I'm going to invite you, if you can, God's directed
me to read out of the book of Judges. Go with
me right now, please, to the book of Judges,
chapter 1 and verse 1. Amen. Amen. And we're
going to, we're just going to read a couple of
verses there. That's it. Amen. Book of Judges,
chapter 1 and verse 1. Hallelujah, Jesus. Hallelujah,
Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I love when God just
messes up with the program, you know, and just
does something different. Makes me a little nervous
sometimes, but that's where I need to be, you
know. I just can never depend on ourselves, our
gifts, our talents, our abilities. We've got
to be sensitive to what God is doing. So I'm
going to say amen. The word of the Lord says,
After the death of Joshua, if you don't know
who Joshua is, Joshua was a conqueror. He was
a conqueror. He was a warrior. Amen. After Moses
came Joshua, he was a possessor of things. The
people of Israel inquired of the Lord, who shall
go up first for us against the Canaanites to
fight against them? The Lord said, Judah. Everyone
say Judah. Judah shall go up. Behold, I have
given the land into his hand. Whose hand? Judah's
hand. With God's help today, I'm just going to
preach for a few moments because whatever happens
next, it's just, it's up to the Lord. It's up
to God what he wants to do. But I'm just going
to preach for the sake of a title. We're just
going to call this message, Judah Shall Go Up.
Let's pray. Father, we love you today. We thank
you for what you are doing in our place, in this
place today. This is your house, God. And we
approach these things reverently. We approach
them, God, with humility, with honor, with respect,
God. Become prepared, Lord. with worship, with
praise, with intention, with purpose, with a
plan, with an agenda, but we recognize, God,
that we're on your time and that there are moments,
instances, God, where you will simply interrupt
in order to speak to us in a prophetic manner.
So I pray, God, that you would give us all prophetic
hearing today. to hear what your spirit is saying
to the church, and that you would prepare us
all. Anoint my lips of clay, God. Inspire me,
God, to preach your holy word in the name of
Jesus. Everyone say amen. And if you're going
to back me up and preach today, say amen. You
can be seated in God's house. I feel something
so profound in my spirit today because... I believe
that there are just moments in time, church,
where God must interrupt us and must deal with
us, remind us of some core things that are fundamental
about who we are as his people. We must understand
that we are God's people. Somebody say amen.
I say we are the people of God. And we belong
to him. And we were created for a very express
purpose. To give him glory. Everything about
our lives. I need you to understand today. Everything
about our lives. Everything about the way God
formed us. The way he made us. Down to the hands
that we have. And the feet that we walk on. And
the eyes that we see with. And everything about
us was made to give him glory. Everything about
us. This was God's express purpose. This was
his design. This is how he made us. He gave us
hands, not simply to do work, but he gave us
hands so that we might clap unto the Lord. How
many of you know these are instruments? Why don't
we all use this instrument right now and just
give God a hand of praise? Everything about our
lives is meant to give God glory. God gave us
a mouth, not simply that we can communicate with
one another in this life, but not just a mouth
to speak words and to communicate, but above
all things, he gave us a mouth that we might
worship him. Amen. He gave us a tongue that we
might offer him unceasing praise and unceasing
glory and unceasing worship. Our mouths were
not made simply to tell our loved ones that we
love them and it's nice to hear those things.
Our mouths were not made simply to echo and reverberate
things that are going on around us to report
the news of the day and to talk about how things
are going. Our mouths are not simply to converse
over small matters and over little things. And
all the things that our mouth can be used. But
the Bible says that in our mouth. Hallelujah.
In these vocal cords that God has given us. That
everything the Bible says that has breath. Praise
ye the Lord. So our mouths were made to give
God praise and glory. So I wonder for the next
30 seconds. If there's a group of people in this
house today. That can open up. I know we've been
singing all service. I know some of you have
been shouting already. Some of you have been
singing already, but I wonder for just another
moment, another 30 seconds, if we could just
open up this mouth that God has given us and
render unto the Lord a praise that is due his
name. Somebody lift up your voice and just say
hallelujah. Somebody lift up your voice and say
praise the Lord. Lord, I love you. I exalt you.
I magnify you. I glorify you. I've got to praise
him. I've got to open my mouth. of the sun to
the going down of the same. I will praise his
holy name today. Oh, somebody shout hallelujah.
This mouth was made to praise God. we have on
us are not simply meant to walk around this life.
These feet are not simply meant to adorn your
favorite shoes and to walk around and to get
from point A to point B. Obviously, they serve
a purpose functionally. We need our feet, and
we thank God if you have capacity in your legs,
even if you move a little slower, but if you
can still move your legs to some degree and have
mobility, you are blessed today because you have
your legs and your feet. Praise God. But I want
to remind you today that your feet were not simply
made to get from point A to point B because in
the very beginning where God created, I kind
of preach like I feel in the Holy Ghost. In the
very beginning where God created Adam and he
placed him in the garden. Can I remind you that
Adam had nowhere to go? Can I remind you that
Adam had no point A to point B? Adam didn't have
to go anywhere. He didn't have a schedule. He
didn't have an agenda. He didn't have a job.
His only purpose for walking, let me tell you,
was to walk with God in the cross. of the day
so even your walking even your legs were made
to worship and that's why you see men of God
like David when the presence of the Lord came
back and the glory of God the ark of the covenant
came back out of the enemy hands back into Jerusalem
the Bible says that he danced before the Lord
with all of his might I've got news for you today
my legs are not simply meant to get to be my
legs are not simply meant to jump up and down
from my favorite ball player and my favorite
team my legs were not meant to jump up and down
every time steph curry hits a three -pointer
my legs were made to give god the glory these
legs were made i wonder if there's somebody right
now that can thank god i can leap for joy i can
dance in my presence Come on, somebody love them
today. Oh, I wonder if you can stomp your feet
right there where you are. Hallelujah. What I
love about the Apostolic Church is that we are
a praising people. We know how to lift our voices
unto God. Our hands were made. For worship. For
clapping. For the lifting of our hands unto the
Lord. Our mouths were made to confess his goodness.
And to declare his praises from one generation
to the next. And our legs were made to walk with.
See everything about us was designed with the
express purpose of giving him glory. And that
is why we are commanded to praise God. Praise
God. today is not a suggestion it is not our
recommendation it is not our word of advice we
I'm talking about you and I today are commanded
to give God the praise that means even if I don't
feel like it and even if I'm not in the mood
to do it even if I had a bad week even if things
aren't going my way I understand that I am obligated
to give God the praise. I've got to give him
praise. And it's important for us today, church,
to see that this is why God created us. This
is why we have what we have. And it now extends
to every part of our life. Every aspect of our
life needs to give glory to God. Everything that
God has given us, he's given us so that it might
give glory to God. And that he might receive
the praise. our bank account, whether it's the
car that we drive or the place of work that we
show up to on Monday morning. Every aspect of
our life ought to be an anthem to God of how
good he has been. Every aspect of our life. My
house is not just where I live. But my house
is the house of the Lord. My room is not just
my room, my kitchen. Every room in your house
you need to fill with praises unto God. Because
the Bible gives us this principle in the Psalms
where it tells us that God inhabits or he is
enthroned in the praises of his people. So praise
is not only what we were designed to do and not
only what we're commanded to do, but it is the
key that attracts the presence of God. God wants
to sit in our life. He wants to, how many of
you want him to dwell in your life? Hallelujah.
If you want God to dwell in your life in a greater
measure, yes, you can read the word and that
will certainly help. Hallelujah. Yes, you can
come to church. that will certainly help yes
you can know the right people and connect to
the right things and those things will certainly
help but if you want more of God's presence in
your life then you've got to have the attitude
of a praiser you've got my lord you've got to
have the attitude of a worshiper because the
more I praise him the more of his presence will
fill up my life the more I acknowledge him the
Bible says, lean not to your own understanding,
but acknowledge him. Make him known and praise
him in all of your ways. And he shall direct
your path. And so if I want more of God, I've
got to become a greater praiser. And praising
God involves all of my... It involves everything,
all my capacities and all my faculties and everything
that I could possibly use as an instrument. And
for those of you who have special gifts and abilities
to praise the Lord, just like we were praying
a few moments ago, you musicians and you praise
singers and even those who help with the audio
because you're also contributing to the sound
that is being broadcast. In this place. Even
the technical things. And the instruments. All
of these things. I've come to tell you. That
that gift that God has given you. That ministry
that God has given you. It is not to make yourself
famous. It is not to. Oh hallelujah. It is not
to simply. Hallelujah. Create some emotional
atmosphere. Your primary objective. If God has
given you a special instrument. Or gift of praise.
Is to use that for the glory. of god and to help
bring in his presence into our midst i believe
how do i feel this in the holy ghost that our
church is stepping into another dimension into
another realm of revival that's been the prayer
that's been that's been the promise that's been
the effort but it's not going to come through
programs necessarily it's not going to come through
methodologies it's not going to simply come through
plans of men but it's going to come by putting
the first things first and in order to have the
kind of revival restoration and taking back what
belongs to us is that we need to restore the
place of praise in our life in our church we
need to put the tribe of Judah at the very front
lines of the battle and say Judah it's now your
turn to blow the trumpet in Zion it's now your
turn to make a joyful noise unto the Lord It's
now your turn to lift up your voices, all ye
lands. It's now your turn to clap your hands,
all ye people. It's the Judah generation. You
Bible students will understand that one of the
things the devil hates most about you is your
praise. Every time you open up your mouth, brother,
you give God the glory and you praise him. Every
time you lift your hands, it just irks the devil.
You know why? Because that's the very thing that
he himself was designed to do. Satan himself
was given all the faculties within his whole
supernatural being to give glory to God as the
choir director and the chief musician of heaven.
That was his job. That was his assignment. But
obviously he fell from where he was because pride
can be the one thing that robs you of what belongs
to God. He thought of himself that he should
be higher than God. Come on. He thought of himself
that he. himself should receive glory instead
of God and it was at that moment that he fell
out of heaven like a lightning bolt down to the
earth and I'm here to tell you that you always
know the spirit of the enemy is at work not when
when ghosts and demons start manifesting not
when witches start showing up and putting blood
on things not when warlocks start casting spells
on you and all that that's not the sign that
the devil is trying to Interrupt your life. The
sign that the devil is working is when pride
starts getting a hold of your heart. And now
you can no longer give God the praise. Now you
can no longer. Oh, hallelujah. Come before his
presence with thanksgiving. Hallelujah. It's
pride. Someone say pride. And just like pride
brought the downfall of. celestial being of worship
in the heavens with God. so too pride is the
thing that gets in the way between us and a more
glorious praise that is due unto the Lord. And
so we've got to make sure that our pride is not
in the way. And when we look at the scripture
today, hallelujah, obviously I'm not going to
dissect this verse by verse, but I want us to
at least see a very important principle that
as the people of God were looking to claim the
land that belongs to them, as they were looking
to continue this reign or this campaign of conquest,
which began with Joshua, they were inquiring
of the Lord. They're saying, Lord, how are we
going to do this, God? How are we going to have...
this revival? How are we going to take what belongs
to us? How are we going to possess the promises
of God? How are we going to fight back these
enemies called the Canaanite? All of these godless
and wicked and perverse and pagan people who
are occupying the place that belongs to us. How
are we going to come against them? Are we going
to do it with bows and spears? Are we going to
do it with tanks and artillery? Are we going
to do it with a nuclear weapon? God, how are
we going to drive out these enemies from the
land? And as they were inquiring of the Lord,
God, what? Because that's what we do sometimes.
We're crying out to God. Lord, show me the way.
Show me, God, what's my next step? What should
I do now? God. give me an answer come on has
anybody ever prayed like that some of you are
praying like that even at this very season in
your life praying God what do I do Lord give
me direction Lord show me the way God help me
through this and they were inquiring of the Lord
saying God and they had all these other ideas
in their mind probably of what they could do
and what they should do but then And the word
of God came to them as they were seeking the
Lord for an answer, for direction, for greater
revival for them and their generations. The Lord
said this to them in verse 2. The Lord said,
Judah. Somebody say Judah. Oh, come on. Somebody
shout Judah. And the Lord said, Judah shall go
up. And that is significant because Judah is
a name that means praise. Praise. It means praise
the Lord. And so God must have mystified them.
God must have baffled their minds. God must have
caused a bit of controversy. When he said if
you're going to take back what belongs to you.
If you're going to possess the promises of greatness
and revival. If you're going to see the land
of milk and honey. Then the thing you've got
to get right in your people. Get right in your
family. tribe of praise on the front lines of
the battle I have come to tell you today that
every spirit oh my god I feel an anointing on
me every spiritual blessing every miracle every
promise every blessing that God wants to do in
your life and in your family every supernatural
divine thing every gift every good thing from
above is going to be accessed primarily through
the tribe of praise If you become a praiser,
there's no depression that can drown you. I wish
I had a witness. If you become a praiser, there's
no sickness that can stop you. If you become
a praiser, there's no devil that can run you
out of your neighborhood. I wish I had a witness.
If you become a praiser, there's no witch, there's
no whore. There's nothing in this world that
can stop you. Why? Because greater is he that
is in me. that is in the world so I lift up my
hands and I lift up my voice come on somebody
give the Lord some praise today somebody open
up your mouth somebody magnify the name of Jesus
in this house today come on hallelujah hallelujah
Come on, let's stay in the spirit for a moment
right now. I feel something about to break loose
in this place today. I feel something about to
stir and break in this place today. There's a
miracle on the other side of your praise. There's
a breakthrough on the other side of your praise.
And so if I were the devil and I wanted to stop
you and block you from your promises, if I wanted
to block this church from the next level of revival,
if I wanted to stop, if I wanted to make sure
that Brother Kong over here is the only baptism
we have all year, if I were the devil and I wanted
to do that, then I would work overtime to silence
the praise and the worship and the anointed praise
in this church. in our lives because the devil
knows that if we ever get a revelation of apostolic
Holy Ghost Pentecostal praise and we start opening
up our mouth and we start doing our dance and
we start running these aisles and we start lifting
our voices, there is nothing he can do to stand
in our way. Come on, hallelujah. Somebody clap
your hands. Come on, somebody clap your hands.
Somebody lift your voice. Somebody magnify him
today. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. There's
a lot of things that I may not get right. There's
a lot of things that... That you and I may not
get right. Even collectively. Put the best and
the brightest together in one room. And put minds
together. And all these things could be good
and wonderful. But let me tell you something.
The victory is in our praise. And the thing that
has established and defined and distinguished
the apostolic church which we are of is how we
praise God. There is something about a service
like we are in today. There is something. It
is not emotionalism. It is not fanaticism. It
is not sensationalism. We're not just trying
to get a reaction out of you. Hear me in the
Holy Ghost. I'm not just trying to tug on your
heart strings. Do you hear what I'm saying today?
I'm not just trying to tug on an emotional and
pull an emotional. string in you I'm not just
trying to get a reaction out of you today there
is something powerful and prophetic church when
we really unlock the praises and we really begin
to step into that dimension oh let me tell you
what begins to happen as you begin to praise
God like the children of Judah the tribe of Judah
they went before the people of Israel and they
began to praise God and you know the thing about
that were so fascinating to me. This is the same
thing that caused so much confusion when Joshua
and the people marched around the city of Jericho
those seven times. And don't you know that it
was the tribe of Judah that was on the front
lines of the people of God. As they began to,
on the seventh day, lift up their voices with
a great and glorious shout unto the Lord. And
they raised their horns. And they lifted their
trumpets. And they began to praise God. It must
have confused their enemies who were there thinking,
what has gotten into these crazy people? What
has gotten into these lunatic people? What has
gotten into these backwards people? What do they
think that they're going to do? to overcome us
just by making a bunch of noise but let me tell
you something here in the holy ghost to the world
there's a bunch of noise but to god is the key
to victory oh i don't care what anybody says
about me i don't care what anybody's got thinks
about me i know that if i lift up my voice unto
god i know that if i walk in the dimension of
praise that god Piano player, I need your help
right now. I feel something about to break in
this house today. There is something that God
is doing. He is shifting us. He is aligning us.
He said, I need you to be that people of praise.
I need you to be mamas. I need you to be mamas
of praise. I feel something about to sweep over
my soul right now. Where are the sisters? Where
are the mamas? Where are the mothers who really
know how to praise God? Are the sisters and the
moms. Who show oh my God. Who can praise God
in the good time. Are there any sisters in the
house today. That said if God be true. Let every
man be a liar. Is there a woman of faith here
today. That says I'm going to lift my voice unto
God. Come hell and high water. I praise him in
the kitchen all by myself. I praise him on the
way to work. I praise him when I'm coming home.
i will bless the lord at all times oh my god
and his praises shall continually be in my mouth
oh my god my god my god my god somebody shout
hallelujah somebody shout hallelujah come on
shout hallelujah If there's something I want
my children to learn, I don't just want them
to learn just how I dress, which is good, and
just how I talk, which is good. But I got to
give them the secret how to get through every
valley, every high, and every low in this life.
I got to show my son and my daughter that when
the going gets tough, you don't sit there and
fold your arms and wait for things to get better,
honey. lifter I got oh my god my god my god i
want my children to know the secret to the blessings
of god they are not received through material
things they are not received through carnal things
but the blessings of the lord are received in
spiritual means and there is nothing more spiritual
there is nothing more prophetic than when somebody
full of faith begins to exercise your faith And
begins to magnify the name of the Lord. There
is not. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, my God,
my God, my God. We've come now to a generation
where people are smarter than they've ever been.
They're more intelligent than they've ever been,
Brother David. They're more educated than they've
ever been. And I've got a problem with some of
it on this note. I'm not against those things.
I'm not against knowledge, intellectualism. All
that is wonderful if it can be used for the glory
of God. But I've come to tell you that sometimes
we analyze ourselves out of a prophetic praise.
Oh, my God. Oh, my Lord. Our knowledge and our
pride and all those things get in the way. We
start getting into this state where we just think
I'm too cute to do that now. Oh, my God. I'm
too dignified to praise him like that now. Somebody
better help me today. He said, Pastor, but I
got degrees on the wall now. And I got respect
on the workplace now. And I got the respect of
my neighbors now. And I can't be acting like
that anymore. The devil is a liar, brother. I
wonder if there's a man in this house, a young
man. an older man of faith that says i know the
key to victory i know the key to glory and i'm
not ashamed i'm not ashamed to lift up my voice
i'm not ashamed to praise my god Somebody ought
to stand up on your feet. Somebody ought to rise
up in faith. Somebody ought to stand up in the
Spirit and give God the glory. I've come to a
place where I will not apologize. I've come to
a place where if my praise makes you uncomfortable,
that's your problem. It's not mine. place where
I was going to praise God whether you like it
or not because I know I know I know what the
Lord has done for me I know I wish somebody would
just lose your mind for a few moments I wish
somebody would just give God the glory give God
the praise hey I'm here to tell you, I got nothing
against those things. Those things are wonderful.
But let us never forget where we came from. Let
us never forget what brought us to where we are
today. It wasn't how smart you were. It wasn't
how cute you were. It wasn't the car you drive.
It wasn't the stuff you own. It was that you
knew how to put on the garment of praise. him
when I got a lot because I learned how to praise
him when I had nothing that's why I can praise
him when I'm feeling good because I learned how
to praise him when