1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,800 I want to talk to you something about something called forgetful 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:10,440 fathers in Acts. I'm sorry. 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:17,000 In first Kings chapter 18 is when Elijah calls down fire, he 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:23,280 confronts the most wicked king in Israel, King Ahab and his 5 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:30,640 wicked wife Jezebel and the prophets of Baal, which was an 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:38,680 idol that was worshipped. And God raised up Elijah to be a 7 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:45,520 prophetic voice, a voice that would speak truth, that would 8 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:51,080 speak against the idolatry in Israel and hopefully turn the 9 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:57,760 hearts of that nation back to the God of Abraham, Isaac and 10 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:03,720 Jacob. When Elijah did that, there was 11 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,320 fire that literally came from heaven and destroyed the 12 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:10,320 idolatry in the works of darkness. 13 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,120 It was an it was an incredible victory. 14 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,680 And with that victory, how many of you know when you experience 15 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,320 great victory? Often times that's when the 16 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:28,800 enemy tries to attack you. You experience this great high, 17 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:33,240 and then from that great high, you experience a great low. 18 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:42,240 And while Elijah had left that area and where the move of God 19 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:49,400 took place, he ends up running in First Kings 19 because 20 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:56,120 Jezebel and King Ahab had said, we're going to destroy Elijah. 21 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:01,040 They, they hated him because he was a voice of truth. 22 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:07,320 Let me tell you, if you're going to preach the gospel, don't 23 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,520 think you're going to be accepted everywhere. 24 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:17,960 And then when you start speaking truth, oftentimes people buck up 25 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:22,880 against it because they don't want you to convict them of sin. 26 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,920 They don't want the responsibility to get right with 27 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:29,080 God. They want to live their way and 28 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:33,240 do their thing. But how many of you know that 29 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,680 there's a God who says that we should do live differently? 30 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,840 And so Elijah is his prophetic voice. 31 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:50,160 And as he's running away after experiencing a great victory, he 32 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:54,680 comes to a cave where he becomes alone with God. 33 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,240 How many of you know, there's a lot of scriptures that talk 34 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,200 about the dangers of looking back? 35 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:10,360 You know, when Israel left for the wilderness, left Egypt to go 36 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:16,640 into the wilderness, they began to complain because they needed 37 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:20,720 food, They needed water. You know, it was supposed to 38 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:25,200 take maybe two weeks for them to go from Egypt to the promised 39 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:30,520 land, but it ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. 40 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:37,280 That's a long time. And as they're wandering and 41 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,360 it's in a desert, it's hot, they're carrying their children, 42 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,680 whatever stuff that they could bring with them. 43 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:48,280 They're sleeping in tents. They're constantly moving. 44 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:56,280 They say that we want to go back to Egypt, and Egypt represents 45 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,360 the old life, right? You come out of sin. 46 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,160 And how many of you understand that when you came out of sin 47 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:08,960 and you're not able to go join the parties or drink the alcohol 48 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:13,040 or or sleep around and do all the things that your friends or 49 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,920 that your friends who don't know the Lord are doing right? 50 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,800 And you feel kind of isolated. You feel like you're overlooked 51 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:26,560 and nobody cares about that. You want to live righteously 52 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,960 well, in Numbers 14 verses 2 through 3, it says and all the 53 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,600 children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron and the 54 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:41,640 whole congregation said to them, if only we had died in the land 55 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:47,760 of this is after they just saw the Red Sea open up, right. 56 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,920 You ever hear people say if I saw a miracle I would believe? 57 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:56,960 Yeah, maybe you would believe for about 10 seconds, because 58 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,200 you know what's going to happen. You're going to be confronted 59 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,880 again by your flesh and by the world. 60 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,480 If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died 61 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:12,360 in the wilderness, why has the Lord brought us to this land to 62 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:17,280 fall by the sword that our wives and children should become 63 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:21,320 victims? Would it not be better to return 64 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,720 to Egypt? Can I tell you it is never 65 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:29,320 better to go back to Egypt? Never. 66 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,040 Here's another one. When Lot and his family ran from 67 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:40,040 Sodom and Gomorrah's judgment and they were told not to look 68 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:46,200 back. Genesis 1926 but his wife, Lot's 69 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:51,400 wife look back behind them and she became a pillar of salt. 70 00:05:52,640 --> 00:06:01,720 God warned Lot through angels. He said you need to leave and 71 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:06,480 you need to run for your life. You need to run for those hills 72 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:14,240 over there and you'll be safe. But Lot, his wife and their 73 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:19,280 children, their daughters, I believe it is as they're 74 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:23,600 running, Lot's wife was probably thinking about, oh, I'm I'm 75 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,440 going to miss my bed. I'm going to miss my kitchen. 76 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,000 I'm going to I'm going to miss what is so familiar to me. 77 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,960 I don't want to start all over. We worked so hard to get that 78 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:42,920 house and yet instead of keeping her focus in the direction where 79 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,680 God was telling them to go, she looked back and she gave a 80 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,480 pillar of salt. How about Naomi and Ruth when 81 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:56,240 she told Ruth to go back to her old way of living and try to 82 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:00,560 start all over again since they both lost their husbands. 83 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:04,600 Actually 3 husbands were lost. Naomi, who was the 84 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:11,080 mother-in-law, lost her husband and then Naomi, her two boys got 85 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:15,640 married and one of the women that they married was called 86 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:23,000 Ruth and their husbands died. And now the three of these women 87 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,680 are together. They're all widows. 88 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,840 And in Ruth 115, Naomi says, Ruth, look, your other 89 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,920 sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her Gods 90 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:42,440 return after your sister-in-law. In other words, look, I'm 91 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,560 depressed, you're depressed, she's depressed. 92 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,160 You know what happens when you get around people who are 93 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,800 depressed? You get depressed. 94 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,440 Look, I'm not saying we shouldn't try to comfort one 95 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:07,000 another, but friend, be careful who you spend your time with. 96 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:16,000 How many love to go to funerals? Nobody does. 97 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:21,800 If you do, you're weird. Thank you, brother. 98 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,240 You're weird. Or you're the funeral operator 99 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,840 and owner of that business. OK, That's the only ones who 100 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:34,480 want to be there. No, but if you go to funerals 101 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:41,919 all the time, it it gets really depressing and they're all in a 102 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:45,560 state of what it feels like to be in a funeral right now all 103 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:48,840 the time. And so out of her hurt. 104 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,720 Can I, can I encourage you with this? 105 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:57,520 Never make decisions when you're not in a place to make good 106 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:01,280 decisions. Pray. 107 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,600 Hello, get around people who will encourage you. 108 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,800 Seek the Lord first, she says go back. 109 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:18,040 And Ruth is so adamant that she's not going to leave her 110 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,720 mother-in-law. She says the famous words where 111 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:25,720 you go, I go where you stay, I say, your people will be my 112 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,680 people, my right and, and, and then they end up going back to 113 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:35,760 be with God's chosen people, the Jews couple more. 114 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,920 When Jesus exhorted his disciples not to backslide, but 115 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:44,800 to live with Kingdom purpose. Luke 962 But Jesus said to him, 116 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:50,080 no one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is 117 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,200 fit for the Kingdom of heaven. What does that mean? 118 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,520 That means when you get born again, you realize that Jesus 119 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,840 changed your life. You have a responsibility to 120 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,560 spread the gospel. I don't care what you do. 121 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,680 I don't care how you do it. You don't have to be an 122 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:10,480 evangelist. You don't have to be a pastor. 123 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,320 You don't have to be a worship leader. 124 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,440 You don't have to work in the children's ministry. 125 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:18,320 But whatever you do, you need to preach the gospel. 126 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,720 Paul, encourage A Philippian church to leave its past in the 127 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,640 past and the press on to move forward. 128 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,960 Philippians 313. Brethren, I do not count myself 129 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,040 to have apprehended but one thing I do, forgetting those 130 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,520 things which are behind and reaching forward to those things 131 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:43,840 which are ahead. Friend, we can't live in the 132 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:49,560 past, but some of the reasons why people get stuck in the past 133 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,440 is because they don't have confidence of where they're 134 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,760 going in their future. They're not confident that they 135 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,880 can hear God's voice. You may be in a place in your 136 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,880 life right now where you don't know what's next. 137 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,240 And and you know, Nathan and Kathy just found out they're 138 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:13,400 having another baby. Wow, awesome, happy grandmas. 139 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:21,200 And, you know, because they have a right attitude towards the 140 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:28,520 scripture about having children. I'm sure they're concerned about 141 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:32,760 the cost, about raising another child and all of that stuff. 142 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:38,240 But can I encourage you, when you get married, have babies? 143 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,200 Why? Because the Muslims are doing 144 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:49,800 it. You think I'm you think I'm not 145 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,800 serious right now? OK, go to Europe right now and 146 00:11:53,800 --> 00:12:00,280 ask England what they think. They have mayors with the name 147 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:07,360 Muhammad right now. England is losing the baby 148 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:13,120 bearing battle because Muslims are not just thinking about 149 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:18,040 today. Their religion is guiding every 150 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:24,000 decision that they are making for the rest of their life and 151 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,400 they're not even following the right God. 152 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:33,120 Whereas Christians, our God says be fruitful and multiply and we 153 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,760 say, no, I want to live my life friend. 154 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,640 If you can live single, Paul says, man, that's awesome. 155 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,000 But if you don't want to live single and you want to get 156 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,080 married, guess what you do when you get married? 157 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:52,440 You have children. Now, I'm not advocating that you 158 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,720 just need to have 20 children, OK? 159 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,160 We have five of our own. I think we've done a part. 160 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:03,440 You. You. 161 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:06,680 Yeah. Hey, you know what? 162 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:11,720 I find that the greatest leaders that I've ever met often have 163 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,640 many children, and those children fear the Lord and enjoy 164 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,320 the love of the Father. Why? 165 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,920 Because Paul says if you want to be qualified to lead in the 166 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,080 church, your school and ministry is going to be your marriage and 167 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:30,760 your family. And if it's not, you're going to 168 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:35,600 present a form of Christianity that's going to lack purpose 169 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:41,000 that comes from the Scripture. I won't take too much more time 170 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,040 on that and all these passages. Listen. 171 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:51,600 God exhorted different people to stop looking back at sin. 172 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,720 In all these scriptures, God was teaching us how to live free 173 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:01,040 from our old lives and embrace the new life that we have in 174 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,920 Christ. As newborn babes in Christ, we 175 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,600 should learn how to run away from sin and abide in the heart 176 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,920 of the Heavenly Father. We should learn how to flee 177 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:21,520 youthful lusts. Listen, the better we learn how 178 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:28,720 to live victorious is when God will use us to make disciples. 179 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,960 When you're born again, you are qualified to preach the gospel 180 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:38,720 immediately. However, it's going to be hard 181 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,840 for you to make disciples if you don't know how to be a disciple 182 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:46,640 yourself. And the more that you overcome 183 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:51,840 sin and become a man or a woman after God's heart and remain 184 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:57,640 faithful, God will give you levels of responsibility to pour 185 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:02,040 into others so that the gospel spreads and disciples are made. 186 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:08,240 Many Christians are so preoccupied with running away 187 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:15,960 from sin, God often waits on our maturity before he develops 188 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:21,400 leaders around us. You are a missionary. 189 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,520 As soon as you got born again, you were given a job. 190 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:31,040 Missionary. How that looks you like, how you 191 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,600 will do that, it'll be different for all of us. 192 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,720 But the fact of the matter is, if I am so preoccupied with 193 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:44,480 fighting sin and I'm not being victorious, I am not going to be 194 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:50,800 concerned about winning and spreading the gospel and 195 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,200 advancing the Kingdom of heaven on earth. 196 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:56,320 I'm not going to be. I am going to be focused on 197 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,200 myself and what I could do to make Eric's life better. 198 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:05,480 Can I encourage you? Jesus gave up his life 199 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,200 willingly. He's the master and He's the one 200 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:15,160 we're called the follow. Victorious Living establishes 201 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,960 leadership skills to make disciples who make disciples. 202 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:25,560 After I arrived in the US on October 14th, I was staying 203 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:29,040 remember Pastor Joey Ellers who was here with us IGF. 204 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:34,280 So I went to His church first for about 5-6 days and as I was 205 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,680 there today, I had a place I was staying. 206 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,520 I was by myself and I woke up really early in the morning 207 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,080 because I was on Philippines schedule. 208 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,360 And as I woke up, I began to worship. 209 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,240 I began to pray in the Spirit and read the scripture. 210 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:58,040 Out of nowhere I heard the Lord shout in my being. 211 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,760 It wasn't an audible voice. And he said these words to my 212 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:07,280 spirit. Fathers, do not give up. 213 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:16,940 Elisha is behind you. Listen to me. 214 00:17:17,140 --> 00:17:20,460 This is not just for men, and this is not just a message about 215 00:17:20,460 --> 00:17:24,099 fathers. This is about men and women. 216 00:17:25,540 --> 00:17:30,020 And I want you to understand that when God is speaking to us, 217 00:17:30,220 --> 00:17:36,160 we need to pay attention. I believe with all the shaking 218 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:40,000 that's happening around the world that God is positioning 219 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,200 his church to prophetically inherit the promises of prayers 220 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,200 that people have cried out for revival and awakening around the 221 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,600 world for centuries. And we are in a place of 222 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,760 culmination where those prayers are being answered more and more 223 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,440 and more, and the return of Jesus is closer and closer and 224 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,160 closer. And if we're not paying 225 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:06,880 attention, friend, I don't want to just kind of slide into 226 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,960 heaven, friend, I want to run into heaven pulling all kinds of 227 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:15,920 people with me. And I don't want to just pull in 228 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,120 anybody. I want to pull in disciples who 229 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:27,600 are making disciples. Let's read First Kings chapter 230 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:31,000 19 and hang with me a little bit. 231 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:38,280 This is just after Mount Carmel. Elijah is running for Elijah is 232 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:42,560 running for his life. Verse 1 and Ahab told Jezebel 233 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,920 all that Elijah had done right on Mount Carmel also how he had 234 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,320 executed the prophets with the sword. 235 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:55,480 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so let the gods 236 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:01,800 do to me, and more also if I do not make your life as the life 237 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,720 of one of them by tomorrow about this time. 238 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,080 In other words, she's threatening to destroy Elijah. 239 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,320 And when Elijah saw that, he rose and ran for his life, and 240 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:19,080 he went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judea, and left his 241 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,720 servant there. Look, he left his servant. 242 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:28,600 He said, I am out of here. And you know, sometimes when you 243 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:34,440 get in this place of fear, you forget your responsibilities. 244 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,440 See, this servant wasn't just to do everything that Elijah needed 245 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,880 him to do. This servant was supposed to be 246 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:48,840 learning from Elijah, but he himself went a day's journey 247 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,720 into the wilderness and came and sat under a broom tree. 248 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,840 And he prayed that he might die. Wow, this is depression. 249 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:02,800 And he said it is enough now, Lord, take my life, for I am no 250 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,240 better than my father's. He's comparing his fathering 251 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:13,880 experience to the father that he had and to those who were 252 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,240 failures in Israel who were fathers. 253 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:23,080 Then as he lay under the broom tree, suddenly everybody say 254 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,880 suddenly. An Angel touched him and said to 255 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:32,400 him, arise and eat. Then he looked and there by his 256 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:36,560 head was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water. 257 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,040 See friend, God always knows how to provide for you, no matter 258 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:45,480 how hard things are. So he ate and drank and lay down 259 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,360 again, and the Angel of the Lord came back a second time. 260 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:54,640 I'd like to just have one Angel visit a second time. 261 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,360 Touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too 262 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:01,000 great for you. In other words, you're not done. 263 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,280 You might think you're done because you're afraid of the 264 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,480 pressure and the hardship that you're experiencing right now, 265 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,520 but I want you to know you're not done. 266 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:15,320 Get up and eat. So he arose and ate and drank, 267 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:21,400 and he went in the strength of the food, 40 days, 40 nights, as 268 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,160 far as Horeb, the mountain of God. 269 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:28,240 And there he went in a cave, and he spent the night in that 270 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,040 place. And behold, the word of the Lord 271 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,120 came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? 272 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,440 It's always good to go find a place and be alone with God. 273 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,560 So he said, I've been very zealous for the Lord God of 274 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,560 hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken your 275 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,840 covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with 276 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:49,720 the sword. Now look at this. 277 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:55,280 I alone am left, and they seek to take my life. 278 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,720 So there's a measure of pride that Elijah is struggling with 279 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,640 here because he seems to think that God can't get along without 280 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:10,680 him. If I'm dead, this powerful 281 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,680 prophet, what's going to happen to everybody else? 282 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:20,720 Because in his mind he's so depressed, he can't even see 283 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:25,280 what God sees and he thinks there's no more prophets around. 284 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:32,920 Verse 11 Then he said, go out and stand on the mountain before 285 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:34,840 the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by 286 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,560 in a great and strong wind, torn to the mountains, broke the rock 287 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,920 to pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the 288 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,560 wind. And after the wind an 289 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,440 earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 290 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,520 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the 291 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,680 fire. And after a fire still small 292 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,520 voice. See, there's a lot of things you 293 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,720 might do sometimes to try and go hear God. 294 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,560 You might go to church and look for an earthquake. 295 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:07,240 He might go to some big conference and and hope that the 296 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:11,880 wind would would break the rock to pieces and suddenly something 297 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,600 like an answer or some prophet would point you out and say 298 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,760 stand up. Thus says the Lord. 299 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,640 You know what, that rarely happens. 300 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,680 He was looking for the fire. Maybe you come to the fire 301 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:29,920 school ministry thinking you're going to find this. 302 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,200 Can I tell you, you can travel the entire world looking for a 303 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:39,040 word of God, but unless you go find a cave and get with God 304 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,760 alone, it's going to be hard for you to hear from God. 305 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:50,000 Verse 13 So it was when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in 306 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,520 his what? His mantle. 307 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,160 That's very important because eventually there's a young man 308 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,880 coming after him named Elijah, and Elijah gets taken up in a 309 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,000 whirlwind. And what does that mantle 310 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,640 represent? It represents Elijah's intimacy 311 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:11,320 with God. It's not just an anointing, It's 312 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,680 not just this prophetic power that comes from God. 313 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:21,080 It to me it was a symbol of the secret place that Elijah had 314 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,320 with God that one day would drop on Elijah when he would be 315 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:31,040 mature enough to handle it. I've been very zealous for the 316 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,440 Lord of hosts. Verse 14 because the children of 317 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,320 Israel forget forsaken your covenant, He's still working 318 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,760 through his struggles here. Forsaken your covenant, torn 319 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,640 down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword, I alone 320 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,160 am left, and they seek to take my life. 321 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:54,200 Then the Lord said to him, I love how the Lord doesn't put up 322 00:24:54,200 --> 00:25:02,480 with our foolishness. Go return your way to the 323 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,520 wilderness of Damascus. In other words, go back where 324 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:12,000 you came from, and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king 325 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,800 over Syria. Also, you shall anoint Jehu, the 326 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,160 son of Nimshi as king over Israel. 327 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,800 Wait a minute, he's running from the king of Israel right now. 328 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:31,760 And Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abel Mehola, you shall anoint 329 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:36,520 as prophet in your place. You see, when you ran away, you 330 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:41,240 left the servant behind. And that mindset is keeping you 331 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,240 from recognizing that I have an anointing to release from your 332 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,920 life to another young man. But if you're running for your 333 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,640 life to save your life, then this young man will never have 334 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,840 the mantle that he needs to learn from Indiana you one day. 335 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:06,520 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will 336 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:10,400 kill, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 337 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,240 Yet I have reserved. Look at this, this is so 338 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,600 powerful. Elijah doesn't know this, or 339 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,400 maybe he knew it and he's forgotten. 340 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:31,120 Yet I have reserved 7000 in Israel whose knees have not 341 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:36,720 bowed to bow all and every mouth that has not kissed him. 342 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,800 In other words, there's some Holy Ghost people that you don't 343 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:46,480 know of, and they didn't run away to a cave, but they made a 344 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:51,280 cave where they live. And in that place I have 345 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,000 instilled confidence in them that they can hear my voice. 346 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,800 Verse 19, We're almost done. So he departed from there and 347 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:05,360 found Elijah, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with 12 348 00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:08,200 yoke of oxen before him. Look at this. 349 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:14,720 And he was with the 12th. Then Elijah passed him by, threw 350 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,160 his mantle on him. Now, this is not the same time 351 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:22,120 as when he'll receive the mantle when Elijah's taken up later, 352 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:29,440 but this is a prophetic picture. And he left the oxen and ran 353 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:31,920 after Elijah and said, please let me kiss my father and 354 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:33,120 mother, and then I'll follow you. 355 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:41,360 And he said to him, go back for what I've what have I done to 356 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:45,320 you? In other words, you know what 357 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:51,320 Elijah is seeing and Elijah, the same thing that he just did. 358 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:58,480 Instead of facing the reality of justice, going after God and 359 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,800 fulfilling the call of God upon his life. 360 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,320 You know what he's doing. He's caught up. 361 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,200 I'm going to miss Mommy and daddy. 362 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:14,120 So Elijah turned back to him and took a yoke of oxen and 363 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:19,360 slaughtered them and boiled their flesh using the oxen's 364 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:21,240 equipment. You know what he's doing? 365 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:27,120 He's giving up everything that he's trusted in his livelihood, 366 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:32,200 his his family. Jesus said if you try to go 367 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,600 after these things, you can't follow me. 368 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,200 You're not going to be worthy of me. 369 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:41,080 And gave it to the people in a. Then he arose and followed 370 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,920 Elijah and became a servant. I got a few points and we'll be 371 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,200 done. First of all, some of you are 372 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:52,320 running in fear, leaving behind those who need you. 373 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,000 Look up here. Some of you have experienced 374 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:04,840 some shaking, pain, financial hardship, sickness, relational 375 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:06,960 tensions. There's all kinds of things. 376 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,360 I see all kinds of people, you know, caught up in political 377 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,160 stuff here in America, here in the Philippines. 378 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,840 And you know what it's, it's making people worried, stressed 379 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,920 out, anxious. But here's the reality. 380 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:30,120 You got to look deeper in this situation because what the enemy 381 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,760 wants you to do is to keep running in fear and the leave 382 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,000 behind the responsibility of those whose gods called you to 383 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,040 pour into. Because if He could keep you 384 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:45,520 preoccupied with your own problems, you're never going to 385 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,200 be effective in the Kingdom of God. 386 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:52,800 Do you hear me? Are you with me next? 387 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:58,920 Some have allowed condemnation, shame, and guilt to compare 388 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:04,880 yourself to others. As you're running, you're 389 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:12,320 starting to feel like you'll never measure up to somebody 390 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:16,960 else. And a lot of times we look at 391 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,880 what somebody else has and they and we say, oh, they do it so 392 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,720 much better. I'm not that good. 393 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,480 And because we don't have any confidence, we don't even try. 394 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,480 And then we end up getting jealous of coveting what the 395 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,040 other person has because we're unwilling to humble ourselves 396 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:40,160 and allow God to change us. Friend, I am saying these things 397 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,040 to you because Eric has dealt with these things. 398 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,240 I've compared myself to people. I've tried to. 399 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:50,480 I've been. I've allowed guilt, 400 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:54,680 condemnation, and shame to keep me from moving forward in my 401 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:58,320 life. I'm telling you that if you will 402 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:03,920 stop and be still and know that He is God, then the voices of 403 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:08,800 all that shame and pain and guilt and condemnation, it won't 404 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:14,160 plague your mind anymore and you will be victorious. 405 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:20,920 I'm telling you, you can win. Hello. 406 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,200 You can win. You don't have to live a 407 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:27,480 defeated life. Why? 408 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,080 Because greater is He who's in you than he that's in the world. 409 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,960 You are an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the word 410 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,000 of your testimony. You've got to live by faith. 411 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,600 There's no shortcuts to this. If you feel pressure, if you 412 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,880 feel hardship, it's only because God is trying to produce a 413 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,240 testimony to your life that is unique to you. 414 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:55,240 I used to tell everybody else's testimonies until I got addicted 415 00:31:55,240 --> 00:32:02,160 to telling my own testimonies. Look, that's OK when you don't 416 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:06,720 got no testimonies. You tell somebody else's and 417 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,200 then after a while you tell them so much you think I want my own. 418 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:13,560 Who wants their own testimony here today? 419 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,080 I'm not just talking about salvation. 420 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,240 I'm talking about testimonies of faith, testimony that mark your 421 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:26,720 life and you remember how God brought you out of something and 422 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,440 he did a miracle in your life. Let me tell you something of why 423 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,240 I feel like we're supposed to go to Israel. 424 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,920 Back in September, we had the God Bless Israel at Pastor AL's 425 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,640 church, right? And it was powerful. 426 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,480 And the Lord was speaking to Casey and I about going to 427 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:42,160 Israel. And I'm thinking I'm already 428 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,360 going for four weeks in the States to raise funds for other 429 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,240 things. I don't want to raise money for 430 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:52,200 anything else. And I felt like it was a Lord. 431 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:57,120 And so I, I hear from a couple churches in the states, two 432 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,400 churches paid for mine and Casey's plane tickets. 433 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,960 And I'm like, wow, OK, I don't have to raise money for this. 434 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,440 God's doing it. And then I go to the States and 435 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:13,640 we still need about $4000 because Israel is very expensive 436 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:19,640 for ground expenses. And one guy walks up to me in a 437 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,440 church 3 weeks ago in upstate New York where I'm from, and he 438 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:25,400 says, brother, you're going to Israel, right? 439 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,160 And I go, yeah, he says, I'm going to write a check and pay 440 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:34,960 for your entire ground cost. I'm like, look, we've been 441 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:39,720 raising funds. I've got so many stories of how 442 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,440 God provides. It's incredible. 443 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:48,280 And every time when I think, oh, it's too much, we need to stop 444 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,960 doing this, God challenges me with something else and says, 445 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,680 Nope, you need to do this right here. 446 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,400 It's amazing. We we weren't going to bring 447 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,920 Jonathan here for Christmas because we can't afford it. 448 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:11,480 It's about $2700. It's over 100,000 to just point 449 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,679 we didn't have the money and I believe the Lord heard the cry 450 00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:22,800 of a mama's heart and Jonathan's going to be here for three weeks 451 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,239 and I promise you he'll be the tallest person in this room. 452 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:34,840 You know, I, I was done like we're coming to the end of the 453 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,719 year. Lord, I'd like to stop like 454 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:43,679 having to believe for money. No, that's exactly it. 455 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:48,120 I I want to go and run away and say, oh, we got this great 456 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:52,360 testimony back here, let's go on, right? 457 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:57,120 And then something big comes up again and says, ah, you can't do 458 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,160 this. Hey, can I tell you something in 459 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,360 the midst of this all, we got 100 kids who are sponsored again 460 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,200 for the next year for the feeding program. 461 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,000 We got over 20 kids sponsored for Aces. 462 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,000 How does this stuff happen? I don't know. 463 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:21,360 All I know is testimonies. I'm addicted, addicted to them 464 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:25,320 now. It's not because of us, it's by 465 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,400 the grace of God. All we do is show up where God 466 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,840 says go here and say this and do that and then it's over with. 467 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:36,120 He does the rest. I had three kids left on the 468 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,960 table in the last church I was at this past Sunday in the state 469 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:41,480 of Delaware. It's the church where I was a 470 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:47,120 youth pastor. 3 kids left and I'm thinking, oh Lord, I didn't 471 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,120 come all this way to have three kids left. 472 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:54,680 So a young man who's not so young anymore, he's in his 40s 473 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:59,200 now, who used to be in my youth group when I was a youth pastor. 474 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:04,880 He's an elder in that church now and you know what he said? 475 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,600 Oh, you got 3 kids, that's all you got left. 476 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,280 He says give them to me. He sponsors them all. 477 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:16,800 Friend, this is what I'm talking about. 478 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:25,200 You can never outgive God. You can never outgrow what God 479 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:28,680 is able to do because he's so much bigger than you and I. 480 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:34,360 This whole thing is huge. We might as well believe for the 481 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:36,560 impossible. Amen. 482 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,880 Let me finish up. The Lord desires to meet our 483 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:45,640 needs from the secret place. Can I encourage you to get alone 484 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,600 with God and pour out your heart like water to Him? 485 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,720 Do it. That's what God's waiting on. 486 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:57,800 Sometimes before He'll bring a breakthrough is for us to put 487 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,640 Him first. The Lord wants you to face your 488 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,520 fears with his strength and power. 489 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:09,520 So you go situate yourself before the Lord and say and be 490 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,000 honest and you say, God, I'm afraid right now. 491 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:18,040 God, I don't feel like really reading my Bible today. 492 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,680 God, I don't feel like being disciplined right now. 493 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,520 I feel like being late. You know, when you're honest 494 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:30,560 with God like that, I think He uses that to inject himself in 495 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:35,280 our life because he already knows you're struggling and 496 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,640 because He loves you so much and He doesn't want to just do 497 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:44,880 everything for you without a partnership with you, That when 498 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:50,160 you see that your faith in agreement with God's promises 499 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:57,000 works miracles, guess what? Yes, God gets all the glory, but 500 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,960 you're a part of this. You're a part of his story. 501 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:05,320 You get to talk about what God's done for you. 502 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:14,040 That's the strength of the Lord. Look, I, I see guys building up 503 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,560 their muscles all the time, right? 504 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:22,800 Physically and I and I think you should take care of yourself. 505 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,040 I think you should do great. I think my Olympic days are 506 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:31,040 over, but I still try to play basketball. 507 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:34,360 I played yesterday. We won. 508 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:42,200 But but you know what? I really, I just go for exercise 509 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,920 and fellowship and share the gospel with people now, unless 510 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:51,440 we're playing against Josh. But listen, it is as your 511 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,920 strength. Listen to me as your strength 512 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:58,200 returns, just like it returned to Elijah. 513 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:03,120 You will find a son and a daughter who is looking for a 514 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:08,320 father. Let's look lastly at the end, 515 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:11,720 verse 19 again. So he departed from there and 516 00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:15,040 found Elijah. He departed from where? 517 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:20,800 The secret place, the place where he received strength and 518 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:26,040 now God puts him back on track. Some of you are thinking, I've 519 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:31,480 gone so far and I don't think God can put me on back, back on 520 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,400 track. No, that's what repentance is. 521 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,600 It's a lifestyle. It's not a one time event. 522 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,360 And when you choose to repent, you produce fruit. 523 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:45,400 And God says, yes, I have a perfect will. 524 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:47,720 But here's here, can I tell you a fact? 525 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:52,560 Nobody in this room is going to be able to fulfill the perfect 526 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:55,040 will of God. Nobody. 527 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:00,400 But in the wisdom and the ability and the grace of God, 528 00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:04,480 you can fulfill the will of God for your life, even though you 529 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,200 don't follow it perfectly. Why? 530 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:11,920 Because greater is he who's in you, his strength. 531 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:18,280 His ability to escalate, to move you forward, to cause favor, to 532 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:22,160 come into your lap, to cause people to want to get behind you 533 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:25,920 and hold up your arms. Open doors, closed doors. 534 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:30,920 Look, this is what God can do, Elijah. 535 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:35,440 Elijah was running. He forgot his responsibility as 536 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:40,040 a father. And now verse 19, he departed 537 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:42,160 from The Cave. He's strengthened. 538 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,720 He knows that there's new vision and direction from the Holy 539 00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:54,560 Ghost and he finds Elijah and Elijah was just living his life 540 00:40:55,120 --> 00:41:00,080 as a working with the yoke of oxen. 541 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:06,520 And Elijah just comes by and he knows he can't run from his 542 00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:08,960 responsibility to pour in this young man. 543 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:15,160 And he throws his mantle on him. And Elijah knows exactly what it 544 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:20,920 means and he gives up everything to follow Elijah. 545 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:32,200 In Job 23 verses 8 through 10, Job says, Look, I go forward, 546 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:38,240 but he God is not there and backward, but I cannot perceive 547 00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:40,880 him. When he works on the left hand I 548 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:44,960 cannot behold Him, but when he turns to the right hand I cannot 549 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:50,640 see him, but He knows the way that I take. 550 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:56,800 When He has tested me, I shall come forth like gold. 551 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:03,320 Friend, you don't know which direction to go sometimes, and 552 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:07,120 neither do I. I'm we're going to Israel 553 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:12,440 December 7th, right When we leave to go there, I have no 554 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:17,120 idea how to get there. I put my trust in the pilot. 555 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:24,040 The pilot says we're going to Dubai 1st and after we get off 556 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:29,280 the plane and get some coffee in Dubai, we get back on the plane 557 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,960 and the pilot knows where to get us to Israel. 558 00:42:34,240 --> 00:42:38,640 Honestly, we still don't even know all of our plans for the 10 559 00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:39,840 days we're going to be in Israel. 560 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,440 I don't even know where we're going to stay right now. 561 00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,640 Normally we pay people to do all this. 562 00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:54,560 Now I'm the tour guide and we actually, we have Annalita and 563 00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:58,560 her niece Sam, who were supposed to go on the original tour, but 564 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,160 they can't change their tickets or something like that, and 565 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:02,320 they're supposed to come with us. 566 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:07,040 So now we're tour guides, four of us. 567 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,920 So if anybody else wants to come, we'll lead you where we 568 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:17,960 don't know we're going. OK, you tell me because I need 569 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:22,880 direction right now. Listen to this Who knows who 570 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:25,520 Winston Churchill is. Anybody. 571 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:30,920 Winston Churchill, one of the great leaders during World War 572 00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:35,080 Two of the United Kingdom in Great Britain. 573 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:39,960 Their back was up against the wall. 574 00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:46,800 Germany was about to cross the water from the mainland of 575 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:50,840 Europe and there was 2 cities left, I think it was Dunkirk and 576 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,360 another one I can't remember the name. 577 00:43:55,320 --> 00:44:02,040 Had they given up they would be speaking German right now in 578 00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:09,320 England. He had no reason to think that 579 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,160 they could win. They didn't have the military 580 00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:15,120 might. He called America for some 581 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:19,560 ships, naval ships to come and help and it wasn't going to get 582 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,360 there. So you know what he did? 583 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:31,840 He called on all kinds of people who have boats in England and he 584 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:35,840 says, I want you to go towards Dunkirk and make it look like we 585 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:41,120 have all these ships in the sea. There weren't drones at that 586 00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:46,520 time, so from a distance you couldn't tell how big a ship 587 00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:49,480 was. There was probably some guy with 588 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:53,200 his rowboat. I'm ready with his bunker, 589 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:56,360 right? Or maybe there must have been 590 00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:58,240 one Filipino guy over there, right? 591 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:03,120 There's always a Filipino somewhere. 592 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:09,520 So you know what Winston Churchill does? 593 00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:13,120 He gets on the radio that night, and this is a quote of one of 594 00:45:13,120 --> 00:45:16,440 the things that he says. Listen, everybody, listen to 595 00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:20,120 this. Never give in. 596 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:26,000 Never give in. Never, never, never, Never in 597 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:34,960 nothing, great or small, large or petty. 598 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:40,320 Never give in except to convictions of honor and good 599 00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:44,040 sense. Never yield to force. 600 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:50,200 Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. 601 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:57,800 I'm going to tell you something. I want to be like a Winston 602 00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:01,680 Churchill. I want you to be like a Winston 603 00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:07,840 Churchill. I believe guys like Elijah, even 604 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:12,000 though Elijah had a moment of weakness, God still got him back 605 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:16,680 on track and he began to reproduce disciples who made 606 00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:21,000 disciples. Friend, you are never going to 607 00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:25,480 be perfect enough to obey God. You might as well just obey God 608 00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:29,920 where you're at and with all your struggles and weaknesses 609 00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:35,440 and failures, come to the Lord and say I will never give up.