454 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,240 this so we can have breakthrough, but it takes an 455 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,440 engagement and it's often a process. 456 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:10,280 And it's speed up greatly by fasting because in fasting God 457 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,440 begins to have access to us and bring us near. 458 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,960 And if we cooperate with what He's doing in us, we'll begin to 459 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,200 learn. Now I'm going to pause here 460 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:23,520 because some of you have some theological background and when 461 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:28,400 I'm talking about the dynamics of the judicial branch of 462 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,200 heaven, if you will, the dynamics of the legal system 463 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,000 that there are, there's protocol, there's ways the 464 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,360 spirit realm works that you and I do not yet understand. 465 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:43,960 Some of you have more knowledge than others of you, and the way 466 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,760 you got there was through yielding to the dealings of God. 467 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,520 You see, when the enemy gives forbidden knowledge, he loves 468 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,120 to, he loves to give you knowledge before you're mature 469 00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:58,600 enough to handle it and destroy your life with that knowledge. 470 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:05,360 So we've got to be so careful. In fact, you can actually open, 471 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:10,840 you can open yourself to occult knowledge if you are fasting and 472 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,040 going without food, crying out to God for insight, but you're 473 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,360 not dealing with the issues of your life. 474 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,040 You can actually open yourself to the wrong things. 475 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:25,040 If you, if you're dealing with if you're not, if you're 476 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:29,200 struggling with sin. I heard someone say this the 477 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:30,080 other day. I loved it. 478 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,200 God is not frustrated with your struggle with sin. 479 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,560 He's frustrated when you stop struggling. 480 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:42,880 God is compassion. He knows your butt dust. 481 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,360 Stay in the fight and allow the Lord to deliver you. 482 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,680 And the sad fact is, some people get delivered immediately and 483 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,560 others have a process. But in the process, you're 484 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,800 picking up valuable things that you're going to be able to give 485 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,400 to someone else that's going to need that same deliverance. 486 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,840 And so we need to cooperate with the process. 487 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,800 And what the enemy loves to do is give you stuff that you're 488 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,680 not able to handle. And so if you are crying out to 489 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:12,760 God but resisting, if you're asking him things and you're 490 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:16,280 resisting what he's asking you, you need to stop it. 491 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:23,400 Either stop praying or start dealing with this stuff if your 492 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,560 heart is hard in this area that people get into weird stuff, 493 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,160 especially with fasting when they are coddling their flesh 494 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:37,840 and so the way of God first Peter says add to your faith 495 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:44,200 virtue and the virtue knowledge. Notice that middle thing virtue. 496 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,760 It doesn't say add to your faith knowledge because the Bible also 497 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:49,720 says knowledge. What puffeth up? 498 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,160 That's the King James Version puffeth up. 499 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,560 You don't want to be puffed up because God will pop you if 500 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,640 you're puffed up. He loves you enough that he'll 501 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:04,760 put the old needle from been there, done that, don't want to 502 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,960 do it again. And so the way of God is he adds 503 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:11,920 to your faith, virtue. He begins to work in you, the 504 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,520 character, so that when you come out the other side, you can 505 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,040 handle the knowledge that you're crying out for. 506 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:22,560 That's why for the believer, knowledge revelation is a 507 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:26,600 process that is is cooperated with. 508 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:30,640 It builds character in our life. And so when I talked about those 509 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,440 of you who are more theologically adept, it's when 510 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,800 we talk about this, sometimes you can smack of Gnosticism. 511 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:42,160 Oh, I'm one of those people that understands the spirit, unlike 512 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,920 you lowly ones. If that's your attitude, that 513 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,800 ain't God. If you really have knowledge, 514 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,800 you came about it the wrong way because you're lacking the 515 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,960 virtue in God's process. And what God will do is he'll 516 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:58,800 take you through a process of contending. 517 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,560 And it's through the wrestling that he's building the moral 518 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,240 muscle that you will enable you to stand under the weight of 519 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,600 that revelation in maturity and humility. 520 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:10,760 And you're not looking down at others. 521 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:14,920 You're saying, hey man, I paid for this and I want to use it 522 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,600 for others, Man, I want to give you some of this. 523 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,800 I've discovered something in my journey. 524 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:26,200 And so it's so very important because there are legal issues 525 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,400 that need to be unravelled. So this friend of mine, we began 526 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:33,120 to pray and crowd to God. So we gathered some prophetic 527 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:37,440 people and we waited on the Lord and up came some words of 528 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,320 knowledge, prophetic Intel that he had gotten involved in 529 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:43,920 something that had brought this on him, that he crossed over a 530 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,320 moral line. And you know what I said? 531 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,160 I reject that. I don't believe it. 532 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:50,720 I know this guy. It didn't happen. 533 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:55,560 The Lord told us in the prayer meeting and I said, Nope, not 534 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,600 God. Well, in a few months I found 535 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:03,680 out it was God and it was a heavy, heavy lesson. 536 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,120 He's not with the Lord. I believe he's with the Lord. 537 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:10,920 He's he's not here. And but what had happened is he 538 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:15,560 had crossed some moral boundary lines that caused him that 539 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:18,840 opened the door for some very demonic activity in his life. 540 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:24,120 And what he needed was some intercessors to enter into this 541 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,160 thing and do battle. But we couldn't unravel it. 542 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,520 We're like praying and praying. We're not getting any movement. 543 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,320 I could sense the demonic element to that. 544 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:33,120 And I'm like, God, where'd this come from? 545 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:35,520 And the Lord said, discern the legal precedent. 546 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:37,440 You thought you would have thought I'd have learned from 547 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:38,920 that. Then the Lord told us 548 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,440 specifically about some things. And I said, no, that's not. 549 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,080 And yes, it was. So we, we need to understand God 550 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:50,360 wants to show us these things, but we've got to enter into this 551 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:55,320 process because we have a Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that is 552 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,440 the advocate that wants to unravel these things. 553 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,680 It's much like deliverance. Some of you have been trained in 554 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,960 deliverance, have prayed deliverance over people. 555 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:09,600 And, and often I've seen where you're praying for someone, 556 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,880 they're starting to manifest a demon and you say, OK, if I 557 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:16,760 don't have a word of knowledge, I'll say, is there anybody you 558 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:18,960 need to forgive? Because 85% of the time it's 559 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,080 forgiveness. So you ask, is there anybody you 560 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,000 need to forgive? No, I've forgiven anybody, 561 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,280 everybody. And then I'll have a little 562 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:26,680 prick in my heart. I'll say, well, what about your 563 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,160 mother-in-law? Whoa. 564 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,440 I think maybe we touched a nerve usually. 565 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,560 So what the Lord is saying is there was a legal entry point. 566 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:42,200 What did Jesus say in Matthew 18 that if you do not forgive, you 567 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,440 are turned over to the tormentors? 568 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,200 That was what was going on when you said mother-in-law, they 569 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:49,880 thought the mother-in-law was the tormentor. 570 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,240 It's what they open the door through, through the 571 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:54,320 relationship with the mother-in-law. 572 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:56,800 And so we need to deal with these things. 573 00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,960 We understand that in an individual level that there are 574 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:02,840 legal issues that need to be dealt with. 575 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:07,320 And I've seen it before, man. People are writhing and 576 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:10,560 manifesting and are terrified. But when you touch on that 577 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:12,239 thing, they need to forgive and they know it. 578 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:14,719 You know it. The devil knows it, God knows 579 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:16,040 it. And you ask them, are you 580 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,040 willing to forgive? No, I have every right to hold 581 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:21,000 this bitterness. They wronged me. 582 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,560 They're the ones that need to ask forgiveness, not me. 583 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,920 I have the right. I am going to hold on to this 584 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:28,719 and you got to tell them. OK, well then you know what else 585 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,280 You're going to hold on to that little thing growing inside you 586 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:34,840 that's freaking you out right now because you will not get 587 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:36,600 free. You have given over ground to 588 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,639 the enemy and gave him the legal right to afflict your life. 589 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,560 Now, we understand that on an individual level. 590 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:46,560 I'm what I'm telling you this morning is that this these same 591 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:50,800 dynamics are true on the grander scale, that these things need to 592 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:52,440 be dealt with. Well, then the question begs 593 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,520 itself, what? What if I can't? 594 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:57,200 So wait? We're praying for the United 595 00:34:57,200 --> 00:34:59,640 States of America. We've been praying for six 596 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,680 years, crying out to God. God, preserve this nation. 597 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:06,000 Lord, we ask for mercy. We know we don't deserve it, but 598 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,760 Lord, we're asking, preserve this nation until she fulfills 599 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,840 every part of your will. God, well, how do we bring a 600 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,600 nation to repentance? If we tell the person, if you 601 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:20,800 don't repent, you can't be free, How do we, how do we bring the 602 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:25,400 nation to repentance? Well, Daniel, he repented. 603 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,640 He confessed his sins and the sins of his people. 604 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,680 There's such a thing as vicarious repentance. 605 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,200 It's an amazing principle in the Kingdom Jesus. 606 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,360 So you and I stood guilty before God, deserving of eternal 607 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:42,240 damnation. And Jesus said, you know what, 608 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:46,160 I'll take that. I will suffer the, the sentence 609 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,320 of that. I'll absorb the pain of this 610 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,480 sense he vicariously suffered with us on the cross. 611 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,440 It's a, it's a whole theological theme people have developed and 612 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,600 it's, it's legit, it's rooted in Scripture. 613 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,280 Jesus suffered for us and as us, Amen. 614 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:07,120 Here's the amazing thing, You and I can enter into that place 615 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:12,480 as an intercessor, and we can. So what Jesus purchased is paid 616 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:14,920 for. What it takes of the individual 617 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:19,200 is repentance and faith to enter into the good of what he did. 618 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,000 What if they won't repent? What if they won't exercise 619 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,360 faith? You and I can enter into that 620 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:28,480 space and just as Jesus hung on the cross for them and as them, 621 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:32,720 you and I can come before the Lord and repent for them. 622 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:38,400 And as them we can interact in a vicarious repentance where we 623 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:41,080 get under this thing and we begin to say, Lord, we are 624 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:45,560 asking your forgiveness. Lord, Lord, we, we, we bring 625 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:49,240 before you America. Lord, we know we don't deserve 626 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:51,760 mercy, but Lord, we know your heart. 627 00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:55,200 We know who you really are. And Father, we're asking for 628 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,520 mercy on behalf. Lord, we confess our sins and 629 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,800 also the sins of the people, and God will begin to break in. 630 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:04,240 Let's look at one more Scripture real quick. 631 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:14,880 Oh my goodness, it's late. Look with me at Isaiah 40. 632 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:19,640 What is it, 4326? Isaiah 4326? 633 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,840 If you guys can put it up on the screen, it's an amazing verse. 634 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:27,360 I don't remember seeing this before. 635 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,760 When I went to it, I had notes written around it, so I 636 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,120 obviously did. But you ever done that? 637 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:33,520 I thought, man, I've never seen that before. 638 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:35,880 Well, yeah, I have. I've written notes on it, but 639 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:38,720 I've never seen it before. The Word of God is like that. 640 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:40,920 You know it. It's new every morning. 641 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:44,040 It's like fresh manna every day, man. 642 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:46,280 There's things in this verse I never saw. 643 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:51,840 Listen to this. This is an invitation to you 644 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:56,000 from God, you to get your faith up right now. 645 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:01,360 OK, God has opened the door and said, hey, come here, I'm giving 646 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:03,080 you an opportunity to have a hearing. 647 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:06,680 You can qualify. I'll give you an audience with 648 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:11,800 the throne of the universe. He says, put me in remembrance. 649 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:19,040 Let us argue together, set forth your case that you may be proved 650 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:23,640 right, clearly approaching God as a judge. 651 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:28,080 He starts with, put me in remembrance. 652 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,560 You say, hey, listen, remind me what I told you. 653 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:34,800 Remind me what I said in my word. 654 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:38,360 Come armed with the word into the court. 655 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,720 Come before the throne with my word in hand and hold me to my 656 00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:45,040 word. That is not arrogance. 657 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,120 That is actually a form of worship because what we're 658 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,320 saying, God, I believe who you are. 659 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,160 I believe in the integrity of your character. 660 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,680 You cannot lie. So if you wrote it, you're going 661 00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,120 to do it. And I bring it before you. 662 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:03,800 And I remind you, Lord, this is a check signed in your blood. 663 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,080 I'm asking you make good on this thing. 664 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,160 We bring it before Him. Remind Him what he said. 665 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,800 It might be something He said in His written word. 666 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:14,480 It might be a prophetic word, but I'm going to tell you, you 667 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:19,160 can't live on prophetic words. Because if you just are piercing 668 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:21,640 together the prophetic words you're getting, you are going to 669 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,440 have a very limited perspective. You're going to have a shallow 670 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:28,320 walk with God and you are not going to begin to understand the 671 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:32,600 protocol of heaven's court, the throne room. 672 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,120 You've got to get in the word. And if you get in the word and 673 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,800 you're hungry and saying, God, I want you to show me this Lord. 674 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,280 And, and it's amazing. God will begin to highlight a 675 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:44,200 verse and he'll speak to you. And, and as you begin to 676 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:48,200 accumulate understanding of the word, you actually build a 677 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,720 vocabulary through which you can talk to God. 678 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,240 And the tragic thing is there's a lot of believers. 679 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:59,880 This is their vocabulary. Gucci, Gucci go Gucci go. 680 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:01,680 Hey little guy. Tick tickle. 681 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:05,080 And if that's the level of your vocabulary, that's going to be 682 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,040 your interaction. But as you get in the word and 683 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:11,600 you understand the principles and the passages, they may not 684 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,880 mean much to you in the moment. But when you get into prayer and 685 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,680 you're crying out to God, God will highlight a verse that 686 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,520 never meant anything to you before, and he'll tie it to 687 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:22,400 another one. And he begins to show you, hey, 688 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:24,920 this is a principle that you can do battle with. 689 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,440 This is a principle of what's really going on here. 690 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:31,720 And God will lead you through and you'll begin to build a war 691 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:37,120 chest of understanding. You see, a police officer can 692 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:38,920 have a badge, that's his authority. 693 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:41,200 He can have a gun, that's his power. 694 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:45,480 If you won't honor his badge, you'll honor his his power. 695 00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:47,360 If you don't honor the authority, you'll honor the 696 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,040 power. But there's another dimension 697 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:55,080 that we need to understand. That police officer must 698 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:59,880 understand legal code. There is an understanding we 699 00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:04,080 have to enter into because if the criminal understands the law 700 00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:07,760 better than the police, then they they will they will 701 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:11,680 leverage legal code to continue to act in a way that's 702 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:15,640 destructive to society. And the enemy is running rampant 703 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:18,200 because of the ignorance of God's people. 704 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,080 And so God is inviting us into a process. 705 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:24,720 If you will stay in the fight like the persistent widow, if 706 00:41:24,720 --> 00:41:27,640 you won't get up, you won't get offended or get apathetic and 707 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:29,360 just say, I guess that's how it's going to be. 708 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:33,600 If you will enter into God's heart, God will train you and 709 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:36,920 begin to teach you so that you have understanding. 710 00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:40,920 And over the years you will become an intercessor that God 711 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,280 can use. And God is looking for those who 712 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:49,720 understand these things. We need to understand the legal 713 00:41:49,720 --> 00:41:53,000 precedents and the Lord is inviting us. 714 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:58,400 So he says, set, let us argue together. 715 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,000 Let me read you this. This is this is the Hebrew for 716 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,560 those two words. Let us argue. 717 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,760 It means to enter into a legal proceeding with another. 718 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:13,760 You see, Moses and Abraham, probably the zenith other than 719 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:17,400 Calvary, the man suspended between heaven and earth, trying 720 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:20,400 to merge them back together, Jesus himself. 721 00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:23,080 That was the ultimate act of intercession. 722 00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:28,280 Apart from that, there were two others, Abraham, who preserves a 723 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:33,200 city through his intercession, or he's he's, if he would have 724 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:35,800 went farther, he could have, I believe, if he would have kept 725 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:39,160 pressing it. But then Moses, who successfully 726 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,000 preserves a nation, an intercession. 727 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:45,000 And what he's doing is he's haggling with God. 728 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:48,600 He's arguing. If you read it, it's astounding. 729 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,440 We think it's just I make a request, he accepts or denies 730 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,600 it. It's much more relational than 731 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:57,280 that. God's saying, come in here, 732 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:03,960 argue with me, show me what I've said and use that as a weapon. 733 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:09,320 Come into the court and get your settlement so that I will move 734 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:12,440 in the earth. And there are things that are 735 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:16,280 happening in the earth that need someone to insert themselves and 736 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:21,080 vicariously repent for. There are things we need to go 737 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:24,200 after to be be very strategic. Sometimes there's whole 738 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,760 structures of evil that need one little pin pulled in a strategic 739 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,040 place and the whole system will fall. 740 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:36,000 I believe we're seeing that very thing right now in Iran that God 741 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:41,800 is going to, he's going to sabotage the entire structure of 742 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:46,240 radical Islam. And we're going to see Iran fall 743 00:43:46,240 --> 00:43:49,680 and Persia rise again. You know, the Persian people 744 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:53,280 loved, loved the people of God. They rebuilt the temple. 745 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,280 We're going to see that. I, I believe we're seeing it in 746 00:43:57,280 --> 00:43:59,200 this hour because there are people praying. 747 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:02,600 But I'm telling you, we need a lot more people enlisted in this 748 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,840 type of thing. We God is inviting argue with 749 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:07,280 me. OK, Stan, So you know, I'll 750 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:09,840 quit. Let me, let me. 751 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:13,720 He says let us argue that you may be proved right. 752 00:44:13,720 --> 00:44:17,520 This is what the Hebrew word to prove right means, to be in 753 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:24,080 conformance with justice, custom, law or morality. 754 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,120 Let's bring this thing into line. 755 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:33,200 If the situation isn't in line, I can be and I can step in that 756 00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:35,040 gap. And I can say, Lord, as a 757 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,280 representative of United States of America, as a citizen, Lord, 758 00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:40,840 I know we have sinned grievously before you. 759 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:45,160 But Lord, as your son, I step in the gap and I'm asking you, God, 760 00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:49,320 please forgive us now. Lord, lead us in this process so 761 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:52,880 that we can begin to unreal unravel the heinous plans of the 762 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:55,680 enemy so that you can visit us once again. 763 00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:58,640 And that's the invitation of heaven. 764 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:03,800 Hey, thanks for watching. At Heartland Church, we love to 765 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:05,520 worship the Lord and we love his word. 766 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:09,360 In fact, if you could jump on and subscribe to our YouTube 767 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:11,600 channel, you could make sure that you don't miss any of the 768 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:13,720 services. We'd love to have you join us 769 00:45:13,720 --> 00:45:16,840 live or in person every week. See you next time.