WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:06.080 a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands, 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:09.019 and activates God's promises. In our brand new 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.820 book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:13.839 powerful journey through some of Scripture's 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.800 most transforming moments, where ordinary people 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.699 dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf. 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:24.179 Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon. 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:27.940 Week number four in our series that's entitled 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:34.340 The Glory. Everybody say the glory. Let's start 00:00:34.340 --> 00:00:43.280 with Moses. He had spent at least 40 days, at 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:46.679 least a couple of times on Mount Sinai, spending 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:50.640 time with God. After he came down, they had had 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:54.060 time to build the tabernacle, the tent, that 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:56.700 they went for the next 40 years. They had it 00:00:56.700 --> 00:01:01.600 with them in the wilderness. And as they were 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:05.439 getting ready to leave, to head to the promised 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:08.379 land, which really should have just been about 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:10.700 five or six days from that point, I would think. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:14.900 It wound up being 40 years. It wasn't God's fault 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:18.500 that it wound up being 40 years. But before they 00:01:18.500 --> 00:01:22.760 leave, Moses talks to God and he says this. He 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:29.469 says, God, your presence among us. sets your 00:01:29.469 --> 00:01:32.450 people and me apart from all other people on 00:01:32.450 --> 00:01:37.049 the earth. I've read that story a lot. You know, 00:01:37.049 --> 00:01:41.329 because Moses says to God, if you're not going 00:01:41.329 --> 00:01:45.590 with us, don't send us up from here. That's how 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:49.870 important it was for him. He didn't want to just 00:01:49.870 --> 00:01:52.370 visit God at Mount Sinai. He wanted God to be 00:01:52.370 --> 00:01:55.689 with him. Just like we just shouldn't want to 00:01:55.689 --> 00:01:59.340 visit God at church. but have God with us, right? 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:05.200 But I'd never noticed this verse until we, like 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.439 we're working on the first week of this series. 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:10.680 Because in the New Testament, we talk about it 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.900 a lot, right? We talk about, they will know that 00:02:13.900 --> 00:02:16.240 we are Christ's followers. They will know that 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.879 we are Christians by what? Who remembers? By 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:26.300 our love. Everybody say love. But here, We find 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:29.719 out that they don't only know that we are Christians 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:33.580 by our love. They also can recognize that we 00:02:33.580 --> 00:02:38.620 are God's people by his presence. Everybody say 00:02:38.620 --> 00:02:42.139 his presence. He says, your presence among us, 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:46.280 God. Says your people and me apart from all other 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:52.680 people on earth. So God's presence sets us apart. 00:02:54.889 --> 00:03:00.370 And then a few verses later, Moses is talking 00:03:00.370 --> 00:03:03.370 with God. He's still talking with God. And he 00:03:03.370 --> 00:03:09.990 says this, God, show me your glory. Show me your 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:15.930 glory. Show me your glorious presence. Show me 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:20.889 your glorious presence. Now that word glory in 00:03:20.889 --> 00:03:25.219 the Hebrew is kabod. Here's what it means. It 00:03:25.219 --> 00:03:32.300 means wait. And this version of the word is used 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:36.500 figuratively in a good sense. It's always good. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:40.300 Now, there is a version of the word that can 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:44.159 be good or bad, but this version of the Hebrew 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:49.979 word is always talking about wait in a good sense. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:53.879 And I don't know if you've encountered it or 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:56.960 not, but the encounters I've had with the manifested 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:02.620 presence of God, I could almost always say that 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:08.199 it seems like there's a weight that I can sense 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:14.080 it. I can sense His presence. And it's like a 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:19.319 weight. The word is translated glory, splendor, 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:25.779 honor. Same word can be translated in English 00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:31.740 in either one of those. So, here Moses is saying, 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:37.319 God, show me your glory. Let me experience your 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:39.579 glorious presence. Do you think that he had experienced 00:04:39.579 --> 00:04:43.779 it before? I mean, obviously, if he spent 40 00:04:43.779 --> 00:04:46.240 days on the top of the mountain with God, just 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:49.500 him and God, 40 days at least a couple of times. 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:52.579 Do you think he's experienced the presence of 00:04:52.579 --> 00:05:02.759 God? Somebody say yes. Right? And then, as we're 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:04.819 talking about the presence and the glory of God, 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:09.519 we need to recognize that Moses didn't ask for 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:16.480 anything personally at this time. When he was 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.160 talking to God, he didn't ask that things would 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.189 get better. My circumstances will get better. 00:05:22.529 --> 00:05:24.670 God, you know these people are pretty rebellious. 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:27.730 You know they're rebellious. God, could you make 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:32.569 them a little bit less rebellious? Could you 00:05:32.569 --> 00:05:39.009 make this trip a little easier? Is that what 00:05:39.009 --> 00:05:42.930 we normally say when we're talking to God? Come 00:05:42.930 --> 00:05:48.009 on. God, you know, everything's just falling 00:05:48.009 --> 00:05:52.529 apart. God, I... Can you fix it? Fix it for me. 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:57.389 My husband or my wife, they're rebellious. God, 00:05:57.490 --> 00:06:02.350 can you fix it? That's bad. I shouldn't have 00:06:02.350 --> 00:06:09.310 said that. Moses didn't cry out to God for better 00:06:09.310 --> 00:06:13.990 circumstances. That everything would go his way 00:06:13.990 --> 00:06:18.800 a little bit more. He was hungry for God's presence. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:24.180 He was hungry for God's presence because he had 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:28.879 experienced God's presence. And you know, when 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:34.860 we encounter the presence of God, God's goodness 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:44.019 flows in his presence. So we can pray to experience 00:06:44.019 --> 00:06:47.189 his goodness. Or we can pray to experience his 00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:50.810 presence. And when we encounter his presence, 00:06:50.870 --> 00:06:53.170 his goodness is automatically going to flow. 00:06:58.990 --> 00:07:03.410 Let's go over to Psalm 63, verses 1 and 2. This 00:07:03.410 --> 00:07:08.189 is David. Everybody say David. The only person 00:07:08.189 --> 00:07:12.670 that God called a man after his own heart. This 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:15.470 is David's prayer to God. Oh God, you are my 00:07:15.470 --> 00:07:19.889 God. At this time, he was in a wilderness and 00:07:19.889 --> 00:07:24.430 it wasn't a great day. He had some pretty great 00:07:24.430 --> 00:07:26.490 days, but this wasn't one of them. He's in the 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:39.290 wilderness. Oh God. Not a, oh God. He says, oh 00:07:39.290 --> 00:07:46.250 God, you are my God. I earnestly, wholeheartedly 00:07:46.250 --> 00:07:54.990 search for you, seek you. My soul, my thoughts, 00:07:55.089 --> 00:08:01.430 my desires, my emotions, my soul thirsts for 00:08:01.430 --> 00:08:10.990 you. My whole body longs for you in this parched, 00:08:11.689 --> 00:08:20.329 and weary land where there's no water. Has anybody 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:22.470 experienced a day that you would say, oh, it's 00:08:22.470 --> 00:08:28.829 like parched and weary land today? Anybody? I 00:08:28.829 --> 00:08:30.629 think most of you would agree that there's some 00:08:30.629 --> 00:08:35.850 days that you might feel like that. Where there's 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:42.590 no refreshing, no water. What's he doing? He's 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:48.570 declaring to God that, God, I want you. He's 00:08:48.570 --> 00:08:52.889 not praying, God, give me water. God, don't let 00:08:52.889 --> 00:08:57.049 it be so hot or don't let it be so cold. That 00:08:57.049 --> 00:09:02.610 was a joke. You didn't laugh that time. If my 00:09:02.610 --> 00:09:04.970 fingers are cold, I know you're probably cold. 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:08.929 But I am still sweating, Riley. I am still sweating. 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:14.820 But my fingers aren't sweating. What did David 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:20.860 say? He says, I have seen you in your sanctuary. 00:09:22.299 --> 00:09:25.299 Everybody say the presence of God. I've seen 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:28.279 you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:37.840 and glory. Your presence. David was hungry. Why 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.279 was David hungry? Well, because he had seen something. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.379 He was crying out to God because he had experienced 00:09:44.379 --> 00:09:46.879 the presence of God before, and now he finds 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:49.399 himself in a place that's not the most comfortable 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.679 place, but now he wants the presence of God in 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:57.799 that place. Because he'd seen it. He'd experienced 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:02.399 it before. I've seen you in your sanctuary. So 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:04.879 what is the glory? I kind of already told you. 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:08.649 It's the manifest presence of God. It's the weight 00:10:08.649 --> 00:10:14.230 of who he is. It's his goodness revealed. It's 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:19.149 his reality made known. That's what the glory 00:10:19.149 --> 00:10:24.210 is. And you might say, well, Dean, you know, 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:27.990 God is omnipresent. Do you not know that? I mean, 00:10:27.990 --> 00:10:29.990 you've got a master's degree in theology. Don't 00:10:29.990 --> 00:10:34.870 you know that God is omnipresent? Yeah, I know 00:10:34.870 --> 00:10:38.840 God's omnipresent. But I've also read some verses. 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:43.340 I've read some other verses that let me know 00:10:43.340 --> 00:10:46.360 something. I've read some verses that let me 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:49.360 know that even though God is everywhere all the 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.120 time, there's sometimes when He's more here. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:57.179 If not, the Bible wouldn't say, where two or 00:10:57.179 --> 00:10:58.980 three are gathered together in His name, then 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:03.080 He is here. The Bible wouldn't say, you are the 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:06.279 temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:11:06.649 --> 00:11:11.070 God is in you. So the more of us that show up, 00:11:11.090 --> 00:11:15.350 the more of God that's in the room. The more 00:11:15.350 --> 00:11:18.250 we lift up the name of Jesus together and worship 00:11:18.250 --> 00:11:21.210 him, the more he is in the room, his manifested 00:11:21.210 --> 00:11:31.210 presence. Not just his promised presence. This 00:11:31.210 --> 00:11:36.299 was two weeks ago. Ephesians 5, 25. This is all 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:40.840 recap, just getting us all up to speed with some 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:45.759 new thoughts attached. Christ loved the church. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:52.039 Not a building, not an organization. That word 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:55.639 church is a compound Greek word that means called 00:11:55.639 --> 00:12:01.639 out once. Christ loved the church. He gave up 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:06.580 his life for her. To make her holy. Which means 00:12:06.580 --> 00:12:11.519 set apart. And clean. Washed by the cleansing 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:17.440 of God's word. He did this. Why did he do it? 00:12:17.700 --> 00:12:22.379 To present her. The called out ones. To himself. 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:32.879 As a glorious church. Glorious church. So that 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:40.639 word glorious. New Testament is endoxos. You 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:46.899 say it. It means in. The E -N always means in 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:53.940 in English. In glory. Everybody say in glory. 00:12:55.539 --> 00:13:03.299 So Jesus wants his church to be a church that 00:13:03.299 --> 00:13:08.289 is in glory. You might say, well, this is a Greek 00:13:08.289 --> 00:13:10.470 word instead of a Hebrew word. Well, glory, the 00:13:10.470 --> 00:13:15.110 word is doxa. And guess what? It means glory, 00:13:15.309 --> 00:13:23.730 splendor, and honor. It also means worship. It 00:13:23.730 --> 00:13:28.889 also means worship. But it means worship because 00:13:28.889 --> 00:13:34.159 you are... You are in reverence of and you're 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:37.179 honoring the glory and the splendor and the presence 00:13:37.179 --> 00:13:42.179 of God. So you can use that word to mean those 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:48.419 things. Just like the word Hosanna means save 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:53.899 us now, but we can use that word as worship because 00:13:53.899 --> 00:13:59.399 you're saying you have saved us, right? So we 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:02.179 can use the word doxa, we can use the word glory 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:10.779 to be a praise unto God because he is here. Right? 00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:15.539 When you say glory, as a word of worship or a 00:14:15.539 --> 00:14:20.220 word of praise, you're saying, God, I acknowledge 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:26.600 that you are here. And you, I honor your weightiness. 00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:33.659 your essence, your presence. That Greek word, 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:39.500 if you do a word study, it corresponds to the 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:41.480 Old Testament word. It's not a completely different 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:44.799 word. It corresponds to that Old Testament word. 00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:49.220 Both terms convey God's infinite, intrinsic worth, 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:57.389 His substance, and His essence. Both words. And 00:14:57.389 --> 00:14:59.830 again, Jesus is coming for a glorious church. 00:15:01.330 --> 00:15:07.429 So he's coming for called out ones in his glory. 00:15:08.129 --> 00:15:11.730 His manifest essence, presence, and goodness. 00:15:13.269 --> 00:15:20.009 People who are encountering God. Not just encountering 00:15:20.009 --> 00:15:28.950 religion, but encountering God. This is last 00:15:28.950 --> 00:15:31.750 week. Caught you up a little bit on two weeks. 00:15:31.830 --> 00:15:35.769 Here's week number three. To them, God willed 00:15:35.769 --> 00:15:39.649 to make known what are the riches of the glory 00:15:39.649 --> 00:15:47.250 of this mystery among the Gentiles. That's us, 00:15:47.350 --> 00:15:51.490 unless we're Jews. To them, God willed to make 00:15:51.490 --> 00:15:53.549 known what are the riches of the... Everybody 00:15:53.549 --> 00:15:57.370 say glory. Riches of the glory of this mystery 00:15:57.370 --> 00:16:03.049 among the Gentiles. And here's the mystery. Christ 00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:13.769 in you. Christ in you. Jesus is seated at the 00:16:13.769 --> 00:16:15.610 right hand of the Father in heaven, but he's 00:16:15.610 --> 00:16:31.539 also in us. In us. So we are here, but we're 00:16:31.539 --> 00:16:33.539 also somewhere else if we're in Christ. We're 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:36.799 seated with Christ in heavenly places. So we 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:44.860 can be here and in heaven at the same time. Look 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:46.139 at the person beside you and say, that's not 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:53.370 too freaky. That's not too freaky. So Jesus is 00:16:53.370 --> 00:16:55.190 seated at the right hand of the Father, but He's 00:16:55.190 --> 00:17:01.350 also in you. If you are in Him, He is in you. 00:17:04.130 --> 00:17:07.230 And what does that mean? What does that give 00:17:07.230 --> 00:17:14.630 us? The hope of glory. How many times do we just 00:17:14.630 --> 00:17:16.630 read this word glory all through the Bible and 00:17:16.630 --> 00:17:19.410 we really don't even think about what it means 00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:25.869 or what it's saying? How many times have I read 00:17:25.869 --> 00:17:27.690 a verse that had glory in it and I was just like, 00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:33.789 well, that's just, it's just a filler word. Hello? 00:17:35.230 --> 00:17:39.250 Come on. I know you've always, every time you've 00:17:39.250 --> 00:17:41.150 seen the word of glory, you've thought about 00:17:41.150 --> 00:17:44.410 the manifest presence of God and His splendor 00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:48.750 and His honor and glory. I know every time you've 00:17:48.750 --> 00:17:50.549 read it, you've thought that, but I have to be 00:17:50.549 --> 00:17:57.619 honest, I have not. And God wills to make known 00:17:57.619 --> 00:18:04.619 to you the riches of the glory of this mystery, 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:09.140 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. If 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:10.799 you've been in Lathian church much, you should 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.740 know what the word hope means. In the Bible, 00:18:13.779 --> 00:18:18.240 it doesn't mean hope, so hope. It doesn't mean 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.460 like, I hope it don't rain at one o 'clock because 00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:22.480 I don't want to get soaking wet more than once 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:32.089 today. I plan on getting soaking wet one time 00:18:32.089 --> 00:18:39.849 today. But it's not a hope so hope. Every time 00:18:39.849 --> 00:18:42.930 you read hope in the New Testament, it means 00:18:42.930 --> 00:18:49.309 a confident expectation and you can anticipate 00:18:49.309 --> 00:18:55.990 with pleasure. That's what the word means. So 00:18:55.990 --> 00:19:00.950 Christ in you is the hope of glory. Christ in 00:19:00.950 --> 00:19:04.230 you is the confident expectation. You can have 00:19:04.230 --> 00:19:08.509 a confident expectation of experiencing the manifested 00:19:08.509 --> 00:19:13.730 presence and the goodness of God. Because when 00:19:13.730 --> 00:19:17.509 Moses said, God, show me your glory, what did 00:19:17.509 --> 00:19:21.809 God say? He says, I'm going to hide you, and 00:19:21.809 --> 00:19:24.069 then I'm going to go by. My goodness is going 00:19:24.069 --> 00:19:31.910 to pass by you, is what God told him. So Christ 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:36.750 in us gives us, if we understand the Bible, if 00:19:36.750 --> 00:19:40.250 we understand Scripture, Christ in us gives us 00:19:40.250 --> 00:19:44.690 a confident expectation of experiencing the manifested 00:19:44.690 --> 00:19:49.170 presence of God and the goodness of God. He's 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:53.549 in us. And if He's good, we are experiencing 00:19:53.549 --> 00:19:56.170 His goodness. If we're acknowledging Him and 00:19:56.170 --> 00:20:01.740 acknowledging His presence, If we stand in a 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:06.460 hope of experiencing his glory, Christ in you 00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:12.299 is the hope of glory. If I was cold, I would 00:20:12.299 --> 00:20:16.200 have got up and ran right then. So where is the 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:19.140 glory? Where is it at? Keep talking about it. 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:25.859 Where is it? In the old covenant, God told his 00:20:25.859 --> 00:20:29.640 people that he would meet them. above the mercy 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:33.319 seat. The mercy seat was the angels on top of 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:36.019 the Ark of the Covenant, and right in between 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:41.819 that was the mercy seat. And God's glory, he 00:20:41.819 --> 00:20:43.940 says, I'll meet you. That's where I'll meet you. 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:47.940 So God's glory on earth was manifested with the 00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:50.779 Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:53.180 just couldn't be carried by anybody. It had to 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:59.570 be carried by priests under God's design. and 00:20:59.570 --> 00:21:05.650 it was kept in the Holy of Holies. And after 00:21:05.650 --> 00:21:10.509 this time in the wilderness, it wound up just 00:21:10.509 --> 00:21:14.029 being in the Holy of Holies, and only one priest 00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:16.670 could go, and in the temple, it moved to the 00:21:16.670 --> 00:21:20.210 temple, only one priest could go one day of the 00:21:20.210 --> 00:21:33.839 year to meet with God. To carry the blood for 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:40.839 the mercy seat. I'm glad it's not like that anymore. 00:21:44.619 --> 00:21:50.839 Who's glad it's not like that anymore? We got 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:57.660 to have one person born with a certain lineage. 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:03.819 Who can just go once a year to represent us before 00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:09.019 God. I'm glad it's not like that. Because now 00:22:09.019 --> 00:22:14.339 we're under a new covenant. Listen, God's glory, 00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:17.099 Christ in you, the hope of glory. God's coming 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:19.900 for a glorious church. God's glory manifests 00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:27.000 in and through his people. Since Christ is in 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:33.269 you. and you're in Christ, you can carry the 00:22:33.269 --> 00:22:36.990 connection to God's presence everywhere you go. 00:22:40.549 --> 00:22:44.630 We have access to His goodness and His power. 00:22:46.210 --> 00:22:49.529 And it's not just the preacher, it's everybody 00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:59.109 who's in Christ. And Christ is in them. I don't 00:22:59.109 --> 00:23:03.690 know why so many people think that it's just 00:23:03.690 --> 00:23:09.089 the preacher. When they need God, they call the 00:23:09.089 --> 00:23:16.250 preacher. I don't mind you calling me. Sometimes 00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:20.150 it seems like it's set up that way. You know, 00:23:20.170 --> 00:23:23.670 if you need God, go see the preacher. If you 00:23:23.670 --> 00:23:27.619 need God, get the preacher to pray. I've hit 00:23:27.619 --> 00:23:29.240 on this once when we were talking about prayer, 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:32.740 but it's like every time I go out to eat, everybody 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:34.599 looks at the preacher, the professional prayer, 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:41.440 like I'm the only one that can talk to God. It's 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:49.539 not the way it works. Not the way it works. Each 00:23:49.539 --> 00:23:51.920 one of us can be as close to God as we want to 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:57.519 be. I'll go ahead and throw this out there. Each 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:01.579 one of us is already as close to God as you want 00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:06.660 to be. That's hard preaching. It's good preaching. 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:13.200 See, God pours out his glory. He doesn't just 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:15.279 pick a spot on the map and say, I'm going to 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:17.720 pour out my glory right there. No, it's not the 00:24:17.720 --> 00:24:20.579 way it works. God pours out his glory among his 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:23.880 people, and he displays his glory through his 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:33.380 people. Back in the 80s, some of you aren't that 00:24:33.380 --> 00:24:40.480 old. Back in the 80s, we would go to church. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:44.779 Sometimes there was a fight to get to the front, 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:51.259 not a fight to get to the back seat. You're there 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:57.640 today, right? But in the 80s, it was like a fight 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:04.329 to get to the front row. It was a season because 00:25:04.329 --> 00:25:10.170 this was a saying. I want to be near the spout 00:25:10.170 --> 00:25:13.329 where the glory comes out. So has anybody ever 00:25:13.329 --> 00:25:15.730 heard that phrase before? Just me and Irv. We're 00:25:15.730 --> 00:25:21.109 the only ones who've ever heard it. So instead 00:25:21.109 --> 00:25:22.930 of a fight to get there early enough to get the 00:25:22.930 --> 00:25:28.049 back seat, people want it down front. They call 00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:31.500 that the spout where the glory comes out. And 00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:33.920 I'll just throw it out. I mean, if you sit in 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:38.119 the back, every person in front of you is a potential 00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:44.279 distraction to pull your mind away. So I think 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:47.740 that had more to do with it. But the spout where 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:53.099 the glory comes out. John 7, 37. This is Jesus 00:25:53.099 --> 00:25:56.299 talking. He says, anyone who is thirsty may come 00:25:56.299 --> 00:26:00.470 to me. Anyone who believes in me may come and 00:26:00.470 --> 00:26:03.750 drink. Tell the person beside you to say, drink 00:26:03.750 --> 00:26:07.670 up. Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone 00:26:07.670 --> 00:26:10.390 who believes in me may come and drink. For the 00:26:10.390 --> 00:26:16.309 scriptures declare, rivers of living water will 00:26:16.309 --> 00:26:26.650 flow from his heart. Rivers of living water will 00:26:26.650 --> 00:26:33.880 flow from his heart. We did a whole series, I 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:35.539 don't know, a couple of years ago based on this 00:26:35.539 --> 00:26:44.640 verse. And here's what we discovered. Followers 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:54.619 of Christ should have a flow. Followers of Christ 00:26:54.619 --> 00:27:03.339 should have a flow of living water. If we are 00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:09.380 connected to God like we're supposed to be, when 00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:12.039 we walk in a room like it's available, let's 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:14.319 just say, if we are connected to God like it's 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:18.779 available to us, when we walk in the room, living 00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:21.880 water is supposed to just be flowing out of us. 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:26.039 The whole atmosphere of the room should change 00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:32.029 when we walk in. Because God's goodness, And 00:27:32.029 --> 00:27:35.829 God's life and God's love and God's peace should 00:27:35.829 --> 00:27:39.329 be flowing. It should be a river, not a trickle, 00:27:39.349 --> 00:27:51.230 but a river flowing out of us. When he said living 00:27:51.230 --> 00:27:53.170 water, he was speaking of the spirit who would 00:27:53.170 --> 00:27:56.150 be given to everyone believing in him. So God 00:27:56.150 --> 00:28:00.819 is in us, but God is not in us. just for our 00:28:00.819 --> 00:28:08.700 personal benefit. Most of us, when we look to 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:10.519 God, we say, God, thank you for all you've done. 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:12.539 Thank you for all you're doing. God, thank you 00:28:12.539 --> 00:28:16.259 for being for me. God, thank you. And it's just 00:28:16.259 --> 00:28:20.619 all about what we can get out of God in this 00:28:20.619 --> 00:28:28.299 relationship. I mean, that might be the way we 00:28:28.299 --> 00:28:33.730 start. But that shouldn't be the life of a mature 00:28:33.730 --> 00:28:38.549 follower of Christ. God should be flowing through 00:28:38.549 --> 00:28:51.490 us. Rivers of living water. If it's not, if rivers 00:28:51.490 --> 00:28:53.710 of living water are not flowing out of us, it's 00:28:53.710 --> 00:29:00.430 not God's fault. It's just that we're not. You 00:29:00.430 --> 00:29:05.390 know, we're not serious about it. We're more 00:29:05.390 --> 00:29:07.329 serious about everything around us than we are 00:29:07.329 --> 00:29:10.329 God. If rivers of living water aren't flowing 00:29:10.329 --> 00:29:15.130 out of us. I don't normally preach this hard. 00:29:15.670 --> 00:29:17.630 Please come back if you're a first time visitor. 00:29:22.150 --> 00:29:28.089 God's glory flows among his people when they 00:29:28.089 --> 00:29:34.859 prepare the way for God. That's when the flow 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:38.960 happens. It happens when we prepare the way. 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:45.799 And God wants us to prepare the way. 2 Corinthians 00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:50.759 4, verse 6 and 7. For God who said, let there 00:29:50.759 --> 00:29:56.180 be light in darkness. Light be, is what he said. 00:29:58.859 --> 00:30:03.150 Same God. Same God who said, Let there be light 00:30:03.150 --> 00:30:06.750 in darkness. That's how we can see because there's 00:30:06.750 --> 00:30:13.829 light. He has made this light, his light, shine 00:30:13.829 --> 00:30:22.769 in our hearts. So we could know what? The glory. 00:30:23.450 --> 00:30:32.059 The glory of God. So we can know it. So we can 00:30:32.059 --> 00:30:34.319 know the glory of God, the manifested presence 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:36.640 of God, the goodness of God, the essence of God. 00:30:37.220 --> 00:30:40.599 He made His light shine in our hearts so we could 00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:44.539 know the glory of God that is seen in the face 00:30:44.539 --> 00:30:50.000 of Jesus Christ. Last week we talked about Stephen's 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:56.619 face looking like an angel. And it freaked everybody 00:30:56.619 --> 00:31:01.339 out. Because the glory of God, just like Moses, 00:31:01.460 --> 00:31:04.099 the glory of God was imprinted on his face. Now 00:31:04.099 --> 00:31:06.140 with Stephen, the glory of God's coming out of 00:31:06.140 --> 00:31:12.859 his face. It didn't come on his face, it came 00:31:12.859 --> 00:31:21.980 out of his face. Hello? And God wants his glory 00:31:21.980 --> 00:31:28.970 to be seen. Not just by you individually. Because 00:31:28.970 --> 00:31:33.890 glory even needs to be seen by the world. Verse 00:31:33.890 --> 00:31:38.789 7. We now have this light shining in our hearts. 00:31:42.269 --> 00:31:46.029 It's in your heart. It's in your spirit. This 00:31:46.029 --> 00:31:49.690 word heart is the core. So we're spirit beings, 00:31:49.769 --> 00:31:53.450 right? So now we have this light shining in our 00:31:53.450 --> 00:31:57.809 spirit. The same light that God said. Light be, 00:31:58.009 --> 00:32:02.029 and there's light in the earth. Same light that 00:32:02.029 --> 00:32:04.509 radiates. You know what? There's no sun in heaven 00:32:04.509 --> 00:32:08.029 because God is the light. His glory is the light. 00:32:11.750 --> 00:32:16.529 We have this light shining in our hearts, but 00:32:16.529 --> 00:32:19.089 we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing 00:32:19.089 --> 00:32:29.869 this great treasure. This makes it clear. It's 00:32:29.869 --> 00:32:36.410 not our glory. It's not our light. This makes 00:32:36.410 --> 00:32:41.250 it clear that our great power... Wait a minute. 00:32:44.089 --> 00:32:47.509 Is there great power of God's goodness flowing 00:32:47.509 --> 00:32:59.019 out of you? Sometimes I... When I'm reading the 00:32:59.019 --> 00:33:01.019 Bible, I'm just saying, God, we're so far from 00:33:01.019 --> 00:33:08.619 this. We're so far from what you're saying. Why 00:33:08.619 --> 00:33:14.559 are we so far away? This makes it clear that 00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:17.980 our great power is not our great power. Our great 00:33:17.980 --> 00:33:23.740 power is from God, not from ourselves. We're 00:33:23.740 --> 00:33:29.640 supposed to be powerful, not pitiful. We are 00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:33.500 the conduit. We are the vessel. We are the lamp. 00:33:37.460 --> 00:33:44.240 God is the fire, right? But we're the lamp. We're 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:52.279 the vessel. We're the fragile clay pot. So we 00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:57.849 need to have a shift in posture. From... Lord, 00:33:57.990 --> 00:34:01.190 send your glory. Because that could be our prayer 00:34:01.190 --> 00:34:03.230 as we talk about the glory. Our prayer could 00:34:03.230 --> 00:34:07.750 be, Lord, send your glory. Send your glory. God, 00:34:07.849 --> 00:34:11.050 we want to see your glory. Kind of like Moses. 00:34:11.369 --> 00:34:15.309 God, show me your glory. Send your glory. But 00:34:15.309 --> 00:34:18.909 under the new covenant, there's a shift. I hate 00:34:18.909 --> 00:34:21.230 to use that word paradigm shift because it was 00:34:21.230 --> 00:34:27.550 overused for so long, right? We need to shift. 00:34:27.590 --> 00:34:30.489 It needs to be, Lord, let your glory flow through 00:34:30.489 --> 00:34:40.030 me. Jesus, you are in me. So I have hope of your 00:34:40.030 --> 00:34:42.050 glory. And God, I want your glory to flow through 00:34:42.050 --> 00:34:47.909 me. Not just for my enjoyment. For your kingdom. 00:34:55.440 --> 00:35:00.940 So how is the flow going to be opened or the 00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:05.119 flow going to be increased in our lives? We've 00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:07.000 looked at this verse already in this series, 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:08.880 but I'm just going to keep putting it out there. 00:35:10.579 --> 00:35:14.219 Psalm 145, 11, they will speak of the glory of 00:35:14.219 --> 00:35:20.199 your kingdom. They will give examples of your 00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:25.599 power. Look to the person beside you and say, 00:35:25.739 --> 00:35:34.480 the they is you and me. The they is you and me. 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:38.280 Doesn't sound like good English, but we'll go 00:35:38.280 --> 00:35:42.860 with it. The they is you and me. They will speak 00:35:42.860 --> 00:35:47.719 of your glory. They will speak of your kingdom. 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:52.050 They will give examples of your power. Our lives 00:35:52.050 --> 00:36:02.030 should be examples of the power of God. And when 00:36:02.030 --> 00:36:05.050 our lives become the examples of the power of 00:36:05.050 --> 00:36:08.510 God, then we can testify of the goodness of God. 00:36:11.530 --> 00:36:14.090 Let me tell you something. I used to be here, 00:36:14.210 --> 00:36:20.369 but I'm not there anymore. Because I've encountered 00:36:20.369 --> 00:36:29.929 God. And God's made a difference. Can you point 00:36:29.929 --> 00:36:34.289 to your life and say, you know, I used to be 00:36:34.289 --> 00:36:36.869 here, but now I'm here, and it's all because 00:36:36.869 --> 00:36:48.860 of God. There's power in your testimony. When 00:36:48.860 --> 00:36:53.559 we declare God's goodness, your mouth is part 00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:57.099 of what prepares the way for the glory of God. 00:36:57.820 --> 00:37:02.059 A silent believer... Oh, we're not silent. We 00:37:02.059 --> 00:37:05.460 just don't talk about the glory of God and talk 00:37:05.460 --> 00:37:09.679 about giving our testimonies, right? We talk 00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:19.590 a lot. But a silent believer... is a closed spout, 00:37:19.650 --> 00:37:23.889 like the spout where the glory comes out. A silent 00:37:23.889 --> 00:37:28.170 believer, the spout's closed. You're not going 00:37:28.170 --> 00:37:30.110 to experience it. Nobody's going to experience 00:37:30.110 --> 00:37:32.570 the glory of God around you if you don't open 00:37:32.570 --> 00:37:37.090 your mouth. A negative believer, somebody who's 00:37:37.090 --> 00:37:40.710 just talking negative all the time, is a clogged 00:37:40.710 --> 00:37:44.369 spout. Glory of God's not going to flow through 00:37:44.369 --> 00:37:47.760 a negative mouth. It's not going to happen. Will 00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:53.860 not happen. Your mouth may not be negative at 00:37:53.860 --> 00:38:00.679 church. But how's your mouth the rest of the 00:38:00.679 --> 00:38:07.519 week? The glory of God is not going to flow when 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:09.519 our mouths are just speaking negative all the 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:14.079 time. But when our mouths are talking about the 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:16.420 glory of God, the goodness of God, when we're 00:38:16.420 --> 00:38:19.940 testifying to the power of God, then our mouths 00:38:19.940 --> 00:38:23.219 are praise -filled, and that's an open spout 00:38:23.219 --> 00:38:31.940 to see the glory of God. Let's go to the Old 00:38:31.940 --> 00:38:33.519 Testament, even though we're in the New Testament. 00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:35.480 I'm going to the New Testament after I read this 00:38:35.480 --> 00:38:39.460 Old Testament verse. And one cried to another. 00:38:42.349 --> 00:38:49.389 And said, holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth. 00:38:50.750 --> 00:38:57.610 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Actually, 00:38:57.610 --> 00:39:00.150 the is are in italics, so they're not there. 00:39:00.309 --> 00:39:06.210 Holy, holy, holy, the Lord of hosts. The whole 00:39:06.210 --> 00:39:17.079 earth full of his glory. And in this atmosphere, 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:24.300 what happened? The posts of the door were shaken 00:39:24.300 --> 00:39:28.519 by the voice of him who cried out and the house 00:39:28.519 --> 00:39:39.880 was filled with smoke or a mist. Oh God, let 00:39:39.880 --> 00:39:45.469 us see it. Let's go to another. Familiar story 00:39:45.469 --> 00:39:48.030 if you spent most time in church. Acts 16, I'm 00:39:48.030 --> 00:39:49.309 not going to go through the whole story, verses 00:39:49.309 --> 00:39:53.230 25 and 26. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were 00:39:53.230 --> 00:39:57.869 praying and singing hymns to God. Now listen, 00:39:58.070 --> 00:40:02.690 they were having a rough day, to say the least. 00:40:03.829 --> 00:40:06.809 They had been arrested. They had been beaten 00:40:06.809 --> 00:40:10.130 with rods. They were in the innermost part of 00:40:10.130 --> 00:40:11.929 the prison, which would have been the dirtiest, 00:40:12.130 --> 00:40:16.219 mustiest, nastiest place in the prison. They 00:40:16.219 --> 00:40:19.639 were chained. How many of you would say that'd 00:40:19.639 --> 00:40:21.659 be a pretty bad day? You agree with me, right? 00:40:21.739 --> 00:40:24.880 That'd be a bad day. Your back's bleeding. You 00:40:24.880 --> 00:40:26.960 got welts all over your back. Your back's bleeding. 00:40:27.300 --> 00:40:34.119 If we were there, we'd probably be saying, I 00:40:34.119 --> 00:40:39.300 can't believe God let this happen to me. This 00:40:39.300 --> 00:40:47.769 is terrible. My back is killing me. All we were 00:40:47.769 --> 00:40:54.050 doing was trying to help a lady. Tell you what, 00:40:54.170 --> 00:40:57.969 if this is what God's going to give me for living 00:40:57.969 --> 00:41:00.570 for Him and serving Him, I just don't know how 00:41:00.570 --> 00:41:10.590 much more I can take. Would you blame them if 00:41:10.590 --> 00:41:13.130 that's what they've been saying? Would you blame 00:41:13.130 --> 00:41:22.590 them? Or would you join in with them? It's not 00:41:22.590 --> 00:41:25.489 what they did. Around midnight, Paul and Silas 00:41:25.489 --> 00:41:33.670 were praying and singing. They weren't focused 00:41:33.670 --> 00:41:40.460 on their miserable day. Hello? How often do we 00:41:40.460 --> 00:41:45.159 focus on our miserable day? This is a terrible 00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:48.920 day. I hate this day. I can't wait for this day 00:41:48.920 --> 00:41:53.280 to be over. I'm so glad it's over. Now I can 00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:55.539 go to sleep and pray that God will give me a 00:41:55.539 --> 00:41:58.360 better day tomorrow. I can't believe my day went 00:41:58.360 --> 00:42:06.820 like this. Nope. They were praying and singing. 00:42:10.059 --> 00:42:12.539 And you know what? All the other prisoners were 00:42:12.539 --> 00:42:16.960 listening to him. People around you are listening 00:42:16.960 --> 00:42:26.139 to your voice. They're listening. They're listening. 00:42:26.840 --> 00:42:30.659 Your co -workers are listening. Your boss is 00:42:30.659 --> 00:42:35.800 listening. Your employees are listening. Your 00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:39.039 family is listening. Everybody is listening. 00:42:42.869 --> 00:42:49.909 Everybody's listening. What's coming out? They 00:42:49.909 --> 00:42:52.789 were listening. It doesn't say that they were 00:42:52.789 --> 00:42:56.309 praying and singing too. I have a feeling they 00:42:56.309 --> 00:43:02.250 were about to get really happy. Paul and Silas 00:43:02.250 --> 00:43:06.670 were praying and singing. How would our lives 00:43:06.670 --> 00:43:09.750 change if we were in a difficult situation and 00:43:09.750 --> 00:43:13.909 we started praying and singing? Declaring heavenly 00:43:13.909 --> 00:43:15.989 realities. I'm not talking about begging God. 00:43:16.210 --> 00:43:18.289 I'm talking about putting your words in agreement 00:43:18.289 --> 00:43:21.250 with what God has said and standing up and declaring 00:43:21.250 --> 00:43:25.969 heavenly realities. Let it be in my life today 00:43:25.969 --> 00:43:32.349 like it is in heaven. How much would our life 00:43:32.349 --> 00:43:40.530 change? Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake. 00:43:42.599 --> 00:43:45.619 And the prison was shaken to its foundations. 00:43:47.880 --> 00:43:50.500 Kind of sounds like what was happening in that 00:43:50.500 --> 00:43:53.920 other verse I just read, right? Praise is going 00:43:53.920 --> 00:43:55.840 up. All of a sudden, doorposts begin to shake. 00:43:58.460 --> 00:44:04.239 Now the prison's shaking. You know why? The other 00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:10.159 time, it was in the temple where God's presence 00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:15.739 could be displayed. Now it's in the prison and 00:44:15.739 --> 00:44:20.500 it's in Paul and Silas and the presence of God 00:44:20.500 --> 00:44:25.420 can be displayed in the prison. I wish that was 00:44:25.420 --> 00:44:27.619 in my notes. I hope somebody wrote that down 00:44:27.619 --> 00:44:32.800 because I need to remember that. The prison was 00:44:32.800 --> 00:44:35.199 shaken to its foundations. It's going to be on 00:44:35.199 --> 00:44:36.840 the podcast. I'll listen to it about five or 00:44:36.840 --> 00:44:41.730 six times. all the doors immediately flew open 00:44:41.730 --> 00:44:48.250 and the chains of every prisoner fell off. When 00:44:48.250 --> 00:44:52.170 the manifested presence of God shows up, your 00:44:52.170 --> 00:44:54.630 problem, your situation, your prison won't be 00:44:54.630 --> 00:45:02.730 able to hold it. The manifested presence of God 00:45:02.730 --> 00:45:05.849 brings freedom. It brings deliverance. It brings 00:45:05.849 --> 00:45:20.360 the goodness of God. The glory. So if we want 00:45:20.360 --> 00:45:22.599 to encounter the glory, worship prepares the 00:45:22.599 --> 00:45:28.780 way. Worship prepares the way. The pattern in 00:45:28.780 --> 00:45:31.780 scripture is we declare his holiness, glory comes. 00:45:32.139 --> 00:45:35.599 We honor his presence and glory comes. We magnify 00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:38.599 his name. We lift up the name of Jesus and glory 00:45:38.599 --> 00:45:43.230 comes. So many times when we talk about praise 00:45:43.230 --> 00:45:45.449 and worship now in our society, it's like, oh, 00:45:45.469 --> 00:45:47.769 that's that style of music. I better turn on 00:45:47.769 --> 00:45:52.429 Christian radio and listen to some praise and 00:45:52.429 --> 00:45:59.269 worship. Worship isn't a music style. Genuine 00:45:59.269 --> 00:46:05.909 worship is engagement with heaven. Engagement 00:46:05.909 --> 00:46:14.590 with heaven. but I can't stand it. Our acknowledgement 00:46:14.590 --> 00:46:22.929 prepares the way. Acknowledgement. You've got 00:46:22.929 --> 00:46:26.090 to acknowledge His Word and acknowledge what's 00:46:26.090 --> 00:46:29.989 available and acknowledge His presence. I would 00:46:29.989 --> 00:46:33.269 always tell teenagers when we were doing our 00:46:33.269 --> 00:46:35.530 conference, I would tell them, I would say, look, 00:46:35.769 --> 00:46:38.670 everybody says that they've kicked God out of 00:46:38.670 --> 00:46:42.980 school. Talking to 1 ,800, 1 ,900 teenagers. 00:46:43.739 --> 00:46:45.760 You know, it's like they kick God out of school. 00:46:46.079 --> 00:46:49.219 I don't want God in school. And I would say, 00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:55.400 listen to me. When you walk in the door, you 00:46:55.400 --> 00:46:58.019 hit that bar and push that door open and you 00:46:58.019 --> 00:47:01.780 make a bold declaration. God is here. I don't 00:47:01.780 --> 00:47:04.280 care if it's a Christian school or a secular 00:47:04.280 --> 00:47:06.659 school, a public school. I don't even care. When 00:47:06.659 --> 00:47:08.920 you walk in the door, God's here because Christ 00:47:08.920 --> 00:47:12.760 is in you. You can't walk in without Him. When 00:47:12.760 --> 00:47:21.920 you go to work, God is here. God is here. We've 00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:24.900 got to have that realization. And we've got to 00:47:24.900 --> 00:47:28.199 acknowledge that. That wherever we go, God is 00:47:28.199 --> 00:47:38.780 here. More than He was before we got there. Surrender 00:47:38.780 --> 00:47:44.280 it. prepares the way for the glory of God. Surrender. 00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:52.619 God, use me. What would it be like if every day 00:47:52.619 --> 00:47:56.760 this was part of your prayer talking to God? 00:47:56.840 --> 00:48:01.800 What if you said, God, use me today? I don't 00:48:01.800 --> 00:48:03.219 know what I'm going to face. I don't know who 00:48:03.219 --> 00:48:06.019 I'm going to encounter. I don't know the situations 00:48:06.019 --> 00:48:08.340 that I'm going to run into in this fallen world. 00:48:08.750 --> 00:48:14.630 but God used me today. How much more would we 00:48:14.630 --> 00:48:18.510 see the glory of God and the goodness of God 00:48:18.510 --> 00:48:20.710 if we just yielded ourselves to Him and said, 00:48:20.789 --> 00:48:26.889 use me. God, flow through me. God, speak through 00:48:26.889 --> 00:48:33.329 me. God, move through me. God, most days I'm 00:48:33.329 --> 00:48:36.800 just concerned about my way, but today... I want 00:48:36.800 --> 00:48:39.880 your way more than I want my way. God, use me. 00:48:45.699 --> 00:48:53.159 I bet it would change your day. I wish that I 00:48:53.159 --> 00:48:55.380 had more time than the little bit of time I had 00:48:55.380 --> 00:48:58.739 this morning. But this was late on my heart this 00:48:58.739 --> 00:49:03.280 morning. Revivals and awakenings. You know, we 00:49:03.280 --> 00:49:07.340 got the Great Awakening, the Second Awakening, 00:49:07.340 --> 00:49:09.440 and all this stuff in the history of our nation. 00:49:12.739 --> 00:49:19.280 Revivals. Revivals and awakenings are not just 00:49:19.280 --> 00:49:22.619 God just saying, I'm just going to pick a spot 00:49:22.619 --> 00:49:24.880 anywhere on the globe and there's going to be 00:49:24.880 --> 00:49:29.099 a revival or awakening. It's not the way it works. 00:49:30.639 --> 00:49:33.579 Every single one of them have, begun with God's 00:49:33.579 --> 00:49:38.880 people seeking Him. And if they last any amount 00:49:38.880 --> 00:49:41.960 of time, they're sustained by the manifested 00:49:41.960 --> 00:49:47.099 presence of God and the glory of God. I'll never 00:49:47.099 --> 00:49:50.800 forget, just outside of Columbia, South Carolina, 00:49:50.880 --> 00:49:54.559 we went and did a school assembly. You know, 00:49:54.619 --> 00:49:59.619 we've done a lot of school assemblies. Over the 00:49:59.619 --> 00:50:02.159 years, 21 years on the road, did a lot of things 00:50:02.159 --> 00:50:05.000 like this, but I'll never forget this one day 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:08.159 because we did a school assembly. This happened 00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:10.900 to be at a Christian school, but how many of 00:50:10.900 --> 00:50:15.739 you know Christian schools sometimes have situations? 00:50:17.280 --> 00:50:19.920 Anybody know what I'm talking about? There's 00:50:19.920 --> 00:50:21.659 been known to be drug dealers going to Christian 00:50:21.659 --> 00:50:24.519 schools and people who get kicked out, the meanest 00:50:24.519 --> 00:50:26.380 kids who get kicked out of public school wound 00:50:26.380 --> 00:50:30.039 up going to a Christian school. So a Christian 00:50:30.039 --> 00:50:31.920 school doesn't mean that everybody's a Christian. 00:50:32.840 --> 00:50:35.400 But we did an assembly at this school just outside 00:50:35.400 --> 00:50:39.619 of Columbia. And I want to tell you something. 00:50:39.739 --> 00:50:52.119 The manifest presence of God was thick. And it's 00:50:52.119 --> 00:50:54.900 like we went over the time, which that makes 00:50:54.900 --> 00:50:57.920 teachers nervous. Because they've got lesson 00:50:57.920 --> 00:51:01.900 plans and they're supposed to stay. But it's 00:51:01.900 --> 00:51:04.539 like, even after the program was finished, nobody 00:51:04.539 --> 00:51:09.579 wanted to leave. Because they were experiencing 00:51:09.579 --> 00:51:13.239 the manifested presence of God. It wasn't that 00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:15.500 people were up there continuing to talk. It's 00:51:15.500 --> 00:51:17.940 just like there was a holy presence in the room 00:51:17.940 --> 00:51:21.260 and nobody wanted to leave, not even the kids. 00:51:23.980 --> 00:51:28.139 And finally, You know, it's like, okay, everybody 00:51:28.139 --> 00:51:30.860 go back to class. You know, just kind of probably 00:51:30.860 --> 00:51:32.500 shouldn't have broke it, but we tried to break 00:51:32.500 --> 00:51:36.579 it and everybody went to class. But as we were 00:51:36.579 --> 00:51:39.159 taking down the sound system and stuff like that, 00:51:39.320 --> 00:51:52.039 kids just started walking back in. Teachers began 00:51:52.039 --> 00:51:56.920 to recognize that God wasn't done. And it wasn't 00:51:56.920 --> 00:51:59.340 like a whole class where the teacher marched 00:51:59.340 --> 00:52:05.139 the whole class back. Just one kid, kid from 00:52:05.139 --> 00:52:06.780 another room that didn't even see that other 00:52:06.780 --> 00:52:13.420 kid come. They just all came back. And they stayed. 00:52:14.760 --> 00:52:20.039 No music playing, nobody talking. Those kids 00:52:20.039 --> 00:52:26.079 recognized the manifest presence of God. And 00:52:26.079 --> 00:52:29.460 they stayed. There were times in our conference. 00:52:29.639 --> 00:52:31.800 I talk about having the big God conference in 00:52:31.800 --> 00:52:34.699 Myrtle Beach. And there were times in our conference 00:52:34.699 --> 00:52:41.280 that the glory of God filled the room. And there's 00:52:41.280 --> 00:52:46.480 1 ,800 teenagers in the room. And for 20 or 30 00:52:46.480 --> 00:52:52.019 minutes, nobody says a word. Do you think I could 00:52:52.019 --> 00:52:55.400 make 18, 1900 teenagers not say anything if they're 00:52:55.400 --> 00:52:59.579 in a room with nothing going on? I mean, is that 00:52:59.579 --> 00:53:11.519 even possible? It happened. It happened. I was 00:53:11.519 --> 00:53:15.559 able to visit Brownsville and Pensacola, Florida. 00:53:16.179 --> 00:53:18.219 Millions of people came from around the world. 00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:22.659 What started is just like a Sunday through Wednesday 00:53:22.659 --> 00:53:29.000 visiting preacher coming in. It lasted for five 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:34.940 years. It's hard enough to get people to come 00:53:34.940 --> 00:53:39.739 to church on Sunday morning. But people came. 00:53:42.599 --> 00:53:45.440 At least six days a week. I think they started 00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:48.980 not coming on Saturday after a while. People 00:53:48.980 --> 00:53:58.880 are coming. That church was packed. Packed. If 00:53:58.880 --> 00:54:00.239 I said we were going to have a prayer meeting 00:54:00.239 --> 00:54:02.360 tonight, I don't know if this many people would 00:54:02.360 --> 00:54:09.800 show up. Right? I was able to visit. And listen, 00:54:09.880 --> 00:54:12.960 as soon as I walked in that sanctuary, I can't 00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:17.619 say that I agree with, you know, you can find. 00:54:18.519 --> 00:54:21.900 I'm not supposed to say that word. You can find 00:54:21.900 --> 00:54:26.539 ignorant comments if you search hard enough. 00:54:26.860 --> 00:54:30.320 I mean, the newspaper was out to destroy the 00:54:30.320 --> 00:54:32.840 pastor and the evangelist. I mean, they just, 00:54:33.019 --> 00:54:36.360 media was trying its best to shut it down, especially 00:54:36.360 --> 00:54:39.159 the main newspaper in Pensacola. I mean, they 00:54:39.159 --> 00:54:42.239 were trying their best to shut it down. It lasted 00:54:42.239 --> 00:54:47.820 for five years. Church packed. Six days a week 00:54:47.820 --> 00:54:57.260 for five years. But it didn't just happen because 00:54:57.260 --> 00:55:02.900 God said, I'm going to do that. Watch this. It 00:55:02.900 --> 00:55:05.519 happened because God's people were seeking him. 00:55:06.780 --> 00:55:11.780 And it was sustained by his glory. Asbury Park 00:55:11.780 --> 00:55:15.119 is another place where that's happened in our... 00:55:16.139 --> 00:55:19.179 In our lives. Most of our lives. Some of us were 00:55:19.179 --> 00:55:24.519 born after that. It was a school. It was a college. 00:55:25.900 --> 00:55:30.920 And, you know, they had to shut down classes. 00:55:33.699 --> 00:55:36.840 Because people just wanted to linger in the presence 00:55:36.840 --> 00:55:40.239 of God. There, there wasn't even a preacher who 00:55:40.239 --> 00:55:43.719 preached every day. It's just... God would lay 00:55:43.719 --> 00:55:45.420 it on people's hearts to get up to the microphone 00:55:45.420 --> 00:55:47.820 and say something. They were there. I can't remember 00:55:47.820 --> 00:55:49.719 how long it was. Somebody could probably Google 00:55:49.719 --> 00:55:52.099 it and tell me. I know it was a long time. They 00:55:52.099 --> 00:55:55.960 were there 24 hours a day, seven days a week 00:55:55.960 --> 00:56:01.239 for a long time. I'm going to tell you something. 00:56:01.980 --> 00:56:04.579 If it happened there, it can happen anywhere. 00:56:07.940 --> 00:56:11.280 You are God's vessel. You are His lamp. You are 00:56:11.280 --> 00:56:17.630 His carrier. Christ in you, you're in him. You, 00:56:17.849 --> 00:56:22.690 quote unquote, are the spout. It's not going 00:56:22.690 --> 00:56:25.289 to happen. You're not going to experience it. 00:56:28.309 --> 00:56:34.889 Just by chance. The world, this generation, Four 00:56:34.889 --> 00:56:40.269 Corners, we don't need more theories, more religious 00:56:40.269 --> 00:56:43.920 theories. Need more opinions. We don't need more 00:56:43.920 --> 00:56:50.099 entertainment. We don't need more hype. That's 00:56:50.099 --> 00:56:54.039 not what we need. People need to encounter God. 00:56:59.800 --> 00:57:04.440 We're not waiting on a cloud. God's waiting on 00:57:04.440 --> 00:57:11.400 us. He's waiting on us. This online worship experience 00:57:11.400 --> 00:57:13.960 was brought to you by the friends and partners 00:57:13.960 --> 00:57:14.900 of Elation Church.