places. If you have your Bible, I'm going to
give you a couple of verses that I really want
to get to this morning. One of the first ones,
not yet, but 1 Samuel chapter 10, if you would
turn there, and then also put your finger in
1 Timothy 1 .18. 1 Timothy 1 .18, 1 Samuel chapter
10. We're in our series called Reach, and we're
talking about the reach of God getting toward
us and our reach toward Him. And we've gone through
each of the letters so far, R -E -A. We've stopped
at that middle mountain, if you will, series
of A called Expectation, Attitude. And from Attitude
here, before we hit the C and the H of Community
and Harvest, about Reach, we're talking about
Vision. Because in order for us to run, and to
reach and to do what God has asked us to do,
we've got to have a God. given perspective put
on our heart. It changes our expectation. It
changes our attitude. Can I get an amen? And
we've been using, obviously for those that are
visiting, we've been using Philippians 3 verses
12 through 15 as the main context for reach,
for getting the past, reaching forward. But we've
also been using Habakkuk chapter 2 verses 1,
2, and 3 in regard to getting a vision, a God
-given vision. I want to just by quick referring
deal with what we talked about last week, Habakkuk
chapter 2, 2. Then the Lord said to me, write
my answer. Everybody say God's answer. Write
God's answer plainly on tablets so that the runner
can carry the correct message to others. The
vision is for a future time. It describes the
end. And it will be fulfilled. I want to just
lay this out this morning. We talked a little
bit last week about divine conferment and deputization.
Now, notice that the vision comes to the runner.
It should be written plainly. Come on. And it
is for a future time. It is for now. And it is
for then. It is a message that unfolds itself
and it grows with you. When you get a God vision
inside of you, it's not just for your now season.
It's for your future season. And somebody say
tomorrow. Come on, tomorrow. Tomorrow, God. God
is his loving kindness. I'm going to preach a
little bit this morning. If it gets a little
hot, you know, listen, I sat in many services.
That's why there ain't no hair here. Hallelujah.
Just smoke, just burn up the fire of God. Hallelujah.
If it gets a little hot this morning, know that
I feel the press of the Spirit of God to work
this word into the atmosphere of this church
and into our hearts this morning because we've
been... Just as the Lord has been talking to
me and showing me in the scriptures, we're rototilling
this into the atmosphere and to the hearts of
God's people so we get it. That process of allowing
the vision to be written on tablets, Habakkuk
2 .1. If we could go to Habakkuk 2 .1 just for
a second. I stand there watching so I would know
what God says to me. And then when he says to
me, verse 2, I'm having him write it on the tablets
of my heart so that I can carry the correct message,
his message, his divine message, the message
that not only entails the fullness of salvation,
but what my part is in bringing that message
to others. I have a part. You have a part. It's
not just about a preacher on a stage. It's about
God's people all. doing the work of the ministry,
having the message, the vision of God written
on their hearts. So when that message comes,
we talked a little bit about it last week. I'll
just move forward and move right into it. Confirmant
means what? Conveyance, deputization, assignment.
It means power activated when the message comes.
gives power to implement his vision on your heart
and it comes from heaven. It's not power of man.
It's not power of anything else. It's the power
of God. Why? Because it's his spirit that's giving
the message. Amen? And then there is We said
with that, there's two things that happen. There
is a reset and there is alignment. We have to
get aligned with God's vision. The power of God
flows through alignment from the will of the
Father, the will of the Son, and the releasing
of the Holy Spirit. When we're aligned with God's
word, God's will, God's ways, the power of the
Spirit of God moves on the vision of your heart
and propels you not only to run, but to fulfill
the purpose of which he's written on your heart.
Are you there? Hallelujah. So when God's vision
comes, it comes what we would call in the prophetic.
It comes, doesn't just all of a sudden written.
It's written in here, the vision, the full vision
of what God wants us to know is written in this.
This is called the Logos. The logos, or even
the graphe, meaning the word that is written.
It's the logos word of God. It's all that contains
from Genesis to Revelation. This is the will
of God for mankind. I'm going to say something
here that might just pucker a couple of you.
Is this the fullness of the will of God? No.
But it is the revealed will of God in which we
live our lives. Means God has so much more than
what's written here. But he decided to give us
a revelation of what he wants to live our lives
within the boundaries of this. God is not contained.
He's revealed in this, but he's not contained
by this because he's only given us. what he wants
us to operate in. In fact, his case and point
is, we don't see when we get to the millennium,
as you read in the book of Revelation, there's
very little about the thousand year reign of
Christ on the earth, just enough to let us know
it's going to happen. The bulk of it here, though,
tells us about the covenant that we have with
him, his love, his forgiveness, the fact that
he's a redeeming God. He gives us and gives us
everything we know how to navigate this Christian
life and to walk in the spirit of God as a Christian
to fulfill his will is written in here. This
is the Logos word of God. Can I get an amen?
Now, in the midst of the Logos, he does what?
He gives what the Bible calls rhema. Rhema means
a now, a God -breathed. All of the Logos is God
-breathed. In fact, 2 Timothy 3 .16 says, all
scripture is God -breathed, one translation says,
or God -inspired. It's the breath of God. But
a Rhema word has a now touch on it. The Logos
doesn't necessarily have a now touch. It implies
all of the revelation that God has given us or
the scope. But a rhema word, the Holy Spirit,
highlights something for your life at that very
now season. It's how you're reading and all of
a sudden people say, well, that scripture came
alive to me today. That was a rhema. boost. It's
like you got a, hallelujah, a little Holy Ghost
jolt where God spoke to you. Or maybe somebody
is praying for you, calls you and says, hey,
the Lord really put you on my heart. I heard
this verse for you today. Boom, a rhema, word
of God, came right into the moment. Or somebody,
you were at an altar call or a prayer time and
somebody heard the voice of the Lord speak and
said, man, I hear the Lord saying this. And man,
it just met you right where it was. It was what
the Proverbs talked about a timely word set in
sockets of silver and gold was a precious godly
word. All of a sudden, those things hit you.
Well, how is it? Well, that is God's prophetic
moving spirit, the wind of the spirit highlighting
within his revealed revelation. Thumbing through
the word of God, making his voice known to you
by his word and by his now will for your life.
It does not supersede scripture. It works within
the banks of scripture. Can I hear an amen? It's
important that you understand that. Where the
prophetic and where prophecy goes wrong is when
people do not have an understanding of God's
written word. But the Bible tells us all over
the place. In fact, as we're going to look at
that, if I can ever get going here. Hallelujah.
He tells us that we're all to prophesy. All of
us. 1 Corinthians 14. I mean, it couldn't get
any clearer. It says, earnestly, and I'm just
quoting from the old King Jimmy because it's
in me. Hallelujah. Earnestly desire spiritual
gifts, but especially that you prophesy. That's
1 Corinthians 1. For those of you that are frantically
looking that up and are freaking out right now,
hallelujah. 1 Corinthians 14, 1. Earnestly desire
spiritual gifts, but especially that you prophesy.
Now that word earnestly from the Greek is the
strongest word that can be used without a tainting
of the word, Earnestly desire is a word that
could be used for wanting to be with somebody.
Without getting weird, Valentine's Day and then
February 15th was my wife's birthday. We got
engaged on Valentine's Day right before her birthday.
And so 14, 15, I had to do that strategically
because I always forget things. And so having
two days to ramp up to things helps me out. Hallelujah.
I can just tag it on to Valentine's Day and go,
oh, hallelujah. I always, Lisa, I always get
that. She gives me a hard time about our actual
day that we actually were married. And it's the
24th of June. The 24th. Oh, it is the 26th. Oh.
False prophet. Hallelujah. House. See, the Lord
vindicates his righteous. Hallelujah. I'll take
the heat, though. I've said the 24 for so many
years, you fell under the influence. All right.
It is the 26th. It is the 26th of June. Now,
listen. In that Valentine's Day and birthday,
there was an earnest desire to be with my wife.
Right? It's that. That marital place, and I'm
not going to go too deep into that. You get the
drift of that place of complete love and loving
one another. Now God takes that word and he removes
any form of carnality and he says, now in the
spirit, I want all of you to earnestly desire
spiritual gifts. There should be something inside
of you that longs to partner. With the Spirit
of God. Correctly. To be in sync. To love Him.
And to move with Him. Because there's nothing
like dancing through life to the beat of His
lead and His move. Those that don't understand
that, He paid for you to know it. And for you
to say no. Now this is where it might get a little
hot here. For you to say no is the bride telling
the groom, I don't want what you paid for. Get
me something else. And the only reason we would
say that is because we're operating in a spirit
of religion and have not opened up our heart
really to the word of the Lord to be changed
and transformed. That's a good word, preacher.
All right. You see, when God gives a vision,
when God gives his word to you in this and through
the scriptures and highlights it and speaks his...
now voiced to you as well. That vision that's
to be written on your heart in itself is not
Logos. It's Rhema. The Logos is what is the banks
of the river. But the Rhema is the current of
the themes of heaven that move within the banks
of revealed revelation. to let you know he's
with you and that he's walking with you and that
he's talking with you and that he is actually
doing what you have been praying for. He's trying
to open your ear to be your friend, your... counselor
through his thoughts that the Bible says in Jeremiah,
the thoughts of God are thousands toward you
daily. He's trying to give you a vein of his
heart to beat in yours. Are you there? Now, that
means if it's prophetic, if it's rhema, it's
alive and it's active. That's why the word of
God is sharper. Remember what it says in Hebrews?
Hebrews 4, 12. The word of God is sharper than
any two -edged sword dividing between the soul
and the spirit, between joint and marrow. Do
you know that word of God is active? It's not
talking just about Logos. It's talking about
Rhema. It's talking how God takes his word, this
very sword. Even it says it's like a sword, so
it's not even calling it a sword. He says it's
sharper than a sword. But the actual sword used
in the armor of the Lord in Ephesians 6 is not
the big two -handed broadsword standing like
William Wallace. Hey! Okay? That isn't the picture.
The picture is the makiera. That's the word that's
used. It's about a little 18 -inch sword that's
meant to be used. In hand -to -hand combat that
has a very sharpened blade to be able to stick
and hook right in the very close quarter combat.
So when he says the word of God is sharper than
any two -edged sword, dividing between soul and
spirit, joint and marrow, he's talking about
the rhema word that comes through the prophetic
anointing that begins to bring God's logos to
your mind at that moment to be able to get into
the center of where you're feeling. what you're
thinking, and what's happening in your life.
It divides between that which is the mind of
man and the mind of God. The broadsword does
not do that. The broadsword divides. of understanding
of doctrine and truth, but the machiera gets
in personal inside the details of the mind and
the heart and gets in to where you're thinking
because it knows where you're at and it gets
in to divide what is not of him and to breathe
on what is. It's the prophetic word of the Lord.
You doing okay this morning? I still haven't
got to any of my main scriptures. Hallelujah.
Let's take a look at Psalms 19, verse 7. We'll
start with this. Psalms 19. I'm fired up already.
I haven't even prayed. Can I get a little water,
baby? Thank you. The 26th of June. Come on. Hallelujah.
Thank you, sweetheart. Beautiful bride. Psalms
19 .7 says, out of the message, the revelation
of God is whole and pulls our life together.
That's talking about The logos. The revelation
of God is whole. He's talking about the complete
word. It's whole. It's not fragmented. As you've
seen, the Bible has wove through from Genesis
to Revelation. All doctrines are tied through
the thread from Genesis to Revelation perfectly.
1 ,600 years of composing this. 40 different
authors. The themes of the Lord are whole. And
it pulls our lives together. We can trust it.
The signposts of God are clear and point out
the right road. What are the signposts? The signposts
are the rhema words of the Lord that come to
tell you where you're at on the journey. The
wholeness of God's revelation, but then the signposts
come to say, Here you are and here I am with
you. How many are glad for a few signposts when
you're traveling? Come on. That's exactly what
he's talking about here. They're clear. They're
meant to be clear and point out the right road.
Then it says the life maps of God are right.
How many have ever used an old map and found
that it's wrong? You know, before everybody had
their little phone and you're all digitized,
we used to, for younger generations, a thing
called map. It was on paper. And you would see
people unfolding. The windshield would be taken
up with maps and people would be, you understand?
And then you realize your map was out of date.
But God's maps never go out of date. Why? Because
he's the one that writes them. He sees the end
from the beginning. It says the life maps of
God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions
of God are plain and easy on the eyes. So when
the psalmist as David is talking about here,
if there's anybody that understood how the prophetic
flowed, how David was able to receive from God
in prophetic moments, playing his musical instrument
before the Lord, sitting even in the tabernacle
of David with the very sides open, welcoming
the presence of God, sitting in front of the
very essence of God's presence of the Ark of
the Covenant, he would wait for... What? The
rhema, word of the Lord, directions, signposts
in which God would meet him in order to be able
to navigate as God's leader but as God's servant.
He had the logos in that old covenant, had Genesis
to Malachi. But God weaved in between the banks
of that covenant. He weaved his rhema word to
David. And David in this translation is describing
to us what that very thing is. What is the word
of the Lord? Or what is the prophetic? It is
a gift that is used to help us walk in the fulfillment
and plan. for our personal lives, and for the
vision of a local church. God uses the prophetic
to help you navigate your life and to help us
as the people of God, the leaders, to navigate
his vision for the house. The prophetic is not
just a here and there, a haphazard grace gift.
It's a gift that pulls from the whole counsel
of God. The prophetic brings us near. For the
purposes of God. God intersects your life with
his word. With his living word. Not scripture.
But his voice. His now voice to your life. What
Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do. He said
he would lead you in all truth. He would bring
the voice of the Lord. For your now walk with
him. And same for the church. It's not haphazard.
Shame on us for thinking that the prophetic is
haphazard. It's not. The prophetic reveals the
Lord's heart and his nearness in our experiences
and makes clear his irresistible love and persistent
grace toward us as we journey with him through
this life. God uses the prophetic to speak to
us about our... past, what we've walked through,
about our now, what we're in, and he gives us
navigation points for our future in him. He doesn't
reveal everything about our future. That's why
this walk is a walk of faith. But he does give
us some GPS points along the way of what he has
already written down for us and to help us walk
in it. That's so important. If you're saying,
well, I just wish he'd make it clear and tell
me everything I'm supposed to do. No, you don't.
No, you don't. Because that's part of your treasure
is your faith, trusting, leaning, hiding his
word in your heart and allowing him to reveal
it along the way. The prophetic works like signposts.
on the journey. They make the navigation for
our purpose and our course a little clearer.
They come through messages. They come through
words of encouragement. They come through fresh
insight of the illumination that the Lord highlights
in Scripture or that the Lord tells us about
ourselves when we hear it personally in our prayer
time or somebody else the Lord reveals it to
to give us a message. The prophetic is all about
bringing clarity to the believer and their walk,
not confusion. That's why the Bible, actually
that word, 1 Corinthians 14 verse 33, God is
not the author of confusion but of peace. Guess
what the context of that is? Over the prophetic.
It blows my mind how many times that scripture
is misquoted by people taking it right out of
the context for which it was. It was placed right
in the midst of how a person is to be in control
of their own life and the word that God gives
them and in order be able to give that word.
But then God clearly says, do not despise prophecies,
but understand God is not the author of confusion.
It's in the prophetic. Turn to somebody and go,
wow. Prophetic instructions of the Lord and his
loving encouragement and edification are a complete
and wonderful package. The life maps of God then
become a witness and a guide for the life that
God wants for you. The reason that he would bring
his prophetic word in your life is that he actually
has it written out for you. The Bible's filled
with this. He says, David, fact is, let me just
go back to that scripture because it's so important
that you get this. David says in Psalms 139,
16, you saw me before I was born. Every day of
my life is recorded in your book. Every moment
was laid out before a single day had even passed.
So when we say, what does the prophetic do? The
prophetic brings you into what? God has already
determined is your best possible, most fruitful
experience of life on planet earth with him.
He lays that perfect will of the Lord out. And
then he's able through grace when you deviate
from that path to even turn the bad turns where
you missed his voice, missed his word, disobeyed,
remained unfaithful, he can still weave you back
in because of his goodness. Come on somebody.
But he has a perfect plan for your life. A perfect
plan. Nobody else does, but God does. Now, in
that, the prophetic then points to God's best
and perfect path. It's designed to release faith
and joy. Righteousness, peace. And what? Joy
in the Holy Spirit. What happens when you walk
the plan that God has for you? Righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, isn't it?
How many have walked contrary to the plan of
the Lord and found that there was not much joy
and not much righteousness? Anybody? Not much
peace. Oh, some of you are lying in church. Now,
folks, I am not going to be able to teach the
fullness of this. And you understand this is
a huge topic in the scriptures. Have there been
abuses of the prophetic? Absolutely. Do people
abuse us? Yes, I've addressed that about two
or three weeks ago. There are some fruit loops
in the body of Christ, right? There are. But
the bottom line is we don't throw out what God
says he's establishing. Let's make sure we do
what he says. He added it to us for a reason.
It's meant to help us, strengthen us, build faith,
build courage, and bring joy. The word of the
Lord that comes through prophecy confirms his
thoughts and the words that the Lord has for
us. They bear witness of the Lord that he's been
putting in our hearts. Now, folks, I have had
some crazy... words spoken over me that were
what I call the jacked up category. Now, I'm
not going to name any names, but I'll never forget
this. I've been undone by the prophetic, so undone
that it altered the course of my life, and I'm
going to talk about that in 1 Samuel 10. We are
going to get there. It was so accurate, so laser,
that I could not help but tremble on the inside.
It was like the Lord laid me open internally,
clear to my backbone, spread me open, walked
through everything inside of me, rearranged things,
put me back together, and when I got up out of
that chair of the word of the Lord coming, I
was a changed man. You say, I want to see that
in Scripture. We're going to look at it. But
I've also had what I call jacked up prophecies
where I'll never forget this. I had had two major
words over the course of my life in the first
five years where I was really introduced to understanding
the Holy Spirit from the background that I came
from. And both from seasoned men of God that
were... long -time pastors, long -time prophetic,
I would even say prophets, that they operated
in that gift. Both of them, without knowing each
other, different times, two years apart, prophesied
over my life that I would be a pastor and that
there would come a day where the Lord would actually
call me to be a senior pastor and laid out so
many things specifically that was a... 10, 15
year word down the line that everything has come
to pass. And then I had someone come to me in
a service and say, you know, I'm hearing the
Lord say, you're not supposed to be from the
tribe of Aaron, which is like a pastor. The Lord
just says, you stay in the tribe of Levi helping
in the tabernacle. Now at that point, there was
confusion. I had. strong witness of things that
I didn't ask for. I didn't like dial a prophecy
and say, hey, can you speak this over my life?
These guys didn't know me. They spoke the word
of the Lord that confirmed something that I had
been wrestling and fighting with my whole life.
And as soon as they touched it, it was alive
in me. But as soon as that other person brought
that other word, I could feel the quench come
immediately. And the Lord had to teach me something.
He said, I'm not the author of confusion. Go
back to what my peace, my authority, and my anointing
was on. And I remember watching that person and
said, nope, now I'm not going to. I'm not going
to just discount them as somehow a whack job
in the kingdom. Okay, that's not what I'm saying.
But I'm going to watch what they're hearing and
I'm going to watch what they're saying way more
clearly because I've already experienced the
evidence of their touch on my life that was not
accurate. Folks, if you're not walking in discernment
where the Bible says you test every spirit to
see whether it's from God, you are being foolish.
The fact is, you should be searching the Scriptures
even as we're preaching, looking at these words,
going, absolutely, absolutely. I want to see
it in the Word of God. It doesn't mean that you
appraise things critically and you're like an
Ebenezer Scrooge in the midst of everything.
No, but you're looking at the Scriptures to make
sure that the Word of God is built on proper
context and that His Word and His Spirit witness.
Now, folks, if you've got a wrong spirit, you
can't claim that it just didn't witness to me.
You understand what I'm saying? There is a few
I before E except after C moments. If you're
walking around in a spirit of bitterness and
judgmentalism, there ain't going to be a lot
that witnesses to you. The Bereans were fair
-minded, meaning they already hadn't had their
opinion and their judgment shaped. already to
determine their little myopic understanding of
the Scriptures. They were open for the Spirit
of God to expand, and they looked for the Scriptures
to confirm the openness. Hello. All right, moving
on. That was for somebody. All right, now. The
role of prophecy is what? The role of prophecy,
the work of God's prophets. Now, I want you to
get this. Please. The work of God's prophets
and the work of the spirit of prophecy together.
Because the spirit of prophecy says in Revelation
19 verse 10. The spirit of prophecy is the testimony
of Jesus. Prophetically, the whole scripture
is the testimony of Jesus. Prophetically in your
life, it's the testimony of Jesus. You'll never
be able to get away if it's truly the prophetic
presence of God from the testimony of Jesus in
the scriptures and the testimony of Jesus over
your life. That is the test. It comes from him.
It's his words, not somebody's soul, not somebody's
opinion, not somebody's judgment. It's the testimony
of God's goodness over your life. And that's
why when the prophetic word comes, what does
it do? It looks for the treasure that God has
imparted on the inside of you to call forth that
treasure out so that you can know that it's his
voice, his hand, his touch that's bringing. that
goodness into play. Can I get an amen? Now, there
can come times where there needs to be a correction,
but that is... rarely the case in a prophetic
flow and does not operate among the body of Christ,
should not operate from anybody that's not actually
operating in a five -fold prophet manner. Anybody
that's operating in a spirit of prophecy or as
a prophetic word is mandated, 1 Corinthians 14,
to build up, to comfort, and to encourage, bottom
line. And that's where the prophetic goes awry.
If it's not building, if it's not encouraging,
if it doesn't bring comfort and consolation to
your soul about what you're walking through,
what you've walked through, what you're going
to walk into, then you need to set it on the
shelf called jacked up. Because the prophetic
comes to find the treasure in you. The treasure
that God put in you from the beginning. The treasure
that he put in earthen vessels, the treasure
of his giftings, his callings, his graces, and
he begins to build you, shape you, and calls
those things out. Are you there? Is this all
right this morning? All right. What's the role
of the prophetic? To hear God's purpose and to
reveal God's counsel and his secret over his
people. You know, the Bible says the Lord has
some secrets that he wants us to find out. It's
not that there's secrets that he's like, that
isn't God. It's his point to have a few hidden
things so that you get hungry to actually search
those out and to hear the word of the Lord that
are gems for your life. The prophetic or prophecy
is about making God big, about making God known.
The prophetic mandate then is to make God real
in the lives of people and in the church. Prophecy
is there to help those who need a word to stand
and fight so that those words help them in the
midst of the storm, in the midst of the battle
of life. You don't believe that? Look at 1 Timothy
1 .18. That was one of the scriptures. 1 Timothy
1 .18. We're getting there. Hallelujah. This
charge I entrust you, Timothy, my child, in accordance
with the prophecies. Everybody get Pentecostal.
Prophecies. Not one. Not one. Prophecies. In
accordance. with the prophecies previously made
about you that by them you may wage the good
warfare holding faith and a good conscience.
What's the prophetic to do? The prophetic comes
alongside to strengthen the core of your faith
and your conscience in God that when you're in
the midst of it you remind yourself that God
was standing by you knew exactly the moment that
you were going to go through. And now you hold
on to it so that you do what? Having done all
Ephesians 6, 18, stand. Don't be blown over.
Don't let go. Don't give up. Don't give in. But
Timothy, I'm telling you where I'm putting you.
Call to mind the things that multiple times that
God spoke a personal word over your life. All
right. Three of us are excited about that. Praise
God. Think about that. That's New Testament.
Notice this. By rejecting this, some have shipwrecked
their life. There's a lot I'd like to say about
that, but I'm not going to. Acts chapter 2, 17.
One more verse. And in the last days, quoting
from Joel. And in the last days it shall be,
God declares, I will pour out my spirit on all
flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Your young men shall see visions. Your old men
shall dream dreams. Even on male and female servants
in those days, I will pour out my spirit and
they shall prophesy. Why do you think the apostle
Paul was so directed in 1 Corinthians 14 to tie
earnestly desired spiritual gifts, but especially
that you prophesy because it was the now? Word
of the Lord of something that had been prophesied
in the Logos. In Joel chapter 2, it was picked
up by the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the
church saying, this is the mandate for God's
people. And he comes back to the Corinthian church.
He says, don't you lose this. All are available
to prophesy. Can you tell I'm just a little bit
excited about this? Come on now, church. Now,
let's go back. I promised you. 1 Samuel chapter
10. And there's so much to say on this. And Jenny,
if you'd make your way. Sweetheart, the 26th.
Hallelujah. Brother, when I get something right,
I got to just keep on going. I'm telling you.
I've been wrong so many times. Hallelujah. All
right, now. Look at verse 10. Now, chapter 10
in 1 Samuel. This is so key. And I don't have
time to go into the depths of this today. But
in Acts chapter 3, it says from Samuel. all the
way through. Samuel is regarded, if you're studying
the Bible at all, Samuel is regarded as the last
judge and really the first prophets, all the
way that Jesus even references it. Samuel represents
the prophets, the school of the prophets. He
represents that which the Holy Spirit would speak.
Abraham prophesied. We know that. Adam prophesied
even when he saw his wife. He was prophesying.
The Bible tells us that in 1 Corinthians and
in Ephesians that Paul references that. But Samuel
represents that prophetic anointing. And the
Bible says all of Samuel's words came to pass.
So Samuel is regarded kind of as the post goes
in the ground if we're looking at it. He represented
what God would do with the prophetic. And from
him, you have ministries of Elijah and Elisha
and all of those that come in and even how the
prophets are used today in the church. Samuel
is a key, key person. Now, notice what happens
here, and I can't give it, but Samuel... is right
in the middle of a generation that is throwing
off the Lord's leading because they've seen how
other nations do it and they want their own king.
And up to this point, God was their king. You
move all through the process of God leading them
out of Egypt, moving into the promised land,
then you... Joshua dies and you see the error
that begins to take place and seasons of going
for God and then regressing, seasons of going
for God and then regressing. Samuel is the last
of the judges and he gets, after 10 judges, and
that's significant in itself, he gets the hard
responsibility. Of seeing the people's hearts
give out of being a particular and a peculiar
people for the Lord. Meaning a set apart people.
They want mixture. They want a king like all
the others instead of having God that speaks
to them. And he wrestles with the Lord over this.
And finally the Lord tells him, listen, they're
not rejecting you. They're rejecting me. But
I will give them a king and it will be my choice.
And as we go through that whole process and if
you study the life of Saul, something happens
very significant here. It says, then Samuel,
verse 1 of chapter 10, took a flask of oil and
poured it on his head and kissed him and said,
has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over
his people? And you shall reign over the people
of the Lord and you shall save them from the
hand of their enemies. And this shall be a sign
to you. Now, there's a lot in there just talking
about the anointing. The anointing is something
from the Lord that kisses your life. And the
anointing oil itself represents the very presence
of Jesus Christ, the Christos, the anointing
oil, the Holy Spirit. And as Samuel does this,
and I'm moving quickly, he... He tells Saul there's
going to be significant signposts that are now
going to come into his life because of the anointing
and because of the favor that was coming on his
life. And he needed to look for some things.
And there were very specific things. Fact is,
he said, you're going to meet these people and
they're going to say this. And then they're going
to give you some gifts. And you're going to take
some bread from them. And then you're going to
go to this place. And then you're going to go
to that place. And then as he's moving through,
I want to just move on verse... Verse 5, after
you come to Gibbath Elohim, where there is a
garrison of Philistines. Now that is such an
important verse that we would just pass over.
But he's saying, I'm going to take you in. I'm
going to lead you and direct you where even your
enemy is stationed. I'm going to bring the word
of the Lord right where the Philistines are garrisoned
in that city. And it's going to be a sign to
your life that when the prophetic is fulfilled,
I'm going to speak to you in the midst of you
being in the atmosphere of your enemy, and I
will be a voice to you there. Now, that's not
the fullness of the verse. Keep going. And there,
as soon as you come into the city, you will meet
a group of prophets coming down from the high
place with a harp. A tambourine, a flute, and
a lyre. Before them, not actually a lyre, lyre,
pants on fire, but a guitar. A tambourine, a
flute, and a lyre. All right, no. A tambourine,
a flute, and a guitar. Before them, as they're
doing it, prophesying. Prophesying what? It's
not recorded in the Logos of what they were prophesying.
But they were prophesying the testimony of the
acts and the goodness of God. They were prophesying
an atmosphere. They had been up worshiping. They
were prophesying an atmosphere. Are you getting
this? Then the Spirit of the Lord, the new King
James says, will come upon you. The NLT says
the Spirit of God will come on you powerfully.
This translation, I love this. ESV says, and
the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and
you will prophesy with them. And you will be
turned into another man. You say, what do you
mean? It goes all the way back to Habakkuk. When
the Spirit of the Lord comes on you in a prophetic
message, it changes you into another person.
Because it begins to unlock things in your heart
that God had deposited in you from the day you
were created and especially when you were saved.
The deposit of the treasure of salvation that's
in you, he unlocks. And when you get into the
atmosphere where he is speaking and where he's
unlocking in an atmosphere, that's why we do
worship like we do here. It's prophetic. It's
alive. God drops thoughts into hearts. Why? Because
you're in the atmosphere of the prophets and
the prophetic, and he's here working. But when
he begins now to prophesy to you, he does what?
He changes you into another man. That doesn't
mean you're fake. It means that he reorders things
on the inside and you become changed. You cannot
help but be changed when you intersect the finger
of God that reveals his heart and his purpose
to you. He changes you. That's what happened
to me. How many out there have ever experienced
that change of a Holy Ghost? Come on, all over.
I'm going to pull up stakes here because we've
got to land this plane. Pastor David, come. In
the next couple of weeks, we're bringing men.
We bring in some women too, but this time it's
just going to be three guys that are going to
come in. And they prophesy. They are seasoned
ministers, bringing one from Brazil, bringing
another from the San Jose, San Francisco area
that I travel with around the world as a prophetic
voice. And, of course, we're bringing Bob Isabel
that's a trusted prophet over the world for 40
years. These guys don't know your lives. And
I want to encourage you to come out Friday night.
Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday night,
is when they begin to minister over people in
this house, you're going to see the treasure
unearthed. You're going to see what God has been
doing in them. God's going to be specific. He's
going to put some things to let them know that
he's walked with them in their past, what he's
doing in their now, and he's going to give them
an advanced seat. And what I mean by that, he's
going to open The window that only God can do
in their future and give them a few direction
points along the way to walk in it. And what
does it do? It's meant to strengthen them, encourage
them, give them words of which they can fight
now in faith for God's perfect will for their
life. But it strengthens us as the body of Christ.
That we know in our midst that God spoke and
revealed. And just like Paul said to Timothy,
Timothy, recall to mind the prophecies that were
spoken of you by them. wage good warfare. I want
us to come out in unity on this. Number one,
when these guys come, they bring an atmosphere
of their relationship with the Lord and the deposit
of the grace gift in their lives. They bring
it to the house. I want us to come ready to receive
and I want us to celebrate with the people that
get to go through that ministry and we also have
time to see if the prophets just have words.
out there but we will be putting specific people
through it's going to be a great time in god
it's going to be march 2nd 3rd and 4th would
you uh would you just bow your heads with me
as pastor david comes and let's just ask the
lord to do something mighty as we hear the now
voice of the lord operating within the theme
of his word for this house david pray for us
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